Warm tears traced cooling paths down Gita’s cheeks. A buckle on her safety harness had snapped during the attack, and she’d woken up with her forehead resting on the console. Her head was pounding. Gently probing her left temple, she judged its stickiness. The blood gushing from the wound had finally slowed. She needed to tend to it, but the dizziness was still bad enough that she didn’t want to risk getting to her feet. Her heart felt distant, empty. She blinked, and the image on the pilot’s float screen swam into focus again. The deadness vanished, and a familiar deep pain flooded into the void in her chest.
Two of her closest friends were gone. And The Tempest—her ship, her home—had been destroyed with them. Gazing at what remained, she noted the starship had taken multiple direct hits and been nearly cut in two. Its engines and comm towers had been obliterated. There were limited reasons for focusing on mobility and communication during an attack. None of them presented positive long-term outcomes for her, Aoifa, and Mandy. The knowledge that Karter was on the way soothed her anxiety somewhat. But will Mirabilis get here in time?
At least someone knows we’re alive.
Lights inside the shuttle continued to flicker. The air was heavy with the sharp stench of fused electrical connections. Sparks burst from aft, popping and crackling. Aoifa battled them with a fire extinguisher. The hissing bursts added another layer of sharp chemical odor.
Is Narcissus still out there? Gita turned and pushed at the semitransparent image until she spied what she dreaded—Narcissus. The cruiser was keeping its distance but showed no signs of leaving. What are they waiting for? Wouldn’t it be easier to kill us now? And if they aren’t planning to, then why aren’t they coming to take us prisoner?
She unlocked and rotated the pilot’s seat. Her neck was stiff, and looking over her shoulder was painful. “Is the fire out?”
“Aye.” Aoifa turned to face her. She dabbed at blood from a cut above her right eyebrow with the back of a sleeve. It was dripping into her eyes. “Looks worse than it is, I’m thinking. Hull is holding. Life support is functional for now. Where’s the emergency med kit?” She scanned the wreckage.
The electrical fire was no longer a problem, but the lights were still blinking on and off. Aoifa waded through the chaos. She moved a broken wall panel. “Ah, here it is.”
Gita did a more thorough self-check. She had a bloody bump on the side of her head but no other obvious wounds. Her neck was sore, and her shoulder had been badly bruised when the safety harness had been sheared off. She’d also been unconscious for a short time. Concussion? Probably. How bad? “I’m not seeing double, and my vision is clear.” She felt the bump on her head and winced. “And I remember everything that happened. That’s good. Right?”
“Let’s have a wee peek.” Aoifa stepped to her side and began tending to Gita’s head injury.
When Aoifa was finished, Gita bandaged Aoifa’s wound. According to their medbots, neither of them were in bad shape. Gita had a mild concussion, Aoifa a few cuts.
With that done, Gita returned her attention to the float screen. She hoped Sycorax had gotten the report out before the comms were destroyed. There was no way to know for sure. The thought sharpened the pain in her heart. At least help was on the way.
I should warn Karter about Narcissus. Suddenly, Gita couldn’t shake the feeling that Narcissus was waiting for just that. They were watching what she’d do next—whom she’d pull into her troubles. Waiting. Maybe even listening to our comms? Is that paranoid?
Her gaze went back to what had once been The Tempest’s comm towers.
What if it isn’t paranoid? What if this is a trap, and we’re the bait?
If so, I’m so sorry, Karter. I truly am.
But why? Nothing made sense. Her head ached in spite of the painkillers. Her thoughts were sluggish. Did they know we lied about being on Boötes?
All at once, the fog inside her skull dissipated in a flash, bright panic obliterating it like a bolt of powerful sunlight. She debated sending a second message, but any action that might provoke Narcissus was far too risky as long as they were without protection. Or, more importantly, witnesses. It was a point that Dru would most certainly bring up.
But Dru is gone.
The echo of her scream clawed at Gita’s heart. Again, grief stung the backs of her eyes. Her nose ran, and she sniffed. A stray thought floated to the surface: everything she owned had been on The Tempest. She didn’t even have a change of clothes. Neither of them did.
I’m in charge. I should be doing something.
During training, she’d been accused of being too emotional, too sensitive for leadership roles. What Search and Rescue command had seen as a fault had turned out to be an asset when working with artificial personalities. Empathy had been useful—even in salvage. She had used her emotions and expertise to save a number of artificial persons trapped in broken ships. So, she stubbornly refused to feel bad for this trait. At this moment however, she understood why they’d washed her out of the command track. Perhaps she was even glad of it.
She closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath to center herself. I can’t sit here and cry. There’s too much to do. A small voice in the back of her mind that sounded a great deal like Karter whispered, Survival first. Feelings later.
But feeling is surviving. She clenched a fist around her old resentment, held it, and let it go with a second slow, deep breath.
Is Mandy alive? She swallowed guilt and stared at the minute twinkle some distance from Ariel. The pod’s running lights. Gita switched on the comms and once more opened a private channel with the escape pod. “Mandy? Are you there? Hello?”
There was no answer. She gave it several more tries before giving up.
“Why isn’t she answering?” Aoifa finished repacking the items they’d used from the med kit and placed it on the floor next to the command console.
“Maybe her comm system is damaged?” Or maybe Mandy isn’t inside. Gita checked for the escape pod’s location beacon. It would have the number of occupants encoded into the signal. Hope dimmed. Her eyebrows pinched together, and the new knot in her stomach tightened. “The beacon isn’t there. It should be on.” The location beacon was designed to engage automatically. Had it been switched off? Or was it damaged? If it had been shut off, someone had done so deliberately, and that could be only Mandy.
“My mother had a saying for situations like this. Better to have a little hope than none at all.” Aoifa indicated aft with a sideways nod. “I’ll see if I can find Ri and Boötes.”
Gita blinked. Why didn’t I think of that? What’s wrong with me? Shame kept her from meeting Aoifa’s gaze. “Yes, please.”
Aoifa wove her way through broken ship parts to the cargo hold and stopped at one of the electrical panels. “First I have to do something about the fucking lights. They’re doing my head in.”
Staying seated, Gita decided to run some diagnostics. It’d give them a place to start. In addition, she’d be ready to answer Mandy’s call the moment she heard it. Be strong. Aoifa and Mandy need you.
Aoifa yanked a panel open, produced a small flashlight from her pocket, and began tinkering with the electrical components. Abruptly, darkness descended. “Don’t be worrying yourself.” She spoke around the end of the flashlight between her teeth. Both hands dug around inside the panel. “All will shine. Just… like… that!”
And the lights came back on.
“Thanks,” Gita said.
“You’re welcome.” Aoifa slammed the panel closed. “Right. What was next?” She continued on toward the rear of the shuttle. “Find Ri and Boötes.”
“Please visually inspect the bulkheads, while you’re at it.” Gita swiveled in the chair to get at the pilot’s console. The pain in her skull was no longer sharp, and she felt more lucid than she had since they’d been attacked. “I’ll compile a damage report, and then we’ll make a list.”
Breaking things into clearly defined steps made overwhelming problems less intimidating. Right now, they both needed calm. She fished out her hand terminal and found the screen was cracked. With an inward sigh, she opened a file, then used the float screen to scan the various status reports. She muttered to herself as she worked. It was a habit she hadn’t been able to break—it helped her think, particularly when her thoughts were scattered. “Environmental systems have some minor damage, but they’re functioning. Main engines are inoperable…”
She’d gotten through half of her reports and paused. “How’s it going back there?”
“I found the storage units. They’re undamaged. I checked the state of the data. Boötes is fine. But… I have to tell you something about Ri, and I don’t want you to get upset.”
“Are Ri’s files corrupted? How bad is it?”
“The data on the unit is fine.” Aoifa bit her lip and looked away.
“Then what’s the problem?”
“The data on the storage unit… it’s not Ri.”
“What?” Gita centered herself before she could start screaming. “Then where is she?”
“There’s a simple text file. It’s addressed to you,” Aoifa said. “Maybe she explains in the message? I’ll copy it to your hand terminal.”
“She said she’d be there. Artificial persons can’t lie.” Numb, Gita navigated the menus on her hand terminal until she found the message. Can’t or don’t? She opened it.
Mata,
If you’re reading this, you know that I’m not where I said I’d be. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to lie. Please get the data on this unit to Aunt Aggie. It’s vital—certainly more important than my own existence. It contains all the data I collected about the mining operation on Loki’s Ring and the subsequent accident on the platform. It’s urgent that Aggie gets these files. With them, she might be able to prevent a disaster that could destroy the TRW, nullify space travel, and kill billions.
You’ll find me with the surviving crew on the surface of the Ring. I’ll stow away on one of the shuttles. I tried, but I couldn’t abandon the crew, especially Wes, my partner on this mission. I hope you understand. We both know you are our best chance. Please, Mata. Come find me.
I love you. I always will.
Ri
“What does it say?” Aoifa asked.
