CHAPTER 14

The door retracted again. As Dash fell, stunned, to the ground, the door closed again, smashing into his legs.

"Dash!" Zak and Tash cried together. They were already reaching for his legs. They yanked him to safety just as the door struck at him again.

Dash Rendar didn't move.

"Is he-?" Zak asked.

Tash touched his neck and felt a pulse. "No, I think he's just knocked out. What happened to that door?"

"Malik must have happened to it," Zak guessed. He remembered the security cams SIM had mentioned. If Malik had access to the droid programming and even the door programming, then he could surely be watching them through the security monitors. "He knows we're here."

Tash tried to lay Dash out on the floor as comfortably as possible.

"So now what? This is where we wanted to be."

Zak pointed to the door. It was open again, and very inviting. It may have been his imagination, but it seemed to be humming eagerly, waiting. "I don't think either one of us wants to try going through there. Let me get some advice."

As her brother headed for a nearby computer station, Tash shook her head. "Zak, are you sure that's safe? I mean, if Malik is controlling the ship, maybe he's controlling the computer as well."

"I don't think so," Zak replied as he typed. "Remember, SIM was damaged by the fake explosion, too. Lots of his systems went down. Malik probably had to dismantle SIM to take control of the ship. I'd say SIM's on our side."

While his sister watched over Dash, Zak punched through the program to reach SIM.

HI, ZAK. WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY A GAME

"You've got to work on your sense of humor," Zak typed. "We need help."

I KNOW. I TOLD YOU TO GO TO THE CONTROL ROOM. YOU'VE ONLY WASTED

TIME.

"I know," Zak agreed. "We need to get into the transmitter room, but the door is a trap. Can you fix it?" SIM replied: I HAVE NO CONTROL

OVER DOOR FUNCTIONS AT THIS TIME. IF YOU HELP ME, I WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE

OVER ALL SHIP'S FUNCTIONS, AND HELP YOU.

There was another pause. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY. IT'S YOUR BEST

MOVE.

"Tash," Zak called out. "SIM says he wants me to go to the control room. There's no other way into the transmitter room."

"Are you sure?" his sister replied. "Because I was just looking down this hallway." She pointed to the second door, the one that led to a corridor. She continued, "It looks like we could walk down that hall to the other end. There might be another entrance to the transmitter there."

"But SIM said-"

"Zak," Tash replied. "People died trying to get to this room. It's too dangerous to go to another level. We should try to find another way to send a distress signal." She stood up. "Keep an eye on Dash. I think he'll come around soon."

She approached the second door a little nervously, not wanting it to slide shut on her as the other door had on Dash. With a quick jump she hopped through the door frame. It didn't budge.

"So far so good," she said. As she started down the hallway, the door slid quietly shut behind her.

Zak waited. Dash Rendar's eyes fluttered open for a moment, but Zak could see that his eyeballs had rolled back up into his head and mostly the whites were showing. Then Dash closed his eyes, heaved a deep sigh, and was out again.

A moment later, Zak heard a tap on the door, and Tash's muffled voice came through. "Um, Zak, the door at the other end is locked. Can you open this one?"

"I didn't lock it," he replied, standing up. He approached the door, which should have slid open automatically.

It didn't move.

"Tash, I don't want to scare you," Zak said as calmly as possible.

"But I think you're locked out."

"That doesn't scare me," Tash called back. Zak noticed a faint hissing sound from on the other side of the door. "What scares me," she added with panic in her voice, "is that fact that something is sucking all the air out of this hallway. It's getting hard to breathe. I think I'm going to suffocate!"