|
er ships were
stored and maintained. Wendy stood expressionless.
"Our final stop is the one you will find most interesting. Walk this way. I
suppose I really needn't have bored you with all the other details of the
operations of this ship, but I couldn't help myself. I'm quite proud of her,
you know. Ah, here we are".
They stood outside a closed hatch leading from the command bridge. Major
Andria pressed Aika's thumb to the lock. It acknowledged Aika's thumbprint and
requried Aika's to type in a complex code of numbers. At last, the hatch slid
open.
The room beyond was nearly empty; surrounded by blank walls sat a man,
strapped into a chair. His eyes were closed and for all Wendy could tell he
might have been dead. The chair itself was large and complex, various
screens and keypads built into it. Oddly, most of these were on the sides
and back of the chair and not on the arms where he could easily reach them.
Large tubes and bundles of wires dangled between the ceiling and the back of
the chair.
"This," explained Major Andria, "is Commander Jon Karlson. Commander Karlson
is our communications officer. What you see before you is his life support
system. I know it must look outrageously bulky to you, but there is a
requ
|