Aggie Neumeyer is Mata’s friend. The spook. Gita blinked back more tears. Ri was working for Aggie. “She’s on the Ring. She—she couldn’t leave the others.”
“Oh.”
“How much data is on the storage unit?”
“Quite a lot.”
Gita sniffed. One thing at a time. “Can you lock it down? With the strongest possible encryption protocols?”
“Not me. I’m the mechanic, remember? You’ll need Mandy for that, I’m thinking.”
“All right. Stow it somewhere secure. Someplace it won’t end up forgotten.” Gita wiped her face. “How does the aft look?”
Blinking, Aoifa paused before answering. “Bulkheads are scorched in places but appear sound.”
“From here, it looks like the shuttle’s being held together with wishful thinking.” Thank you, Vishnu. “Time for a tools inventory. What do we have?”
“Not to worry.” Aoifa’s concern switched to cheer. “I’ve got my second-best bag of tricks, and the parts printer is working.”
“When did you get a second parts printer?”
“Don’t recall exactly. I think Mandy ordered it accidentally. And well, I didn’t have the heart to return it. So, here we are with just the thing we’re likely to need to fix the engine.”
“Not without the rest of the machining gear.”
Aoifa smiled.
“You’re going to tell me you have that, too?” Gita asked.
“Well… waste not, want not.”
Gita shook her head. “I know Mandy didn’t order extras. I’d have noticed.”
“You’re right. Maybe she didn’t.”
“I shouldn’t ask any more questions, should I?” In truth, Gita was pleased.
“Now, what good is a second parts printer without the rest to go with it?”
“Which leads to the question, how did you carry all that around? It has to be heavy.”
“Well… Dru got the bulk of it into the shuttle for me. Months ago.” Aoifa bit her lip and was quiet for a moment. “Too bad my best bag of tricks went up with The Tempest. I had all the good shite in there. Mind, my third-best kit is tucked away in the escape pod. Maybe Mandy will find it useful?”
“Aoifa, sometimes you frighten me.”
A chuckle echoed in the back of the shuttle. “So, how bad does it look?”
“Well, we’re not going anywhere.”
“What about the impulse engines?” Aoifa leaned on the bulkhead and wiped dirty hands on a rag.
Gita reached into her pocket for an elastic. Taking care to avoid touching the bruised side of her head, she gathered her hair into a loose ponytail. “We’re missing both of the aft impulse jets. Port side. Most of the damage is on that part of the shuttle. The port cameras are out, too.”
“So, I’m for a wee walk outside then?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“You’re the boss.”
Continuing with the list, Gita said, “There’s a short somewhere in the computer console. It’s glitching.”
Aoifa shrugged. “Until I go over the wiring from top to bottom, there’s no knowing what will go next. That last power surge fucked us proper.”
“The rations situation is good,” Gita said, making a point to mention something positive. “There are plenty of freeze-dried meals, tofu, and mushroom patties. We may not be eating gourmet, but we won’t be starving, even if we’re here for a week.”
“That’s good to know. And how are we for water?”
“That’s where things go a bit sideways, I’m afraid.” Gita bit her lip. “We’ve lost half our supply. And a large portion of the recycling processors. Like I said, the port side took most of the damage.”
“Ah.” Aoifa’s cheerful expression faded as the implications of missing 50 percent of their water shielding from cosmic radiation sunk in. “Wait. You said we have impulse power?”
“And?”
“We’ll turn the undamaged side toward the sun.” Aoifa picked through the debris and settled into the copilot’s seat. “It won’t solve the problem. We’re in three-dimensional space, after all. But it’ll help. Like an umbrella on a sunny beach.”
Again, why didn’t I think of that? She suppressed old fears that she wasn’t fit to captain a crew, especially in a crisis.
Leaders don’t come up with all the solutions, but they do enable them. “I’ll look for the best angle.” Gita plucked a graphic representation of the shuttle from the float screen. “Back half caught the worst of it. Starboard tanks appear to be fine.”
Aoifa frowned and prodded her way through various charts and graphic depictions. “Looks like we’ve a few wee leaks.”
“Great.”
“Don’t worry—it’s nothing I can’t fix. Automatic cutoff did its job. But I need to give the whole system a good go-over, or we’ll lose the starboard tanks, too.” Aoifa turned away from the float screen and accepted Gita’s calculations, then started the impulse engines.
Gita felt the vibration through the pilot’s seat. Leaning forward, Aoifa’s brows drew together as she concentrated on rotating the ship with as little fuel as possible. Gita turned her attention to the damage report and her lists.
