"Can you not just do what you're told? All you youngsters think you know what's best, so full of ideas and opinions and rash decisions. Just leave it to your experienced elders." Frank muttered, exasperated.
"Fresh ideas are better than blind faith and circular reasoning. Age doesn't guarantee wisdom, you know." I replied.
"See, you still don't get it. This isn't a debate, it's an order. You're not allowed an opinion until you wise up."
"Wise up? If the best you can do is insult me without refuting my points, you know you're in the wrong. Maybe you should wise up instead!" I yelled, whipping out my sonic with a flourish. I held it above my head, pointing upwards, as it emitted its characteristic warbling hum. Suddenly, the building's fire alarm activated, drowning out all other noise. The sprinkler system also began to rain water upon us. While Frank was distracted by my distraction, I swung the sonic towards the glass pane looking onto the auditorium. Below us, the crowds who had yet to receive their glasses were streaming out through any available exit.
Frank was raising his gun again to regain control of the situation when the door behind him was flung open. A number of security personnel were pouring in, looking for the source of the alarm. With a cheerful wave, I left Frank to deal with the guards as I ran towards the window, with Ash and Dave close behind.
"You can't expect us to jump that?!" Dave asked apprehensively.
"Not quite. But you still won't like it." I replied, reaching around the side of the hole as I grabbed hold of a banner.
"We slide!" I cried as I jumped, grasping the fabric loosely to control my descent. Ash followed my lead with only a moment's hesitation, letting out a whoop of exhilaration as she went. Dave was somewhat more reluctant, but not after considering the choice between Frank and a fall, he chose the latter. Unfortunately for him, the banner had already taken some strain, and ripped when he was only halfway down. The fall didn't do much more than bruise his ego, but he was still moody.
"Bloody typical." He moaned, massaging his rear.
"You can go first next time." I joked while Ash added "Fall on your head next time. It's the softer target."
We pushed our way, struggling upstream against the crowds rushing for an exit. I'd always thought running toward danger was a guaranteed way to meet with death, yet here we were. It was madness. It was lunacy. It was exhilarating. The panicked crowd was so densely packed, so thick that I was more concerned about being trampled than I was about Devlin killing us. We were barely making ground, until Ash pulled my arm sideways, toward the benches.
"Shortcut." She declared, hopping onto the raised surface. Dave and I followed her lead as we turned and sprinted towards the stage curtain. With a short hop, we managed to leap onto the stage, and worked our way into the 'preparation' area. Before us were about twenty-five glass tubes, big enough to fit a human, with a bunch of gubbins above each tube. It consisted of several horizontal concentric circles with a blue light glowing from between each ring. The central circles extended deeper into the tube chamber, with each subsequent ring slightly higher and shorter, approximating a conical structure. Teleporters.
"Time to find out where Devlin is taking his loyal customers." I said, fiddling with the control panel at the nearest teleport pod.
"Oh good. For a second I was afraid you'd want us to enter one of these contraptions." Dave said, visibly glowing with relief.
"That's exactly what I'm suggesting." I replied. I've never seen someone deflate so rapidly.
"What?! No way! Nope. It could lead anywhere."
"Well, only one way to find out. These are point-transfer tubes. Each one is quantum linked with a twin, and can only transfer matter between each linked pair."
"So you're saying there's no guarantee each pod even links to the same place? Each of these could be set to deliver Devlin's targets to a different world?" Ash asked, with concern.
"Theoretically, but I doubt it. Look at the scale Devlin is operating at. The volume of people he wanted to process. He wants to get people out of here as soon as they've worn the Specs. Easier to have a bunch of chambers here that can send them to a central processing hub, and sort it all out later, when everyone is more compliant."
"I hope you're right. But we don't have a choice, do we?" Ash asked, rhetorically. "If we're to do this, then let's do it together." With some trepidation, we each slid open a tube and squeezed inside. Point-transfers are the escalators of intergalactic transportation: one entry point, one exit, and bugger all input required to function. The pods were automated, merely closing the door triggered the transmat matrix. With a sudden 'fwoop' and the most terrible whole-body pins and needles sensation, we left the planet entirely.
Well, not entirely. That's an exaggeration. We were still in orbit after all, so technically we hadn't travelled very far. Still, the view would have been outstanding, if we had one. Turns out the pods had transported us to a sort of space barn, like a cow shed, but for humans. It was a large, sparse metallic room, with featureless and bland walls. One side of the room was lined with the corresponding teleportation devices from which we'd stumbled. One corner of the room had a large pile of straw spread out for what I feared was an excretory purpose, while the opposing corner was gutted with a water tap and a bucket of nutri-pellets, fed by an overhead dispenser. Occupying the majority of the room were several hundred humans, all standing still, arms rigidly by their sides, staring blankly into the distance. None of them seemed aware of our presence, or of each other. It was like we'd walked into a robotic showroom after close of business.
"So now we see Devlin's true scheme revealed... An avant-garde art installation using living subjects! Oh, the torment of our consumerism and it's destruction of self identity!" Dave yelled, rich with melodrama.
"No, it's clearly a captive audience to whom he can recite his poetry." replied Ash, laughing. We were all slightly giddy. Sure, several hundred lives were at stake, but on the other hand: We were on a spaceship. In space! This waste single greatest experience our little eyes has-been witnessed, even if it just looked like we were trapped in a box.
Setting aside my whimsy, I set about locating a door out of our communal prison. This turned out to be easier than I'd expected, all I needed to do was swipe at a control pad on the wall. The door wasn't even locked. Devlin was obviously convinced that none of his Nestene controlled cargo could rebel, and he hadn't counted on saboteurs sneaking aboard. The layout of the ship we were in was very linear and practical. It was a transport vessel, with no attachments or extra features. Outside of the central cargo bay was a short corridor ending in a ladder to access the upper deck, while a number of service hatches lead off to the sides, presumably granting access to the engines and other critical systems. Given the limited nature of the vessel, I was fairly sure the ladder would lead straight to the bridge, and presumably to Devlin.
"Brave heart lads." I said as I grasped the nearest rung and began climbing upwards. After a short distance, I pulled myself up onto the navigation deck, a small room with a central chair surrounded by holographic screens and displays, and lots of swipey interactive controls. Behind me was another door leading to the quarters for the ship's crew of one. In the command chair sat Devlin, one leg folded over the other, facing us and seemingly unarmed.
"Haven't you lot caused enough trouble yet?" He sneered, looking at us as if we were a particularly stubborn stain on his loafers.
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