Hammers, screwdrivers, power tools, chains, bolts, screws, even a pair of furry dice, all sailed around the hangar. The cloud of various objects hung above us, looming just inches over our heads.
Harsh spotlights bore down on four lustrous spaceships positioned in the centre of the room and to the left of them; a set of yellow robotic arms lay dormant with tools resting in their claws. A collection of red oil drums, stacked right to the ceiling, covered the far wall and a set of computers fixed upon a modest metal desk beeped for our attention.
Sam admired the room with a sly grin. He clapped once and said, 'Right, we're not going to get anything done unless I get the front door open. Hold tight for a second.' He moved to the workstation and licked his lips.
I watched Sam labour for a while and then decided to leave him to it. I rose to the ceiling and tried to get a good look at the room. 'I never came down here often,' I confessed, 'I was too busy working with Doctor Richards. Seems a shame. This place looks like it could be a lot of fun.'
'It was, before we got hit by space rocks,' Sam said as he smacked the control panel with his gigantic palm. 'Argh! Stupid junk!'
'What's up?' I said, catching a nearby girder and threading my legs around it.
'Ah, it's nothing. It's just stupid protocols. Things Hoshi added, even though I told her not to.' He wiped his forehead and shook his hand to get rid of the sweat. 'I mean, what if we want to get this place open in an emergency? She just didn't think it through!'
I frowned. 'What protocols?'
'Hoshi made it so that if the ship gets damaged, the hangar locks down. There are a lot of dangerous things in here, you know? Like, really dangerous. I mean, yeah, you won't need the Eagles when we have escape pods, but the door release, I mean, that's integral, right? But would she listen to me? Nope! It's, "No, Sam, we have to use prevention!" I'm the weapons expert, and she's talking to me about safety!'
'So we can't open the doors? We can't get out?'
'No, we can, it's just the central console needs to double-check everything first. Oxygen levels, gravity, structural integrity... It's like a paranoid team member.'
I ogled the dangling Eagles. Their folded wings had various logos and flags stencilled onto them. I caught sight of the Union Jack and felt a pang of homesickness. I shuffled from my beam, flung myself towards the nearest Eagle and clung to the chrome pole bolted into the hull. With a small pang of anxiety, I worked my way down to the roof.
'Careful, Fletcher, that's American engineering you're touching. Might break at any moment.'
'Very funny,' I said, running my hand along a ventilation port.
'You think you could still fly?' Sam wondered. 'I remember you being pretty good.'
'Oh, I was better than good,' I chuckled, 'remind me again how I broke your record?'
'One,' Sam held up a finger, 'there wasn't an official time taken, and two,' he held up another finger, 'you cheated by using the secondary engines around that last turn.'
'That wasn't cheating! That was using everything around me to my full advantage. Big difference.' I pointed at the Eagle below my feet. 'We're taking this one, right? Jaq is taking another.'
'That seems to be step one of Olga's master plan, yeah,' he said. The computer beeped and Sam's eyebrows bounced. 'Look at that, quicker than usual. Maybe Hoshi upgraded a few things before we left. Right, let's see what we can do...'
I placed my palms against the entrance hatch and turned my hands into C's. I peered through the tiny window and looked around at the interior. 'Just as I remember it,' I told Sam.
'Hold that thought. Let's see if I can work some magic.' He pressed his finger against the keyboard and an almighty rumble echoed through the room. 'Hold onto something!'
The silver floor panels around Sam rose and started to align. They clicked together and created a box that enveloped my friend. I could see, through a rectangular hole, Sam pushing more buttons and laughing. A whirring noise followed and a sheet of glass sealed the gap between him and me.
'You okay in there?' I shouted.
'Oh, I'm doing just fine, Teabags,' he said. Sam's voice was now coming out of speakers attached to the wall, making his voice slightly tinny. 'Let me just get to a better vantage point.' A harsh hum came from the ground and Sam's box ascended towards the ceiling, courtesy of a piston underneath. It reached its destination and stopped with a thud.
'Have you done this before?' I called out to him.
'What did I tell you about worrying?'
All the hangar lights turned on. I was dazzled by hundreds of LED's shining down on me. I rubbed my eyes and saw the locks on the hangar doors unlocking one after the other.