Aoifa relaxed into the copilot’s seat and blew air out of her cheeks. “That’s done. I’ve set it to autocorrect for drift.”
“Good.” Gita knew Aoifa could read the relief on her face. “How many days do you think we have before things get messy?”
Aoifa snorted. “Get?”
“You know what I mean.”
With that, Aoifa paused. Guilt briefly surfaced on her fine features before she spoke. “Our chances of lasting until Karter arrives drop significantly once Mandy and Grimm are on board, even if cats don’t take much space.”
“So, our margins are narrow.” Gita meant for it to be a question, but it came out a statement.
Shifting her gaze to the control panel, Aoifa nodded.
Gita looped stray hair behind one ear. “Well, the good news is that we have enough air.”
“Filters will be a problem. I can’t find the spares.” Aoifa glanced over her shoulder. “Doesn’t mean they aren’t there. It’s only…” Her words faded as she gestured at the broken chaos that was the rest of the ship.
“The portside solar panels went with the water tanks.” Gita pointed out the problem on the floating image.
“We’ve the starboard panels. And they’re charging. Well, except for that one. And that one.”
Thank Vishnu for redundancies, Gita thought. “How are we for power then?”
“I’ll have those margins in a moment.” Aoifa completed her calculations. “There. This is if I don’t do something with those panels. This—” She pulled a second chart of figures and emphasized three different sets of numbers with an index finger as she spoke. “—is if I can recover one, two, and all three of the damaged panels.”
“All right.” Gita studied the scorched ceiling.
“Wiring needs to be gone over first. None of this does us any good if the electric shorts or overloads the moment we go to full power.”
Gita added a wiring inspection to her list of tasks. “Do you have a circuit breaker finder?”
Aoifa gave her an offended look. “How could you even ask?” She pointed to the large black gym bag lying on the floor at her feet.
“You expect me to dig around in that to find it?”
“I expect you to wait until I find it for you. No one touches my bag of tricks but me.”
“That’s fair.”
“Now, kindly let me read.” Aoifa winked.
Gita went back to her damage reports and struggled to not become overwhelmed. After a few minutes, Aoifa produced two circuit breaker finders from the bag and handed one over. The tool was shaped like a palm-sized handle with a short steel wand on one end.
“It’ll go twice as fast if there’s two of us.” Aoifa gave her a small hinged box. “Use the earbuds. Two sets of tones sounding off won’t do your head any good.”
“After wiring inspection,” Gita said, “we’ll focus on the water tanks. Then the solar panels and finally the main engine. After that, we’ll be ready for Mandy.”
That is, if Mandy’s all right.
She spared another worried glance at the escape pod before starting. Beginning at the fore, they worked their way aft. Aoifa took on the port side while Gita checked starboard.
Laying on the deck, Gita opened the main panel underneath the command console. She coughed and waved away thin white smoke. An acrid smell burned her sinuses, making the inside of her nose itch. Blinking until her eyes cleared, she didn’t spy other signs of an active fire. Inserting the buds in her ears, she turned on the circuit breaker finder and lost herself in testing bundles of cables.
Several hours later, they took a meal break. Just as they were returning to work, loud static blared out of the shuttle’s ceiling speaker. Gita started, almost hitting her sore head on the underside of the command console.
“Gita? Anyone?” The terror bled through the words, and it took Gita a moment to recognize Mandy’s voice. “Can you hear me?”
Gita scrambled to her feet and gracelessly dropped into the pilot’s chair—wincing with pain as her headache reacted to the abrupt movement. “You’re alive!”
“I am. Grimm, too.”
Aoifa shouted in joy.
Gita said, “We’ve been trying to reach you!”
“I know.” Mandy’s voice returned to its former monotone serenity. “I heard you. But I couldn’t answer.”
“What happened?” Gita pushed hair out of her eyes.
“I knew Narcissus didn’t want anyone to know about the accident. So I smashed the location beacon. But my comms were damaged in the process.”
“Fair.” Gita’s long, thick hair was slipping from its knot. She smoothed it as best she could without a brush and twisted it back into a bun to get it out of her face.
“When can you get us?” Mandy asked.
“Ariel got hit pretty hard.” Gita glanced to Aoifa. “There are several things that factor into that answer.”
“We’re good for going around in circles on impulse power, but Gita thinks that’d be a waste of fuel,” Aoifa said.
“Oh.” Mandy sounded disappointed.
