Return to Dakistee (28 page)

"Well, we don’t."

Christa nodded. "Yeah. Okay, let's rack those brains, everyone. What else can we try?"

Her words were met with blank looks from everyone.

"Somebody must have an idea."

When no one offered anything, Christa looked around the area searching for a kernel of an idea.

As she looked upwards, she said, "What would we lose if this entire section flooded?"

"These tanks contain a reverse osmosis filtration system," Aestolul said.

"If this area was flooded and the process ceased, we would be dealing with unfiltered water?"

"The filtration process would only cease if the hydrostatic pressure was less than the osmotic pressure."

"So if this area was completely submerged, it wouldn't affect the filtration?"

"We'd probably lose the electronic sensors and be unable to monitor the flows."

"But the water would continue to flow in and be filtered."

"Of course. We can't stop it, remember?"

"If this door to the corridor was closed, is there any other way for the water to get out?"

The engineers conferred for a few seconds and then Aestolul said, "Water will flow around the pipes where they pass through prepared holes in the walls."

"Is that all?"

"The total volume could be significant."

"Okay, we have two tasks ahead of us. First, I need someone to find the environmental system controls and increase the air pressure in the facility. The more we increase the pressure in here, the more we slow the flow of incoming water."

"I can do that," Aestolul said.

"Good. Second, can anyone here weld?"

One of the engineers raised his hand. "I've done hobby welding."

"Good, you're now our welding master. Get everybody outside and weld the entrance door closed. Then track down all the places where water could leak out, stuff them with whatever packing material you can find, such as clothing, rags, or even wood, and weld something in place to prevent the water pressure from pushing the packing out."

"But I don't have welding equipment."

"This is the utility section of the facility. I'm sure there's welding equipment somewhere down here. You're in charge of this operation and everyone here is part of your team. Task half your people to look for welding equipment and packing material and the rest to hunt for possible leak holes outside the filtration room. Now, go find what you need and get to work."

"Yes, ma'am," he said and started giving instructions to those around him."

* * *

"There she is, Captain," the tac officer aboard the Hell Fire said as the ship dropped its envelope ten million kilometers from the Gastropod.

"At last."

"What are your orders, sir?"

"Sound General Quarters."

* * *

"Sorry to disturb your meditation, Excellency, but the DeTect system indicates that a ship is approaching on a direct course— it's coming on very quickly," Gxidescu reported to Vejrezzol.

Vejrezzol jumped up and ran to the bridge. "Why haven't you engaged the alarm?" he demanded of Gxidescu.

"You didn't tell me to do that, Excellency."

"Fool. You're the captain. I shouldn't have to tell you."

Gxidescu looked over at the security station and nodded to the tac officer. Alarms began to sound throughout the ship.

In two more minutes, the com officer said, "All gunners are at their posts, Captain."

As Vejrezzol climbed into the first officer's chair, he said, "Do you think this is the ship that launched the fighters?"

"That would be my guess. They must be here to complete what they began."

"Are the— cargo containers ready?"

"Yes, Excellency. All is prepared."

"Good. They're about to get the surprise of their lives."

* * *

"What have you learned?" Christa asked as she climbed up to join Madu on the platform where the computer console was located. Madu was just standing there staring at the monitor.

"The news is bad," Madu replied. "The diagnostic module incorporated into each chamber is so slow that it could take solars to run the procedure on all thirty thousand units."

"Solars? We don't have solars."

"I know. That's why I said the news was bad."

"Oh. I thought you meant the information you'd collected was bad."

"That too. Of the twelve chambers checked so far, four have almost no power reserves at all. If they lose power for more than ten minutes, the process will begin to reverse and the sleeper will be awakened."

"Four out of twelve? That is bad. We can't feed ten thousand additional people for very long."

"How did you make out with the water problem?"

"I've ordered the pressure in the facility to be increased and the filtration room to be closed and sealed. I have the engineers searching for every place where water might escape so they can attempt to block its flow. If we get lucky, we can reduce the flow to a trickle outside the room. If we can do that, we might be able to find a way to pump the water out of the drains."

"The drains? But we're hundreds of meters below the outside water table."

"Yes, but the drains in every sink, shower, and head must feed into a central area where the water is then automatically pumped to the top level and fed into the local sewer system."

"Head?"

"Sorry. It's the term the military uses for the lavatory, the 'convenience,' or the commode."

Madu nodded her head. "That makes sense. I mean the theory, not the fact that you call the commode a head. Why is it called a head?"

"Tradition— and pithiness, I guess. Head is a single syllable, where lavatory and convenience are four. Even commode is two. That's the pithiness part. The tradition is a little harder to explain. Before sea-going ships had power, they used sails to gather wind for propulsion. The wind, by necessity, had to come over the stern to be of use on large vessels, so the commode would be located at the bow, or head, of the ship so the smells wouldn't pass over the entire ship."

"I see. That makes sense as well. Not the name, the location."

"Madu, let me take a look at the procedure you're running. Perhaps I can get a little more speed out of it."

Madu stepped aside to allow Christa full access to the console. Christa looked at the information on the monitor, then began typing in commands at a furious pace.

"How is it that you know this system?" Madu asked. She was clearly in awe of Christa's apparent familiarity.

"I gained a lot of knowledge working with the system at the cloning facility. The programs are different, but the operating system is identical and that's the most important part. And I got a good refresher course when I worked with the security stations in the rotunda. Computers have always been a hobby of mine and essentially they all work the same way. You just have to understand the 'language' they speak."

After a few more minutes, Christa said, "The procedure you were running was apparently intended to operate as a background task. It constantly checks the chambers. When all chambers have been checked, it starts over again, so it's been running continuously for twenty thousand years. The information is stored in the data files, so we only have to create a report rather than checking all the chambers again. I've asked it to tell me how many chambers would not survive thirty solars without power."

