"How long?" Amos ben Sierra Nueva said desperately
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| "They may have had cause for their precipitous
intrusion," she said, and froze a view of the stubs of the radar and radio antennas. "Those look like battle damage to me." "Hmmm." Simeon did a rapid close-scan and match with the naval records in his files. "You're right, Channa-mine. Transmission antennae sheared off so they couldn't have responded to our hails. Whoever shot those darts knew his stuff, and their most vul- nerable points. See the long star-shaped ripple patterns in the hull? And those long sort of fuzzy distor- tions clustered in the rear third of the hull? Those are beamers at extreme range, I'd say. Hard to tell 'cause it's so messed up." He spoke more slowly, in an almost somber tone. "Hell, Channa, beamers like that are naval ordnance weapons. The real thing." Oh, boy, this is not like a simulation at all. "Somebody was trying to destroy that ship." "While the victims were desperate enough to fly dose to blind and totally deaf," Channa said. That was not a safe thing to do, even in the vastness of interstellar space. "My next intelligent question is, did they escape? Or are they still being pursued?"
ing slightly smug that he had anticipated her. "I can't detect anything coming in on the same vector." He heaved an audible sigh of relief that coincided with hers. "Or ... no, they were blind. The pursuit could have dropped off long ago, and they wouldn't have had any way to tell. But we'd better establish who and why. If, and it's a big if, there's anyone alive in there now to tell us the facts. I'm not inclined to be charitable. For all we know, they could be pirates or hijackers, and they were running from Central Worlds naval pursuit.
us to a smithereen." "Smithereens," Channa said thoughtfully, "because it's fragments they are and they have to be plural to be dangerous. I rather discount their being illegals. Some- thing real deadly mustjjiave pushed them to run in a craft that unspacewbrthy. Something that came to their planet suddenly. Why else wouldn't they take the time to cut away that mass dinging to the ship? Maybe their sun went nova. Anyway," she said briskly, "if there are people on board, they're in bad shape and what have you been doing to rescue and/or apprehend them?" "Ahem, Channa-mine. You're the mobile half of this partnership. Remember? So go be brawn for me. And be careful!1
reminding me of that!" Her tone was brightly britde. "Somehow this wasn't the sort of duty I thought came along with this assignment.'' "Well, it has!" he said, making his voice lilt. "Hate to have caused you to get into that clumsy suit for no reason at all."
ignored him. "Oh, and Channa?" "What?" "Before you lock your helmet, do switch on your implant" "Ah!" She couched the switch grounded in bone just behind her ear, the contact responding only to her individual bio-energy. "Are you receiving?"
fingers clumsy in the space suit gloves. Joat had become well-acquainted with the station's drills but, with survival skills as finely honed as hers were, she had put the suit on when the klaxon sounded Red Alert Besides, she'd had a chance to time just how fast she could get into the flippin' thing.
duly reported. "Fardling A wow!" Hie system was taking in some heavy data, converting it and feeding it to Simeon the way it transferred data from the pickups, though never in this density or complexity. "Heavy read!"
much. Then, "Got it." Now the main computer was also encoding it for her little friend. She fiddled to get a finer tuning, get rid of the drivel, giving her the visual and aural stuff. She reared back in surprise, hitting her head on the metal bulkhead but ignoring the pain as she realized what she now had.
getting what she's seeing. She must have an implant to input directly to Simeon like Mis. And what Channa was seeing made Joat feel a little more charitable towards her. Channa wasn't squishstuff, her private term for organic tissue. "Beats hacking in to the holo system any day," Joat muttered, eyes glued to the miniature screen. She squirmed into a more comfortable position, plopped down a purloined pillow so she wouldn't slam her head again, braced her feet against the roof of the duct, plugged the earphone into the helmet outlet, and absorbed the action.
