ORLI COVITZ
The regular trader was due to arrive at the Ikbir colony that day, and it was the first bit of excitement Orli had seen since coming here with Garrison and Seth. Living in the colony had quickly settled into a routine, even though she did enjoy the warm, calm times with Garrison.
Although the people here didn’t depend on outside trade for their survival, they still looked forward to seeing what the commercial ship brought. While automated agricultural machinery continued to till the outlying fields, the workers had started to gather around the cleared landing field. Waiting. It was like a festival day.
Garrison had gone to monitor the spaceport systems in anticipation of the trader’s arrival, but Orli worked at home. The Domestic compy MO busied herself cleaning, scrubbing, dusting, sterilizing, and polishing until the dwelling could have been used for medical research. MO was obsessive about her duties, and the Ikbir colonists were happy to have her move from home to home.
The Domestic compy emitted a synthesized hum as she went about her work, and Orli decided to head out before she left a fingerprint somewhere and earned herself a scolding from the compy. She decided to be with Garrison, who would appreciate her help.
DD waited for her at the door, apparently eager. “Shall we watch the ship land, Orli? Seth Reeves will join us.”
“Let’s make it an outing, then.” She turned to the Domestic compy. “MO, when you’re finished, you can move on to the next house.”
“I will be here for several hours yet, Orli Covitz, in order to do a good job.”
“You do that. We’re going to watch the trader land.”
Seth joined them outside of the dwelling, and they all set off. “Shouldn’t you be in school?” she asked.
“Classes canceled,” he said. “Due to the trader’s arrival, but I’d rather be with DD anyway. Besides, I already know what they’re talking about in school—did that years ago. And the other kids don’t like me.”
Orli gave him an indulgent smile. “I suppose being raised as a Roamer, you had to learn the basics from an early age.”
“I wish I could go back to Academ.”
Orli had heard the boy say the same thing several times. “That’s where you belong.” Seth had a great deal of talent, and he needed someplace where he could reach his potential.
Orli had been thinking of leaving Ikbir as well, and she knew the thought had crossed Garrison’s mind. They had laughed when they each suggested the same thing in a languid conversation just before drifting off to sleep. “I thought I wanted to put down roots, but I don’t really want to become a tree,” Orli said.
Lying beside Orli, Garrison had stroked her short, dust-mop hair. “And Roamers aren’t meant to keep their feet on the ground for very long. It might be time to move on.”
Orli pondered the places she had seen, the adventures she’d experienced, and she wanted to do something more important with herself. She was too intelligent just to curl up on Ikbir in safe retirement. The people here were satisfied with nothing more than getting through one day after another.
On the landing field, Garrison’s ship sat out in the open next to several rickety hangars, storage warehouses, and fuel silos. The Prodigal Son hadn’t been flown in weeks. Six local flyers were parked haphazardly in the landing area, scout ships and transport vessels to fly across the flat continent, though few of the colonists had any reason to venture out there. A restaurant owner had set up a food stand outside the spaceport to serve the people waiting for the trader to arrive.
Even though they didn’t know what would be on the cargo manifest, the colonists were already compiling unrealistic wish lists. They kept looking into the sky, hoping for any sign of the ship. Though Orli knew a few of their names, most of the people remained strangers to her.
With its small population, Ikbir was not a highly profitable run, but Kett Shipping required that even the outlying routes had to be serviced. Rlinda Kett had seen enough struggling colonies stranded during the Elemental War, and after a hugely successful career, she had priorities beyond mere profit. It was one of the reasons Orli liked her so much.
That reminded her that she needed to go back to talk with Rlinda face-to-face after the disaster that cost her the Proud Mary. Orli couldn’t just hide here on Ikbir; maybe she should suggest that Garrison take her on a trip to Earth.
“Is it time yet? When is the ship going to land?” Seth asked DD.
“We are within an hour of the formally scheduled arrival time, but accuracy on such long journeys cannot be guaranteed.”
One of the Ikbir farmers frowned at DD’s comment. “He’ll be on time. Yoder never lets us down.”
