AwayTeam (7 page)

"The sensors are working better for us and I can bring up a clearer picture of what's going on around the
Mandrake
." Emerson punched more panels, an even better image of the energy field could be seen. "Must be something to do with the fact that we're no longer a part of the main vessel, I think."

Ely's vision misted and he had trouble forming words over his trembling lips. In that moment, when the hope had extinguished within him, he felt the greatest admiration, respect and attraction to Emerson. He had lost a true friend and a wonderful lover, all with one stupid sentence spoken without thought. Eventually, he managed, "It looks…like, like some sort…of wave around the…starship, to me."

Before Emerson could reply, the comm panel lit up and Kale's voice boomed to fill the engine compartment. "Hey, guys, sorry to sound like a bit of a pain, but can you get on with whatever it is you're going to get on with. I don't know how much longer I can keep the shuttle within the energy field." His words were reinforced by a loud bang, one that sounded like a conduit or pipe had been ripped from its housing and fallen onto the steel grated floor.

Emerson leaned over to look at the comm. "Give me two minutes, Kale."

"Well, if I can't, then there will be no need to panic," Kale said. "I'll see you all in the afterlife. Kale out."

The sound of the shuttle's metal sheering under duress filled the void once Kale's voice no longer registered.

Emerson turned to Ely, his look still stern. "I'll need you to help me enhance the shields, reconfigure the inertial dampeners and adjust the engine fuel mix so that the shuttle's exhaust doesn't react with the
Mandrake's
once we're in position. Can you handle that?"

Ely was taken aback. Emerson was not only a cold as ice toward him, his eyes didn't reflect that wonderful sparkle he had come to know and love. That sealed the deal for Ely. Emerson wasn't interested in him at all. The damage had been done and at this point in time, repairing such damage was out of the question.

"I can do that," Ely said, clearing his throat and swallowing all the feelings he had for Emerson, burying them deep within him. He had a job to do and a relationship that had no hope of blossoming had to be the least of his concerns right now. At least he could go to Kale or Braden for some physical contact now that Emerson was out of the picture. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve. With a new found determination, and accepting the hand fate had dealt him, Ely added, "Just tell me what you're planning so I can understand what amount of reconfiguration is required."

"I'm planning to surf the shuttle on the
Mandrake's
engine wake. That should keep us in position."

"You're going to be doing what?"

Emerson nodded toward the schematic in front of him. "You said it yourself, the energy field looks like waves around the starship. If we position the shuttle behind it, getting into the slipstream, so to speak, then our engines may be powerful enough to at least stop us from being destroyed."

Ely's eyes widened. What Emerson had said was true. Getting into position behind the
Mandrake
would not only keep them from falling out of the energy field, it would help them keep up with the starship until the cause for all of this could be determined. They could then use the shuttle's sensors, made more useful by the fact that they weren't deep within the energy field, to help gain more information for the captain. "That's really quite brilliant."

"I'm glad you think so," Emerson said, not looking at Ely. But for the first time since he had seen him after their first date, the man cracked a smile. "Now get a move on and do what you have to. We've got less than a minute."

The next few moments were the tensest in all of Ely's life. He had never worked with so much urgency, so much determination to make sure the job was done and with as little time spent on it as possible. Having his life hang by a thread probably had something to do with it.

Emerson also worked like a man possessed.

"I've enhanced the forward shields and stabilised the inertial dampeners." Ely said, his fingers a blur across the control panel. "Can you ask Kale to get the shuttle into position? I won't be able to adjust the engine fuel mix to a less volatile one until I know the exact composition of the
Mandrake's
emissions."

Emerson didn't delay. He punched the hail icon for the cockpit. "Kale, I need you to do exactly as I say and without any hesitation or questions. You'll just have to trust us, all right?"

"I'm open to anything right about now," Kale replied.

"Good. Set a course for the wake of the
Mandrake's
exhaust emissions," Emerson barked into the comm. Ely kept on working, fine tuning the shield harmonics and strengthening or relaxing the inertial dampeners as the shuttle came about and headed toward the rear of the starship. "I know it sounds crazy, but the only way we're going to keep up with the
Mandrake
and buy us some sensor time is to ride the wake."