wavering line down one side of the picture-cube that must represent breathing and life-signs and stuff "Go, Channa, go!" CJtAFTERSIX Station-born and bred, Channa had gone space- walking as soon as she was old enough to fit into a juvenile suit. But there the difference between her Hawking Alpha Proxima Station days and now ended. Theoretically, she knew that SSS-900-C was at the edge of the Shiva Nebula. Trade routes crossed here, carrying processed ores essential for drive-core manufacture. As the ship which had brought her had approached the dumbbell-shaped station, she'd watched the process on her cabin's screen with great interest. But theory, and that shipboard view in com- plete safety, had not prepared her for the great arc of pearly mist that filled her vision plate; mist glowing with scores of proto-suns in a score of colors. "Spectacular, ain't it?" Patsy asked. Channa came to herself with a start "What are^ow doing out here?" "This tug's my emergency station," she said, grin- ning broadly inside her bubble helmet "The algae'U keep right on breedin' for a while without me, randy little bastards. An' I'm a right good tug pilot, too." "Believe you, ma'am," Channa said, throwing a salute from her bubbled temple. What's Simeon on about1 He's got a fleet N of sortsNtocommand. "Let'sgo."
tug and plugged suit feeds into the ship system. The tugs were stripped-down little vessels, just a powerplant and drive with minimal controls; wedge- shaped, with grapnel fields and an inflatable habitat for
The docking bay and the cabin itself were open to vacuum, but she felt a low whining as Patsy brought the drive up and lifted them out. ijiere was the usual disorienting lurch as they passed out of station gravity. Now the only weight was acceleration, and the barbell shape of the station was a huge bulk below them instead of behind. Her senses tried to tell her she was climbing vertically in a gravity field, then yielded to training as she made herself ignore up and down for the omni- directional outlook that was most useful in space.
against the blackness. The analogy remained in force as they circled the drifting hulk of the intruder; it was big. Forward was a frayed mass of tendrils, and the rear still glowed red-white, heat slow to radiate in vacuum.
always did when she had a helmet on. Simeon's voice answered her. "Main power system went out when they burned their drive," he said. "Be careful about that, by the way N it's radiating gamma, real museum piece. Main internal gravity field's down. There are localized auxiliary systems still operating amidships, and traces of water vapor and atmosphere. There might be a chamber in there still running life- support"
The instruments available in the cockpit of the tug were basically little more than sophisticated motion detectors.
missing something?" "Not much," Simeon told her. "There's too much dirt out there, which'U confuse readings. See if you can get aboard."
"Bring us in there, Patsy." Channa flicked an indicator light on the hull. They sank gradually, until the ancient ship filled half the sky. "Don't build 'em like this anymore," Patsy said as they beheld shuttle bay doorsVhich were easily two hundred meters long, big enough to accommodate a small liner.
Drive cores were a lot cheaper and safer nowadays, which made ships this size obsolete. "Somebody did wA hke them." This close in, the scars on the hull were enormous, metal heated to melting with a slagged look around the edges of the cuts, but miraculously there didn't seem to be much structural damage as they swung further into the bay.
ing could kill people this lucky." "Except running out of luck," Simeon said grimly. "There is that." She came at last to a smaller shuttle bay and attempted to open the portal with several standard call codes. "Simeon, what does the library suggest we use for a ship this old? I'm not getting any response with the usual ones."
they have locked them?" "Hard to say until we're sure they're crazy or not. Try another bay. That one might just be inoperative." She had Patsy fly out and down the massive ship's side until they came to another shuttle bay. It, too, refused her admittance.
got in, so there has to be an operable entrance!" "Considering the visible damage, maybe you'd have 94 Antu McCaffrty fc? SM. Stirling more luck with a service hatch. There're close to a hundred of them and only six shuttle bays. Try some- thing midship."
tic with such odds. Just in case, what do we use for a can opener? We don't want any survivors dead of old age before we reach them." The very first hatch they tried opened, about half a meter. Channa looked at it, Simeon looked at it through her eyes via the implant which connected directly to her optic nerve. "You're not that big, but you're also not that small," he said with a wistful note. "I'm putting us down," Patsy said. "Contact" A feint dunk came through the metal of the tug as the fields gripped the big hull.
