by Allen Stroud
Everywhere I look becomes a nightmare of fatal collisions. The lamps on my EVA suit pick out thousands of fragments, the remains of our ship and their ship, all jumbled together in a swirling mass of ruin. I feel safer without the light, more relaxed being ignorant, but it won’t help.
Nothing will help me right now, except me.
I can see larger debris: A gutted corridor, spinning wildly, the remains of an engine pod, the mounting for one of the point defence machine guns and more, many more. I can’t tell what parts came from what ship. It’s all jumbled together, colliding and annihilating, colliding and—
“Sellis, something wrong? You need to keep up.” It’s Chase. He sounds worried.
“No, I’m fine, Sergeant, it’s just…well…I’m worried about all the wreckage.”
“We’re on the clock, Sellis. We have to take risks.”
I find myself smiling. “Now you’re talking my language, Sergeant.”
Time to focus. The computer system in my helmet is projecting a path through the chaos. Ahead of me is Arkov. He’s moving through the cloud of spinning bits, dragging the spare EVA suit with him.
I need to follow and keep him in sight. I touch the propulsion control with my left hand and thumb the joystick in my right. There’s tingling pain from the burns on both hands, but not as bad as I first feared it might be. A short burst of the micro-jet and I’m away, adjusting to match the plotted pathway. The farther I lag behind, the more tempting it is to move faster. Moving faster in a debris field means more chance of death.
This is only my fourth proper EVA. The first two were orbital training runs when I worked on the station. I did a maintenance and repair mission a month or so ago. The ship looked a lot different then. Now she’s taken a beating and she’s bleeding out, all over the place.
We’re making our way around the Khidr, toward the bridge section where Captain Shann and her group are. We’ll pick them up and transfer everyone to the Gallowglass.
In old movies, pirates would board merchant ships to steal their booty. From what I’ve seen, they’d get from ship to ship by swinging from the rigging, or fixing a plank and charging across. Then pull out swords and pistols to fight the enemy crew. All very loud and fast, athletic stuff.
Out here, things are a bit different. Shann and the others will push off from the ship toward the Gallowglass, but everything is moving and changing position. They’re in basic crew suits, with emergency oxygen. They don’t have a means of correcting their course. That means we have to collect them.
And we have to do it quickly.
I’m coming around the side of the ship. The sun is in the distance, and my visor starts to polarise in response to the glare. I can see the Gallowglass now, similar but different to our ship. She’s sleek, shaped like a bottle with a rounded top. She has four engine pylons extending from midsection, making her look like a cross if she was coming straight toward you. The rotational deck is a section built into the main bulk of the ship, rather than standing out, like ours. The nearest engine to me is wrecked, crumpled in upon the support struts. The cooling veins are like broken sticks or fingers, reaching out at odd angles. I can see great welts across the rest of the Gallowglass’s hull, but otherwise, she’s pretty much intact.
I look to my right and suddenly there’s a lump in my throat. The Khidr is a broken mess. I’m a witness to her end, an entropic death of vast beauty as she breaks apart. Fragments of her body trail into the darkness, carried away by the forces that drove them to separate from the ship. The damage is catastrophic; there is no hope of repair or resurrection. The scale of this is vast and difficult for my mind to comprehend. I’m looking at a floating cloud that stretches over miles and miles. Arkov, Chase and I are the tiny audience to a tragedy.
That was my home, you fucking bastards.
I don’t know who I’m blaming. Captain Shann must have made the call to crash the ship, but the blackmailing shits on the Gallowglass forced her into it.
It’s done. I have to adapt and move on.
The next twenty minutes will be crucial.
“Arkov, report?” It’s Sam Chase on the comms.
“I’m about a third of the way around, Sergeant. Sellis is trailing. No sign of any unusual activity. If the enemy is out here, they’re playing a careful game.”
“We can’t assume anything. Stay alert. Sellis, catch up.”
“Aye, aye.”
Direct orders. I’ve an urge to tell Chase to fuck off, but he’s right. I’ve dawdled, and they can’t afford to waste time on me. We survive by addressing the problem. Right now, that’s getting everyone to the other ship. The bridge crew are relying on us, which means I’m getting a shot at redemption. If I get through this, Captain Shann won’t forget my actions. She’ll evaluate everything and make a judgement call. Of course, if we get taken prisoner as soon as we board the enemy ship, I’ve still got my code. There’s no way to lose out to either side by doing my best out here.
