“What is it?” Matt snapped.
“They request immediate extraction.”
Matt screwed his eyes closed. Jaswinder held her breath. Then he opened them, looking calmer than she thought him.
“Pass it to Bettina.”
Yes, as if Bettina didn’t have her hands full, too. When Matt returned his gaze to her, she simply nodded, picked up her reader, and turned to go.
At the door, she spoke. “Matt, I’m turning down the lights. I’ll tell Nordine to not disturb you for at least an hour.”
He looked heartbreakingly grateful.
Jaswinder turned down the lights, and left.
“Nordine?”
“Ms Yrden?” the Fontaine woman looked tired, too.
“Don’t let anyone disturb him for at least one hour unless it is literally life or death. If you can, try to make it two hours.”
Nordine nodded. “I’ll do my best.” Then she pursed her lips. “Are we going to get out of this?”
And that was another reason they had to get Matt out. His obvious condition bred lower morale everywhere.
Jaswinder put on her most confident face. “Yes, we will. Another two weeks, and we’ll be ready to move.”
As she walked away from the relieved secretary, she silently added the words to the uncompleted sentence: ‘if nothing else goes wrong’. And she could think of about a hundred things that could go wrong.
There was, however, one thing she could do. As soon as she got back to her lab she put a call through to FTL-1, and hoped that Johannes wouldn’t hear of it. If he thought she had time to call others and didn’t call him – well, it didn’t bear thinking about.
“Hello, Bill,” she said as soon as his face came up.
“Jaswinder. What can I do for you?” He looked a little ragged, himself.
“We need you over here, Bill. Someone has to take some of the weight from Matt. We need you to run the everyday affairs of the station – same thing you’re doing for FTL-1.”
Tannon shook his head. “I’m up to my neck over here, Jaswinder.”
She pressed her lips together. How should she state it? “FTL-1’s in the process of shutting down as our base of operations, Bill. Haida Gwaii is taking over a lot of her functions. You should be here, anyway. Delegate the shut-down to someone else.”
He stared. “It’s not that easy. I have Johannes and Jill in the middle of their operation; I have ships to supply; I have—”
“And you’ll have most of that over here, too. Matt’s handling all of that, plus getting this station ready to go operational. It’s too much. We have too many Heads over there, and not enough over here.”
Something in her tone must have given her away. Or maybe he saw the desperation that she felt inside on her face.
“When would be a good time?” he asked.
“Today wouldn’t be too early.”
His eyes went wide. “Understood. I’ll have Simon Fontaine take over. But I’ll need to bring him up to speed. That may take a day or two.”
“Sooner is better.”
Jaswinder breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at her screen, at the formulae, at the latest sim ready to run. She shook her head, and reached for the comm once more.
“Hi, Nordine. When Matt’s available, have him give me a call. I have good news for him. Just tell him that – don’t let him fret. Oh, and don’t disturb him for this. Wait until he contacts you if you can.”
“Good news?” Nordine smiled. “It’ll be a relief to get some of that.”
An hour later, as Jaswinder watched her sim fail and Haida Gwaii break into a million pieces, the comm chimed.
“Good news, Jaswinder?”
“Hey, Matt. Bill Tannon called me,” she lied. “He says that with FTL-1 winding down, he’s going to move his base of operations over here. Simon Fontaine will take over what’s left on FTL-1, and then remain in charge of the overhaul. Bill says he doesn’t want you to feel that he’s usurping any of your authority as Station Chief here, and hopes you don’t mind him resuming the duties he had until recently. Are you okay with that?”
The look of reprieve in Matt’s eyes had tears coming to her own.
“When?” was all that Matt could get out.
“Tomorrow or the next day. You okay with that?”
“Yes,” he said. “It’s all good.”
He cut the connection before she could say anything further, and Jaswinder felt she knew why. She should have had Bill come over earlier. She wiped at her eyes, and called Nordine again.