Aoifa placed a hand on the back of her neck and stretched. “The worst of it is, we haven’t found the extra filters for the oxygen scrubbers.”
“So you’ll need to stay snug where you are for as long as you can manage. If you can’t do that, tell me now,” Gita said.
“I can wait.” Mandy sounded uneasy. “The pod is fully charged.”
“Are you sure?” Gita asked.
“Grimm will keep me company. And I have two novels,” Mandy said. “One I haven’t read yet.”
“Oh, Mandy.” Aoifa sighed. “I’m so sorry about your library.”
“I can always find more books.”
“Do me a favor and check in periodically, will you?” Gita decided the added contact would make sitting alone less stressful.
“I will.” Mandy paused. “Is Dru all right? I can’t hear her. She hasn’t complained once.”
The mention of Dru’s name stopped Gita’s breath. Her vision blurred. You didn’t tell her about Dru. “I’m sorry. She—she didn’t make it. She went back for Grimm.” Everything suddenly became clear. We left her behind. I left her behind. I should’ve stopped her. But I panicked.
Aoifa cut in. “She was gone by the time we knew to stop her.”
Mandy didn’t say anything for six heartbeats. “Shit.”
That one word, so inadequate and so right at the same time. Gita found herself apologizing before she knew it. “I’m so sorry.”
Aoifa’s tone was sharp. “Don’t you blame yourself.”
“But—”
“But nothing,” Aoifa said. “If we hadn’t taken off, there’d be four of us dead instead of two.”
“Sycorax?” Mandy asked.
“She’s gone, too.” Hot tears poured down Gita’s cheeks.
That was when Aoifa scrambled up from the deck and gave Gita a hug. Together, they had a good cry. After a few minutes, Gita released Aoifa. Mandy agreed to contact them every hour, and they signed off.
Returning to work was difficult at first, but the quiet progress made Gita less anxious. They ended up replacing most of the portside wiring and electrical systems. With that done, they repaired the internal leaks in the water tanks and the damaged pipes. The oxygen scrubber filters weren’t on the shuttle.
Aoifa shrugged. “We can make new ones.” She pointed to the parts printer.
“That thing can’t produce fine mesh. It’s designed for bulky engine parts.” Gita put her one hand on her hip. She was holding a freshly printed pipe in place while Aoifa applied sealant.
“I’ve a t-shirt I’m willing to sacrifice to the cause.”
“You’ve only what you’re—” Gita stopped herself. “Oh.”
Slipping the now-sealant-coated pipe end into the connector, Aoifa said, “I’m wearing a sports bra. And the t-shirt was clean this morning.”
“I’m not complaining.”
“Good.” Aoifa checked her watch. “That should set for a wee bit. It’s the last of what I can do inside.”
Gita scanned the list of remaining tasks. “This seems like a lot for one person.”
“To be sure, the oxygen won’t last the whole job. I’ll have to do it in stages.”
Nodding, Gita sighed.
At the end of the day, they had a good idea of what all was wrong and what could be done. They planned to replace the impulse jets in the morning. Aoifa set the printer to building new parts, then curled up on one of the passenger couches to sleep. Before Gita did the same, she checked the power consumption. The printer was using quite a lot of energy, and the shuttle’s batteries weren’t charging as fast as she’d hoped.
Gita glanced at the engine compartment. They’d saved that for last. With a little luck, Mirabilis would pick them up long before they’d need to.
She wished she knew exactly when to expect Karter.
Gita’s thoughts shied away from what would happen when she spoke to Karter for the first time in person since the disaster at Beta-X45J. She told herself that busy people didn’t have time for things like fear, regret, and resentment, but she knew better. She drifted to sleep as fresh guilt danced along the circumference of her skull to the rhythmic buzzing and clicking of the printer.
After five hours of restless sleep, they forced down a breakfast of protein bars and instant coffee—Aoifa had the coffee, Gita some strong black tea. Mandy checked in with a quick good morning. Then Aoifa suited up to replace broken impulse jets. Praying that nothing would go wrong, Gita monitored Aoifa’s progress on the audio channel. While she waited, she estimated battery life statistics on the pilot’s console.
“Aoifa? While you’re out there, do you think you could conduct a brief inspection of the solar panels?”
“There are none on this side. And I can’t replicate any. I’ve only my second-best bag of tricks, remember?”
“I’m not asking about the port side.”
“Ah. Made a pass yesterday. Everything seemed fine.” Doubt colored Aoifa’s words.
“The consumption report indicates something may have changed since then.”
“I wish we had a drone.”
“Don’t start.”
