The man that boarded was small and businesslike. He examined the ship’s papers and manifests as well as the identification documents of her crew and the ship’s log in minute detail. Even Jane and Rom seemed inhibited by the man’s ruthless efficiency. Surprisingly however, the physical search of Starhopper was so casual as to be cursory. It was as though the official was convinced that if the papers were in order, the ship must be in order as well.
“Bloody smuggler’s paradise,” Rom muttered as the man headed for the lock. “Gotta come back here after this’s over!”
Lar overheard, and nodded. “Looks that way. The man was nothing but a paper pusher.”
Jane grinned. “Yeah. Guess they figure hiring cops got their fingers burned, so they’re hiring admin types. We may have to visit here more often. At least for awhile. Not that we do a lot of smuggling you understand, but…”
Kas snorted. “I don’t give a damn about the smuggling opportunities. I won’t be coming back here to trade. Let’s just get out of here before they change their minds.”
They boosted max for the jump point while Tera completed her computations. They had been in the system only two standard days when Kas signaled Rom and they jumped.
“One more,” he exulted. “One more recal and we can stop worrying about being found out.” He saw Rom open his mouth to speak and continued, “Okay, it’s actually two, but the last one’s in an uninhabited, unclaimed system.” He shrugged. “Oh, someone might stumble across us while we’re working on the Rekesh. Sheol, they might even be there now! But those are normal military problems; the kind we’re trained to handle.”
Jane didn’t seem to share his optimism. “What is our last Alliance recal stop?” she asked.
Rom grunted from his station. “Place called To-Han. Near the edge of the Alliance and the edge of known space. If it’s like most frontier systems, it should be easy!”
But both Jane and Lar were shaking their heads. “Wrong. To-Han’s got a small naval base,” she said. “Oh, I guess it’s not much of one, but it’s still an Alliance Navy installation.”
Kas frowned. “Why would they have a base ‘way out here? There wouldn’t seem to be any threat.”
Lar shrugged. “You know how it is. Their representative to the Alliance Congress had a lot of pull some years back. He rammed it through on the grounds of protecting the borders of the Alliance from the unknown. And there are half-a-dozen systems, both Alliance and independent, within one jump of the place. The real reason, of course, was to boost To-Han’s economy. From what I’ve heard, the units stationed there mostly do pirate interdiction.”
Jane nodded. “And that means that they may be suspicious, and that they’re experienced in searching ships.” She hesitated. “If I’d known To-Han was one of your scheduled stops, I’d have recommended going around, even if you had to go months out of your way!”
Kas slammed a fist on the arm of his chair. “Damn!” He shouted. “I hate having lousy intelligence! You’d think Imperial Intelligence could have told us about a goddam base on our route!”
Rom snorted. “They probably figured we didn’t have ‘need to know’.”
Kas clamped down on his anger. His tone was calm and cold as he turned to Jane. “Well, we can’t change our minds in mid-jump. We’re committed, now. Is there anything else you can tell us about To-Han? Are they likely to have the jump points picketed or is there a chance we can get by without Navy involvement at all? After all, they’re not likely to expect pirates to come to their home system.”
Jane shrugged. “It’s possible. I haven’t actually been to To-Han; few people have. It’s so far out that I wouldn’t expect that they’d get a lot of traffic. So you may end up being right; it may be ridiculously simple. On the other hand, if they’ve conned the Navy into handling security for the whole system, it could be a nightmare.”
Everyone’s nerves were on edge as they emerged. Kas’ heart fell as he saw the armed satellite that picketed the jump point. Over a hundred meters in diameter, it fairly bristled with lasers, particle beam weapons and missiles. An automated beacon was repeating, “Welcome to To-Han. Please kill all motion relative to this station, and stand by. Any attempt to maneuver will be considered a hostile move. Your cooperation is appreciated.” At Kas’ nod, Rom complied with the instruction.
