“Where are the boarders?”
“I can’t help you with that, I’m afraid. This craft has no internal sensors that would help me locate them.”
Corwin fought down a rising tide of panic. He grabbed his supplies and peeked out into the central corridor of the ship. Nothing moved, but a loud metallic clang reached him, followed by voices and footsteps from further down. They were on board.
He ducked back inside. It was too far to rush to the cargo bay; he was stuck. His mind flashed around for a solution to the problem. There were two ways into the galley; via the corridor and through the small space that passed as a dining room or mess hall. Places to hide were few and far between. He wouldn’t fit into the cupboards so he had to make do with ducking behind the island counter that separated the two rooms.
“I’m stuck in the galley, Aru,” he whispered under his breath, hoping the tablet’s audio pickup would catch his words. He hurriedly set about turning the display’s brightness way down. “I’m going to have to hope they head for the front of the ship quickly.”
Footsteps rang down the corridor, and to his relief, they were moving pretty fast. He held still as a statue when the door slid open. He held his breath for several long seconds, then heard the footsteps move on further into the ship. He kept low and moved to the doorway in time to see the backs of the boarders disappear into the cockpit. He glanced back further down; another several figures were moving into various parts of the ship. He didn’t see anyone by the hatch to the cargo bay; at least not yet.
“Ah hell, I’m caught anyway,” he said, and marched out into the corridor. He moved with a purpose, footfalls ringing in the passage just like those of the boarders.