“I could create a chassis. It wouldn’t be that hard. And you could—”
“No.”
“I need help out here.”
“And I’m not sure we’ll have the power. That printer of yours used up a great deal of energy.” Gita hoped that Aoifa would take that answer and not press further. The truth was, Gita wasn’t sure she could withstand losing another artificial person—or even a narrow AI powerful enough to understand and acknowledge commands, run cameras, and use an articulated arm.
“Understood. I’ll wrap this up in another twenty minutes. The bracket is banjaxed, and I have to glue the fucker.”
“See you then.”
With that, Gita began calculating power-saving scenarios. Twenty-seven minutes passed without her noticing.
“Ah, Gita? I’m looking at starboard solar panel 3A. And it’s cracked.”
“What?”
“There’s a big piece of ship’s hull planted square in the middle. I can reroute the energy-collection wiring, but that panel is royally fucked.”
“So, we’re down another panel?”
“Afraid so.”
Gita felt her heart speed up. Not good. She cast her gaze about the inside of the ship, taking inventory of all the lights she could shut off. It wasn’t much, but it was something, and eventually, that something would be important—no matter how small it was. “All right. Thanks.”
“I’d stay and fix it, but I’m running low on air. And I’m fucking knackered.”
“Come on in. I’ll have another cup of coffee ready.”
When Aoifa returned, she dropped into the copilot’s couch with an exhausted sigh. The round, fluffy ponytail on the crown of her head had been slightly flattened by her helmet, and her face glistened with perspiration. She’d unzipped the top half of her suit down to her waist and left it bunched around her hips. Removing her elastic, she finger combed her curls into a fluffy, if slightly uneven, afro. Scratching her scalp with her fingernails, she sighed. “That feels wonderful.”
Gita handed off a warm cup. “Well?”
“I’ll test the jets after I catch my breath.” Aoifa stopped to take a sip of coffee. “Bit dark in here.”
Shrugging, Gita said, “Why waste energy?”
“But you’re still running the heating element for coffee?”
“That’s essential.”
Aoifa nodded. “Fucking right.” She finished her cup.
Gita stood and stretched. Her back and shoulder muscles were cramping. She didn’t think that would go away until this was over and everyone was safe.
Taking over the navigation controls, Aoifa began slowly turning the ship with small, controlled bursts of energy. Ariel responded eagerly—as if she were ready to get far, far away from L-39 and the border zone. Gita bit her lip as Mandy’s pod came into view on the front cameras.
Almost there, Mandy, Gita thought. You’ll be with us before you know it.
“Done.” Aoifa gave her a weak smile.
Suddenly, Gita realized she hadn’t given any positive feedback to Aoifa since the start of their problems. Some captain you are in a crisis. “You’re doing a magnificent job.”
“Don’t I fucking know it.” Aoifa smiled. “Guess it’s time to talk about Mandy. We can get her now; my vote is that we should. No telling what might happen to a pod on its own like that.”
“But that’s what it’s designed for.”
Aoifa sucked air between her teeth. “It just doesn’t feel right.”
Gita paused. “What if we brought the pod closer?”
Aoifa’s face brightened, and for a moment, Gita caught a glimpse back into her modeling days. “I’ve just had a brilliant idea.”
“We could sorely use one of those.”
“What if we scavenged the pod? It has a solar panel charger. Better yet, if we lash the whole thing to the port side, it can provide shielding.”
“That’s perfect.”
Gita hailed Mandy and gave her the news. Mandy didn’t say it, but it was clear she was both relieved and thrilled at the prospect.
“Course calculated and entered.” Aoifa activated the floating projection.
Looking on, Gita felt her mouth curl into a smile as the course was sketched in bright green across the backdrop of Loki’s Ring.
“Ready. Steady. Go.” Aoifa crossed her fingers, then fired up the impulse jets.
Ariel’s progress toward the escape pod was excruciatingly slow. Gita tempered the wait by preparing for her walk. Steering the shuttle without further damaging it would be a delicate business, and Aoifa was the better pilot. So Gita would be the one to go out and secure the escape vehicle to the side.
Climbing into an environment suit in the shuttle’s small airlock, Gita kept an eye on the monitor. The escape pod grew in size until it took up half the camera’s view. With gentle bursts that Gita could faintly hear via the stresses on the hull, Aoifa positioned Ariel so the aft cargo hatch faced Mandy’s pod. Once the shuttle matched the escape vessel’s drift, Aoifa activated the autopilot.
Aoifa spoke on the ship-to-suit channel. “Ready?”