'I hope you're not leaving without me,' someone said from below. I peeked over the side of my Eagle to see Jaq hovering near the doorway. She had a backpack, similar to Sam's, hung over her shoulder. A wrench poked its way out the top flap.
'Pick your Eagle and get in,' Sam said, 'I'm going to set a five minute timer.'
Jaq did as she was told and paddled to her own ship. 'I'm not looking forward to this.'
'Why not?' I turned three handles on the roof to the side. With a fizzing sound, the rooftop hatch opened.
'I'm just a little worried about the small rocks, you know? Big rocks, I can deal with, but small ones... They get you.'
'We're on the clock,' Sam told us, 'Fletcher, get yourself ready, I'm coming over.' He moved the glass sheet down and drifted through the hole.
'You'll be fine, Jaq, trust me.'
'I hope so,' she said. I caught a flicker of doubt wash across her face before she vanished into her Eagle.
I took a deep breath and dived. I crawled into my ship and followed the ladder towards the cockpit. The lights from the hangar poured through the side windows and punctured the darkness, casting the interior in a ghostly white glow. I twisted my body through the doorway and latched onto a series of bags tied to the roof. I bent my legs into my chest and unbuckled one of them.
I heard a clang from above me, and then Sam's voice. 'Hatch shut. Are you at the controls yet, Teabags?'
'Not yet! Almost!' I said as I clambered along with a package in one hand. I raced towards two plush chairs with a large column in between them. I dropped into the left seat and placed my prize in my lap. I put on my seatbelt and then grabbed the two joysticks sticking out of the armrests. With a childish giggle, I twiddled them around.
'By my watch, we've got two minutes,' Sam said, floating behind me.
'Plenty of time.' I flicked a line of switches on the dashboard and felt a small tremor run through my seat. The sheath covering the windshield retracted with a buzz and the cockpit was flooded with light.
Sam took off his rucksack, got into the seat next to me and held down a switch on the column between us. The buttons around the cockpit lit up and the screens chirped as they burst into life. 'This is Eagle One calling Eagle Two, can you read?'
'Reading you, Eagle One,' Jaq's voice echoed back. 'Take off in less than a minute.'
'That's a go,' Sam smirked as he put on his seatbelt. 'I guess we can say goodbye to all that junk in the hangar.'
'Doesn't matter,' Jaq said, 'I put all the good stuff in my workshop anyway.'
I unzipped my package and dug out a pair of leather goggles with asymmetrical lenses. I pushed them over my eyes and pressed a small knob on the side. A grid pattern formed in front of me, mapping the optimum trajectory for the Eagle to follow. 'HUD online.'
'Nice!' Sam nodded, hitting more switches, screens and buttons. 'Thrust building...'
The rumble in my chair grew and I could feel the Eagle pulling. I moved the joysticks again, feeling the ship shift with my movements.
'Depressurisation is complete. Hangar doors opening,' Sam said, checking his own dashboard. He fiddled with a switch and then shook his head. 'Huh, the air conditioning doesn't work.'
The giant metal gates moved slowly outwards, leading us toward space. Flashing red beacons on either side pointed to the stars and my stomach started to throb with excitement. I raised my hand and seized a ribbed handle. 'Ready?' I said, looking at Sam.
'Absolutely,' he grinned.
'Eagle Two, we'll take point first. Sam might be able to clear a wider path with some of his toys.'
'That'd be nice, but it'd be nicer if you just left already,' Jaq spat back.
'You heard her!' Sam roared, 'Go!'
I pulled the handle and let out a hoot. The chrome pole that once kept the Eagle in place shot away and the ship lurched as it was set free. I tipped the joysticks just a touch and the Eagle edged towards the doors.
'Gentle, Teabags, gentle...' Sam whispered.
'Don't do that. Don't be a backseat pilot. Don't you dare.' I gritted my teeth and crept towards the windshield.
The Eagle passed through the swarm of tools and debris, and I heard a number of things bash against the hull. Thankfully, nothing exploded or damaged us. We passed through the doors with no problem at all, and it was there, outside the Pangaea, that we realised how screwed we really were.