Starhawk (7 page)

THEY CONTINUED TO
rotate the girls through the lander every four hours. The quality of the air was so much better that there was no shortage of volunteers. But when they changed over at 0500 hours, when the air in the lander was also becoming hard to breathe, and there was still no sign of the
Thompson
, the general mood was darkening. “We'll be watching from the bridge,” Jake told the girls as they slipped into their seats. “But if you start having a problem, just open up and leave. Okay?”

“What are we going to do after this, Captain Loomis?” Johara asked. She was seriously frightened. They all were.

“We have air tanks,” he said. “Don't worry. We'll be all right.”

He hated lying to them. Well, maybe he wasn't lying. Not really.
They
would probably be all right. He was less sure about the adults.

He returned to the passenger cabin, where Shahlah took him aside. “You said there's five hours in each of the air-tank units?”

“That's correct.”

“Can't they be refilled?”

“They could. But it wouldn't do any good because we'd just be taking the air out of life support.”

Kareema and Lana were in the passenger cabin playing with Tawny. Ishraq and Sakeena sat off to one side, tapping messages to each other on their notebooks. The others were scattered around the
Copperhead
.

Jake went up onto the bridge. Joshua was there with Priscilla. “Nothing yet from the
Thompson
?” he asked.

Priscilla shook her head. “Negative, Jake.”

He went back and wandered through the ship, trying to look upbeat, everything's okay, we'll be out of here soon. He wished he believed it.

He returned to the passenger cabin. Had a soft drink. Sat down next to Ishraq and Sakeena. They were exchanging information electronically about their science projects. They showed him their notebooks. Sakeena had been doing gravity experiments, and Ishraq had been teleporting particles. Ishraq typed a note: “One day these big ships will be obsolete.”

He got his notebook and typed a reply: “You really think that's going to happen?” The idea seemed utterly outlandish. It had shown up occasionally in books and films, but there was no way he could take it seriously.

She responded with one word: “Yes.”

He looked at Sakeena: “What kind of gravity research are you doing?”

She had dark intelligent eyes. “You will not laugh?”

“No.”

“Artificial gravity.”

“Impossible?”

She shook her head.

Jake typed again: “It's supposed to be impossible.”

“People used to say that about faster-than-light travel.”

He smiled. Raised his hands, conceding the point.

She sent him another message: “You will live to see it.”

He was about to reply when he heard Benny's voice. “There it is!”

And Priscilla: “Let's have it, Benny.”

Jake got up and strode onto the bridge.

“
Copperhead
,
Gremlin
.”
It was Drake Peifer's voice.
“This is the
Thompson
. We've arrived insystem. Do you read me?”

“We read you, Drake. We're at Barton's World. Running short on air.”

Jake took the right-hand seat, cautioned her to lower her voice, and turned down the volume. A minute ticked by. Longer. Not a good sign. Then: “
Are you able to meet us?
”

“Yes,” said Priscilla. “We're mobile.”

“Good. Looks like about twenty-one hours to rendezvous.”

“That won't get the job done, Drake. Where are you?”

“We're feeding the information now. What's the
Gremlin
's status?”

“It went down.”

“How much air do you have left?”

“We need you here within seven hours.”

“Hold on.”
It was a long pause. Then:
“We'll have to try another jump.”

She looked at Jake. He nodded. “Do it,” she said.

Transdimensional jumps were notoriously inaccurate. They usually put you within approximately a million kilometers of your target. That was good if you were going to Canopus, and nobody was in a hurry. But it wasn't very helpful if you were already in relatively close. Another jump would take time and might gain nothing. Or even
lose
ground.

 * * * 

THE BETTER PART
of an hour passed before they heard from the
Thompson
again.
“We're not much closer,”
Drake said.
“A few hours less. But not enough. We can try another jump.”

“Negative,” said Jake. “How's your fuel?”

“About half a tank.”

“Hold on. Benny, do we have the
Thompson
's new position?”

“I'm getting it now.”

“What's the best rendezvous time?”

“There are fuel limitations. And the sustained acceleration would almost certainly cause injuries. But taking all that into consideration, we can meet in just under five hours.”

“Thank God,” said Priscilla. “That's tight, but it works.”

Jake heard movement behind him and turned to see Josh.

“All right,” said Jake. “Priscilla, let's get moving.”

