Waiting (11 page)

'I'll bear that
in mind.'

'Do you really
buy this conspiracy theory of your father's?' Willis asked.

Loretti said,
'Only because I can't see what he'd have to gain from it. He's a
stranger to me, don't forget. You two probably know him much better
than I do.'

'Well, I trust
the man,' said Staples. 'I've served under him here for several
years and he's always been on the level with all of us.'

'Apart from
sabotaging his own communication equipment,' Willis reminded
them.

Loretti said,
'If he is telling the truth, he was working in the best interests
of the mission and the human race. It's all academic anyway. You've
both seen the mess we've made of Earth. Carry on that way, we
guarantee our self-destruction. My father's way at least gives us a
glimmer of hope.'

'Then we have
to do all we can to help him,' said Staples. 'Good luck.'

'You too.'

Loretti started
the stinger and she flew away just feet above the arid ground.

'My kind of
woman,' said Willis.

'Of course she
is. She's female. Let's go.'

They mounted
the two refuelled stingers and flew them back to the Base, letting
themselves in through the small door.

Chapter 29

One by one the
terraformers were located and reprogrammed. They were soon all
working to turn Spero into a habitable home for the last hope of
the human race. Joe Friar was in orbit around the planet, trying to
contact those on the surface.

'Ok. I don't
know what's going on down there or if you've picked up any of my
signals. I'm in orbit around Spero. I'll give you guys one more
hour then I'm coming to get you.'

'No need,' said
Clifton. 'We're on our way up.'

'Finally.'

'We've been
trying to contact you. Looks like the storm is picking up again, so
I don't...(static) off in ten minutes. I will shut down
all...(static) what's necessary. Over.'

'I'll watch out
for you. Good luck. Over.'

During his slow
orbits of the planet, Friar had been watching the storm fade then
start to pick up again. Being unsuccessful in contacting them until
now, he had decided he would risk his landing before the storm once
again raged at full intensity. He had been relieved to hear Sam
Clifton telling him that was unnecessary. On the screen, lightning
was already lighting up the dense yellow atmosphere. The shuttle on
the ground was about to fly through dangerous conditions with an
unpredictable chance of succeeding.

Those in the
shuttle on the surface knew they were gambling with their lives,
but staying any longer was not an option. With their limited
supplies they had one opportunity only to get into space and return
to the safety of the Goliath. They were fully suited and had braced
themselves for the flight.

'Here we go,'
said Clifton.

The small craft
had performed well as it had hopped around the planet locating the
terraformers, but the atmospheric conditions had worsened
considerably during that time. The take off and landing thrusters
lifted the shuttle off the ground, and Clifton took it slowly
skimming the ground, having mapped out the route to avoid mountain
ranges. On the screen he watched for any possible breaks in the
storm as a way through.

'There's as
good as any place,' he finally decided. 'I'm about to cut the power
to anything we don't need, so we'll be flying blind until we are
out of atmosphere. Hold on tight.'

The screen went
blank and all but emergency lighting went out. Beneath them the
plasma drives hummed sweetly as their speed increased, their
trajectory aiming for stars they still couldn't see. For the first
four and a half minutes things went smoothly, then there came a
roar and a crashing sound.

'We've been hit
by lightning,' yelled Clifton above the noise. 'Drives are still
functioning but at reduced power.'

The shuttle
hammered its way through the sulphur laden atmosphere, exceeding
its design capabilities, the craft never intended to attempt taking
off in such atrocious conditions. The tough marsillium coating was
the most superior exterior protection any vessel could have, but
the electrics could only survive limited power surges, not the
constant ravaging the storm subjected it to. The suits meant they
were spared the smell of the circuitry being compromised, but one
panel finally burst into flames. Jacobs unbuckled himself, grabbed
a dry-powder extinguisher and blasted the fire out. He had to drop
the spent extinguisher as the shuttle began to shake alarmingly. He
pulled himself along using anything he could grab hold of and made
his way along the floor to his seat and tried to haul himself into
it, but such was the force of the shaking, all he could do was to
grab the harnesses and wrap them around his wrists to hang on for
dear life.