Several hours went by before Rom detected a corvette approaching at a relatively high speed. It was almost another hour before it was in normal communication range. As soon as the communication lag was down to five seconds, Edro reported that they were being hailed.
Kas had decided that the best defense was a strong offense. As soon as the screen cleared to reveal an Alliance Navy Commander, Kas shouted, “What the hell’s going on here? We just want to recal here, not invade! Do you…” His voice trailed off as he realized that he recognized the face in the screen.
And the recognition was mutual. The Commander frowned for a moment, then his face cleared. “Well! Captain Kas Preslin of the Empire Fleet. And out of uniform. How interesting!” A predatory smile crept across the man’s face.
Kas was shaken, searching desperately for a response. Finally he sighed. “Hello, Tarn. I was hoping not to run into anyone I knew.”
The Alliance Commander leaned forward intensely. “I’ll bet you were. You wouldn’t be looking for stray Battle Cruisers, would you?”
Kas looked puzzled. “Stray what? What the devil are you talking about?”
The Commander grinned. “All right, then, suppose you tell me what you’re doing out here in a civilian ship, and out of uniform?”
Kas forced an embarrassed expression to his face. “I don’t wear that uniform anymore, Tarn.” The man’s grin faded, to be replaced by a skeptical look. Kas shrugged, then grinned as he continued, “Why don’t you come on across? I picked up a bottle of Penurian Glark on D’Jellabah… “
The Alliance Commander smiled sardonically. “I don’t suppose you know that Glark is illegal in the Alliance.”
Kas put on a shocked expression. “No!” He proclaimed theatrically, “Then you’d better get over here and help me drink up the evidence before somebody catches me with it!”
The Commander chuckled. “You always were an arrogant bastard. But Kas,” he continued, sobering, “You’d better be able to convince me to believe whatever story you’re going to run on me. Friends or no, this is duty. And you won’t like Alliance jails.” He shrugged. “I’ll see you in half an hour.” He terminated the connection.
Kas sagged in his chair. “People,” he declared, “We are in big trouble! Tarn Traskon is no bored customs agent. He’s Alliance Navy and he’s as sharp as they come. One slip and we’ll be in those Alliance jails he mentioned.”
Rom was looking concerned. “What’re you gonna tell ‘im, Skipper?”
Kas shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. It’s going to have to be very close to the truth, so it’s not contradicted by our documents.” He turned to the woman at his side. “Jane, I think that story you used on your Singhalese friend should work here as well; but if you’re going to change it let me know. Tarn is quick enough to spot the smallest inconsistency.”
“The rest of you,” he turned back to the others, intercom open. “Stick to your cover stories no matter what. He or someone on his staff may indicate that they know our covers are false, and that another crewman told them all about it. But that’s just a standard interrogation technique. If they say something like that, you simply don’t have any idea what they’re talking about. And don’t get fancy. You’re just outies who signed on to deliver corpsicles to a new colony. Play your cover story straight, and play it for all it’s worth. I don’t give a damn if things have happened that make it sound totally ridiculous; it’s all you know.”
Kas, Jane and Rom met Tarn Traskon at the main lock. He was accompanied by a single aide, a lieutenant. As soon as the two had stripped out of their suits, the group adjourned to Kas’ cabin. Kas brought out the advertised Glark and a handful of glasses. Jane helpfully served. Then Kas dropped into a chair with a huge sigh.
“We may as well get right to it,” he began.
Tarn nodded. “I can’t figure out why the Empire would send you, of all people,” he said.
Kas frowned. “Send me? Hell, they booted me! Look, Tarn, I get the feeling I’m missing something. Who or what am I supposed to be? I mean, you talked about jail. I just barely avoided being locked up on Prime. Now I come out here, and you want to lock me up. What’s going on?”
Tarn eyed him suspiciously. “We may get to that, though you won’t enjoy it if we do. Why don’t you just tell me what you’re doing out here out of uniform and in an old trading hulk?”
