Trapped

With a sigh of relief Twelve quickly answered, “You’re probably right, it would make more sense to see if the lifts on this deck are functioning before we try the ladder again.”

Calvo nodded, not really paying attention. Something was going on here, and he didn’t like it at all. It was as if someone or something was testing him. Gauging how he handled himself in different situations. He went over the incidents in his mind trying to piece things together.

When they had first boarded, he was surprised to find that the ship held an oxygen atmosphere. Unlikely, he mused, but not implausible given that a fair number of species breathe oxygen. Its knowledge of English could also be explained by an advanced universal translator. Similarly, their separation from the Lieutenant and Eighteen may simply be the result of the age of the ship. He felt like yelling in frustration. Nothing he had been through so far was impossible, yet to Calvo, it just felt wrong.

“Male?” Calvo snapped out of his contemplation and turned to the brunette guardswoman. “Follow me.”

He nodded, hoping that between the pain of his broken nose and the gentle sway of Twelve’s ass he would be able to take his mind off the sickening feeling in his stomach. It didn’t help.

It wasn’t long before they reached the first lift. It was dead, just like the ones on the deck below. Twelve let out a ragged sigh and slapped her left hand against the blank console, unaware of the entity that was watching them from the shadows. “What the hell is going on here?”

…….

The ship was intrigued, or at least it would have been if it was capable of feelings. The two humanoids that were making their way through Dormitory Deck C were of great interest to the ship.

It had thrown a number of obstacles in their way, yet they had overcome. In so doing they had demonstrated a wide range of emotional responses, ranging from anger and lust to courage and compassion. In many respects, they were uncannily similar to the species that had built this ship long ago.

There was no turning back, the testing must continue.

…….

As they walked along the outer corridor, Calvo found it hard not to be awed by the size of the vessel. After coming to several more lifts Calvo had pretty much given up any hope of finding a functioning one.

“Look.” Calvo finally spoke up, “I understand that you want to meet up with the others but I think we need to look at the reality of our situation.” He continued, “We’ve been searching this deck for nearly two hours now and we are no closer to finding a way up than we were when we started.”

She glared up at him, her blue eyes resolute. “I’m not giving up!” She said marching over to the nearest indentation and putting her palm flat against it. Nothing happened.

Calvo felt a shiver down his spine. He walked down the hall a ways and pressed his hand against a different indentation, there was no reaction. They were definitely trapped.

Twelve looked as if she was about to panic. Had he not been so close to panicking himself, Calvo might have tried to reassure her.

“What should we do?” She asked in a quavering voice.

“I really don’t know.” Calvo responded.