“Everything alright, Jaswinder?”
“Yes. Bill Tannon’s coming over to take some of the weight. Matt has agreed to it. Give him at least another half-hour before you let anyone in to see him.”
“Consider it done.”
And Jaswinder could see some of the tension drain out of the Fontaine woman before she cut the connection. One more call to make – perhaps the most important, and the most difficult. She didn’t know if she could stand to see another woman break down and cry, not the way she felt right now. And she desperately need to get back to the sim – see what minimum of bolstering she could get away with.
“Hello, Ellen? Good news.”
* * *
Scout-1
Saturday 14 August
Because Jupiter lay on the far side of the sun from Saturn at this time, Scout-1 needed to do a dog-leg. First leg took them out from Saturn until Sol would no longer present a danger to navigation, and then they would turn, make a short burn, and return to hyperspace, heading directly towards the huge planet.
Again, Rolf had allowed Angela to do all the piloting – with the exception of trying to work out the equations for the trip. Those, he had done, explaining what he did, even though she understood neither that nor the math behind it. She supposed she might in time.
“Even if you never do,” Rolf told her, “I can’t see why you can’t become a workboat or shuttle pilot. You handle this ship remarkably well. You have innate talent.”
His words warmed her. He looked at the navigation tank, and then at the chrono. She followed his gaze.
“Almost time for drop,” Rolf said. “Where are Carol and Ken?”
She grinned at him. “They told me they want to drop linked.”
“And?”
“Linked,” she said, putting a husk into her voice.
Rolf choked, and then laughed. “Well, then, I guess we had better give them warning.” He turned on the InShip Broadcast, and announced. “Two minutes to drop.”
Every compartment in the small ship would hear his voice.
“I guess it’s not quite the same thing.” Rolf reached out his hand.
She took it. “It will do – for now.”
“Drop!”
She dropped the ship, felt the rush of euphoria go through her – not as great as when all four of them had linked, but greater than if she had no one’s hand to hold.
“Shields up!”
She raised shields, then looked at the detectors with him as he went through the post-drop sequence.
“All clear,” she said, when nothing appeared.
“All clear,” Rolf agreed. “Time to send a message back to Venture.”
“When will they get it?”
“Oh, about an hour from now. That will give us plenty of time to get on course and ready for the next jump – almost two hours. So, let’s be gentle for the sake of the love-birds.”
Angela chuckled, and studied the navigation tank as Rolf entered the co-ordinates of their jump point. She turned the shuttle, and began a very gentle 0.05G burn, watching the course line change. She made slight adjustments until it steadied, running right over the jump point. She cut engines.
“Excellent. You’ll have to do a short burn to correct for drift once we get there, and then another to get us moving in the correct direction.”
They sat back and watched the instruments, enjoying – at least she did, she didn’t know about Rolf, but hoped –
a companionable silence.
The comm pinged.
“Ah, Venture replies,” Rolf said. His eyebrows rose as no voice came through, but rather a text message. His lips pursed a little.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s in code.” Rolf manipulated the comm. “Well, that’s different.”
“What is?”
“Captain Betts wants us to not waste any time getting back. We, apparently, are wanted.”
“Why?”
“It doesn’t say. She says it’s important, but not urgent.” He flipped on the InShip. “Stand by for burn in two minutes.”
In less time than that, Ritter and Carol appeared.
“What’s up?” Ritter asked.
“Our people on Io Station report that if we don’t pick them up soon, we’ll be liable for another rent charge. Captain Betts says that we should hurry a little.”
Ritter smiled. “Always like that. Bet they aren’t ready when we get there. Hurry up and wait.” He laughed, and Carol laughed with him.
“Get strapped in,” Rolf suggested. “We’re going to do a quick burn and then jump.”
The burn that Rolf ordered Angela to make pushed them back into their seats. Speed climbed to fifty percent of maximum recommended insertion velocity.
“Jump!”