“No,” said Josh. “The high-acceleration rendezvous is not a good idea.”

“We don't have a choice.”

“Jake, the pressures generated by all the accelerating and braking will increase everyone's oxygen intake by a substantial margin. I can't be positive, but I'd be surprised if we didn't lose life support during the process.”

“We can manage a meeting without excessive acceleration in seven hours,” Benny said. “Perhaps a bit less. But we have to get started.”

“We don't have a seven-hour air supply,” said Jake.

“Do it, damn it,” said Josh. “Let's get moving.”

 * * * 

PRISCILLA'S JOURNAL

. . . Darkest moment of my life . . .

—November 18, 2195

“THIS IS NOT
going to work,” said Jake. “We'll lose the lander at about 0800.”

Joshua shook his head. “We have a fifteen-hour supply of oxygen in the air tanks.”

“That doesn't add up to seven hours for three people.”

“But it's enough for
two
.”

“I'm not sure what you're suggesting,” said Priscilla, “but I think we should try another jump. Maybe we'd get lucky.”

“No.” Joshua shook his head. “At this range, the jumps are just wasting time.” His eyes narrowed. “It would mean putting everybody at risk. We can't do that.”

“So what
do
we do?” she said.

“I have an idea,” said Josh.

“What's that?”

“Give me ten minutes. Then come down to the lander.”

“What are you going to do?” asked Jake.

“I'm not sure yet. Just let me take a look at our options.”

Priscilla thought she saw something pass between the two captains, an understanding. But then the girls were grouped around the hatch asking
What's happening?

When are they going to be here?

Is everything okay?

And Joshua was gone.

“We'll be fine,” said Shahlah in both languages.

“What's he going to do?” Priscilla asked.

“I don't know,” said Jake.

She knew Jake pretty well by then. And he seemed rattled. But she let it go.

 * * * 

JAKE SAT STARING
at nothing in particular.

“We have to get going,” said Priscilla. “We're wasting time.”

“Try a little patience,” he said. His voice was flat.

Finally, Priscilla got up. “I've had enough of this. I'm going down to see what's going on.”

He put a hand on her wrist. “Wait. He asked for ten minutes. Give it to him.”

So they sat. The girls backed away. Shahlah had disappeared, too. Then suddenly she was on the circuit: “Priscilla, I can't get into the cargo bay.”

“Why not?”

“I can't open the hatch. Can you put air into it from up there? I think Joshua is in there.”

Priscilla was already doing it. “Don't know how I missed it,” she said. “It's been decompressed.”

 * * * 

SHAHLAH WAS STILL
waiting at the hatch when they arrived. It wouldn't open until the air pressure equalized on both sides. She was in tears.

When finally they got through, the first thing Priscilla saw was Josh, floating a foot or two above the deck, his wrist tied to a frame. They tried to revive him, although Priscilla thought it was probably a cruel thing to do. If they succeeded, he would only feel that he had to go through it again.

But she needn't have worried. He was gone.

Shahlah was sobbing. “No, no, no. He was our captain. There was no way he was going to allow one of his passengers to die. I should have known.”

Priscilla looked accusingly at Jake. It was hard to believe he hadn't realized what was happening.

 * * * 

LIBRARY ENTRY

Courage is of no value if the gods do not assist.

—Euripides,
The Suppliant Women

EVENTUALLY, THERE WERE
lights in the sky, and the
Sydney Thompson
came out of the darkness and eased alongside. Priscilla faced the girls in the passenger cabin. “Who wants to go over to the
Thompson
with Shahlah for the ride home?”

Ten hands went up. Priscilla wasn't surprised. No happy memories here. And, of course, they liked Shahlah. “All right. But we can only send five.”

“We do not wish you to misunderstand,” said Ishraq. “It's not because we didn't enjoy our time on the
Copperhead
—”

“I know,” she said. “I think I'd want off, too. But we need five of you to stay here. Food and water issues on the
Thompson
. Can you guys decide? Do it quickly so we can get everybody some fresh air again.”

Ishraq and Ashira volunteered to stay. Layla raised her hand. And Karida and Kareema.

“Okay,” Priscilla said. “Good. Get your luggage. The
Thompson
shuttle will be here in a few minutes. No spacewalk this time.”

Johara pretended to be disappointed.

