Frank leaned up against Golgi’s desk as he lit up a cigar, Golgi was hunched down behind his desk trying to open up his weapons drawer,
“What’s the plan?” Susan asked as she approached them,
Frank looked over at her and cocked his eyebrow, “What do you mean?” He asked (Although he already knew the answer),
“What’s the escape plan?” She asked quietly as she removed the cigar from Frank’s mouth and took a puff.
The door to the brig was wide open, as the General had forced it open when the mechanism failed. Frank moved over to the doorway and peered out into the dark corridor, “I’m not too sure!” he said as he looked up and down the corridor for the General, Anna and Artok, who had gone to find some of the troopers to accompany them to the bridge.
“Got it!” Golgi said, relieved as the large drawer slid open, he groaned as lifted and a large tray filled with weapons out the drawer, “Right, take your weapons!” he said as he sat the tray down on the desk.

Frank moved slowly back over to the desk and started to rummage through the box, “Here we go!” He said happily as he removed two large pistols from the tray, “Miss me girls?” He asked as he caressed the pistols, Frank was obviously pleased to have his pistols back, he had acquired them about seven years ago while defending the moon base on Rigatta Prime from Yurion rebels, during his patrol days. Although Frank didn’t like to talk about it, the patrol command had highly decorated him for his ‘valour and bravery’, he felt like throwing up any time it was mentioned. He was on shore leave with the some of the crew from the ship he was assigned to, they were visiting a casino on the moon base when it was attacked by the rebels, he had been ordered to hold back by the station General, but decided to lead a dozen of his friends to try and defend the colony. It was all going well till they were ambushed in the main parade by a large portion of the rebel force. The group managed to fight their way out and managed to somehow hold up the pirates long enough for Patrol reinforcements to show up, but at a high price. Frank had lost all but three of his friends. After the battle, Frank found Allen, his oldest friend, almost dead on the ground. The two had been rivals throughout training at the Academy and had remained friends ever since, Allen gave Frank his Xd421 specials which he had fully customised. The power output had been increased to give extra stopping power and the charge capacity had been increased to give three hundred shots opposed to the standard two hundred. Allen had made Frank promise he wouldn’t blame himself but it was a promise he couldn’t keep and the memory had haunted Frank ever since, no matter how much he drank, but the pistols had barely left his side since that day.
“Frank!” Susan said as she looked into his distant eyes, “FRANK!” She said sharply as she waved her hand in front of his eyes,
“Hmmm… What?” Frank stammered as he looked around the room,
“Are you okay?” Susan asked as she removed her own pistols from the tray,
“Yeah I’m fine!” Frank replied calmly as he took his cigar back from Susan, “Why?” He added abruptly,
“You seemed a million light years away!” Susan said
“I’m fine!” Frank repeated as he pushed a small button on the control panel on the side of one of his pistols, the middle of the gun popped open, and swung open on a hinge, inside was a small oval power cell, “I’m empty!” He tipped the power cell out, it dropped out the gun to the ground and clanged loudly as it hit the metallic ground,
Golgi picked a few cells out the weapons tray and held them out, “Here you go!”
Frank grinned as he took the cells before reloading his weapons, “I think we should stay with the General till an opportunity arises to escape!” He said coyly as he replaced his pistols in the holsters on his belt,
“What state’s your ship in?” Golgi asked nervously as he sat down on his seat,
Frank glared over suspiciously at Golgi, “Why?” He asked defensively,
“If it’s not too badly damaged…” Golgi croaked nervously, “I could…” Golgi coughed in an attempt to lubricate his dry nervous throat,
“There’s been a…” Susan said thoughtfully as she tried to remember what the diagnostic had said earlier, “It was a class two malfunction in the primary input output ionic manifold.” Susan said finally, “I think!” She added nervously,
Golgi sighed, “That’s serious, it means your… Ion injector unit has been fatally damaged! What kind of ship is it?”
“Type three “ Frank answered,
Golgi laughed, “Where did you get that? A scrap heap?”,
“Very funny!” Susan said sarcastically, “Can you fix it?” She added seriously,
“Hold on!” Golgi said as he pulled himself, and his seat up to his desk, “I hope this is still working!” He added as he started to type away at his computer terminal,
“What are you doing?” Susan asked curiously,
“I’m checking to see if we’ve a spare unit in the cargo bay!” Golgi said focussed on his computer, “Yes!” He said ecstatically, “There’s a unit in the emergency bay!”
Frank breathed as he spoke, “That’s a relief, where’s the bay?”
Golgi looked over at him nervously, “Deck eighty one sub section 12!”
“Where’s that?” Susan sighed in frustration,
“The good news is that it’s directly below the hanger your ship’s in!” Golgi paused, “And the bad news is that’s sixty decks below!”
