Star Trek: The Next Generation: Starfleet Academy #5: Atlantis Station Page 7

  “You can’t be sure of that.” Todd glared at Leilani. “You haven’t checked.”

  “No, I haven’t.” Leilani shoved her hair away from her face. “But I know this station. It was built to take a lot of punishment. And the only time the computer links should disconnect is if the central core floods.”

  “You still don’t know!” Todd insisted. “I vote we go through the central core.”

  Geordi thought about how long that would take. The earthquakes had shaken the station badly, and he didn’t know how long they had before the structure failed. If one section was leaking, others probably were, too.

  Leilani tapped her communicator. “Can anyone hear me? We’re in Sector SR5A. Is anyone within communicator range?”

  There was no answer. Leilani tried again, with no better results. “Either everyone made it to their escape pods, or—” she shrugged, leaving them to finish her thought—we are the only people left alive in the station.

  Prying the cover off the control panel, Geordi examined the exposed circuits. He whistled. “Boy, is this ever an antique!” He remembered using such a board for a school science project. His fingers groped for the emergency battery.

  “I can get the door open,” he said. “But all that water will pour through here at once. We’ll have to hang on to each other, or it will wash us away.”

  “It’s too dangerous!” Todd started back the way they had come. After four steps, he turned to see who was following him.

  Amril and Amray exchanged worried looks, glanced at Ven, and then looked at each other again. The Andorian was only partially aware of his surroundings.

  “We believe the shortest route—” Amray began.

  “—is the one we should take.” Amril finished the sentence.

  “All roads are equal to true samurai,” Yoshi said. Geordi wasn’t sure what he meant, but he didn’t follow Todd.

  Lissa started toward Todd, then paused. No one else was going with her. She glanced from Todd to the others.

  “It is not logical to assume that this is the only section that is flooded,” T’Varien said in a small voice. “The earthquakes have been much more severe than this station was designed to withstand.”

  “That's it, then,” Leilani said. “Geordi, what do you need us to do?”

  Geordi looked at the telltales again. The pressure door was a pair of doors connected by a flexible tube. The tube let different sections of the station shift position relative to each other. This helped the structure weather severe earthquakes without breaking apart.

  The gauge told Geordi only that there was water on the other side of this door. If the tube had ruptured, opening the door would flood this section without getting them into the next one.

  He crossed his fingers and popped the battery out of its socket. “The control unit is off-line,” he said. “We should be able to pull the door open now.”

  Leilani guided the Stenarios girls and Ven into the corner. “You two keep Ven back against the wall. Geordi, Yoshi, and Todd will pull open the door while the rest of us make sure they don’t get washed away. Everyone, put on your rebreathers.”

  They opened their cases. Geordi fitted the lightweight plastic mask over his nose and mouth. When he pushed the seals against his face, the air-purifying unit on his waist started working. He checked the hose that went from the mask to the rebreather unit, making sure nothing leaked.

  Finally, he examined the gauges to see that everything was working properly. The readouts were fine, but the model number was wrong. He rechecked it, fighting the cold feeling in his stomach. This style of rebreather was a light-duty unit, designed for use in shallow water. It had power for, at most, six hours of operation. They had that long to get back to their shuttle.

  Should he mention the problem? Geordi wondered. After a moment, he decided to keep quiet. He should have plenty of time before his batteries ran out, and the group didn’t need any more problems.

  The other cadets were in their assigned places before Todd, put on his mask. Reluctantly, he joined Geordi and Yoshi. The three boys worked their fingers into the narrow gap and pulled. Nothing happened. They tried again, with no better luck.

  They changed positions before the third time. With some careful maneuvering, each found a spot to brace a foot against the door frame. They pulled, but still nothing happened.

  “Are you sure you took the battery out?” Todd snarled. “Or did you lock it so we’re stuck here forever?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll look again.” Geordi popped the control panel out of its clips and turned it over. As he had thought, he’d removed the battery. So why was the door still locked?

  He studied the circuit labels more carefully. The panel wasn’t as familiar as he’d originally thought. One section was completely different, and several optical fibers linked those circuits to something deeper in the wall. More backup systems? he wondered.

  There was one way to find out. Geordi took the piece of sharp plastic from his waist bag. With one stroke, he cut the fibers. “That’s the best I can do,” he said.

  Todd scowled, but braced himself in the doorway. Geordi and Yoshi returned to their places. Once more, they pulled.

  The door came open easily. Geordi stumbled backward, falling into T’Varien. She pushed him into the corner, then stopped, staring. A wall of water poured through the door.

  Geordi grabbed her and pulled her against Ven and the clones. Yoshi and Lissa crowded against T’Varien, but Leilani was having trouble. Todd had been too far into the hallway, and the water had caught him.

  Leilani wasn’t strong enough to pull him back. Her feet were sliding on the wet floor. Soon she would lose her footing, and both she and Todd would be swept away.

  What could he hold on to? Geordi looked around frantically. The only possibility was the opening where the control panel had been. He shoved his arm into the hole, grabbed a support beam, and wrapped his free arm around Leilani’s waist.

