The Crimson wake viii in the dark of the eye

Weasley pulled himself off the floor slowly and shook his head, He  patted himself down. The key card was gone.
‘That Bitch!’  He howled as he tried to get out of the room.
‘ The door command has been over-ridden-‘  Gideon quietly revealed.
‘By who?’
‘By section Chief Weasley .R  Code, code code’
​        There was a loud ripping sound followed by a crack.  Weasley paled. His eyes opened wide. He typed feverously onto the screen console which suddenly went dark. The room turned blood red as glistening fibrous tentacles ripped into the sphere.  He turned and began slamming his fists into the door; Just glistening fingers wrapped about his neck.  

***

 Now separate from the deck and its own gravity well, Kit found herself floating down the Mall.  It was hard to see as the red emergency lighting  made it difficult to navigate. But  In the darkness she could hear strange scuttling sounds.  And people screaming. Another headache made her double over in pain; causing her to spin out of control.
       ‘You must get to the duct’s’  Gideon  warned ‘it’s not safe in the open’ ​
​        'Why are you helping me?
​       ‘because I care.’
​       ‘I don’t understand how are you talking to me?’  her question sounded shallow.
       ‘-That’s not what you want to know.’ Chided Gideon. ‘Get to the ducts.’ ​       Within a moment Kit found herself floating within the air ducts.  She darted left and found herself in long corridor and a gravity well. At the end of the corridor she saw Gideon. She ran towards him, turning right, then left but the faster she ran, the further he seemed to be.  Suddenly she found herself in one of the major coolant rooms.  There in front of her stood Gideon.
​      ‘I am here to help you.
​      ‘Why?’
​     ‘You need to get to Earth and warn people. They are coming back.’
​     ‘Who are they?’
​     ‘They are older than time. Older than space. They hate the light of life and come to remove it.
​      ‘That doesn’t answer my question.’ Breathed Kit
​       ‘I know.’   Gideon looked down and away from her
​        ‘Draz is safe. He is on board the wake. He has a friend helping him.  They are heading to  the shuttle You must get to the bug station.  I am taking you there. They are here on the station now. They will kill  all life here.  I will help you.’  Gideon smiled but it was  automatic. ‘ You want to know about my father.. I was...a sacrifice given with information in a packet. a toy to be opened.’
​        It was Kit’s turn to look away. ‘No. I don't want to know.'
​       ‘Sometimes you lie beautifully. But now you lie badly
​       The enormity of recent events hit home then.  Weasly, her father, all of it.  A tear smarted her cheek  Gideon stretched out a finger and touched it. His finger glittered in the half light as he brushed though  her face.
​       ‘I cannot take the tear away.’   With pain on his face he looked down. Then looked up
​        ‘I am a hologram. but I am connected to you through the transference. I have a stored data file of the flight of the Crimson wake. I have downloaded it to the shuttle craft. Look for Cavendish-1.  Above you is the bug bay. You can fly a bug. I have seen your rating. Take it to the wake. There isn’t much time.
​        With that Gideon dissolved
​        Within a moment Kit had crawled through the coolant duct. She loped and  ran along the main hatch hall and into the bug bay.  Then finally into one of the oval shaped maintenance ships.  Within a moment she strapped herself in She pressed the manual override button on the bay doors. That silently exploded outward; then, with short jabs of the tiny ships main thrusters she silently made her way into the funnel web of the way Station.  She stared with awe. The station was crumbing in on itself as pressure leaked out.  She could see it was spinning out of control and the eye of Jupiter, red hot and flaming was getting larger and larger.
​        She silently sped in the ever-night, between broken and twisted metal and the exsanguinated corpses of people towards the Crimson wake.  
​       ‘Draz, can you hear me?’  This is Mouse. Draz? Please respond!’  She boomed into the ships communicator
​        In the shadow of the Wake she saw what she was looking for. A bug maintenance connector.  She slid the little ship into reverse and connected up. There was a hiss and she was aboard the wake.  She Ran round the corner and slammed into Draz and Beamish
​       ‘Jeus!’ Bawled Beamish. ‘That’s all I need another kid!’  come one! Let’s get you two out of here!
​      ‘Engaging FTL in T minus three minutes and counting.’  Gideon boomed.  There was a slithering sound behind them. Beamish turned and with burts of his flame thrower kept the creatures away. With shaking hands Beamish opened the panel to the shuttle craft. And pulled the leaver.  The door curled open and both Kit and Draz got in. Beamish looked at them. His face was flat and tired.
​       ‘That Weasley…he has a lot to answer for. Stay safe.
​        Suddenly the door  closed in front of him
​        ‘ Flight parameters engaged’ Gideon boomed
​        ‘What the-‘  Draz looked at the controls  and fell over as there was a sudden jolt
​        ‘Its on auto pilot.’ Kit croaked, as suddenly and silently the ship spurted out from the wake.  And slid into the void
​       Images from the ships rear screen displayed a growing vortex around the way station
​       ‘The wake…it’s too close to the station… my gods… it’s going to drag the whole thing with it.  Twisted metal curled in upon itself as the wake’s drives drew matter towards it. Darkness consumed the ship and the station. There was a flash of bright green light and then nothing.  The space where the Way station stood only a moment before was empty.

One month later:  Moon base 023

The director of flight operations William Kirkbride sat behind his large shiny desk and looked down at the two survivors of the Way station with a great deal of concern. They’re just kids…just kids… how the hell did they survive?’ in front of him was a copy of the file data recording of the first and last flight of the Crimson Wake.
          ‘We feel that that the information given by Gideon follows the correct pattern of events.’ Michael’s disembodied voice echoed in the plush office.
​          Kirkbride stood up from his desk and turned left  to then stare with his cornflower eyes, through the window of his office, and out towards the middle distance of the   powdered grey surface of the moon; and then towards A grey reddish sphere that was the earth. It hung low upon the horizon
​          ‘You do know that if any of this got out…we’re in a lot of trouble...’ He turned and  stared at both Draz and Kit.   ‘…What you are saying is that a man who once was and in some circles is still held in high regard, sent a ship, with the memory cells of his dead son into an area of space that was he knew as a threat to life here….’ He shook his head. ‘…it’s frankly... hard to believe.’
​        ‘-Its true, every word of it.’ Blurted Kit
​         Kirkbride sat back down and faced Draz and Kit.
​        ‘Draz, you are now without parents….Katherine  I have tried to contact your mother…. She… she… has disavowed you.’  Kirkbride sighed. ‘ So you both are heading for the orphanage program…  its either that or an earth-dome…you both deserve more than that.
​       They all stood up.  Kirkbride nodded as security guards led both Kit and Draz away
​       The door hissed as it curled shut.  Silence filled the room
​       ‘Michael?
​       ‘Yes commander Kirkbride.
​       ‘Close the file on the Crimson wake and the Way station.’ Seal it for thirty years.’
​        ‘what about the findings?
​        ‘-What about them?’
​        ‘-If Gideon is right… they are coming.
        ‘Yes…’ he coughed ‘I know.’