Alder's World Part One: Mass 17 (13 page)

“Looks like
we
’
ve got a real problem with
Tallen.
”

“Yup.”

“I
can
’
t imagine very many
people would follow him.
”

“Hard to say. The anger
with Pilton runs pretty deep.
”

“I guess.”
Alder helped himself to a steaming second helping
of noodles.
“
Tallen says he
wants democracy. Maybe that
’
s
a good thing, if we
’
re going
to be a colony now.
”

“Oh please. That
man
’
s idea of democracy is
getting enough people to agree with him that he can eliminate the
rest. If he takes control, the colony will be a
dictatorship.
”

Sam paused.
“
Eliminate? You think
he
’
d
kill?
”

“He has before on at least
two occasions. During the Mixili rebellion his position was overrun
by Geist Marines.
”

“Wow. They put a killer on
our ship. Who knew?
”

“Everyone. Violence is
part of human nature Sam. They put a known killer in a head of
security in case a rebellion had to be put down in the
crew.
”

“And now
he
’
s the
rebellion.
”

Elana sighed
heavily.
“
Yup. Of all the
candidates that I approved to be on the crew, he was one of only
two that I really wanted to reject.
He
’
s just too
dangerous.
”

“Who was the other one you
wanted to reject?
”

“You.
”

Alder
’
s eyebrows shot
up.
“
Me? You
didn
’
t think
I
’
d do well on the
crew?
”

“No silly. I
didn
’
t want you to go because
I was in love with you and I didn
’
t want you to die when Pilton got us all
killed.
”

“You thought Pilton would get us
killed?

“Yup.
”

“Mbaka said the same thing
yesterday. How is it that everyone but me knew this was a doomed
expedition?
”

“Oh you knew.”
Elana picked up her bowl and slurped the last of
the noodles.
“
Except that
what you thought was something like,
‘
thirty-four percent chance of
failure. That is within tolerances.
’
and then you
didn
’
t think about it again.
That mind of yours really protects you from the insecurities of
humanity.
”

Alder humphed
noncommittally and fished the last bits of tofu from bottom of the
pan.
“
Twenty-eight.”
He said, at last.

“What
’
s that?”
Elana asked, rising and taking her bowl with
her.

“I calculated a
twenty-eight percent chance that there would be a catastrophic
failure that would prevent us from
returning.
”

Elana sighed and reached
out a hand for his bowl.
“
Just perfect.
”

“I guess.”
Alder handed her the bowl, and turned to pick up
the place settings.
“
So if
you knew we were going to die, why did you come
along?
”

“Besides the fact that you
were here?”
She asked over her shoulder
while she rinsed the dishes.

“Well
yeah.
”

“I
don
’
t know. Honestly Sam, I
don
’
t. I was doing fine on
Craver Minor. I think it may have to do with the wreck of the IDF
Councillor.
”

“You
’
ve mentioned it
before.
”

“It was just such a
strange wreck. The pressure seals in one section had held. The crew
in that one section lived for more than year.
They
’
d made a little room out
of mattresses where they could crawl in and stay warm. It
wasn
’
t till the food ran out
that they died. It gave me nightmares. I think it has something to
do with why I
’
m here.
Something about them, trapped in the dark all that
time.
”

She turned around from the
dishes and saw Alder glancing furtively at the data console next to
the table.
“
Oh no you
don
’
t.”
She said drying her hands and grabbing his arm.
“
No work tonight. Tonight a massage
is in order.
”

“It
’
s okay.”
Alder protested mildly, letting her lead him into
their living area.
“
I
don
’
t need a massage. Besides
your hand is still hurt.
”

Elana laughed.
“
Who said the massage was for
you?
”

“Seal
it off! Seal it off!
”
Alder
screamed. Down the lift tunnel from him, a white hot hell of plasma
was arcing and ripping from wall to wall. Smoke from the fire
poured up the tube. Two figures, almost invisible in the glare,
writhed and turned in the manmade lightning.

“Are Billet and Williams
out?” An engineer
’
s voice
came over radio.
“
I
can
’
t see in
the
…”

“They
’
re gone dammit!
Seal it! Just seal!
”
The
plasma leak was growing rapidly, consuming the burning figures,
threatening to expand into the section Alder was in. Already its
blinding heat was threatening to push him away from the power
console he was hiding behind.

With a thump, the emergency bulkhead
between Alder and the fire slid shut.