"No argument from me," Kale said.

Within seconds the shuttle was in position, helped by the fact that the energy field was pushing it toward the back of the ship anyway. Ely just hoped that Kale was a good enough pilot to get into the exhaust wake before being shot out into space from the forces at play.

The shuttle shuddered and more groans and weird noises could be heard. In fact, at one stage, Ely thought the engineering compartment would rattle to pieces. The seat he was upon was shaken from the bolts that secured it to the floor. Thankfully, Ely was quick to pull the chair back into position before his arse found the steel grating.

The schematic of the shuttle in front of Ely was flashing red all over. The shields weren't strong enough for the onslaught of the
Mandrake's
exhaust. Ely had no choice but to divert all available power to the shields and patch energy into them as best he could. He even resorted to using the energy usually reserved for minor systems, such as door opening and auto latrine flushing, to assist in strengthening them.

Thankfully, the shuttle was in position anyway, riding on the wake, just as Emerson had predicted it would. At least no excess engine expenditure would be needed to keep it there. They were basically getting a free ride. The trick now was making sure they survived in such a hostile environment.

"This is going to be tricky," Ely said, more to himself than Emerson.

After another tense moment or two, and plenty of sweat on the brow, the shield situation was under control. The shuttle was safe, for now.

Ely sighed relief. He had done the best he could under the circumstances, but now wasn't the time to rest. Now he needed to work on the problem of the shuttle's exhaust mixing with the
Mandrake's
and possibly causing a reaction. Even though space was a vacuum, this close to the exhaust was like being in an atmosphere. What with all that energy surrounding them, and volatile emission gasses, too, even the slightest upset could spark a reaction. Ely had to make sure the shuttle's emissions weren't going to exasperate an already difficult situation. Shuttles weren't meant to fly in exhaust, simple as that.

"Perhaps if we only use the ion engines and stand down the main reactor, that might solve two problems in one go." Emerson leaned over to Ely to catch a better view of his holo-screen. Ely couldn't help but notice that the man came so close he could feel his breath against his cheek. His stomach churned with butterflies. Had he got it all wrong again? Did Emerson have feelings for him, after all? Before he could contemplate such a thing any further, Emerson continued, "Our emissions will be benign and we can use the reactor power to boost the shield even more, seeing as it won't be needed for propulsion."

Ely shook his head, clearing his thoughts and concentrating on the matter at hand. They didn't have much time, the shuttle's exhaust could already be reacting. "I just hope the ion engines will be enough to keep us in place."

"The suction from the
Mandrake
in the position we're in should be enough. Just make the transition nice and slow. We may have to make a sort of compromise between ion and reactor power to get the best effect."

Ely nodded his head. "I agree." He turned to look at Emerson, not realising the man was still close. His lips brushed Emerson's cheek. In that instant, Ely's heart skipped a beat and he pulled his head away as quick as he could, his cheeks blushed hot with embarrassment. "I'm…I'm sorry."

Emerson flashed a smile. "Just get on with the job." But to Ely the words were nowhere near as poisonous as they were a few moments ago. Had Emerson softened now that he was in Ely's presence? Or was what he said earlier all an act, just like what Kale did. Ely was confused.

"Sure thing."

Again, after much adjusting and re-adjusting, the ion-reactor mix needed to keep the shuttle from becoming a fireball inside the
Mandrake's
emissions was achieved. The final result was one-hundred percent ion power with twenty percent enhanced by reactor power. That gave Ely plenty to use to boost the shields.

When done, and reasonably certain the shuttle was safe, he leaned back in his chair, knitting his fingers behind his head and taking in a deep breath. His hair, forehead and body was covered in sweat, both from the stress and the speed at which he had worked. Sure, the ride was as rough, the shuttle vibrating all over, the inertial dampeners at maximum, but at least they had done it.

Emerson leaned over once more, and said, "We make a great team." And with that he patted Ely on his knee.