"Why thirty solars?"

"Because the Higgins Space Command base is only about thirty light-annuals away. This planet is far too populated for the attack to go unnoticed for long. Someone will find it strange that they haven't heard from the Marine outpost or the archeological camp, or that their messages are going unanswered. I don't know the size of the attacking force, or forces, but I'm sure they can’t stand against the might of a Space Command warship. Even if no warship is closer to us than Higgins, one will arrive here in within thirty solars."

A few seconds later, the report popped up on the monitor.

"Great Nallick save us," Madu muttered. "It's even worse than we thought."

Chapter Twenty

~ October 25
^th
, 2285 ~

Traveling at Sub-Light-100 since dropping out of FTL, the Raider destroyer Hell Fire closed quickly on the Gastropod, which was still traveling at Sub-Light-50.

"All gunners," Captain Permenans said over the ship-wide com, "prepare to open fire, but not until I give the command." To the com chief, he said, "Send the message."

"Attention freighter," the com chief said into his headset microphone. "Heave to and prepare to be boarded or you'll be destroyed."

After a minute during which no transmission was received, the com officer sent the message again.

"No response, Captain," the com chief said a minute later.

"Okay, they've had their chance. Put me on ship-wide, chief."

"You're on, Captain."

"Attention, gunners, we're going in. You have permission to open fire when you have a lock. Try to avoid hitting the engines. That's all."

* * *

"Laser gunners, fire at will," Vejrezzol announced. "Tactical, hold your fire until I give the order."

All gunners acknowledged the order, then hunched over their consoles, watching the large target dot on the screen in front of them. As the ship came into range, the laser gunners let loose with their fire, but the low-power lasers were virtually ineffective against the armor of a warship.

When the Hell Fire reached a point one thousand kilometers abreast of the Gastropod, Vejrezzol said, "Now!"

As the words reached the tactical officer, he depressed the two lighted switches on his consoles. The sidewalls of two cargo containers flew off and two fourteen-meter-long torpedoes burst from the steel containers.

* * *

An alarm began shrieking aboard the Hell Fire's bridge as the two deadly missiles streaked towards the warship.

"All gunners target those torpedoes!" Captain Permenans screamed. "Tac, eject counter measures. Helm, evade, evade, evade."

Arms of coherent light reached out for the streaking tubes of death as the gunners tried to destroy them. The tac officer ejected counter measures designed to confuse the targeting systems and cause the torpedoes to exhaust their precious fuel while the helmsman twisted the joystick and sent the Hell Fire on a wild and twisting erratic path away from the freighter. With each maneuver, the missiles had to change direction to follow, but they slowly closed the gap. There wasn't enough time to build the FTL envelope, so the warship had to rely on its sub-light speed, the maneuvers of the helmsman, the counter measures, and the skill of the gunners.

As the first of the torpedoes closed to within a kilometer, one gunner scored a hit that caused the torpedo to explode. All gunners then shifted their attention to the remaining torpedo.

The second torpedo almost reached the ship before another gunner scored a hit that destroyed the targeting system. The torpedo skewered off in a twisting, turning action, ultimately exploding a good distance from the ship.

"Alright," Captain Permenans said, "they've had their shot. I doubt they've got any more of those things. Now it's our turn."

As the Hell Fire neared the Gastropod again, the gunners opened up on the cargo ship with everything they had, anxious for a little payback after what they had just been through.

* * *

"We can't possibly escape," Gxidescu said. "The hull is open to space in hundreds of locations."

"Then we shall have to give them our final surprise. Helm, cut power and cease course correction. Allow the ship to go where it will."

"Yes, Excellency."

* * *

When the sub-light engines shut down, Captain Permenans smiled. "Got 'em," was all he said as the Hell Fire's helmsman cut power to the engines and allowed the ship to drift towards the Gastropod as he matched its speed.

* * *

"They've taken the bait," Vejrezzol said.

"But why didn't we wait until they pulled alongside before we fired the torpedoes?" Gxidescu asked. "We might have gotten them."

"No, they needed to see a last ditch effort before they'd come in close. Now they believe they've seen it."

Vejrezzol waited until the Hell Fire was less than a hundred meters from the Gastropod and had sent out shuttles to board the freighter.

"Okay, Gxidescu, it's time to give them the real surprise we've reserved for them."

"Yes, Excellency," Gxidescu said somberly.

* * *

"Even if we began waking sleepers immediately we couldn't possibly awaken all the sleepers who are at risk," Madu said.

"Calm down," Christa said. "Your people may be able to slow the flow of water enough so it doesn't present a danger. If they can't, we'll start waking the sleepers at the lowest level and work our way higher as the water rises."

"But if the power shorts out as the water rises, the chambers at the top will be inaccessible."

"We'll find a way if we have to. Remember, we still may not have to."

"These aren't your people, so you're not as concerned."

"When I took command of this outpost, everyone in it became one of
my
people. I take my responsibility seriously, Madu."

Madu took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "I'm sorry, Christa. I take my responsibility seriously, and I believe you do the same. I'm just frightened we won’t be able to save them all."

"We'll save every one. I promise."

"Can I awaken some of the more brilliant minds now? Just in case?"

"We still have the issue of food, Madu."

"You said you stocked enough for a thousand people for thirty solars and that help will be here before that time is up. How many mouths do we have currently?"

"About five hundred, I think. I haven't had time to collect information."

"Then we should be able to awaken five hundred sleepers."

Christa sighed. She knew Madu wasn't going to give up. But she also knew the Admiralty Board might be angry about waking the sleepers before she had received permission.