wide enough." Channa told Simeon. "Just you be very careful, Channa-mine..." "For Ghu's sake, Simeon, I've been space-walking since I was five. I'm a stickfoot" "Yeah, but I don't think your station ever experienced a hostile attack. And there's all that flying junk! Could knock you right off the hull... or smear you across it"
going, Simeon, and that's that." She muttered to her- self about titanium twits and agoraphobic asses as she prepared to leave the tug. Patsy Sue at least gave her a cheerful grin and a thumbs-up. "We need to know what or who's in there." "No problem," Patsy cut in, reaching into the tool- box under the pilot's seat. Her hand came out with the ugly black shape of an arc pistol.
those illegal?" Patsy waggled the pronged muzzle. "Not on Larabie, they ain't" THE CTTY WHO FOUGHT 95 Channa shook her head, then picked up where she'd left off. "You know, Simeon, they do give us brawns training. I've done search-and-rescue before."
cautious. J can-do thisj#imeon. Once I'm inside maybe I can do something to widen the hatch opening. Direct some of the other tugs this way so I'll have reinforce- ments nearby, if I need them."
to the weight of the weapon. "Assuming it's needed," Channa added cheerfully. "Have you got any positive life readings, partner?" she asked as she eased herself with practised care out of the tug. With one hand on a hull bracket, she let herself drift to the hull where the stickfield of her boots held her safely. "According to my sensors, nobody's conscious. But there imgfa be N" "Stop being so reassuring," she said facetiously. "Have you got a medical team ready?" "We were just getting to know each other," he said regretfully. Channa paused, caught by the emotion in his voice. "You are the most manipulative creature it has ever been my misfortune to meet," she said coldly, dipping a reel of optical fiber to her suit. Simeon sighed. "Look, I'm not a total idiot The tug will shield me on one side, and I'm only two strides away from the hatch." "Me? Manipulative? I'm supposed to keep my brawn from risking its fluffy little tail." Carefully breaking boot contact, she took the first step to the hatch, and the second. Then clipped both feet free and floated neady to the opening to examine it more closely. The magnetic grapple built into the left forearm of her suit twitched, with a feeling like a light push. The contact disk flicked out, trailing braided 96 Amu McCaffrey ## SM. S&rixng monofilament, and impacted on the door of the bay. She activated the switch that reeled her in. Patsy fol- lowed with an expert somersault leap that landed her less than an arm's length from her friend. "Showoff," Channa said. "You ain't the only one with walk experience," Patsy said. Her voice was light, but the arc pistol was ready as she peered within the half-open hatch.""Coburn to res- cue squad. We're about to enter the Hulk. Stand by." Channa licked dry lips. It's the suit air, she told herself firmly. Always too dry. She spoke aloud to Simeon. "You're just jealous of me, Bellona Rockjaw, heroine of the space frontier." "I'm right there with you, Channa," Simeon said with a trace of wistfulness in his voice. "Hmmph." She struggled to get through the narrow opening, grunting with effort. "Do not get stuck," he advised her. Channa started to giggle. "Do not make me laugh," she admonished. "And stop reading my mind." With the unpleasant sensation of metal and plastic scraping against each other, she pushed through at last. The chamber had held maintenance equipment of some sort long ago; there were feeds and racks for EVA suits, and empty toolholders. Only a single strip lit the dim in- terior. On the hullside wall was a massive, clumsy-looking airlock, and a blinking row of readouts beside it
yourself against the frame and see if you can't push the hatch door open."
muttered. "Makes me wish I were fiat-chested, too." "She is not," Simeon replied vehemently. Channa grinned, but Patsy Sue was busy getting her- self into position in the hatchway, attaching her filament to the inside of the hatch before she grabbed the top of
hatch did not so much as budge a millimeter. "No, it's jammed tighter'n... nemmind. You got a polarizin' faceplate?" Patsy asked. "Standard." "Okay. I'll try sometnifa' subtle." Coburn stepped t&ck, raised the arc pistol and fired four times. The bar_oT actinic blue-white light was soundless in vacuum, but a fog of metal particles exploded outward like glittering donuts centered on the aiming points. Patsy nodded in satisfaction and twisted herself around to brace her feet on the hatch and grip two handhold loops on the hull nearby. Channa could hear her give a grunt of effort, and the hatchway flipped out into space, tumbling end-over- end.
