Without thinking about it consciously, she reached up, took hold of an overhead hand-grip and swung herself around so that her boots impacted directly with Sifras belly just as he turned back towards her. His gun went flying, caroming off the walls and spinning away down the length of the corridor in the zero gravity.

The same impact sent her sailing in the opposite direction. Her heart was beating wildly, the adrenalin surging through her veins making her forget all about the myriad aches and pains assailing her body.

She managed to bring herself to a halt just as Sifra crashed into a far wall. Megan thrust herself back along the passageway towards him, barrelling into him before he could step out of her way. He doubled up, and she anchored herself with another ceiling grip before she slammed the back of his skull against a steel flange protruding from the wall behind him.

He screeched in pain and fury, then she rammed his head against the flange a second time.

This time, Sifra went limp.

She pressed her ear against his mouth and listened. He was still breathing not that it mattered. She rifled through his pockets and laughed with delight when she found exactly what she was looking for: a systems override card, operable for the whole ship. Tarrant would have a similar card, but just one was all she needed.

She tucked it into a pocket, then went in search of Sifras pistol, shortly finding it near where the pressure field had appeared. Just holding it in her hand made her feel considerably more confident.

<Gregor,> she sent. <The hulls been breached near to our current location. Were stuck down here unless you can get the forward doors to release.>

Wheres Anil? Is he there?

<Hes unconscious. He smacked his head off something we got hit by bad decompression, and we both took a tumble before the pressure fields kicked in. You need to come down and help me with him.>

She waited long, tense moments before Tarrant finally replied. Fine, Im on my way down.

She tried swallowing, but her throat was completely dry. Just from his tone of voice, shed been able to tell he didnt believe a word of her story.

She swam through the air towards the nearest drop shaft, guiding herself along with occasional deft touches to strategically positioned handholds and ceiling grips. She then pushed herself up to the very top of the drop shaft, and waited there with her back pressing against its ceiling.

Just a few metres below her feet was the entrance to another passageway, beyond that part of the ship containing the command deck. Keeping Sifras gun aimed firmly towards it, she waited.