Kas put on a wounded expression that was, he was glad to note, echoed by Rom. “ Starhopper may be old, but she’s no hulk. She’s sound as an Imperial crown!” Tarn showed no reaction, and after a long moment, Kas sighed deeply.
“I’d hoped to not have to go into this. The crew doesn’t know. But it looks like I have no choice.” He sighed again. “You remember Admiral Lu-Jenks?”
Tarn’s rigid expression softened slightly. “Sure do. You were his favorite hate object. He seemed to want to devote the rest of his career to ridding the Fleet of outerworld scum like you.”
Kas grimaced as he nodded. “Yah. Well, he decided to take it upon himself to do just that. He sent me on a rigged mission in command of a destroyer. I was to raid a pirate base that had been found on an airless moon in an uninhabited system not far from Avalon. But they were waiting for us. We were hit with nuclear-pumped planetary defense lasers, heavy particle beams, and even missiles. We took ship damage and almost twenty percent casualties; over fifty percent in the landing party. The thing was, we succeeded, which Lu-Jenks obviously didn’t expect.”
“When we finally took the place, we found proof that Lu-Jenks had warned the pirates that we were coming.” He slammed his fist on the arm of his chair. “I still can’t believe that a Fleet officer, an Admiral at that, would do that to his own people!”
He frowned into his lap for a moment before continuing. “When we limped back to Avalon, Lu-Jenks knew something had gone wrong. He ordered me to his office on the planet to report.” A hint of a grim smile touched his lips. “I reported, all right. I broke his jaw and a few other body parts before his staff pulled me off him. He said he would have me executed for assaulting a superior officer. He would have, too. But I had the evidence, and I made sure it got to the proper people.
“Proper!” He continued with a sour smile. “They said it would be bad for Fleet morale to court-martial an Admiral, especially one from as powerful a family as Lu-Jenks’. All they did was make him retire. With full honors and full pension, of course.
“Naturally, they weren’t quite so considerate with outerworld Captains. I was offered a choice: take early retirement and a reduced pension, or be court-martialed for assaulting that pompous bastard.”
His expression turned bitter. “So, an innerworld Admiral schemes to get sixty-three Fleet people killed and a hundred and thirty more wounded, and retires with honors. I fight a heavy action against a prepared opponent, and get booted out at reduced pension. So much for devotion to the Fleet!”
He shrugged, and a sour grin surfaced. “When the story began getting around, I did find that I suddenly had a lot of friends. One of them fixed me up with a civilian Master’s ticket, and few more managed to find me financing to buy the old Starhopper and bid on the charter to deliver these cold-sleep colonists. I signed on an outerworld crew on shares, and here I am.” He finished.
Tarn was looking skeptical. “And how long ago was this?” He asked.
“Just over a standard year, now,” Kas replied.
Tarn turned to his aide and gestured slightly. The Lieutenant nodded, and Tarn turned back to Kas. “Lieutenant Trensa needs to call my ship,” he said. “Is there someplace he can get secure communications?”
Kas grinned, “This is a trading tub, not a flagship. Secure communications don’t come with the package.” He thumbed the intercom. “Edro, the Lieutenant from the corvette will be coming up to the bridge to use the comms. Show him how to use them if necessary, then you and Tera leave the bridge to give him some privacy.” He turned and looked at the Lieutenant as he continued, “the Lieutenant will let you know when he’s finished, so you can resume your bridge stations.” The Lieutenant nodded silently and slipped out the hatch.
Kas turned his attention back to Tarn as the latter was saying, “I should have known that anywhere I’d find Kas Preslin, I’d find a beautiful woman! And what’s such a lovely young lady doing consorting with a degenerate like Preslin?”
Lady Jane blushed, but flashed a broad smile. “Oh, aside from an insatiable lechery, he’s not so bad.” She shrugged. “Actually, I guess you could call me a guide. Captain Preslin wasn’t familiar with the independents and the Alliance. So, since my ship was laid up I contracted to help keep him out of trouble.”
