The Mississippi Company

by Mark Kertzman

Chapter 20

“This is getting way too serious,” Jon muttered to himself again.

This time, he saw Ravi leap through the steel-rimmed portal in the bulkhead, slamming the heavy pressure hatch behind him. His e-pistol was in his hand, held straight out in front of him and pointed at the now-closed hatch.

He couldn’t help replaying Ravi’s shot at him in his mind. Jon now knew that he had taken an awful risk, going into the shed alone. He also knew that he had been lucky.

With his gun still in front of him and adrenaline singing in his blood, Jon sprinted towards the bulkhead. He impacted the wall with his back, flattening himself against the bulkhead near the door. Then he quickly bobbed up and back down, glancing through the little window set in the thick steel portal.

Nothing.

Risking another glance, he ensured that the chamber beyond was empty.

It was hard work spinning the little wheel to undog the hatch and swing it open. The pressure-containment chamber beyond was short and bright, ending in an identical pressure hatch. It was equal labour for him to work the wheel on that hatch, but he didn’t open it right away. When the wheel mechanism thunked to a stop, Jon took a deep breath, then pushed the hatch open as fast as he could.

With the hatch mostly open, Jon ducked back under cover, crouching at the side of the portal and protected by the bulkhead wall. He popped his head out quickly, glancing around the edge of the door frame. His eyes roamed wildly, trying to find any sign of the fugitive.

The section beyond the bulkhead was all one massive hydroponics bay. A wide catwalk extended in a line through the bay towards the matching bulkhead hatch on the far wall. To either side, green plants exploded in a riot of flora. Rows of low shrubs and ground plants alternated with thickets of higher-growing plants.

Still crouching in cover, Jon peered from around the wall. He couldn’t see any sign of Ravi, but there was more than enough foliage to serve as cover.

Every so often, low steps led off the catwalk and into the bays. The first set was about thirty metres away. Setting his jaw and gripping his weapon tightly, Jon hopped through the hatch. He jogged rapidly towards the first stairs, keeping to one side of the catwalk and trying to watch everywhere at once. His footfalls rang softly.

He was badly startled when someone appeared farther down the catwalk. The range was too long to shoot, but Jon raised his pistol instinctively. The figure turned towards him.

“You no leave door open!” an older Oriental woman, clad in a set of drab gray working coveralls, exhorted him from afar.

“Get down!” Jon yelled.

The shot rang out, clear as a bell, pinging off the catwalk.

Jon threw himself off the catwalk, landing in wet greenery. He rolled to his feet, and ran in an awkward bent-over crouch down the row. Another shot rang out, but this time the bullet whined away from behind him.

He reached the end of the row, and sprinted up the tight aisle between the hydroponics racks and the curvature of the inner hull. He was fairly certain that Ravi was on the other side of the main catwalk from him. Thinking furiously, he quickly hatched a plan to skirt the entire hydroponics facility, cross the main catwalk stealthily, and come up behind Ravi.

Tall stalks of corn reared up to Jon’s right. He took advantage of their cover, plowing through them. They were planted so thickly that he was slowed to a careful weaving walk, angling through the field towards where he thought the catwalk was.

Maybe it was the thickness of the foliage; maybe it was Jon’s intensity. In any event, he didn’t see the tall, lanky figure until he was almost upon it. Suddenly, there was Ravi, also stalking through the corn. Jon caught sight of him in his peripheral vision. With a gasp, he swiveled towards Ravi, who was turning towards him.

To be continued...

To Challenge 440...