There were hugs and a few tears and an agreement that they'd all try to get together back at Union. That was speculative. Depending on where the ships were when they surfaced in the solar system, there could be as much as three days' difference in arrival times.

Jake looked as if he were in a distant place. He returned the embraces with the emotion of a robot and watched the five girls, escorted by Drake Peifer, pass through the cargo-bay air lock into the
Thompson
lander. Shahlah was the last to leave.

“Thanks, guys,” she said. “I hate to think where we'd have been without you.”

Priscilla helped carry the baggage. Then Shahlah took her aside. “Is he all right?” she asked, meaning Jake.

“He's a bit rattled. But he'll get past it.”

“I hope so.” She wiped away a tear. “Let me know if I can ever do anything.”

“Of course. Thank you. I just wish things had turned out differently.”

“So do I, Priscilla. So do I.”

They embraced, and Priscilla returned to the cargo bay. The air lock closed, and the lander was gone.

 * * * 

THE
THOMPSON
LEFT
first. Priscilla was just taking her place on the bridge when a message came in from Union.
“Jake.”
A male voice.
“Hope everything is going okay at your end. We've been worried. Appreciate everything you guys have been doing.”

“That's Frank Irasco,” said Jake. Irasco was the assistant director for WSA at Union.

“We were glad you were in the area,”
Irasco continued.
“Keep us informed.”

That was it. Jake sat down beside her but said nothing. The air being dispersed by the vents had already begun to feel breathable again. Priscilla switched on the mike. “Girls,” she said, “the flight to the home system will take three days and about six hours. Then it'll be probably another couple of days to get back to Earth. We'll be moving out in five minutes, so you should take care of any last-minute business and get belted down.” She switched off and turned to Jake. “I've never been more happy in my life to get away from a place.”

 * * * 

THE SOMBER REACTION
that had taken hold of the girls when they learned of Captain Miller's death subsided. They played games, watched holos, laughed about boys. They especially enjoyed the space-adventure series
Deep Skies
. They had an Arabic version. Priscilla watched an episode with them, and was fascinated by the visuals and the show's distinctive score, suggestive of intergalactic space and cosmic mystery. She tried it in English, got hooked, and became a fan on the way home. She was especially taken with Ryan Fletcher, who played the daredevil skipper of the
Excelsior
, Captain William L. Brandywine.

Ishraq often joined her on the bridge. “I'd love to do this when I grow up,” she said.

“Keep going the way you are, Ishraq, and I suspect you'll be able to do anything you please.”

“It's very nice of you to say that.”

“You've already done pretty well. You've won a science prize. You've been off-world.”

“That's not exactly the same as operating an interstellar.” She squeezed her hands together. “I'm just not sure—”

“You can do it. All you have to do is make it happen.”

“You really think so?”

“Of course.”

The hatch opened behind them. Ishraq turned to see who had come in. It was Jake. Escorted by Tawny. “Hello, Captain Loomis,” she said.

“Hello, Ishraq. You keeping Priscilla out of trouble?”

She smiled. “Oh, yes.” Then back to Priscilla: “You know the ship I'd really like to have?”

“No. What?”

“The
Excelsior
.” She got out of the chair to make room for Jake.

“From
Deep Skies
?” Jake said.

“You watch it, too?” Her eyes shone.

“I've always been a big fan.” That was hard to buy.

Ishraq turned back to Priscilla. “May I ask a favor?”

“Sure.”

“In a few years, when I start training, would you be willing to teach me?”

“Of course. I'd love to. By the way, that's what Captain Loomis has been doing for me.”

Ishraq gave Jake a shy smile but continued speaking to Priscilla: “I think you're very lucky.”

“I'm the one who got lucky,” said Jake.

Ishraq's smile widened. “Yes,” she said. “She is very pretty.”

 * * * 

PRISCILLA HAD NOT
known Jake before the qualification flight. But when you spend three weeks alone with someone, especially when the nearest other human being is light-years away, you get to know him pretty well. Jake had been easygoing, patient, amiable, a guy who did not take himself seriously, and who seemed able to adjust readily to setbacks. But the experience with the
Gremlin
had changed him.

It wasn't that he'd become angry, or that he spent a lot of time staring at bulkheads. He didn't retire to his cabin and remain there. In fact, he spent as much time on the bridge and in the passenger cabin as he ever had. But he didn't laugh easily anymore, and when he did, the laughter was forced. His voice and, indeed, his entire bearing had leveled off into a monotone. The vitality was gone.