Gita looked up at the monitor. “Almost.” She grabbed her helmet, shoved her head into it, and flipped the clamps to seal it. Once diagnostics finished, she picked up the grappling unit and switched her comms to Mandy’s channel. “Are you strapped in?”
“Yes.”
While waiting for the air to finish cycling, Gita reviewed her task list. This was going to be a long walk. She tapped her heels together like Aoifa always did for luck, checked the lead anchoring the grappling unit to her suit, and pushed herself outside. First thing, she snapped her tether to the anchor ring next to the outer hatch. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have trusted a bent anchor.
Gita fired the grapple. The force of the mechanism propelling the clamp toward the escape pod shoved her backward, her spine thumping against the hull. A brief warning appeared on her HUD and vanished.
Loki’s Ring spun in front of her like an enormous obsidian wheel rim. From the new viewpoint, she took in fresh details. There was nothing natural about it—at least not what she’d come to know as natural. What she’d taken for an absolute black veneer now yielded another picture. The Ring’s exterior was coated in a viscous liquid. Here and there, she spied momentary ripples of chartreuse that faded into a green-tinged black.
Were those there before? Why didn’t the cameras pick that up? The skin along her arms and the back of her neck broke out in clammy goose bumps.
“Is everything okay?” Mandy asked.
The question brought Gita back to the present. “Sorry. Have you ever had a close look at the Ring?”
“Not really.”
“It’s creepy.” Gita pulled her gaze from the artificial world and focused on steadying the line connected to the magnetic clamp. It landed against the escape pod’s hull. She tested the connection. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
Well, almost, Gita thought. When they ran out of power, they would be faced with freezing to death and choking on carbon dioxide.
Help will arrive in time.
Still, escape pods were notoriously cramped—barely big enough for two human occupants. The shuttle would feel less like a coffin.
She converted the launching mechanism into a winch with the press of a button and anchored it in place against the hull. After that, she gently pushed herself thirty feet along Ariel’s port hull, taking care to not snag herself on ragged steel edges. She stopped after finding a secure anchor for the second grappling line. With the second line in place, she scooted to safety before remotely engaging both winches. The escape pod began its journey to Ariel’s side. Gita stood on the shuttle’s hull, keeping an eye on progress.
Next came the hard part: getting Mandy from the escape pod to the shuttle. Mandy was agoraphobic. It wasn’t unusual; many long-term spacers developed agoraphobia. Gita saw it as a reasonable reaction to everyday danger. She’d resolved her own anxieties by accepting that her life depended on small safety margins anywhere she went, including space stations. It didn’t hurt that Gita had been born into space travel, thanks to the family business.
The escape pod executed a slow-motion crash against Ariel’s hull. She felt the impact in the soles of her mag boots. “Are you okay in there?” she asked, watching small pieces of the hull drift away.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Lashing the pod to the shuttle should’ve been a job for two or three people. Gita consulted her oxygen meter, which told her she had about twenty minutes to get Mandy inside.
Switching to the shuttle channel, she spoke to Aoifa. “How’s it going in there?”
“Brilliant. The radiation levels took a sharp drop. Now we’re sucking diesel.”
“So it’s going to work?”
“Aye. That it is.”
Gita blew air out of her cheeks and smiled. “You know, if I had the power to pay bonuses, I’d owe you a big one.”
“You’d have come up with the same idea eventually.”
“Sure.”
“Oh, ye of little faith in yourself.”
“I’m pretty certain that’s not how it goes.”
“It’s how it goes now.” Aoifa hesitated. “You know how I feel about Mandy. I love her dearly. But I’m not envying you this next part.”
“Maybe it won’t be so bad.”
“You’re an optimist, so you are. Call me up when it’s all over or when youse need me to come pry her out of the tin.” Aoifa’s accent was becoming more pronounced by the minute.
“I don’t think it’ll come to that,” Gita said.
“I hope you’re right.”
Flipping back to Mandy’s channel, Gita replied, “All right. The time has come. You can come out now.”
“Do I have to?”
“We’re salvaging the escape pod. If we don’t, the shuttle won’t make it another ten hours. Battery is failing, and more than half the solar panels are down.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”
“You always have a plan.”
“That’s my job. I’m running a tether between the pod and Ariel. We’ll use it to guide you into the airlock—it’ll be over before you know it. The winch will do all the work. You don’t even have to open your eyes.”
“What about Grimm?”
“Grimm gets to demonstrate how easy it is. Is he in the carrier?”
“He’s not happy.”