Before long, the trader pilot pinged the Ikbir comm tower. “I’m going to need service from your best spaceport mechanics. Where’s your main shipyard?”
“Shipyard? How about a cleared field for a landing area? I don’t know how much we can help you, Yoder,” the comm tower responded. “We don’t have any spare parts. Or any qualified starship mechanics, for that matter, though we’ve got a Roamer who’s fairly skilled at repairs.”
The pilot transmitted back, “Then we might have a problem. Now be quiet and let me concentrate as I try to land. No guarantees.”
The trading ship came down through the sky leaving a black, knotted contrail. The descending ship was tilted off its axis, flying erratically.
Garrison shaded his eyes. “He’s lost an engine.” Suddenly his expression filled with alarm, and he shouted to the crowd. “Get away from the spaceport! It’s going to be a hard landing, and he might not be on target.”
Orli picked up the call, repeating the warning, and the colonists backed away, but not quickly enough for her comforts. Garrison signaled for an emergency crew and fire-suppression teams to stand by, just in case. They could hear the cargo ship’s engine straining, coughing, and rumbling as Dando Yoder fought to bring the ship down in one piece.
“Is he going to be all right?” Seth asked.
DD said, “I cannot predict.”
“He’s coming in hard, one way or another.” Orli made sure the boy withdrew to a safer distance.
The wobbling ship screeched overhead, swooping close to the spaceport landing area. Smoke poured from its port-side engine—the levitation engine, not the stardrive. Yoder nearly clipped the hangar rooftop before he managed to pull the ship into the air again. The near miss elicited a gasp of dismay from the colonists, who stood right in the potential crash zone, despite Garrison’s warnings.
Yoder didn’t risk a landing there, though; instead, he flew the ship beyond the town and circled again as his engines struggled. Finally, far enough from the buildings and the people, the ship landed hard, slewing on the freshly plowed dirt behind one of the planting machines. The ship crunched to the ground and slid to a stop. Rooster tails of smoke and dust spewed into the air.
Garrison and Orli ran to the response vehicles being loaded up. “DD, watch Seth!” she called back, and the compy did exactly that, watching as the boy jumped aboard with his father. No one decided to argue.
The vehicles raced across the open terrain, and when they arrived at the crashed ship, they saw an old bearded trader in a scuffed jumpsuit crawling out of the access hatch. He brushed himself off. Colonists doused the smoky engines with fire-suppression foam, but Yoder just stood with his hands on his hips. Tears were running down his face as he looked at the wreck. “What a mess! How am I ever going to get this fixed?”
“Not with the facilities we have here,” Orli said.
Garrison walked along the side of the ship, assessing. “Engine’s gone, hull is split open, looks like the lower chamber has been crushed.”
“That was half my cargo,” Yoder said.
“We’ll salvage what we can,” said Garrison.
“But the colony needed those supplies,” cried one of the farmers. “We were expecting twelve new power blocks.”
Yoder wiped at his eyes. “Sorry. The engine alarm sounded as soon as I hit the atmosphere, and then I was past the point of no return. Couldn’t make it back to orbit and couldn’t land safely.” He sniffled. “Doesn’t look like my ship’s going anywhere.”
“Not soon,” Orli said.
The Ikbir colonists looked shell-shocked. They were cut off; they didn’t even have a green priest, so they could not request new supplies or the repair components Yoder’s ship needed.
Garrison glanced at Orli and then at his son, and they all seemed to be thinking the same thing. “I’ve got a ship. I could take the Prodigal Son to Newstation and dispatch a repair crew back here, have them bring a cargo of specific items Ikbir needs.”
Yoder sat heavily on a pile of stirred-up dirt from the crash. “Be my guest. This run has never made me any money, and now it just cost a bunch. I’d appreciate it if you could help me out.”
“To Newstation?” Seth brightened. “Can I come along? Can I go back to Academ?”
Orli shot a glance at Garrison, knowing they wouldn’t need to discuss it at all. She stood beside him. “Yes, I think we should go.”