  With Geordi’s help, Leilani swung Todd out of the main current. Finally, Todd got his feet under him, and Leilani pulled him to the group. The cadets on the outside linked arms to keep everyone together.

  The water pushed the door farther open. At first, the bigger opening didn’t make much difference. There was too much water beyond. It smashed through the opening and thundered down the corridor.

  Spray splattered Geordi’s back, soaking him to the skin. The water level climbed quickly up his legs. It rose from his ankles to his knees to his waist within seconds.

  Geordi shivered, wondering if he’d guessed wrong. What if it was the connecting tunnel that had the hole in it? Could they get into the next part of the station after this sector flooded?

  The racing tide slowed to a strong river and, finally, to a lazy current. The water remained only waist deep, for which Geordi was grateful. This far down in the ocean, the temperature was barely above freezing. His feet and legs were growing numb from not moving. Leilani was shivering uncontrollably, and the other cadets looked equally miserable.

  When he thought he could keep his balance, Geordi started toward the door. To be safe, he held on to the opening where the control panel had been. Cautiously, he looked through the door.

  The tube was intact, but the other door was half-open. Something had jammed it, keeping it from closing all the way. The emergency light behind him was weak and flickering. It cast a pale yellow rectangle onto the flowing water. Geordi looked below the water’s surface, swallowing hard when he saw what held the door open.

  One of the scientists had tried to get through the door as it closed. He hadn’t made it. To make matters worse, the door had caught his uniform. Between the door and the snagged uniform, the man had drowned before he could free himself.

  Geordi released his grip on the panel and moved forward. Bracing his foot against the other door frame, he pulled against the door. To his surprise, it slid easily. He stumbled, almost losing his balance.

  The scientist’s uniform came free f
rom the door’s track. The body floated loose and drifted past Geordi. Behind it, carried along by the current, was more debris. Waterlogged clothing, unidentifiable personal objects, and two more bodies washed through the doors.

  Geordi flattened himself between the doors to let the junk go through. The water was flowing at a fair pace. It wasn’t so fast that they couldn’t move against it, but they would have to be careful.

  He looked up the corridor. Everything was dark and blurry, with the edges smeared together. Dismayed, Geordi realized there was barely enough light for his VISOR to detect. To make matters worse, the cold water was leaching the heat from the walls, the debris, and the bodies. Soon, everything would be the same temperature, and he wouldn’t be able to see heat differences, either.

  Then the significance of the current hit him. Water was still getting into the station. With this door open, it could now fill both sections. Considering the pressure at this depth, the leak had to be small. Otherwise the water would have refilled this section as fast as it poured through the door.

  “Come on, everyone,” he said. “Let’s get out of here before the water gets any deeper.”

  “And before we freeze to death.” Leilani’s teeth chattered and she was shivering uncontrollably. “Link arms to keep together.”

  The cadets moved out of their huddle. The cold had revived Ven a little, and he watched his surroundings with greater awareness. He let the clones lead him, but he held onto their arms with enough strength to show them he knew what was happening.

  In the waist-deep, icy water, they moved slowly. The current swept odd bits of clothing and assorted junk past them. It was a bad sign, Geordi thought. They were most of the way to the next pressure door, and they were still moving up current.

  The sound hit them first. It was like the roar of a huge waterfall. Geordi thought it sounded as if millions of steel balls were being slammed into the water every second. With each step, the noise grew louder.

  They came around the bend of the station. Where they should have seen the next set of pressure doors, a curtain of water stretched two-thirds of the way across the corridor.

  “Oh-oh,” he said. He could barely hear his own voice.

  A seam between the hull plates had split. The water blasted through under high pressure. The entire width of the corridor seethed with foam. White froth splashed as high as the ceiling. Only the tremendous strength of the station’s hull kept the roof from collapsing.

  “What do we do now?” Lissa stared at the wall of water. “We can’t go through there, can we?”

  “We’ve got to go back.” Todd straightened to his full height, trying to look like he was in command.

  Still shivering, Leilani shook her head. “The shuttle is docked to the next section. With that much water coming through here, we don’t have time to backtrack.”

  Geordi studied the wall of water, wishing he had a little more light. Even with his VISOR compensating for the low light levels, he was having trouble seeing details. And details were what he needed now.

  He tried to remember what he had seen when they arrived. The leak was about ten feet from the door, he thought. That meant there was room for them to get to the door. No one could stand under the force of that water long enough to operate the door controls.

  Just a little more light, he thought. That’s all I need. He wanted to double-check his memory. Unfortunately, the only light source was too weak and too distant to do him much good.

  Frustrated, Geordi stared at the shimmering wall of water. Did he have the right to risk his classmates’ lives on an uncertain memory? How much time did they have before the rising water paralyzed them? What should he do? It was the first life-or-death decision he had ever made. And if he didn’t act soon, the cold water would decide for him.

  Geordi looked at his fellow cadets, but no one offered him any answers. It came back to the same question: How well did he remember what he had seen earlier?

  Before Geordi could decide, the floor began shaking. His first thought was that he was imagining things, that the cold had frozen his brain. However, waves rippled the water in rhythm with the shaking. Geordi didn’t think he could have invented that.

