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Two of the prisoners are patched up, but the third one is in the other operating room. I don’t know whether we can save him or not. We’re trying." O’Brine nodded. "Thanks, doctor. Now, Foster, start talking. You fired on this ship, scored a hit, and broke the airseal. No casualties, fortunately.
Ahead, Mother Corey's reared up a huge, ugly half-cylinder of pitted metal and native bricks, showing the patchwork of decades, before repairs had been abandoned. There were no windows, though once there had been; and the front was covered with a big sign that spelled out Condemned. The airseal was filthy, and there was no bell. Gordon kicked against the side, waited, and kicked again.
No time for the spacesuits in the magazine now something had just emerged from the air lock through which they had entered the second deck not many moments before. He helped the girl quickly down a section of ladderlike stairs to the airseal connecting the second deck with the storage, punched a wall button there.
How did Maulbow's creature move through the airseal locks? The operating mechanisms were simple a dog might have been taught to use them. But a dog had paws.... There came the soft hiss of the opening lock, the faintest shimmer of light to the right of the passage mouth he was watching through the door.
If Maulbow was still capable of taking a hand in matters, there was no reasonably safe place to leave her aboard the Queen. And Maulbow might be capable of it. Twice as they hurried up the narrow, angled passages along the Queen's curving hull towards an airseal leading to the next compartment, Gefty caught a trace of the ammonia-like animal odor coming over the ventilating system.
He broke off, expression changing, eyes fastened on the emergency panel. Then he turned hurriedly, reached across the side of the console for the intership airseal controls. Kerim asked apprehensively, "What's the matter, Gefty?" "Wish I knew ... exactly." Gefty indicated the emergency panel. "Little red light there, on the storage deck section it wasn't showing a minute ago.
A slit opened and closed. He waited, then drew his knife and began prying at the worn cement around the airseal, looking for the lock that had been there. The seal suddenly quivered, indicating that metal inside had been withdrawn. Gordon grinned tautly, stepped through, and pushed the blade against the inner plastic. "All right, all right," a voice whined out of the darkness.
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