Angela jumped. The ship shuddered as they forced their way into hyperspace, and Angela’s eyes widened as she saw their shields start to undulate on the screen. Wordlessly, she pointed.
“The faster we enter, the more they distort. What you see isn’t even close to the danger zone. However, if the distortion allows the field to actually touch the nodes, then there’s trouble.”
Angela breathed a sigh of relief as the field steadied. She would have to study this. She hadn’t reached the point in the piloting game where the student/player had to take into account her velocity upon entering and leaving hyperspace.
“Why don’t you ladies take a break. Ken and I have to do a bit of a flight-deck check which necessitates us moving from seat to seat. Should only take us about ten minutes.”
Angela and Carol left.
“How about a dessert?” Angela suggested. She walked over to the cool-box, and debated on pie or cake – gifts from Aunt Sophie, not the usual packaged desserts.
“Pie for me,” Carol said.
Angela concurred, and cut two large slices of apple pie. She brought them to the table.
“You have to try it,” Carol said, after taking a bite.
Angela stared at her. Didn’t the woman see that she had a forkful of pie on her way to her mouth at that moment? She stopped, stared at the pie, and then at her new friend. She gave her a ‘what-the-heck?’ look, and popped the pie in her mouth.
Carol laughed. “No, not the pie. Dropping ‘linked’.”
Angela, on the point of swallowing, choked. Coughed, and then took a quick swig of water to clear her mouth and throat. “What?”
“Oh, it’s great.”
“I ... uh ... see.” Then she decided to ask Carol a question that had been bothering her for the past couple of days. “Carol, are you in love with Ken?” She hoped not, for the man had a bad reputation. He wouldn’t stay true to her.
“Ken?” Carol smiled and shook her head. “Ken is fun. Ken is good at what he does,” she said, her tongue touching her lips in fond remembrance, “both in bed and out. But love? No. Not in the slightest. And he’s not in love with me, either. And we both know and accept that. This is what you might call a holiday fling. No strings; no consequences.”
She took another bite of pie, and Angela breathed an inner sigh of relief. She hadn’t wanted Carol to get hurt, and now it looked like she had worried for no cause.
“But thank you.” Carol reached out and squeezed Angela’s hand. “You’re a good friend. But you? You and Rolf? Do you think you love him?”
“Yes,” she admitted.
“And he loves you?”
“I don’t know. But I don’t think he’d lead me on.”
“Good luck, then.” She squeezed Angela’s hand again. “I hope it works out for you.”
Angela had to grin. “Me, too.” She changed the subject slightly. “Dropping ‘linked’ is really worth it?”
Carol rounded her eyes. “Oh, yes!”
* * *
Dropping at Io confirmed Carol’s experience for Angela. However, the beautiful feelings didn’t last long.
“Pilot Yrden, Attendant Fulton,” Ritter’s voice came through the InShip, “please report to the flight deck ASAP. We need to do a burn.”
Rolf turned to her. “Strange.”
“Perhaps he’s jealous?” Angela said. “A practical joke? He has that reputation.”
“No.” He jumped out of bed, and began dressing. “He might throw us around a little as a joke – nothing violent. And, as we did, he could have done a gentle burn. Someone has asked him to make haste.”
Angela joined him on the deck, and pulled her sweater over her head.
“Why do you say that?”
“It’s a waste of fuel. A nice gentle burn, a leisurely drift into orbit – little fuel used, but it takes time. He wants a maximum burn – otherwise why call us. And that means either our passengers want off Io Station quickly or Captain Betts wants us back at Venture quickly. Perhaps both.”
They slipped their feet into shoes, and quickly headed for the cockpit.
“Something’s up on Io Station,” Ritter said as they took their seats. “Our people want off – now.”
He oriented the ship, and began a burn that pushed them hard back into their seats. Angela exchanged glances with Rolf, and then with Carol. Her face showed the same consternation that Angela felt, but when Angela raised an eyebrow, Carol just shrugged.