Another push on the jets and I’m easing toward Arkov. The spare suit is trailing behind him on a tether. I ease in and grab hold. There’s a heavy thunk against my helmet as a shard of metal the size of my hand appears out of nowhere and ricochets off and away from us. Its jagged edges gleam in the sunlight.
Close call.
I look down and note both EVA suits have accumulated a number of similar fragments. Some have lodged into the spare and torn through layers of the outer fabric and plastics. They must have done the same to my suit, but I can’t look down to examine it. I have to rely on the pressure alarm and that may come too late to save me.
EVA suits are a bit like armour. There are multiple weaves, designed to prevent a breach of the internal atmosphere. However, it’s only a matter of time before something gets through. It’s bad for us, but the risk for Shann and her people in emergency suits is much greater; fewer layers equals more chance of damage. They’ll be sliced to pieces without warning if they try to move through all this.
“Sellis here; all caught up to the spare suit. Doing a visual check. We’re accumulating a lot of debris. How’s it going in front, Vasili?”
“Difficult,” Arkov replies. “I’m managing a suit leak.”
“Want me to lead?”
“If you can, yes.”
Another touch on the jets and a careful trajectory adjustment. The pattering sound of objects colliding with my helmet increases as I accelerate. I have to force myself not to flinch every time a shard of metal or plastic smacks into the DuraGlas viewing plate. If it’s going to crack, it’s going to crack. There’s not much I can do.
I’m alongside Arkov. He’s clutching at his neck with his left hand. That must be where his suit’s been cut open. The EVA propulsion unit needs both hands to manage, right for thrust and left for direction, so he’s struggling. If I tether up and take the lead, he can concentrate on making a repair.
This is fucking suicide.
I activate the tether launch. The plug targets Arkov’s suit and fires. The cable snakes out and magnetises to his chest. Perfect! If I’d snagged him anywhere else, we wouldn’t have been aligned and I’d have started pulling him around in a circle. I can’t claim any credit for the shot, though; the targeting system did all the work.
Carefully, while the line plays out, I maneuver myself directly in front of Arkov. My propellant tank is down to eighty per cent. After this, I’ll need to conserve fuel, in case we have to make more than one run. “Okay, I have control,” I announce.
“You have control,” Arkov replies. The line begins to reel in. The sensor will detect when the slack has been taken up, working slowly to bring us all closer together.
We’re nearly around the ship and through the worst of the debris. Ahead are three people, moving on the side of the Khidr’s hull. They’ve climbed out of a tear in the side of the corridor just outside the bridge. As I watch, a fourth f
igure joins them.
Last time I was on the bridge, I was part of a mutiny.
“Sellis to Shann, we have you in sight.”
“Confirmed, Specialist. We see you. Pushing off now.”
Chapter Fifty-One
Shann
My back is against the broken hull of the Khidr, and I’m looking out into the great empty. The only thing between me and an eternity drifting away is our enemy.
The Gallowglass.
I’m staring at a beautiful monster. She’s an attractive vessel, clearly designed to be durable, with all the extremities carefully pulled in, to make her bottle-shaped. There’s damage and scarring to her hull, with some trailing wreckage, but not nearly enough to be fatal.
I hate that ship. I know the nuts, bolts, metal, plastic and DuraGlas can’t really be blamed for what’s been done to us, but it doesn’t stop me blaming them. I’ll need to reconcile that. What has hunted us to the edge of oblivion might well become our saviour.
All four of us are lined up out here, our arms linked, and our emergency tethers connected. I’m on one end, holding on to Le Garre with my right hand. We need to make the leap together, so we stay together. That way Sellis and Arkov have a better chance of saving everyone. “Travers, we all set?”
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
“Together then. Three, two, one, go!”
We push off. The pain in my left shoulder makes me want to scream, but I clench my teeth and keep it in. My crew need me to be solid. We have to move together.
“Arkov, we’re away.”
“Confirmed, Captain, this is Sellis. We see you.”
I frown. Sellis is leading. Why? I’m still struggling to trust him, but then we had to arrest and interrogate Arkov as well, before clearing him of Drake’s murder, the first sign that this whole business was going bad. Ironic then that I’m relying on these two. One who I betrayed and the other who betrayed me.
