Critical Dawn Read Online Free PDF Page B

less appealing.
    After managing to jam the toe of the bar into a groove, he placed his foot against the wall for leverage and heaved. The door opened a couple inches then snapped elastically shut.
    “Give me a hand. Grab the end of the bar,” he said.
    The door squeezed open a few more inches. Ben felt sweat running down his back. He was about to let go when a chair leg shot through the opened space. The door banged against it and settled, leaving a small gap.
    Maria stood on the other side.
    “We need you in here. There’s a serious problem,” she said.
    “Get Ethan over here. It’ll take the four of us to get this open,” Ben said. He turned to Erika. “Find something solid to wedge in the gap.”
    “Like what?”
    “Grab the toolbox. That should do it.”
    He gazed into the Operations Room. Three of the critical measurements were red. The fourth was green, stable. An electric crackle came from the console followed by a wisp of smoke.
    Four hands appeared, gripping around the door.
    Ben positioned the bar. Erika returned, leaned under him with the toolbox by her feet.
    “After three,” Ben shouted. He tried to count down between the rhythmic pulses of the alarm. “One … Two … Three.”
    They managed to create a two-foot gap. All seemed to be shouting through exertion in unison. Erika grunted next to his ear.
    “Now. Do it,” Ben said.
    She ducked down. The door closed a few inches against their pull. Erika slid the box in place.
    Ben couldn’t hold any longer. He let go and bent over double, resting his hands on his knees, gulping for air. The door crunched against the toolbox, but it held firm and did its job.
    He straightened and edged through the gap. A burning smell hit him as he approached the console. Not like the type when he over-cooked food, this odor had a bitter edge. The crew converged around him.
    “We’ve escalated the problem. No response,” Maria said.
    Ben looked at the switches on the console. “You tried the manual override?”
    “Same thing. What can we do?”
    He was struggling to hear a thing. “Take the bar and stop that fucking noise.”
    Erika grabbed the tool from the floor. Ethan dragged a chair to the corner of the Operations Room. In each area of the compartment was a circular plastic speaker on the ceiling.
    Ben flicked the override switches. Nothing. He pressed the console screen to escalate. No response.
    He pressed again several times. “Come on.”
    The fourth critical measurement shot from green to red.
    Sparks fizzed from behind the console, spitting across the room. Maria jumped back.
    Thumping came from behind him as Ethan and Erika attacked the speaker.
    Ben depressed the call button. “Master Control. This is the Operations Room. Do you copy?” He waited for a response. “Master Control. Are you there?”
    Maria shook his shoulder. “All eight are red. All eight are red.”
    He glanced at the status bars.
    The alarm took on a high-pitched whistle. Ben turned to see that they’d broken off the protective plastic cover. Maria cupped her ears from the piercing sound. Ethan winced as he thrust the bar against a concave, black internal structure.
    After what seemed to be minutes but was probably seconds, the shrill stopped. The jarring pulse continued in other areas of the compartment.
    “You want us to do the rest?” Erika said.
    “Okay. You two do that. We’ll deal with the fallout later,” Ben said.
    Ethan and Erika left the room.
    He tried the console screen again, pressing harder against the glass. Trying to get any kind of response from the icons.
    He thumbed the call button again. “Master Control. Are you there? Master Control …”
    “It’s no use. I was trying before …” Maria said.
    “Well, we keep trying—”
    The light flickered off, leaving the Operations Room dimly illuminated by the red status bars and green console screen.
    “Master Control. Can you hear me?” Ben said.
    The speaker buzzed and crackled. “This is