Taking advantage of the drop in the
heat, Alder rose up next to the console and began tapping furiously
at the keys. All of the circuits read cold but somewhere in all the
rewiring, plasma had still been running in one of the lines. Unable
to identify the offending line, Alder switched to the emergency
controls and entered the emergency depressurization code. The white
light shining through the glass of the pressure door went out as
suddenly as it had begun and there was a whooshing, clattering
sound. The bodies of Billet and Williams, burnt beyond recognition
by their momentary contact with the live line, were sucked out of
the ship with a wisp of atmosphere and plasma, joining the growing
list of former Duster crew members who were now specks in orbit
around Mass 17.

Alder banged his hand
against the console and cursed. With six days left before their
expected launch date, they hadn
’
t yet managed to fully separate either the hab or science
module but they had now killed a fifth and sixth crew member
trying.

“What happened?”
The remote engineer asked.

“There was still power in
one of the conduits.”
Alder wiped his hand
across his grimy face.
“
Did
you know them?
”

“Yes.
”

Alder nodded.
“
I
’
m sorry. Do you need a minute?
”

There was a long pause on
the other end.
“
No.
I
’
m okay
.” The long streak of deaths starting with Pakerson, Jinx,
and Martin had given them all the sense of combat veterans. The
death of friends was no longer something to stop work over. It was
a fact. A part of life. They had stopped talking about fashion
shows and new variations in cuisine after the explosion. By now, no
one talked about the deaths either, unless you needed to replace
someone on your crew.

Alder
waited a minute to let the unseen crewman gather his
wits.
“
One of the lines on C
bus should be showing a leak now.
That
’
s the one
that
’
s still hot. I need you
to shut it down and then get me another cutting crew. Looks like
we
’
re going to need
environment suits.
”

“Line C 154 is showing a
leak.”
The engineer answered.
“
I
’
ll get off before your relief crew arrives.
I
’
ll let folks know
too.
”

“Thank you.”
Alder sighed. Behind him there was a wet sound.
In the excitement, Alder had completely forgotten that Commander
Garson was with him.

The normally absent Garson
had insisted on joining him for his work shift. She was regretting
it now. Bent over on her knees, holding her long hair out of her
face, Garson was heaving dryly into a pool of vomit. Tall and
incredibly thin, Garson
’
s
ribs showed under her uniform as she heaved heavily and then spit.
The closest Alder had ever come to an affair, which was not very
close, was a couple of awkward conversations he had had with Garson
when she and Wei
’
s
relationship had hit a rough spot a few years before. Elana had
spotted it at once and had been more than a little ferocious. Alder
never regretted staying true to her. Still, Alder looked on the
heaving Garson with some compassion.

“Sorry you had to see
that.”
He said, moving to stand over
her.

Garson swallowed hard and
wiped her mouth.
“
It
isn
’
t that.”
She waved vaguely at the bulkhead.
“
I
’
m pregnant.
”

“Yeah, I uh heard you
might be.”
Alder said awkwardly, trying to
move into a kneeling position next to her without putting his knees
in the vomit.
“
You
okay?
”

Garson leaned back against
the wall, breathing heavily.
“
Yeah. It
’
s
twins.
”

Alder slid into a sitting
position next to her against the wall.
“
Twins? Wow.”
There was an awkward pause.
“
I think you
’
ll make a
good mom.
”

“Yeah.”
Garson laughed mirthlessly.
“
My mother would be very
proud.”
They lapsed into silence
again.
“
Do you think
we
’
re going to make
it?”
She asked finally.

“Yeah. Maybe.
We
’
re in better shape than we
were before. If we can get into the atmosphere at the right angle,
we
’
ve got a good
chance.
”

“What do you mean
if?
”

“Well, Muuk has got the
flight trajectory all programmed in. We should fall shields first.
The computer can do the math. If something goes wrong or we start
fiddling with what the computer is doing, we run a real risk of
turning the ship over.
”

“Like the
simulation?
”

“Exactly like the
simulation.
”

Garson looked at the
bulkhead lost in thought.
“
I
’
m worried about what
happens if we survive.
”

“How do you
mean?
”

“Do you know that Mbaka
caught some of Tallin
’
s men
printing firearms.
”

“What?
”

“You know. Firearms,
sidearms, pistols, whatever they call
them.
”

Alder cursed.
“
Do they have
any?
”

“No. At least I
don
’
t think so. He said they
had some pieces but no powder, whatever that
is.
”