Glow

Chapter 3: Breach

breach

Kieran followed the Captain at a frantic clip toward the starboard shuttle bay. They were joined by a security detail, about twenty of them altogether, armed only with cricket bats. Kieran hoped it would be enough. He looked for his mother, but she had not arrived.

Kieran had expected chaos, but they found dim quiet. The group huddled around the portal that looked into the shuttle bay, and they saw only the ghostly frames of the shuttles and the OneMan vessels, which reminded Kieran of pictures he’d seen of metal deep-sea diving suits back on Earth. Kieran looked at the Captain, who was stroking his beard thoughtfully. Captain Jones went to the com station near the doorway and pressed the code for his office. “Sammy, what are they doing?” he said into the microphone. “Can you see them on the vid?”

Sammy’s voice crackled through the speaker. “They’re hovering just outside the shuttle bay, sir.”

“Have you magnified the image?”

“One moment.” In the tense silence, the security crew looked at one another. Kieran realized he’d never seen fear before. Kieran didn’t like what it did to faces. It stretched them sideways, reddened eyes, widened mouths, dampened skin.

“Captain . . .” Sammy’s voice was hesitant. “I think I see a OneMan next to the outer air lock doors.”

Kieran looked at the Captain. “What’s he doing?”

“Forcing entry.” The Captain slammed his fist into the com con­sole and yelled, “Security breach! All available hands to the star­board shuttle bay!”

He slapped the lock to the shuttle bay, and the security crew raced through the doorway, Kieran on the Captain’s heels.

The Captain pushed him away. “Get out of here, Kieran!”

“I want to help!” Kieran said, though he was so frightened his limbs felt wobbly.

Streams of crew members pelted across the immense bay. Alak Bhuvanath, the Central Council president, ran to the manual air lock controls and tried several times to lock them. “They’ve disabled the lock from the outside!”

The intercom buzzed, and Waverly’s voice shrieked through the speaker. Something about taking all the kids to the auditorium.

Good. She’d be safer there.

Kieran watched as a team of technicians worked on the lock while the rest of the adults looked on. Barbara Coolidge’s small hands were riveted to the shovel she held. Councilman Ganan Kumar’s jaw worked as he stared at the door with hot black eyes. Tadeo Silva bal­anced his hoe over his shoulder like a spear. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath.

Already about half the crew had come. Kieran hoped that would be enough for the fi ght.

Unless . . .

“This might be what they want us to do,” Kieran said to himself. “What if they want us all here? . . .Captain?”

But the Captain pushed him away. “Go! Make sure all the kids made it to the auditorium, then take them through the pressurized conduits to the central bunker.”

“But—”

“You want to help? Go!” the Captain roared.

It was useless to talk to him now. Kieran ran back across the huge bay, dodging the dozens of people whowere rushing in the opposite direction.

But all of Kieran’s instincts told him that loading the shuttle bay full of every last crew member was a horrible mistake.

In the corridor, Harvard Stapleton, Kieran’s physics teacher, was running for the shuttle bay, but Kieran grabbed his sleeve. “Harvard, what if this is what they want us to do?”