RED KNIGHT
a STAR FRONTIERS Novel
by Layne K. Saltern
Voices were speaking.
But I recognized the voices. I wasn't dead.
Katrina: What happened to him?
Voar: I don't know, but he's still alive.
Kel'krich: What could have caused the explosion in the tunnel?
Voar: It smells like Tornadium D-19.
Kel'krich: Whatever it was, it seems to have knocked Kro'khan right through the tunnel's radiation seal. Look at it. It's been hammered worse than Katrina's door.
Voar: We'll have to block off the tunnel with something else so we don't all get radiation poisoning.
Katrina: I think we've got some insulation material in the supply room.
Kel'krich: I'll take care of it. Has anyone seen Thibaut?
"He got away," I said.
"Who?"
"I don't know. Someone tried to attack me, but I wasn't able to keep up with him. I thought it might be Thibaut, but I've never seen a Human run that fast."
"It's amazing what anyone can do when their life is threatened," noted Voar.
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
Lieutenant Z'ungheure was sitting with her back against a wall, and she wasn't making a sound.
Commodore Tulk'n walked in. "There was a good supply of insulation in the store room. I've got the tunnel entrance all patched up. What do we do now?"
"We stay put," said Voar. "The conference room has only one entrance and is well shielded. If we stay here together, the Red Knight will have a much harder time taking us by surprise."
The lights went out, perfectly synchronized with the word "surprise." We stood for several seconds in silence and darkness, until Voar lit a flash beam. I lit one as well. In the faint yellow light, I could see that all four of us were still there. The flash beams created shadows that distorted the faces of Voar, Tulk'n and Z'ungheure--giving them all an evil appearance.
"He's playing with us," said Z'ungheure in a flat, eerie voice.
My toxy-rad gauge began to glow again, but this time it wasn't red. A blue light meant that oxygen levels were dropping!
"Someone is sucking the air out of this room," I said.
Tulk'n grabbed my wrist to see the gauge for himself. "It's the Red Knight. He's trying to smoke us out."
Voar proposed the only solution. "There are oxygen generators and paralamps in the storage room, but that's at the opposite corner of the base. I'll go look for them if someone will come along to watch my back."
Lieutenant Z'ungheure clung to my arm. "Kro'khan, stay here with me."
I was about to open my mouth when Tulk'n interjected, "I can stay here with Katrina."
Voar looked at the three of us, huddled together like magnets. His voice was mellow and understanding. "That's okay. You three stay here. I won't be long."
"Hold on," I said, pulling myself away from Z'ungheure and Tulk'n. "I'm going with you. There's no telling what might be out there."
I handed my flash beam to Tulk'n and joined Voar outside the conference room. Each footstep echoed in the dark hallway as we made our way for the storage area.