Frank kicked the table hard, “Damn!” He shouted angrily,
“It’s not as bad as it seems!” Golgi said reassuringly,
“Why?” Susan said curiously,
“There are emergency service lifts leading down to the lower decks, if we can get to one…” Golgi replied,
“Where’s the nearest one?” Frank butted in,
Golgi coughed, “They start fifteen decks below! If we…”
“We?” Frank said inquisitively,
Golgi grinned nervously, “Well I thought… Well… You’ll need some one to change the ion injector!” Golgi stammered,
Frank smiled, “Okay!” He agreed,
“Welcome to the team!” Susan said confidently as she moved over to the doorway, “All we have to do now is get away from the General!” As Susan checked the corridor, the faint outline of a figure appeared in the gloom, “Who’s there?” Susan hissed as she started to draw her weapon,
“Only me!” Anna shouted as she approached the brig,
Susan gave a deep sigh of relief as she backed into the brig, “Where have you been?” She asked quickly as Anna entered the room,
“Rounding up troops!” Anna replied, “We’ve managed to find about twenty!”
“Where’s the General?” Golgi asked as he offered the weapons tray to Anna,
“He’s down at the other side of the corridor.” Anna paused as she looked through the tray, “He sent me back to get you lot!” She said eventually as she removed a single black pistol, “Why?”
“We’ve been working on an escape plan!” Susan said quietly,
Anna paused, and looked up at Susan, then glanced discreetly over at Golgi, “Really?”
“Don’t worry about Golgi!” Frank said confidently, “He’s with us!”
“Really?” Anna repeated suspiciously, “What is it you do again?” She asked glaring over at Golgi,
“I’m… I’m…” Golgi stammered,
“He’s an engineer!” Susan interrupted, “He’s found the part we need to get the ship working!”
“Okay!” Anna said calmly as she put her pistols into her holsters,
“The only thing we haven’t worked out is how we’re going to get away from the General!” Frank said as he dropped his cigar on the ground, “Any ideas?” He added before stepping on the smoking butt,
Anna shook her head, “We may have a larger problem than just the General!” She said urgently, “Those things have been sweeping through the ship bloody quickly! One of the troopers that was up on the upper deck was telling us that his group were ambushed by two strange creatures.” Anna paused to clear the nervous tremor that had entered her voice, “Apparently they wiped out eight of his group before they even got a shot off! And even then… they hit nothing but the corridor walls, apparently these things can walk up walls!”
“What’s the Generals plan?” Frank demanded as he walked over to the brig door,
“We’re heading up to the bridge!” Anna replied, "That seems to be the extent of his plan so far!"
Frank looked out again into the dark corridor, “Well, we’ve got the perfect opportunity to escape now!”
“What about Artok?” Anna asked as she moved over to stand beside Frank,
“What about Artok?” Frank asked
“Well… Ah… Hmmm…” Anna stammered, “Good point!” She added agreeably,
Susan coughed angrily, “What about Wilson?” She snapped,
Frank sighed as he rubbed his face with his hands, “Any idea where he is?” He asked after a pause,
“Sick bay!” Susan replied,
“We don’t even know if he’s still alive!” Anna said glumly,
“He’s alive!” Golgi said promptly,
Susan looked over at Golgi, “How do you know?”
“He’s a Retinulian right?”
“Yes!” Anna answered,
“He’s in the main sick bay, I was in sick bay before my shift started and I saw him when he was brought in just before I came down here!” Golgi said quietly,
“What deck?” Anna queried as she turned round to face Susan,
“Deck four!” Golgi said confidently,
“Great!” Frank said angrily,
“It’s not a disaster!” Anna said as she scratched her head, “We should head up towards the bridge with the General, when we reach deck four, we’ll try to slip away.”
“We should go!” Frank said as he walked into the corridor,
“Stay close!” Anna said as she followed Frank.

The General and his make shift squad were in what appeared to be a large science lab at the end of the corridor. Susan was the last to reach the lab, she was feeling the strain so she had one of her pistols drawn. It was probably her mind playing tricks on her, but she kept seeing strange figures in the dark gloom of the corridor. There were two troopers standing guard out side the lab and Susan, who relaxed at the sight of a pair of heavily armed troopers, put her pistol firmly back into her holster as she entered the lab. The room was almost as poorly lit as the corridor, however there was a small emergency light tube in the middle, it glowed dimly and buzzed loudly but barely improved the visibility. The General stood at the far side of the room, he was in front of an opening that had been left in the wall from where one of the disposable wall panels had been removed. Susan couldn’t make out clearly what was inside, but she suspected it was probably an access to one of the vertical maintenance shafts they were inevitably going to have to climb up in order to reach the bridge. The General towered over a group of five troopers and he appeared to be giving them orders. There were at least six other troopers in the room, two of which were addressing Frank and Anna, who had been shepherded over to the left side of the room, Golgi was standing just inside the room and he seemed unsure where he should be standing (Or what he should be doing)
“How you doing?” Susan asked as she placed her hand on his shoulder,
Golgi looked over at her and smiled, “I… I’ve got a bad feeling about all this!”
Susan forced a smile in agreement as she patted Golgi on the shoulder, “Don’t worry about it!” She said comfortingly, “I’m sure those things won’t still be on the bridge!”
“It’s not the creatures I’m worried about!” Golgi said turning to face Susan (who had a confused look on her face), “It’s the damn climb!”
Susan laughed, “I’m sure you’ll be fine!”