  He splashed to the head of the line. “There’s room on the other side.” He had to shout to be heard. “Stay by the wall and don’t let go of each other.”

  Desperately hoping he was right, Geordi started forward. Much to his surprise, everyone followed. The water felt heavy, viscous, resisting his movements.

  The noise became deafening. Before we get past this, he thought, my ears will be as numb as my feet. In a way, he was glad he couldn’t hear anything but the pounding water. Debating second thoughts wouldn’t get them to safety. All I can say is, I’d better be right.

  Near the leak, the spray drenched them. Icy mist soaked Geordi’s uniform and plastered it to his skin. Streams of water ran down his face. His legs were numb and his teeth chattered. Leilani nodded her head as though she was falling asleep. That wasn’t a good sign. Her brain was shutting down from the cold.

  As they approached the wall of water, the current broke into violent eddies and whirlpools. The cross-currents tugged and pushed at him from all directions. It was almost impossible to keep his balance. Geordi pushed forward. They didn’t have any choice.

  He was two steps past the leak when his foot slipped. His legs were too cold for him to catch himself, and Geordi splashed into the freezing water.

  In a panic, he struck out for the end wall. His arms still worked, but he couldn’t feel his legs. The current pushed him toward the door. His outstretched hands touched the wall.

  Shivering violently, Geordi dragged himself upright. By the time he was standing, the others had joined him. Yoshi tried to say something, but the noise from the pounding water was too loud for Geordi to make out the words.

  He looked around, congratulating himself that there was more room than he remembered. He waded to the door. To his surprise, it was open. He looked through the opening and shuddered.

  Water shot through half a dozen pinhole leaks in the roof with enough force to cut metal. Something bumped into his legs. Geordi looked down, spotting the cover for the door’s control panel.

  “How far is it to the aquashuttle?” Geordi murmured. He tried to remember, but he felt so exhausted. It would be so good to take a nap, a nice long nap. When he woke up, he would be in his bunk at the Academy, warm and dry.

  No! Panic shot through him. His body was dangerously chilled, and his brain was shutting down. He shook his head to clear it.

  “We must get to shuttle quickly,” Yoshi said.

  The cold made it difficult for Geordi to see. With the emergency lights out, he was using residual heat. However, his VISOR couldn’t separate things that were the same temperature. The images were dim and fuzzy, and becoming dimmer all the time.

  “We could use flashlight now,” Yoshi said, echoing Geordi’s thoughts. He wished they had brought one of the shuttle’s high-powered waterproof flashlights with them.

  “It is illogical to wish for that which we do not have," T’Varien said.

  “Well, here goes—” Geordi started forward, picking a snakelike path around the water jets. That added to the time it took to get to the shuttle, but they didn’t have much choice. They were all very tired and thoroughly chilled. An accident right now—any accident— would be extremely dangerous.

  Finally, Geordi saw the tunnel leading to the docking port. They had almost made it! A ragged cheer went up from the others when he pointed to the door.

  Geordi picked up the speed a little, although it was impossible to hurry in the cold water. Still, just a few meters away lay warmth and safety and, if they were lucky, dry clothes.

  The floor began to shake. Geordi was too tired and too cold to be sure, but he thought this earthquake was a lot stronger than any of the previous ones.

  The water jets widened and the thunder of the water grew louder. Over the pounding, roaring water, t
he station’s structure creaked and groaned. Something ripped in the wall nearest him.

  “Jump!” Yoshi yelled.

  Geordi threw himself across the hall. Broken plastic and chunks of paneling sprayed the area where he had been standing. In slow motion, the wall separating the corridor from a storage room disintegrated. Beams, panels, and chunks of conduit rained into the water.

  Shaking from the cold, Geordi pulled himself to his feet. One by one, the other cadets surfaced. Everyone seemed a little dazed.

  Todd had a long gash on his shoulder. It was bleeding freely, and Geordi felt dizzy from seeing so much blood. He was glad Lissa volunteered to help Todd.

  Leilani floated to the surface and hung there, motionless. Geordi wondered if she had hit her head, but he couldn’t find any damage. Finally, he decided she had surrendered to the cold. If they couldn’t revive her soon, she would die.

  He tried to lift her from the water, but her limp body was too heavy for him. T’Varien stumbled to his side, her movements stiff from being too long in the frigid water. The two of them dragged Leilani upright. T’Varien checked the seals on her rebreather mask. They were secure, but the gauges on the waist unit had all changed to amber.

  “These units are rated for six hours,” T’Varien said. “It is not possible for the batteries to be running low already.”

  Geordi checked the model numbers on the girls’ rebreathers and glanced at his own unit. His battery light showed a warning amber color. T’Varien’s did, too.

  “They’re shallow-water units. They don’t work well in cold water. We’ve got maybe fifteen minutes of power left,” he said.

  Amray grabbed his arm and pointed toward the fallen wall. “My sister.”

  Geordi counted heads. Amril and Ven were not there. He looked where Amray was pointing. Beneath the collapsed wall were two blurred patches of warmth. The missing cadets were trapped under the wreckage.