I slid down the ladder, not worrying about the rungs. My booted feet on the outside of the gel uprights, my hands skimming above them. The wall flew past at record speed. I was aware of Adi attempting to do the same above me. Johnson had already made it to Deck G.

I thought briefly how it was always the pay-for-passages that came last. Lowest deck. Farthest to reach. We could have skipped over Habitat Two and gone to the bottom of the ship. But going down was faster than climbing up, so realistically, it made sense to stop here first before we went deeper.

It smarted. The knowledge that by the time we finished here, people would be dead on Deck H. But there was nothing I could do about it.

I stepped off the ladder and turned around. I only just managed to catch Adi before she flew past me. She clung to my upper arms, her eyes wide, her face ashen.

“Haven’t tried that before, huh?” I asked. She shook her head, unable to form any words.

I kissed her as I dragged her into the tunnel.

“Geez,” Johnson muttered behind us, “get a room already.”

I glanced over my shoulder and arched my brow.

“Sir,” he added, grinning.

I shook my head and let go of my woman, and then headed toward the central hub. It was going to be bad. I knew it. We needed a plan. I had nothing. We couldn’t even look out of a grille before stepping onto the hub. We’d have no way to know how many mercs Flux had taken out. If they’d missed even one, we could be facing resistance stronger than we were armed for. Two plasma pistols against potentially ten still breathing, self-contained armoured units.

It wasn’t a good scenario. But we could try to at least reach some of the civvies. Some of our men. Even when the oxygen levels got low enough to make you pass out, there was still a window of time open to us. As long as we weren’t thwarted by the mercs.

And then there was Deck H and Habitat Three; the pay-for-passages. Any delay here could mean their deaths for certain. Time simply wasn’t on our side.

I stopped in front of the hatch and drew my pistol. Johnson had his out already. I looked back at Adi. She looked terrified. God, I didn’t want her to see this.

“OK,” I said. “Johnson you go first, I’ll cover you.” I knew there was no way he’d let me step out of this tunnel before he did. So, I wasn’t going to waste time arguing.

“Yes, sir,” he said, moving forward.

“Grab a downed merc,” I said. We had to hope there was one. I handed him Adi’s screwdriver. “Get his suit on you while I distract them.”

“Even before the civvies?” he asked.

“Damn straight,” I said. “Armoured up, you can do more damage. Cover me while I get them out. And then stay behind and mop up the stragglers.”

He stared at me for a moment and then said, “And Deck H? You’ll be on your own.”

“Don’t worry about that,” I said. “We don’t have time.”

He shook his head but powered up his rifle.

“Your mark, sir,” he said. Good man.

I looked at Adi. She reached forward ready to swipe the wrist comm over the hatch. “Mark,” I said softly.

The hatch fell away, and Johnson rolled out. I fired immediately. Fuck knows what I was shooting at. Air was lacking here too, so that proved the AI had hit all three central hubs in all three habitats. Civvies were down across the board, but so were at least five mercs. So, they’d done some damage. I couldn’t tell who had been injured the worst of the civilians, and I couldn’t spot Lieutenant Wilson and my crewmen.

There wasn’t time to do more than a scan, as the mercs still standing had started to fire back.

But luck was on our side because a merc had been downed over our side of the hub and Johnson was already deactivating his suit armour.

I fired blindly at the remaining mercs, offering what cover I could while Johnson fumbled with the unconscious form inside. A plasma shot hit close to his leg; I could tell he felt the heat of the fire. He rolled the unconscious or dead merc out and then threw himself into the armour. The screwdriver, he chucked toward the hatch.

I couldn’t reach it, nor did I have time to pick it up even if it were closer. I was too busy shooting the shit out of armoured mercs who didn’t even need to fire from behind cover.

And then Johnson was up, and his armour was functioning, and he was shooting the shit out of the mercs along with me.

I gave one last look over my shoulder to Adi, wanting desperately to kiss her again but settled for what I hoped was a reassuring smile, and then slipped out of the hatch and the only cover I’d had.

It became a whirlwind of exertion and effort then, for very little reward. I went to the closest civilian forms, finding the first one dead. The second was beyond any help, and it sickened me that I had to leave him to face his end. The third showed no obvious signs of plasma fire but was unconscious. I hoped it was lack of air. I dragged him back towards the hatch, as Johnson walked beside me, offering a solid form of cover.

I noted, in an abstract way, that Johnson now held two plasma rifles and was using them injudiciously. I approved of that.

The first civvy was hauled up into the tunnel for Adi to grab, and then I was back for the next. I found Lieutenant Wilson on the fourth run. He was alive, but barely. I hauled him back to the hatch. By that time a few of the civvies had come ‘round, so they were able to drag his body inside while Adi kept the hatch open, but stayed out of range of enemy fire.

It got harder after that. I managed to find the rest of Flux watch, and get them and two more civvies back. But any more were too far away to reach without leaving Adi without adequate cover. None of the civvies was well enough to offer cover fire, and Adi, although now in possession of a plasma rifle, was not a good shot.

And I didn’t want her in the line of fire. A thought that made me feel inadequate of the rank I now had.

I shoved the last civilian inside the hatch and turned to look at Johnson in his armour. I was covered in sweat and gasping for air, and starting to feel decidedly unwell. Every now and then I could have sworn I saw something move out of the corner of my eye, but when I turned, it would be gone.

Hallucinations had begun. I couldn’t risk getting any more. It damn near killed me to count the bodies up. Twelve. God, I felt ill.

“We’ve got to go,” I said to Johnson’s back. He didn’t turn around.

“The screwdriver,” he said instead of arguing my deserting him.

I looked at where he’d thrown it. It was still too far to reach, and Wilson would have his. Hopefully.

“We’ll be fine,” I said. “We’ll come back when we’ve got the rest.”

“Godspeed, Captain,” Johnson said firing up his plasma rifles to full effect.

I hesitated. I didn’t want to leave him. But he could take out the rest of the mercs or at least hold them off until we got back. He wouldn’t have fit inside the tunnel again in armour, and getting him out of it without him taking a hit would have been impossible.

“Godspeed, Lieutenant,” I said.

I pulled back into the hatch and Adi closed it. It took a lot of effort to meet anyone’s eyes, but thankfully the eyes I met first were Adi’s.

“The pay-for-passages,” she said. And she couldn’t have said it better.

Those who we’d rescued and had come around all nodded their heads. Expressions grim. Faces pale. Still gasping for the odd breath.

But it wouldn’t stop them. It wouldn’t prevent them from doing what had to be done.

We had lives to save and a ship to take back and a leaseholder to make pay for his sins.

I had no idea how we’d take Aquila down, but once we had engineering back with us, we had a chance. For a chance, I’d keep fighting.

We all would.