Tarn snorted. “It would take more than one woman to keep Kas Preslin out of trouble.” His smile faded. “You have a ship? May I ask your identity and citizenship, please?”
She shrugged, her expression bland. “Of course. I’m Jane Gray. They call me ‘Lady’ Jane Gray. I’m an Alliance citizen, though I spend most of my time in the independents.”
He nodded. “I recognize the name, though I’ve not had the pleasure of meeting you before. You’re pretty well known in this part of space. Your ship is also the Lady Jane, is it not?” She nodded.
“Well,” He continued, “You’re an Alliance citizen, and you’ve just heard Kas’ story for the first time. What do you think? Is it just a cover story for an operation by Imperial Fleet Intelligence?”
Jane grinned. “Nobody would make up a story like that, especially a military organization! Punching out an Admiral? I mean, really!” She turned an old-fashioned glare on Kas. “I wouldn’t put it past him to do it, either!”
Tarn chuckled. “I wouldn’t, either. After all, I’ve known him for over ten years. How about it, Kas? Did you really do that, or is it just your cover story?”
Kas shrugged. “I imagine you’ll know in a few minutes. That’s what your Lieutenant’s doing, isn’t it? Checking out my story? I figure you must have someone on board your ship that’s recently returned from the Empire.”
Tarn's smile was sincere. “Of course. One of my officers returned six months ago from detached duty on Prime.” He shrugged. “In the meantime, let’s take care of business. Who issued that charter, and where is this colony they’re establishing?”
Uh oh, Kas thought, here we go. He shrugged and slid Starhopper ’s papers across his desk. “The colony’s on a planet called Turow’s World. The Charter was issued by Farterra.”
Tarn frowned. “Farterra’s not establishing any colonies. They can’t even keep their home world solvent.” He was leafing through the documents.
Kas shrugged. “So Lady Jane tells me. I figure they experienced a communications lag. Their trade representatives on Prime issued the charter before they heard about Farterra’s economic collapse. By the time they heard it was too late.”
Tarn nodded. “Possibly. So where does that leave you?”
Kas shrugged again. “Depends. If you don’t delay me too much and I can make my delivery on schedule, it makes no difference. The balance of the charter is in escrow on Prime. Of course if I don’t make it on time, I imagine they’d be eager to impose the delivery penalties set out in my charter. If you really held me up, I could end up losing Starhopper. So, while I’m glad to see you, you’ll understand if I tell you to quit wasting time and let me go! I just wanted to recal in your damned system, not take up residence!”
Tarn leaned forward with a grin, resting his elbows on Kas' desk. “We’ll see. But there’s too much at stake to just turn you loose for old times’ sake!”
Kas frowned. “There you go again! What’s going on, Tarn? What’s the Empire got up to since I’ve left that’s got the Alliance so excited?”
Tarn’s grin didn’t fade, but his gaze was piercing. “It’s the Vir Rekesh.”
Kas frowned. “The Vir… Oh, that old battle cruiser? The one that disappeared?”
Tarn nodded. “She’s been found, and the people that found her took her coordinates to the Imperial Fleet. Everyone in this area of space is on a scavenger hunt for her. Funny though, the Empire hasn’t asked anyone for permission to cross their space to get her. That means they’ll be sending undercover agents. People like you, for instance.”
Kas snorted. “Right!” He said with broad sarcasm, “I’m so good at that cloak and dagger stuff!”
Tarn laughed aloud. “I admit you make an unlikely spy. You’re more the ‘Damn the torpedoes, Full speed ahead’ type.” He sobered. “But maybe Pankin was more interested in a shiphandler and battle skipper than a cloak-and-dagger type. Let’s see what Lieutenant Trensa finds out, shall we?”