It would have been difficult in any case to join in games with the girls because of the language difference. But Priscilla sensed that the Jake who'd been with her originally would have found a way. He didn't even try, however, and because he didn't, she also abstained. Instead, they sat on the bridge, talking about trivia, or rerunning the same dialogues, about the bright futures that surely awaited their passengers, or grumbling one more time about the kind of maniac who'd put a bomb on an interstellar.

The conversations were marked by long pauses, uncomfortable moments when no one could think of anything to say. When the best she could come up with was how much she'd enjoyed the scrambled eggs that morning.

She just wanted it to be over.

 * * * 

TWO OF THE
girls, Karida and Layla, had become competitive with each other. It wasn't about anything in particular, Ishraq explained. They'd decided they didn't like one another much. “If you want the truth,” she said, “I think they're just tired. They want to get home.”

“I don't guess,” said Priscilla, “you can put a bunch of kids into a tin can and keep them there for a couple of weeks and not expect them to get tired of it.”

“I think you're right, Priscilla,” said Jake. “Even if there'd been no bomb, I'd have suggested a different kind of award next year. No more long-range space journeys. Or maybe—”

“What?”

“We could take them to the one in the solar system. The monument on Iapetus.”

She shrugged. “It would take a couple of days to get there, too. Anything like that, for teens, is maybe too much. What we need is a more precise long-range drive. Something that could really take you in close to the target instead of just getting into the general area. Something faster than the Hazeltine would help, too.”

“Yes, Priscilla, it would. So what kind of award do you think we should give the prizewinners next year?”

“If I were running it—”

“Yes?”

“I'd take them to Moonbase and throw a party.”

 * * * 

LAYLA WAS SITTING
on the bridge with her when they arrived in the solar system. By then they'd learned enough of each other's language to be able to communicate reasonably well. She looked at the navigation screen and saw the distant sun. “How much longer,” she asked, “before we get back home?”

Priscilla hated to answer the question. “Three days. We're kind of far out.”

Layla groaned.

But a flood of messages took some of the sting out of the wait: They began arriving within an hour after they'd surfaced, coming from family, friends, teachers, and even from groups of schoolkids who had no direct connection with the girls. “Welcome home,” said the third grade at St. Gabriel's elementary school in Kansas City. And West Park High, in Nottingham, promised that chocolates would be waiting when the
Copperhead
docked. Greetings came in from Jerusalem, Cairo, Belfast, Tokyo, Bangalore, Port Blair, Morocco, and several dozen other places.

“How do they know we're back in the solar system already?” Layla asked.

“I suspect,” said Priscilla, “we've been making news, so a lot of people are tracking us. Even if they weren't, ship arrivals get posted online as soon as Ops picks them up.”

“Well,” she said, “I certainly didn't expect anything like this. It's great to be back.”

 * * * 

NEWSDESK

SIX DEAD AFTER ATTACK BY GUNMAN AT CORNINE UNIVERSITY

Killer Angry at Cornine Support for Terraforming

Statewide Search Under Way

MCDERMOTT BILL PASSES BY WIDE MARGIN

All Federal Elections Will Be Financed by Government

UNEMPLOYMENT RATES DROP SEVENTH STRAIGHT MONTH

GDP Hits New High; Stocks Soar

NEW CLAIMS FOR INTELLIGENCE DRUG

Can a Daily Pill Really Make Us Smarter?

EVIDENCE MOUNTS THAT INCREASED IQ LEADS
TO SOCIAL DYSFUNCTION

Research Indicates There's a Reason It's Set Where It Is

RUSSIA MAY DEFUND UNION ORBITER

Cites Growing Debt Problems

India May Be Next

TANK NOBE MAY BOYCOTT SEASON

Baseball Fans Outraged; Ticket Prices Rise Across All Four Leagues

RESEARCH DESCRIBES BASEBALL FANS AS ADDICTS

“They Need to Back Off, but They're Helpless.”

STARSHIP CAPTAIN DIES DURING RESCUE

Joshua Miller Sacrifices Life for Passengers

Memorial Ceremony Planned

JENNIFER HOPKINS ARRESTED AGAIN

Drunk and Disorderly after Hollywood Party