‘You! Don’t be stupid,’ said Krushkov incredulously, as Brigard recoiled. ‘Get me Herbet, I want someone who knows the Colossus.’
Brigard picked up the key and trudged over to the cell door. He pointed it at the door, which unlocked and slid back.
‘Mr. Herbet. Come to the door immediately,’ he said weakly.
Herbet had already got to his feet, and was rubbing his numb backside.
‘Yeah I know, I heard him,’ he said. He walked up and stepped past the door, which closed shut behind him.
Krushkov slapped him across the back of the head, nearly knocking him over.
‘Don’t talk to Brigard like that,’ he shouted.
He took out his blaster, and pointed it at Herbet’s head.
‘Time to make yourself useful. We need to stop the ship spinning,’ he said.
‘Okay,’ said Herbet, shaken by Krushkov’s rebuke.
Herbet hesitated.
‘You realise that will stop the artificial gravity,’ he said.
‘I know that!’ said Krushkov with disdain.
Zak brought up Ship Rotation in preparation for thwarting the docking attempt. He was wary of Krushkov’s explosive temperament and apprehensive about putting it to the test again.
Herbet was given an identical setup to Geremi, a chair facing the screen positioned above the table. He also accessed Ship Rotation. The current rotation rate was reported as ten metres per second.
‘Ten!’ exclaimed Krushkov. ‘That’s not right you know.’
Like Geremi, Herbet had logged in under Maximum Security Clearance. Zak could see the real value of the rotation rate on his own screen. It was as he had set it – sixteen.
Herbet entered a command, then nodded at Krushkov.
Krushkov spoke again. This time his voice boomed over the ship’s loudspeaker system.
‘Attention everyone! We’re going to turn off the artificial gravity for a short while. I suggest you tuck yourselves under the nearest table, as anyone seen floating around will be used as target practice.’