“It’s easy for you to say!” He answered as he jiggled his portly belly,
“The exercise will so you good!” she joked “Try to find out what the Generals up to!”
“Oh sure!” Golgi said sarcastically to himself, “Then I’ll pull a rabbit out my hat!” He added pointlessly as he walked slowly, and it must be said not particularly discreetly, towards the Generals group, but it didn’t seem to matter as the General was too busy too notice.

Susan crossed over towards Frank and Anna, it would be a lie to say that they were talking to the two troopers, rather they were being talked at, as Susan approached she started to make out what the pair were saying,
“Look!” The shorter of the two guards said in a slow dim voice, “As I said if you try anything I’ll…”
“You’ll what?” Frank said as he scrunched up his face, “Breath on me!” He said as he fanned his face,
The trooper scowled at Frank as he tried to think of a response, “Just don’t try anything!” He spat eventually.
"You two!" The General boomed from the other side of the room, "Get over here!" The two troopers diligently made their way over to the General for some further instructions,
“Hey, what’s up?” Susan asked curiously as she reached Frank and Anna,
“Not much!” Frank said “That was Sub-lieutenant Harris!”
Susan looked blankly at Frank, “Who?” She asked as she shrugged her shoulders,
“Our shadow!” Anna answered
“Susan! Any ideas how we’re going to get away from the troops?” Frank added quietly,
Susan stood thinking for a minute or so, “It’s not going to be easy!”
“Look!” Anna said commandingly, “I heard one of the troops saying they’ve lost contact with deck four…”
“So?” Frank interrupted abruptly,
“So, it means they’ve lost contact with sick bay!” Susan said thoughtfully,
“Yup!” Anna said smugly,
“How does that help us?” Frank asked,
Anna rolled her eyes, “Well, we can volunteer to go to sick bay to check for survivors.”
“They wouldn’t let us go alone!” Frank objected,
“At most the Generals going to send two or three to go with us!” Anna said as a coy smile came across her face as she glanced over towards the General, who appeared to be shouting orders at Golgi, “Can we trust Golgi?”
Susan glared over at Anna, “Of course we can!” She snapped,
“It’s been a long time since you saw him last!” Frank added,
“I know but…” Susan said in an angry whisper,
“Shhh!” Anna said as Golgi started to walk towards them,
Golgi had a big grin on his face and he seemed to be walking with a slight spring in his step, “Guess what?” He said excitedly,
“You saw your feet!” Frank said sarcastically,
Golgi looked slightly offended, as Susan and Anna giggled quietly to themselves, “Very funny!” He said as a rye smile appeared on his face,
“Sorry!” Frank said apologetically, “What is it?”
“I’m being sent to the main communications bay to try to get the transmitters back on line so we can call for assistance!” He said quickly,
“How does that help?” Frank asked,
Golgi smiled as he discreetly removed a small data cube from his pocket, “The main Comms area is on deck 64 sub section 3.” Golgi paused and looked around to make sure no one was looking, “Here!” He said quietly as he passed the cube to Susan,
“What’s this?” Susan asked
“I’ve programmed it with security clearance codes for the ship.” Golgi paused, “If you come up to a door with a cube lock put this in and the door will open, if you come up to a door with a security pad, there’s a code on the back that’ll open almost any door on the ship!” Golgi smiled triumphantly,
“What if the door has malfunctioned?” Frank asked curiously,
“There’s a small emergency area hidden behind the lowest panel closest to the door on the left, in there you’ll find magnetic release clamps and a release leaver.” Golgi paused, “I’m being sent down with one guard, I’ll get rid of him and meet you in the main storage area when you escape!”
“One question?” Frank asked curiously, “How will you know when we escape?”
“Oh I almost forgot!” Golgi replied, “squeeze the sides of the cube when you escape, there’s a transmitter in it which will send me a signal.” Golgi reached into his pocket again, “That reminds me!” He said as he removed a small, thin, rectangular box, “This is an emergency transmitter, the power won’t hold out too long, but I should be able to direct you long enough to get to an emergency lift!” Golgi coughed nervously, “Good luck!” He said as he wiped sweat from his forehead, “
“We’ll see you soon!” Anna said gratefully as a trooper approached the group,
“Sir!” The trooper said in a firm voice,
“Y…Y…Yes!” Golgi stuttered as he turned round,
“We should be going!” The trooper replied
Golgi smiled at the group then left.

After a couple of seconds two troopers entered the room led by Artok, who nodded over to the group and smiled as he approached the General, then exchanged a few words with him,
“Attention!” The General yelled across the room, sending it into complete silence, only the quiet buzz of the emergency light tube was audible till the General coughed and took a deep breath, “We are about to head to the bridge. A force of Synthetic killing creatures has been released onto the ship, we must re take the bridge, rescue the queen and eliminate the creatures!” He shouted confidently as a quiet murmur passed around the room from the collected troops, “This is important, the only way to eliminate these creatures is to blow their damn heads off. They’re fast and manoeuvrable so aim carefully, no one travels in less than groups of three, watch your backs and most importantly!” The General paused and looked across the room at Frank, Anna and Susan, “Don’t let them out of your sight at any time!”