Kas shrugged with feigned indifference. “So, what are you doing running a corvette around a remote system? Did you punch out an Admiral, too?”
Tarn put on a theatrically wounded look. “I beg your pardon! I’ve been promoted! I’m the CO of To-Han Base. You know how people at remote bases tend to get stale? Well, I set up a policy that all of my officers, me included, participate in operations at least twice a year. It helps keep us from losing our edge in an armchair. I…” He stopped as his Lieutenant reentered the room, and bent to whisper in his ear.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” He resumed. “You really did beat up Lu-Jenks! Commander Tuels said that it was the talk of Prime Base for weeks! Oh, he couldn’t verify what had happened to you; he said the Fleet hushed it up. Of course, that would tend to support your story as well.”
He shook his head unbelievingly. “When I came aboard I was positive that I’d be taking you to To-Han under arrest; that you had to be the Empire agents sent to recover the Rekesh.” He sighed. “You have to be the luckiest sonofabitch alive. What are the chances that I could verify a wild story like yours?” He shook his head again and grinned. “I am damned glad I don’t have to arrest you, Kas. Why don’t you come on to the base and we’ll throw a party and you can tell that story again, and we’ll swap lies!”
Kas sighed with relief, then shook his head with a weak smile. “I’m glad you don’t have to arrest me, too. And I would like to visit with you; but as I said, I’ve got a deadline. And those bastards at D’Jellabah delayed us so much that we’re pushing that deadline. Maybe I can stop on the way back. From what I’ve heard about Farterra’s money troubles, I doubt I’ll be able to pick up a return cargo.”
After another hour spent chatting, Tarn was escorted to the lock. He’d been drinking Kas’ Glark freely, and the Lieutenant had to help him into his suit, and tow him across the ten-meter gap between the ships.
Kas returned to the bridge, unsteady himself. Rom was not in much better shape. Kas made a mental note to stick to less potent spirits in the future. Finally, though, an officer appeared on the viewscreen, informing them that the armed satellite was no longer locked onto them, and they were authorized to proceed to their jump point.
Kas breathed a huge sigh of relief, and as soon as their course to the jump point was locked in, he staggered to his cabin. He collapsed fully-dressed onto his bunk, and was snoring immediately.
Kas struggled to wakefulness. His head ached terribly. He sat up, and groaned in agony as the universe wobbled unsteadily. His movement triggered the cabin’s lights, which stabbed agonizingly at his eyes. His mouth seemed filled with foul tasting cotton. He struggled to his feet and staggered to the ‘fresher on sheer will power.
A long, hot shower and liberal use of toothpaste and mouthwash helped. He no longer considered dying a good thing. A savage headache remained, but for the most part, he was now willing to consider trying to make it through the day — as long as he could consume plenty of caf.
He was pouring his third cup and beginning to feel truly alive again, when Rom came into the mess, whistling.
“No,” Kas moaned. “Please tell me you’re not one of those horrible people who don’t get hung over!”
Rom grinned. “’Fraid so, Skipper!” He continued to whistle gaily as he poured himself a cup of caf and moved to join Kas, whose headache was finally subsiding a bit.
“So,” he said easily, “Didja really rack up Lu-Jenks, or was that just part of your cover?”
Kas winced. “I really did it. It wasn’t exactly the high point of my career, and there’s no need the spread the story, understood?”
Rom nodded, his grin widening. “I dunno, Boss. There’s lotsa folks would think forcing’ old Lu-Jenks to retire would be the high point of any career!” He paused, then continued, “Well, they obviously didn’t cashier or execute you. So what did they do?”
Kas sighed. “Well, they were going to court-martial me, all right. I was transferred under arrest to the base on Prime. The unofficial word I got was that Pankin himself ordered that charges were not to be filed. The way I heard it, he said that anyone that sent sixty-three Fleet people to be killed deserved a few broken bones — or worse.
