They walked a few feet before Tim asked, “Do you have comms with the shuttle?”
He did not. And Tim did not like it.
“For now,” Trac said.
With that, Tim would have to be content.
They walked a few yards and then Trac held up a hand, stopping Tim.
“It is an energy field, not a physical wall,” Trac said.
“Designed to shock or kill?” Tim asked.
“To kill,” Trac said.
So, they wouldn’t be going out that way, if by some chance they could get their engines to fire up.
Trac turned to the left and began to follow the force field, stopping from time to time to shine his head lamp into it. Though Tim’s cyborg implants were more limited than he currently liked, he was able to receive some data from Trac. It helped, though Tim had a feeling the connection was possible because of their proximity.
The force field didn’t reflect their light back, or so it seemed to Tim. He had a feeling that there was nothing to see on the other side. At least not as far as their lights penetrated.
And then, after about ten minutes of walking, something changed. There was a portion of the force field that appeared to be lighter, just ahead of them.
Without voicing agreement to do so, they both quickened their pace.
It was definitely lighter, though the light seemed to be contained by the force field. None of it fell onto the surface they walked on.
Again, nothing he’d ever experienced.
They drew level with it, and as one, turned to face the section of light.
It was filled with a myriad of eyes—eyes like the ones that had examined them while they were in the shuttle. But these eyes weren’t huge. They weren’t small, like human eyes, maybe the size of his fist.
But so many eyes.
Tim sensed something changing underfoot and the light went out. But just before it went out, he thought he saw the eyes vanish.
“We should get back to the shuttle,” Tim said. “Something is happening.”
“I concur,” Trac said. “If you will consent to me carrying you, we can proceed with dispatch.”
Tim wanted to say no as emphatically as possible.
“Yes.” It was the sensible—if ridiculous—option.
Trac grabbed him and ran. Trac could run very fast. The other thing, Tim noted, was how uncomfortable it was to be carried. None of his cybernetic implants helped with the press of metal to human flesh.
He gritted his teeth. Perhaps he should have asked Trac to let him climb on his back. This under the arm stuff was not optimal.
But they made it back to the shuttle quickly, so his suffering wasn’t for long. With his feet back on the surface, it felt as if the disturbance had increased.
And then it didn’t just feel, Tim could see something happening. Light was growing at one end of this large containment bay. His suit’s sensors picked up on changing pressure. As if this were a large airlock that was depressurizing.
Trac’s hold on him changed and Tim realized they’d made it back to the shuttle. Luckily the airlock was still open, but the atmosphere was rushing out.
Trac thrust him into the airlock, despite his protest.
“If necessary, I can hang on to the outside and survive,” Trac said.