Onwards they
went, the lights going on and off, the noises horrendous and
terrifying as they made their way through the atmosphere in a
seemingly interminable flight. Then as they blasted free of the
planet, everything went dark and the drives died completely.

Chapter 30

'You are to
report directly to the Commander General.'

'Nice to see
you too, Mosaca,' said Loretti dismounting her parked stinger.
'What sort of mood is she in?'

Quartermaster
Sergeant Major Caesar Mosaca was seventy five and had served on
many campaigns and had an eye-patch and false leg to show for it.
He had the look of a pirate about him and kept a parrot in his room
which completed his image. He was also famous for only calling
generals sir.

As Mosaca gave
the dust covered stinger the once over he said, '
She
only
has one mood. Bad.'

'Something I've
said annoyed her?'

'Not yet,'
warned Mosaca, shaking his head at new scratches on the stinger.
'Don't keep her waiting.'

Loretti took
the elevator to the penultimate floor, General Loretti's command
centre and living quarters.

'About time,'
said the voice from the speaker even before the door pinged
open.

'Sorry,
General.'

'Come in, come
in.'

Bridget entered
and saluted. 'Captain Loretti reporting, sir.'

'Sit, Captain,'
said General Loretti, with a gesture to a chair. 'Report?'

'Capture of
Salamandra alive was successful. I expect he's being interrogated
here?'

'Sergeant
Naylor is encouraging him to talk, yes. Nothing we don't already
know as yet. But you found it necessary to leave your ship on your
way here?'

'Two of our
soldiers proved helpful in the capture of Salamandra. They are not
part of my unit. One extracted information from the prisoner which
we thought warranted further verification.'

'And did
it?'

'No, sir. It
turned out to be just Salamandra being a pain in the ass.'

Loretti said,
'You went with those soldiers. What are their names and where are
they?'

'Lieutenant
Staples and Sergeant Willis. Once we realised we were on a wild
goose chase, they left for the front to rejoin their unit.'

'And that unit
is?'

'I didn't ask.
I think one of the special ops units, but I'm not sure.'

Loretti got up
from behind her desk and paced her office. 'Drink?'

'Sir?'

'You enjoy an
occasional whiskey as I recall. Ice?'

'As it
comes.'

As Loretti
poured the drinks, she said, 'Staples and Willis? I've heard there
names before. I'm not sure why or from where. Here.'

'Thank you,
sir. I must admit I'd never met those soldiers before.'

'Interesting.
And yet they turn up at just the right moment to snare Salamandra.
How convenient.'

Bridget
shrugged. 'Right place, right time I guess. Can I ask you
something. Do you work out? I mean you are twice my age and you
look...hot. Black leather is so kick ass on you.'

'Don't change
the subject.' Loretti sipped her drink and stared at Bridget. 'You
have an unfortunate look about you. A shame really. You could have
been quite attractive otherwise.'

'You mean I
remind you of my father.'

Loretti
shuddered. 'After conceiving you I never got that drunk again. Be
sure not to make such a mistake.'

'A mistake? Is
that what I was?'

'Yes,' said
Loretti, frankly. 'But I rose above it. Hopefully you have my
strength of character and nothing of your father's weaknesses.'
They were interrupted by the intercom. 'Naylor.'

'General.
Salamandra still resists.'

'Of course he
does, fool. See what I have to put up with, Captain Loretti? I
can't rely on anyone. Still. If a job is worth doing and all that
crap. Come with me.'

Bridget
followed Loretti into the elevator and the general pressed a button
at the end. It was below G for ground and B for basement.

'H?'

Loretti smiled
unpleasantly. 'Those ending up there call it hell. Rather quaint,
don't you think?'

'Strange. I
always thought I would end up there one day.'

The elevator
stopped and the door pinged open and Loretti stepped out.

'Welcome to my
world.'

Chapter 31

Friar tried
again. 'Captain. Sam. Can you hear me? Anne?'