“All I really know,” he continued, “is that the JAG investigating officers suddenly disappeared, and my quarters arrest was lifted by memo from the base CO. I sat around Prime Base for a while, and then Pankin called me to his office to give me this assignment — and my flag.”
Rom looked thoughtful. “This Pankin. Sounds like he might be a few cuts above the usual innerworld bootlicker.”
Kas snorted. “Fleet Admiral Pankin is a whole pile of cuts above the usual innerworld admiral — and he’s no kind of bootlicker!”
Rom’s gaze was level. “You believe in him, then. Interesting.”
Kas nodded. “Yes, I believe in him. I’d suggest you start keeping up with the Fleet news and rumors. I have a feeling it’s going to get even more interesting over the next few years.”
Rom’s eyebrows rose. He tried to draw Kas out, but Kas would tell him no more. Rom’s expression was thoughtful as he watched Kas leave the mess.
Unfortunately, Lady Jane did not intend to be discreet. Once she learned that the story was true, in less than two days everyone aboard knew about it, if they hadn't already. Kas was annoyed but Lady Jane was unrepentant.
“I think it’s great!” She proclaimed. “It shows that you’re a man and not some Fleet robot.”
“Damn it, Jane, can’t you see that it’s a cause for shame, not pride? I assaulted a senior officer, a man I was sworn to obey. Not to mention that he was just an old man, twenty years older than me!”
She shook her head firmly. “No. What I see is that man was responsible for the deaths of sixty-three people and you knew he wouldn’t be punished. I’m proud of you, even if you aren’t proud of yourself!” She refused to give him her word not to spread the story among the awakened battle cruiser crew, and the quarrel that resulted lasted until after they’d entered Jump.
“Well, Captain,” she asked in an icy tone once they’d entered Jump, “You mentioned one last recal. I promised to advise you, so where do we emerge next?”
Kas shrugged. “I’ m not sure your advice is required on this system,” he replied in an equally cold tone. “It’s supposed to be uninhabited. In fact, it doesn’t even have a name; just an NGC number.” He pointed it out on the chart. As she bent to examine the chart, Kas couldn’t help but notice the sweet fresh scent of her.
Jane frowned, and then called Lar to the bridge. They huddled over the chart, muttering animatedly. Finally, Jane straightened, slapping the chart in frustration. “Damn! I wish I had the Lady Jane ’s charts!” Lar turned and silently moved to Rom’s terminal, where he began typing. She turned to Kas.
“Captain,” she began formally, “We can’t be sure without the Lady Jane ’s large-scale charts of the rim, but I think this system is one that’s uninhabited for a reason. Lar’s checking the stellar index, but if it’s the system I’m thinking of, the primary seems to have been very unstable at some point. Anyway, it either never developed planets or its planets were broken up by extreme tidal stresses. The point is that instead of a normal system with planets, this system is just full of asteroid rubble. Everything from micropebbles to asteroids tens of kilometers across wandering around the system. It could be dangerous as Sheol. I’d at least recommend raising your shields the instant we emerge.”
Kas cursed. “Is anything going to go right on this trip?” He asked no one in particular.
A few moments later Lar confirmed that their target system was, indeed, the system he and Jane remembered.
Kas scowled at the chart. “So, what can we do about it?”
Lar’s scowl matched Kas’ as he shook his head. “I only see two choices,” he said. “Either we traverse the system dead slow, depending on our shields to deflect the small bits, and hoping we can veer around the big ones, or we turn right around and jump back out as soon as we can compute an angle.”
Kas shook his head. “Jumping back just puts us back at To-Han, with Tarn getting curious. That has to be the last resort!”
Lar shrugged. “It may be the only practical course of action, Captain. It would take us several weeks to traverse that system going dead slow. I don’t think we can stay sharp enough to dodge all the boulders for that long.”
Kas’ temper began to flare. “My crew is Fleet! They’ll be sharp enough however long it takes.”
