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Julia turned on the suit’s battery-powered fans and scrubbers and unzipped the back She didn’t tell Janni that the garment wasn’t for her protection but rather for the crew of the Oregon, in case she was already infected Making sure to keep the air flowing through the tubes in her nose, Janni slid her coltish legs into the hazed it over her narrow shoulders Julia helped tuck her long hair into the helmet Hux could tell it hadn’t been washed in several days Jannike’s asthma attack had kept her in the infirmary for a while

“Take a deep breath through your nose and hold it for as long as you can,” she ordered

Janni’s chest expanded as she drew the pure oxygen into her lungs Julia unhooked the cannula fro aside She pulled the two halves of the suit closed and zipped it up It took her another minute to secure the seams with duct tape

Hux had to give Eddie Seng credit Despite the urgency, he showed not the slightest sign of i on catatonic shock and needed to be treated as though she were a child Considering what Janni had been through, Julia thought she was doing fine

When Eddie had returned from his brief exploration, he’d taken a moment to drape sheets over the two bodies outside Janni’s cubicle The girl still stared at the shrouded figures as Julia led her past The three reached the hallhere nothing could have been done about the multitude of corpses Julia felt Janni’s hand stiffen in hers, but, to Janni’s credit, she stayed with them In Hux’s other hand, she carried her sample case

“That way is blocked,” Eddie said, jerking a thumb in the direction they had come “Janni, is there another way to reach the main deck from here?”

“This hallway just stops” She made sure to look him in the face so as not to stare at the dead “But there is a metal door at the end I have heard the crew use to work on so down below Maybe there is a way out”

“Perfect,” Eddie said “Must be an auxiliary access hatch”

Following the beaht, they threaded their way down the corridor and, as Janni had said, there was a large oval hatch eed the lock and peered inside He was confronted with a tangle of pipework that took him a mo pool The water is dropped down here for filtering, then sent back up”

The ship suddenly creaked, as though her hull was splitting, and the Golden Dawn lurched, nearly knocking Jannike to the floor Julia steadied her as she and Eddie exchanged a glance Ti out

Eddie went through the open hatch and looked for another way out There was a second hatch on the floor, surrounded by aHe dropped to a knee to free the locks and heaved the door open against its protesting hinges A ladder dropped into the darkness He descended as best he could, the hazotiate He was in another ed with electronics cabinets It was a distribution node for the ship’s electric supply and, nor with current Now the rooave way to another darkened hallway

“Come on down,” he shouted, and waited at the base of the ladder to guide Janni the last couple of rungs Though Eddie was of below-average height, he felt he could encircle the girl’s waist with his hands, even with her suit bulking her up like a snowman

Julia descended a second later, and Eddie led thenize where we are?”

“I’loom “Many parts of the ship are off-limits to the hotel staff, and I have not been on board for that long”

“It’s okay,” Eddie said reassuringly, sensing her frustration at not being more helpful