Ely almost jumped out of the chair, having to grab for the control panel in desperation to stop himself from falling backwards and making an even bigger fool of himself. "Say what?"

Before Ely could ask for an explanation, Commander Okinawa appeared, Braden in tow. "Excellent job, cadet Ely, Cadet Emerson," he began. "Thanks to your quick thinking, the shuttle is able to remain with the
Mandrake
and perform the sensor sweep the captain so desperately wants. Perhaps now we can get some answers."

Ely and Emerson got to their feet, saluting the commander. "Yes, sir," they chimed together.

The man circled them, a beaming smile on his lips. He was clearly pleased. "We won't be able to get back into the shuttle bay until we can sort out what's going on with this energy field. Looks like we're all in for the long haul. I suggest you both get some rest, I don't want tired men on my watch." He paused to pat Ely and Emerson on their shoulders in turn. "There are three cabins on board. Cadet Braden here tells me you're a couple, so both of you can have the second cabin. I will take the first, while Cadet Kale and Cadet Braden can have the other. Now get to it, I'll wake you in six hours."

Ely was dumbfounded. He got the distinct feeling everyone was in on something and he wasn't. Had Braden set him up, too? Offering Ely to join in with Carl as a test? Had Emerson only pretended to be angry after all this time, just to punish him?

Before he could sort out any of the questions that swam in his mind, Emerson grabbed him by his hand and led him out of the engineering compartment.

Chapter Nine

About half way along the corridor that housed the ladder that led up to the main work areas and cabins of the shuttle, Ely pulled his hand out of Emerson's grip. "What the fuck's going on here, Emerson?"

Emerson stared deep into Ely's eyes, that magical twinkle had returned. "Giving you a lesson you'll never forget, that's what."

"You…you set me up, didn't you?"

Emerson let out a laugh. "I sure did. I told you when you asked me out that I would be mighty pissed off if I found out you were having me on. At first I
did
think such a thing, and I was going to dump you and never speak to you again. Then Kale came and saw me, and after talking to him, I realised that you were genuine and you'd only suffered from putting your foot firmly in your mouth."

"Yeah, I'm famous for that, didn't you know."

Emerson grabbed both of Ely's hands, drawing him close. "At any rate, I decided to give you a chance to redeem yourself, so I asked Kale and Braden to help me. I think you know the result of all that, don't you?"

"I sure do." Ely couldn't help but add respect to the long list of things he admired about Emerson. Getting Braden to do such a thing wouldn't have been an easy task, especially considering Ely didn't exist in his mind up until yesterday. He could just imagine the look on Braden's face as Emerson told him his plan.

Emerson came to plant a kiss onto Ely's lips. A kiss Ely had wanted so bad all day. He closed his eyelids, letting the contact of skin on skin take him away for a moment, his head spinning with giddy delight.

Ely took his hands from Emerson's so he could embrace him tight. The warmth of him as his body pressed closer consumed his thoughts with both pleasure and relief.

For the longest time they held each other, lips on lips, body against body. Then Emerson slipped in his tongue, Ely's stomach turned and again his mind became a storm of enjoyment. For an eternity and beyond, they deepened their kiss to a level Ely thought would have never happen only moments ago. When parted, Emerson said, "And you passed my test with flying colours."

Ely couldn't speak at first, lost in Emerson's presence, his tongue tingling from all of his attention. Finally, after he cleared his throat, staring deep into Emerson's beautiful eyes, wanting to get lost within them forever, he said, "I'm…so glad…I did, Emerson. I was so beside myself I couldn't function without thinking of you."

"I know." Emerson kissed Ely again. Once more he was consumed with the man's touch, every fibre of his being, from sinew to neuron, now only functioned for Emerson. "Oh, and you can call me Sonny."

Ely licked his lips, the taste of Emerson still vivid. "Well, you can call me whatever you like, Sonny."

Emerson let out a chuckle. "I think I can graduate you from fuck head."

"Gee, thanks."

"Now take me to our cabin before Commander Okinawa catches us in the corridor. He was adamant we get some rest."