Lar started to reply when Lady Jane interrupted. “Easy, boys. There may be a third way.” Kas and Lar rounded on her hopefully.
“Look,” she began, “We all know that if it could be seen from outside, a stellar system would look like a big disk, with the star at the center. The star’s gravitational forces eventually pull nearly all the matter in the system into the same plane, so instead of resembling a ball of string, the system ends up resembling a disk, right?”
Kas nodded. “Sure. The ‘plane of the ecliptic’. So what’s… Of course!” He shouted excitedly. “We can get out of the plane of the ecliptic!”
Jane nodded. “Right. So here’s my recommendation. As soon as we emerge you set your shields on full. Once your Astrogator locates the next jump point, we boost toward stellar north and pull out of the plane of the ecliptic. When we get clear, we can drive toward the other jump point, and only dive back onto the ecliptic when we reach the coordinates of the jump point. That should reduce our hazard time considerably.”
Kas cursed. “I should have thought of that. That’s first year academy stuff!”
Jane shrugged and grinned. “It’s not something we normally deal with. After all, all the planets we want to visit and all the jump points between them are on the plane.” She paused. “I wonder why the jump points tend to be on the plane.”
Kas shrugged. “Tera may know, if you’re really curious. My Astrogation training was more the ‘nuts and bolts’ type than the theoretical. I don’t care. All I care about is that your suggestion improves our chances of survival and success by several orders of magnitude. I’ve got to talk to Tera!” He hurried over to the Astrogator’s station.
Tera wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as she frowned over the chart. “It’s easy to say that the plane of the ecliptic forms a disk,” she said. “Unfortunately, it’s just not that neat. The term ‘disk’ implies little thickness. Actually, the plane may cover anywhere from ten to twenty degrees of arc. We’re talking about millions of kilometers in depth. So, it’s not going to be just popping up a few kilometers and later popping down the same.”
She shrugged. “Even when we’re out of the plane itself we won’t be out of danger. We could still run into asteroids and comets wandering the fringe of the plane, or knocked out of the plane by collisions with other bodies. Oh,” she continued, “I don’t have a better idea. I just want you to know that getting out of the ecliptic won’t mean getting completely out of danger. The jump point is about a third of the way around the circumference of the system and just inside its outer edge. We’re still going to have to boost slowly and keep our sensors at max.”
Finally, it was only minutes until emergence. “Remember, Rom,” he fussed, “The second our emergence is complete, raise the shields at maximum power.”
Rom grinned. “Relax, Skip. We all know what to do. I’ll get the shields up, and Tera’s ready to calculate our orientation to the jump point, and decide whether we should boost north or south.”
The actual emergence was something of an anticlimax. Starhopper emerged without difficulty. Rom was as good as his word; the shields went up almost the instant they emerged. The only indication that this was not a normal system was a slightly higher-than-normal load on the shields as they deflected micrometeorites.
It was an interminable two minutes before Tera announced, “Got it! Captain, we should drive to the stellar south about eighty million kilometers, dead slow. Once there we should be able to use more velocity.”
It took more than thirty hours to traverse the eighty million kilometers to near-clear space. They were only about halfway when Rom cried, “Asteroid on collision course! Estimate sixty seconds to impact!”
“How big is it?” Kas barked, “And can we steer around it?”
“It’s big!” Rom replied. “Over a kilometer in the long dimension. Recommend emergency maneuver toward stellar east. I’m not sure we can avoid it, though.”
Kas’ only reply was max blasts on the maneuvering jets. Silence dragged until Kas said, “We’re not going to make it! Edro! Use all the quick-firers! Maybe we can divert it just enough. If not, maybe the recoil will help the maneuvering jets enough!” He flicked a switch on his panel. “All hands brace for impact!”
The little man didn’t reply, but immediately there was a deep thrumming, more felt than heard, that told Kas the weapons were firing. The collapsium-plated projectiles massing over a hundred kilograms would have an almost negligible effect on the asteroid, but even ‘almost negligible’ could help. Seconds dragged. Suddenly the ship lurched, as a loud metallic grinding sounded throughout Starhopper.
