Blake’s 7: Warship by Peter Anghelides Read Free Book Online Page B

Blake jumped across it, almost lost his balance, but then fell forward onto the rock with a yelp. Cally forgot her worries about the ice, and leapt over next to him to check that he hadn’t injured himself further.
    She crowded next to him in concern. What at first sounded like grunts of pain turned out to be his unsuccessful efforts to turn the hatch wheel.
    ‘No good,’ he grimaced. ‘Frozen stiff. And we will be, too, if I can’t get this open.’ He gave another great tug at the hatch.
    ‘Stop!’ Cally admonished him. ‘You will make your injury worse. Let me try.’
    She shuffled around him, aware that the ledge of ice on which they both stood was dangerously narrow. She took as firm a grip as she could, forcing her thick gloves hard against the spokes of the locking wheel. Which way did the hatch turn, she wondered? Was she opening it, or locking it tighter? Whichever way she tried, it would not budge.
    ‘It’s either frozen solid, or rusted shut.’
    The ice jolted beneath Cally’s feet. A large crack split the surface between her and Blake. Further out, the ice shelf from which they had jumped had already disintegrated.
    Blake scrabbled at his teleport bracelet. There was nothing but static hiss.
    The storm howled around them with a renewed intensity, battering them with sharp hail.
    Cally stared at the unresponsive hatch. No way in. No way back. And no way to contact Liberator .

Chapter 9
All Mine
    Avon hared down the Liberator corridors, charging towards the flight deck. The swooping alarm that filled the air around him was new. He’d never heard it before, in all the time they had been on Liberator .
    Avon didn’t have to flatter himself about his own abilities as a technician to know that he understood Liberator better than any of the other crew. His was an understanding based on fact. Not the instinctive connection that Jenna had as a pilot, and because of her initial connection with Zen that had named the ship. Nor the emotional attachment that Blake seemed to have for the vessel, ever since he had commandeered it. They had taken charge of Liberator when it was abandoned after a huge space conflict. Were they about to lose it during another?
    The Zen computer’s usual reluctance to provide comprehensive information had not prevented Avon discerning the basics of the Liberator ‘s capacities. Then Orac had managed to glean additional technical specifications for him after their encounter on Space World with the System, the vessel’s creator. Whether it was enhancing the ship’s detector shield, or tuning the neutron blasters’ recharge capacity, or even improving the quality of the food machines, Avon was the unchallenged expert. And once he had fulfilled his promise to Blake, the ship was all his.
    Avon knew he had barely scratched the surface of Liberator ‘s potential. He had tested its capacity at speed, optimised its asymmetric thrust computers, refined its weaponry after skirmishes with the Federation, and even explored its connection with negative hyperspace. Yet the more he learned about Liberator , the less he realised he really understood. And this unexpected new alarm, filling the corridors around him with its alien insistence, reinforced that thought as he ran onto the flight deck.
    ‘Vila, what the hell is going on?’
    Vila’s head jerked in his direction. ‘Where the hell have you been?
    Avon wasn’t sure whether Vila’s wild look signified relief or fear.
    There was no such difficulty working out Jenna’s feelings. ‘Where’s Cally?’ she demanded. ‘She went to look for you.’
    ‘Otherwise engaged,’ Avon replied. He took up his usual position at the controls. The undulating wail of the alarm continued all around them. ‘All right, Zen, turn that racket off. We’ve got the message.’
    ‘CONFIRMED.’
    The alarm gave one last chirrup before it stopped.
    ‘That’s better,’ said Avon. He paused for a moment while his hearing returned to normal after the