“No reason given?” Rolf asked the question that Angela had desperately wanted to ask.
“No, and no direct statement, either. They gave me the code.”
“Code?” Angela asked.
Rolf explained, “If an Yrden is in trouble but they don’t want to let on to someone listening that they’ve alerted help, they’ll use a phrase that seems innocuous. And then there are Families codes as well.”
Carol frowned. “Why both? And what do you mean by innocuous?”
Ritter laughed. “Okay, say that the Paxtons – who don’t much like the Yrdens – were going to hold back desserts, and our Yrden friend had his heart set on Aunt Sophie’s apple pie. Well, he might not want to let the Paxton’s know that he’s calling for a ship to take him to Venture – otherwise what’s the point in torturing him with a slice of pie just out of his reach. So, when I call up, he’ll say, ‘I’m very much looking forward to seeing you.’ And it’s the ‘very much’ that lets me know there’s a problem, and he’s looking for another Yrden to come running. If he had said, ‘I’m really looking forward to seeing you,’ I’d know that he’s either really looking forward to seeing me – or he possesses a sarcastic streak. Same with, ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you,’ or ‘I’ll be happy to see you – sooner is better.’ Understand?”
“I get it,” Carol said.
“Now,” Rolf continued, “If a Paxton or Tannon or Treverston had a problem with someone on Liberty Station – someone from Liberty, or perhaps from a TPC – and he wants help from anyone in any Family, not just another Paxton or whomever, then he’ll use a phrase that all the Families have agreed on. This would mean it’s not an Yrden or Paxton issue, but something affecting the Families entire. Was it an Yrden?”
“No,” Ritter answered. “It wasn’t. Treverston.”
“How bad could it be?” Angela asked.
“I don’t know. He didn’t say; I didn’t ask – for obvious reasons.”
Angela began to feel nervous, and could see Carol in a similar condition. “So it could be dangerous.”
“Easy, Ladies, easy,” Ritter waved a hand in dismissal. “He just asked for speed – nothing else. If the situation were dangerous, Treverston would have used a d
ifferent phrase. So, other than being trapped in our seats for the duration of the burn, we can all just relax. Remember, we had to hurry because of the rent thing? Well, maybe time is running out, and they want to get off before we have to pay for another three-month lease which we don’t intend on using.”
Angela could see Carol relax at that, but didn’t believe Ritter for a moment. He seemed just a little too tense.
“And, while we’re here, we can take in the beauty of Jupiter.”
To Angela’s chagrin, she realized she hadn’t even looked out the front screen yet. There, in front of them, the biggest planet in the solar system hung in space.
“You can see the spot!” Carol said.
“Well,” Ritter replied, further calming her, “I would have done at least one orbit to ensure you saw it if it happened to be on the other side of the planet.”
She smiled brightly at that, but Angela knew that the planet would rotate at least once before they arrived.
“Why do they call it Io Station, when it doesn’t actually orbit Io – and is, actually, further away from Jupiter than Ganymede?” Angela asked.
“They originally set up the station to do scientific studies of Io, but having it that close would have caused some problems. Because of its purpose, it became known as the Io Study Station, later shortened to Io Station. Right now, various countries and corporate entities have populations on the station – mostly conducting scientific experiments.”
Rolf recited that almost from memory, Angela thought. But he seemed happy to turn the conversation away from the ‘hurry-up’ call.
Finally, Ritter ended the burn. “Well,” he said, “we can move around now. And we can get Carol her pictures and vid before Jupiter fills the whole screen.”
Carol’s eyes brightened. “Oh, yes, let’s do that.”
* * *
Scout-1 at Io Station
Sunday 15 August
Two Family members waited for them just outside the airlock as they docked at Io Station, the third, apparently, waiting on the cargo loading deck.
“Not wasting any time, are they?” Ritter commented.
Not With A Whimper: Survivors Page 26