“But he’s in the carrier, right?” Gita repeated.
Years of rescue experience meant endless examples of why one didn’t take shortcuts. So Gita had one firm rule: anyone on board the ship when it left dock had an emergency safety plan. Ever since Dru had acquired Grimm, a hard, vacuum-rated pet carrier was stowed in both the escape pod and the shuttle.
“I put him in after the pod launched. He’s been there since.”
“Good girl.”
“Grimm’s collar says he doesn’t like it.”
“What cat would?” Gita asked. “All right, the line is next to the escape pod’s hatch. You won’t even have to wait for me to open Ariel’s door.”
“I don’t like this, Gita.”
“I’ve seen you do all sorts of things you didn’t think you could—this is just one more on a long list. You’re amazing, Mandy. Do you know that?”
Mandy didn’t answer.
“Are you ready?” Gita grabbed one of the tethers and deactivated her mag boots. Then she began making her way to the pod.
“I guess.”
“Is your suit sealed?”
“It’s sealed.”
Gita laid a hand against the pod’s hatch and positioned herself. “Time to open up. I’m right here. You’ll be able see me.”
Twenty-five seconds passed, and Gita was about to ask Mandy if she was coming out when the hatch bolts blew. Gita peered inside. The environment suit Mandy was wearing had been measured for the Mandy of three years earlier. She looked uncomfortable. Gita cursed herself for not requiring suit updates for Mandy like everyone else. Mandy’s long, thick, silky hair had been haphazardly bunched on top of her head before cramming on the helmet. Gita didn’t know how she hadn’t gotten some of it caught in the neck seal. This was one of the reasons why short hair was standard for all genders in Search and Rescue.
Gita put out a hand and kept her voice calm. “Take a few deep breaths and then give me Grimm.”
This was the first test. One end of the elongated cat carrier appeared in the open pressure door. It was a fancy model with a food-and-water dispenser, waste system, and tiny gravity generator—because no one wanted to deal with a cat in zero G. Cat barf at 03:00 was bad enough as a short-term situation. Floating cat barf at 03:00 without gravity was the worst of all possible worlds because there was no foreseeable barf-free future. Peeking through the little window, Gita spied Grimm. He was normally easygoing, but now, his shadowy figure was pacing back and forth, his ears flat against his skull. She briefly connected to his collar and got an unpleasant earful.
Opening that box will be like tripping a spring-loaded trap with razor-clawed weasels caught in it, she thought. Not that she knew what a weasel was, but she’d read the fierce mammal was related to the stoat. What was a stoat again?
Stop stalling. She grasped the carrier’s handle before it could drift too far. “Do you want me to talk to you while I’m gone, Mandy?”
“I’ll be okay.”
“Of course. Do that box-breathing exercise we talked about. Four seconds in, four holding it, four out. I’ll be back in a minute.”
When Gita returned, Mandy was hunched inside the pod, hands digging onto the padded walls as if she were under threat of being sucked out. The resemblance between her and Grimm would’ve been comical in a less dire situation.
“How’re you doing?”
“Not good,” Mandy muttered. She was breathing in short, ragged gasps.
“Everything will be all right.” Gita did her best to sound unconcerned, upbeat. Not pressured for time.
“No, it won’t,” Mandy said. “But I’m doing it anyway.”
“There’s our girl.”
“I’m not.”
“What?” Gita held out her hand.
“A girl. I’m forty-two. I’m a grown woman.”
If Mandy wanted to be angry instead of terrified, Gita would happily support it. “Right. Sorry.” She grabbed Mandy’s outstretched hand and resisted the urge to hug her instead of attaching a tether to her suit.
“Now you can’t go anywhere alone,” Gita said.
Mandy’s eyes squeezed shut. Her lips were pressed together, and her tan complexion had taken on a gray tinge. She nodded.
“Can you let go of my hand?” Gita needed both to pull them along the line.
Mandy reluctantly complied.
“Here we go.” The air inside of Gita’s suit was growing humid and stale. A bad sign. Her armpits were sticky and damp, and she was sure her heartbeat was too fast. Nonetheless, she locked her gaze on the shuttle and moved hand over hand along the line.
It wasn’t far, but it felt like hours. Gita finally guided Mandy inside and cranked the airlock handle. It was going to feel so good to take off her helmet and collapse. She wanted nothing more than to drink a gallon of water and peel off her bulky environmental suit. When the seal indicator turned green on the outer hatch, she let out a sigh of relief.
Turning to Mandy, she smiled. “See? We made it.”
And the power went out.