Nothing was
coming from the stricken shuttle. Friar had seen the tiny craft
burst from Spero's outer atmosphere into deep space. It was
spinning like a top, and the normal blue exhausts had gone. With
the momentum from its flight through the atmosphere carrying it
forward, it was destined to float through space for an eternity.
Friar had followed it, calling them repeatedly. 'Sam. I'm catching
you up. Can you hear me?'

'Joe. Yes.
We've lost all drive power. Life support is failing. We only have
the suits to keep us alive.'

'Damn! Anyone
hurt?'

'Wait...I...Jay
Jay. Ok. It's ok, Jay Jay. Anne?'

Lee said,
'Nothing broken. Jay Jay. Talk to me.'

'Who the hell
beat the crap out of me?'

Lee said, 'You
bounced around like a ping-pong ball. Any bones broken?'

'I don't think
so. Sam. Did you say all the air we have is in the suits?'

'Yes. A little
in the shuttle, but that won't last long. We have...less than two
hours. Joe?'

'I'm thinking.
Right. You will have to come over to my shuttle. I should
rendezvous with you in...ninety seven minutes.'

Jay Jay gasped,
'You want us to leave this shuttle?'

Friar said,
'Probably a good idea unless you're keen to die.'

'But I've never
space-walked before.'

'A first time
for everything. I'll get as close to you as I can and a simple leap
across with a safety-line into my airlock and I'll get us all back
to the Goliath.'

'You can do
this, Jay Jay,' said Sam. 'Joe. We have about twenty minutes in
which to get the three of us across. Perhaps a couple of minutes to
spare. That's cutting it fine, Joe.'

Friar said, 'If
you all keep calm, that's plenty of time. Don't go exerting
yourselves and preserve what air you have.'

'We'll be ready
for you, Joe,' said Lee.

It took just
ninety eight minutes to catch up with the floating shuttle, leaving
eighteen minutes to get everyone over to Friar's shuttle alive.
Friar had made a good job of matching the floating speed and it was
fifty-five yards between airlocks. Jacobs, Clifton and Lee were
ready and waiting in the airlock, each tethered to a
safety-line.

'You all need
to be in my airlock together,' Friar told them. 'That way we don't
keep wasting the air in this shuttle. Sam. You come over first with
the line. Anne. You come over last so you can help the
captain.'

'I'm not some
senile geriatric,' snapped Jacobs.

'I know that,
captain,' said Friar, 'But Sam and Anne are a good twenty years
younger and in better physical condition. They're also less nervous
about space-walking. Don't argue, Jay Jay. We don't have time.'

'Coming over,'
said Clifton. He leaped out of the airlock with his line trailing
behind him. He floated gracefully across the divide, landing
expertly on his feet in the open airlock. He held on to a safety
rail to keep him from floating around.

'Come on, Jay
Jay,' Clifton said. 'Pull yourself across on my line.'

'Go,' Lee
urged. 'The clock's ticking.'

Jacobs grabbed
Clifton's line and pulled himself easily along, weighing nothing in
the vacuum of space. He was still going too slow and Lee nervously
checked her air-supply gauge which was on the orange warning bar
before the red danger bar.

'Faster,
captain.'

By the time
Jacobs was being helped into the airlock by Clifton, they only had
three minutes each of air remaining. Lee dived across so hard she
misjudged and was in danger of floating over the shuttle, but
Clifton jumped up and grabbed her as Jacobs pulled them both into
the airlock. The second they were all inside, Friar closed the
airlock and opened the inner airlock door.

'The air and
pressure will be ok in about three minutes,' Friar told them. 'Keep
your helmets on until then.'

The
life-support replaced the air lost when the airlock had been opened
and Lee, Clifton and Jacobs took small breaths as they waited,
Friar finally giving them the ok to remove their helmets.

'Welcome
aboard,' said Friar.

The three
joined Friar and buckled themselves in their seats.

'Thanks, Joe,'
said Jacobs.

'No sweat.
Looks like I'll be captain another day.'

'What about the
shuttle? We can repair it,' said Jacobs.

Clifton said,
'It should stay in orbit until the Goliath can collect it. The main
thing is we are all alive and well. Take us home, Joe.'