Kas shouted “All hands suit up! Possible hull breach!” as he reached for his own suit. He kept expecting to hear the loud hissing that would tell him that the ship’s atmosphere was venting to space.
It was with a definite sense of relief that he sealed his faceplate. He scanned the instruments on his panel. All gauges were steady. He focused on the life support gauges. Atmospheric pressure steady. He relaxed with a huge sigh.
He keyed his helmet comm. “Toj, We seem to still be tight. How long before you can give me a damage report?”
Toj’s voice had the loss of timbre that indicated a helmet comm. “’Bout half an hour, Cap’n. No hull breaches apparent. That rock seems to have clipped our stern.”
Twenty minutes later, Toj reported that Starhopper seemed sound internally, and requested permission to make an external survey.
Kas shook his head. “Not until we’re out of the ecliptic. The hull seems to be holding, and the risk is too great.”
Just over twelve hours later, Tera confirmed that they were out of the plane of the ecliptic. She and Kas set their course for the jump point, and Kas permitted half-normal acceleration. Tera estimated sixty-two hours until they must re-enter the plane of the ecliptic to traverse the jump point.
Toj again requested permission for an external examination of the damage. “Permission granted,” Kas told him, “But take Gran along. No one goes outside alone.”
Nearly another hour passed before Kas’ readings indicated the cycling of the passenger airlock to permit the two to reenter Starhopper. Kas fretted as he waited for the engineers to report to the bridge.
When they did appear they were unsuited. Kas unsealed his own helmet. “Well?” He demanded impatiently.
Toj and Gran exchanged glances. “Well, sir,” Toj replied, “Integrity’s all right. I was right; the damned rock just brushed us as we passed. Instead of hitting the hull, it hit one of the sponsons housing a landing jack. Totally trashed the landing jack. We won’t be able to ground without repairs, but other than that, we’re totally functional. Just a couple of dented hull plates and our antirad coating’s scratched up some.” He shrugged. “It could’ve been a lot worse.”
“Sure could,” Gran put in. “If you hadn’t used the quickfirers the damned thing might’ve brushed the bridge, or living quarters, or the hold. That was quick thinkin’, sir.”
Kas shrugged. “Not quick enough. A little sooner, and it might have missed us altogether.” Toj snorted, but made no other reply.
Kas permitted everyone to unseal their helmets but insisted that they remain in suits until they were out of this system, provoking a round of grumbling.
Normal in-space routine called for a single bridge watch, but Kas ordered that two people man the bridge at all times while in this system. Sensors were set to maximum as they crept carefully toward the jump point.
Nerves were stretched thin by the time that Tera announced that it was time to once more brave the plane of the ecliptic.
Kas nodded. “All right. Dead slow, shields and all sensors at max.” He took a deep breath and keyed in the coordinates. As they re-entered the ecliptic, the shield monitors again registered load due to dust particles and micrometeorites. Silence reigned on Starhopper. Everyone’s attention was riveted on their progress.
Tera and Kas stared at the instruments that indicated their agonizingly slow advance. Lady Jane hung over Kas’ shoulder. Rom and Edro monitored the sensors, alert to the slightest quiver. Toj, Gran and Lar huddled in Engineering, their suits festooned with tools and damage control gear, poised to race to any part of the ship at a moment’s notice.
Time crawled, but no one could relax. They remained glued to the sensors until sheer exhaustion drove them to a few hours’ fitful sleep. A lifetime later, Tera pronounced herself satisfied with her computations, and they began steering for the jump point, still dead slow.
The entire crew breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief when they entered Jump. Once supralight, they need no longer worry about encountering a solid object. Kas suspended the normal underway watch. The stress had left them all exhausted, and they all caught up on badly needed sleep.