'Most every engine room got an escape hatch, 'n case fire cut you off from the door. All kinds o' things go wrong in an engine room. You don't wanna be stuck in there when they do.'
'The Ketty Jay doesn't have one,' said Frey.
'Ain't the first safety regulation you broke,' Silo pointed out.
'S'pose not,' said Frey. 'Let's get looking for it, then. Jez!'
She blinked out of a daze.
'Escape hatch!' he barked at her.
'We're on the deck above the engine room,' she said. She thought for a moment. 'Could be anywhere around here. In the floor.'
'Split up, get looking!' said Frey.
'Split up?' said Malvery, pointing at the pile of dead Manes cluttering the corridor. 'Bad idea, Cap'n.'
'Just find it!' said Frey.
They hurried up the passageway, scanning the floor, investigating likely alcoves and side corridors. The gunfire from the lower decks had ceased, but since Jez had said that the sphere was still broadcasting, he had to assume the Manes hadn't got hold of it yet. That meant Grist was still down there. Trinica too.
His thoughts were interrupted by a screech and a flurry of limbs, as a Mane launched itself out of an open doorway just ahead of him. It crashed into Malvery, hard enough to knock the bulky doctor off his feet, and sank its teeth into his shoulder. Malvery rolled around bellowing as Silo and Frey tried to grab hold of the ragged ghoul. The very touch of it was appalling: taut muscles sliding under clammy skin. They pulled it away far enough for Malvery to get his boot into its throat. He slammed it against the wall, put his shotgun to its temple, and fired. Frey shuddered as he was pelted with brain flecks.
'Bastard!' snarled Malvery, as he dusted himself down and got to his feet. His face had turned red with anger. He pulled back his coat to examine his shoulder, which was dark with blood.
Frey spat in case any bits of Mane skull had got in his mouth. 'You alright, Doc?'
'Got a good chunk of me,' he grumbled. 'Coat got the worst of it.' He rolled his shoulder and sucked in his breath through his teeth with a hiss. 'I'll live.'
They found what they were looking for a few minutes later, tucked away in a short, dead-end corridor. It was a pressure hatch, set into the floor, with a turn-wheel in the centre. Frey spun it and pulled it open. A ladder led down.
'Whaddya know?' said Malvery, amazed. 'It's actually here.'
'Reckon the Manes don't have escape hatches like this,' Frey said. 'Didn't occur to them to look.'
'Guess they skimped on the safety regs, too,' Malvery said.
The ladder led down on to one of the gantries that surrounded the monstrous engine assembly. It was the size of a small building, a mass of oily pistons, gears and magnets, nestling inside a web of walkways. Inside that structure, prothane was processed ready to feed to the thrusters, and aerium was pulverised into gas. It was dormant now, but it still radiated heat from recent use. The room was sweltering. Metal parts ticked and grumbled as they cooled. Shadows lurked in the folds of the room, hiding under pipes and in corners.
Frey heard voices from somewhere within the room. The echoes mangled the words, turning them ghostly and strange, but he caught the tone. Angry and fearful. Desperate men arguing.
And then, calm and measured, a woman's voice.
Trinica!
A surge of excitement ran through him. It had to be her! It wasn't too late, then! He could rescue her, bring her out the way they came in, and get back to the Ketty Jay. The Manes wouldn't stop them. They didn't care as long as they got the sphere. All he had to do was deal with Grist.
But as well as the voices, he could hear the Manes. They were howling outside, pounding and scratching at the door. The echoes made it seem as if they were everywhere, trying to claw through the very walls.
The sound chilled him. The Manes would find a way inside somehow. He was dreadfully sure of that.
Silo closed the hatch behind them. Frey searched ahead for Grist and Trinica. The walkways were made of grilles and bars; it was possible