The Black Lung Captain - By Chris Wooding Page 0,192
of the Manes drifted faintly through the passageways as they ran.
Jez's prediction was spot on, and she led them right to Grist's cabin. But when they got there, the door was open and it was clear that it was empty. Frey burst into the room nevertheless, and began turning it over, throwing open cabinets and rummaging along shelves. He was searching for a sign of her, some assurance that she was still alive. He needed to know that he wasn't risking his own life and the lives of his crew for nothing.
'They've been driven down below,' said Jez. Her eyes were out of focus and she seemed to be having trouble concentrating.
'Where?' he demanded. 'This aircraft is bloody gigantic! We'll be slaughtered if we go running about down there.'
'That's as good an argument as I've ever heard to bail out while we can,' Malvery said.
Frey stopped his search for a moment and fixed the doctor with a hard glare. 'We're not going anywhere without her.'
'Worth a try,' said Malvery, and delivered a sulky kick to a severed hand that was lying nearby.
Frey needed to keep moving, keep thinking, make a plan. He was full of restless energy that demanded an outlet, but he couldn't just rush off headlong into a horde of Manes. Something was nagging at him. Being here, in Grist's cabin, had reminded him of something. It slid around frustratingly in his mind until he pinned it down.
'Your father's research. You still have it?' Trinica's question to Grist, while they were down in the sanctum.
'Safe in my cabin, don't you worry.'
Frey's eyes fell on a large chest in the corner of the cabin. One of the few places he hadn't already searched. He pulled it out, and found that it was shut tight. He shot off the lock. Malvery jumped at the sound.
'You trying to give me a heart attack?'
'Think!' Frey said, addressing Jez. 'You know this type of craft. Where's the most defensible place? If you were Harvin Grist, where would you go?'
He tried to think of the answer himself as he opened the chest. Looking for Maurin Grist's research was a tactic to keep him occupied, to prevent him from doing anything stupid. His thoughts were on Trinica, and how to save her.
Inside the chest were piles of documents and accounts, bound up in folders. On top of them lay a large manila folio of papers. He picked it up and ruffled though the papers within. It took only a few glances to establish the subject matter. He rolled them up absently and stuffed them in the inner pocket of his greatcoat.
'Come on, Jez!' he said, because he couldn't find an answer himself.
'Engine room,' said Silo.
Jez's face lit up. 'He's right. On a frigate like this, it must have walls a foot thick.'
Frey snapped his fingers at the Murthian. 'Engine room. Then that's where we're going.'
Forty-One
The Engine Room —
Intruders — Time Runs Out
Malvery and Silo backed up the passageway, laying down gunfire as they went. A half-dozen Manes swarmed to-. wards them, sinewy limbs stretching out, jaws gaping. But lever-action shotguns were devastating in a confined space.
Blood sprayed the dirty walls. The men kept firing until nothing moved.
'Not that way, I reckon,' said Malvery. He took off his glasses and wiped them with his thumb. Silo was calmly reloading.
Frey gazed at the sickening clutter of bodies through the haze of gunsmoke. 'We'll never get down to the lower decks like this.' He ran his hand through his hair and swore. Every moment might be Trinica's last, but he couldn't get to her. The deeper into the Storm Dog they went, the more Manes they came across.
He could hear them howling down below. The sound was terrifying. Even if they could fight their way in, he doubted they had enough ammo to deal with those kind of numbers.
'What are they doing down there?' he muttered to himself.
Jez responded as if the question was directed at her. 'Can't tell,' she said, her voice faint and dreamy. 'The sphere . . . it's too loud. They want the sphere, that's all. They're not interested in us.'
He exchanged a glance with Malvery. They were losing her. The longer she stayed here, the more her mind drifted out of focus. Soon, she'd be no use to them at all. They had to get her away. But he wasn't leaving without Trinica.
What if Jez turned Mane, right here? Could he bring himself to shoot her, if she became one of them?