"Think nothin' of it," Patsy said, pretending to blow smoke off the arc pistol's barrel. "Any luck?" Channa bent over the touchpad beside the airlock. "Not much. Ah, that's got it. Simeon, how's the trans- mission holding up?"
way. I may lose Patsy's signal further inside. Maybe you should wait? There're four more tugs dosing in on your position." Channa ignored the pleading note, not without a pang of guilt But what the hell, the situation is irresistible, she admitted. She had been trained as an admiriistrator-paitner-troubleshooter, but most of the time, circumstances were fairly conventional. Not boring; she wouldn't have made it through brawn training if she were bored with it. On the other hand, she wouldn't have been picked if there weren't an ele- ment of the adventurer in her psychological profile.
over the reel. The optical fiber was encased in woven 98 Anne McCaffny fc? SM. Stirling tungsten-filament, with receptor-booster chips at intervals. Barely thicker than thread, it had a breaking strain of several tons. Tacked to the wall behind them, neither her implants nor Patsy's suit communits could fade out Patsy welded the outer encj to the hull beside the hatch, using the spot heater in her construction suit's gauntlet,
ready.
The keypad lights blinked green and amber. "I think it's saying there's some doubt about the atmosphere," Channa said. "It's definitely pressurized in there." She attached a sensor line to the surface. "They're in trouble," Simeon said. "Hear that whin- ing?" Channa shook her head, and felt him boost the audio pickups of her helmet. A feint tooth-grating sound came through. "What is that?" "That's the main internal drive cores," Simeon replied grimly. "The powerplant's down, but they're still superconducting. The alloys they used back then were tough. They built 'em more redundant then, too."
everything the powerplant had into the drive. The exterior coils blew before it could go all out. Now the internal coil's going to go." "Bad news," Patsy said. "It's going to blow?" Channa asked apprehensively. The energies needed to move megatons between stars were immense.
but the noise will be considerably more audible before I'd panic. Get that inner hatch open, woman! I'll send
have to be off." The interior airlock slid open. The two women kept their helmets firmly ori as it slid down again and the air hissed in. Channa locjked down at the readouts on her sleeve and punched foranalysis. "Oxygen's down, COg's way up," she said grimly. "Necrotic ketofaes, or so it says N decay products. I'd hate to have to breathe this stuff. Could anyone breath it and live?"
"And it might not be bad further in." Being an environ- mental maintenance specialist, she knew the parameters. "From the volume of n.k.'s, their scrub- bers must have been down for a while." The inner hatch of the airlock slid open. Now that they were no longer in a soundless vacuum, the exterior pickups of their suits relayed the hiss. Unfor- tunately, a high-pitched whine was now equally audible: the kind that made the hair on your arms lift up. Channa looked down the long corridor, shabby with age and dim with the emergency glowstrips' ghostly blue light. Flies buzzed around them. Patsy slapped one against the wall. "Blowflies," she said after a good look. There was a feint quaver in her voice. "Had 'em on the ranch." "Sound pickup says there are live ones down there," Channa said. "Let's go." Doctor Chaundra's hands flew over his keypad as he made notes. He was a smallish brown-skinned man with delicate bones and a precise, scholarly manner.
another part of his consciousness. Channa's breathing sounded ragged; her heartbeat was elevated, and the
Simeon wasn't surprised. The things she was seeing made Aim feel a little sick in an entirely nonphysical way that was still highly unpleasant. "Short-term, improvised attempt at coldsleep," she said, voice struggling for the objectivity of a report. He looked at the tangle of cobbled-together equipment around living and dead. "Probablyto cut down on air consumption. Heavy equipment failures."
len in and dried lips shrunk back over grinning teeth. Maggots, too. Some of the corpses were children, dead children nestled against dead mothers. In a few, the maggots gave a ghastly semblance of life, moving the swollen, blackened limbs. About the only mercy was the elastic nets that held living and dead down to the Yüklə 2,81 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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