I’m looking sunward, in the direction our rescuers are coming from. I can’t see them, but I can see a vast field of debris. We’re on the edge of it for now, but the Khidr is breaking apart. It’s only a matter of time before this dangerous trip becomes impossible.
Hopefully, we’ve escaped in time.
“Sellis, you’re coming in from the sun. We’re not going to be able to eyeball your approach,” Travers says.
“Understood, Lieutenant. I’ll give you a heads-up and let you know if we need any specific alterations.”
“Thank you.”
Specific alterations. There’s not much we can do now we’re away, but Sellis means small movements, like shifting your arms to ensure you have the best chance of catching a line or a hand. Every adjustment has a cause and effect in zero gravity. That’s something we have to be very careful of out here, with no walls or handholds to grab on to.
“We’re six hundred metres away. Closing at three metres per second.”
I’m doing the calculations; I bet all the others are too. It’ll be a little over three minutes to contact. My oxygen reserve is now at twelve minutes. We’ll have nine minutes to get across and get inside the Gallowglass. Instinctively, I want to order Sellis and Arkov to hurry, to get here faster, but that could make the situation worse. If they miss, we’re screwed.
I have to trust that Sellis is happy with his interception speed. I have to have faith he’ll come through. If he meant to betray us again, why would he take the risk? I don’t know the answer to that.
“Captain, before we do this, I need to let you know something.”
“What’s that, Sellis?”
“When you left me in the corridor with Shah. After the conversation with the Gallowglass, I tried to convince him to let me go to the airlock and meet the boarding party. We got into an altercation and he let some things slip. I think he was working for someone else.”
“You think he was another mutineer?”
“No, someone else entirely. Shah was no friend of Rocher. He died trying to stop their drone hacker. He was working for another group. Maybe all of the Hercules people were? A group who wants the Gallowglass destroyed and all this to go away, another faction?”
I remember the frozen bees and the other strange things we found on board the freighter. Someone who was part of smuggling all that colonial stuff. “Why are you telling me this now, Sellis?” I ask.
“I’m telling everyone because everyone needs to know, Captain. Just in case I don’t make it. If Shah was working for another interest, I doubt we’ve heard the last of them.”
“Understood.” I make a mental note to sit down with all the crew and talk this all out. We’ve fought together and lost friends. Our bonds have been tested, and at times, they’ve been broken, but I need these people at least as much as they need me.
“Ten seconds to intercept, Captain,” Sellis announces. “We’ll be approaching from your left. We’re all tethered. I’m in the lead, Arkov behind and the spare suit behind that. You all need to grab on and hold on. Once you’re secure, we’ll work out the adjustments to get us across to the Gallowglass.”
“Understood.” I glance toward the ship again. It doesn’t seem any bigger, but judging distance and size of things in space is tricky. You don’t realise how much stock your mind places in the relative positioning of other objects to determine size and range. I guess if I turned around, I’d see how far we’ve travelled from the Khidr, but I dare not shift positions now, unless I’m told to.
“Five seconds.”
I grit my teeth and look left and right as much as I can. I think I can see something, a silhouette in the sun’s glare. Is that a hand reaching out? I’m not sure, but instinctively my hand goes up in response, bringing with it another stab of pain in my shoulder. I reach out.
Something grabs hold of my wrist, pulling me forward. I scream, and the hand lets go, I feel fingers slipping away along my arm. I have to stop myself from letting go of Le Garre and trying to reach out with both hands, but I need to stay calm, wait, let Sellis and Arkov do the work.
A pull in the other direction, from Le Garre. “We’re secure,” she says over the comms. “I have the tether from Arkov wrapped around my ankle.”
“Confirmed,” Sellis replies. “Now for the hard part, sorting out this tangle and getting us across.”
“Take your time,” Travers says. “But not too much time.”
Le Garre’s hold on my arm loosens a little. There’s different movements affecting us, dragging her forward, pulling me in behind. Something clatters against my helmet, leaving a mark on the glass. Then I feel an impact against my hip. “We’re moving into the debris field,” I warn.
“Can’t be helped, Captain,” Sellis says. “We need to get you people across as quickly as possible. I’ve got a plot on a possible airlock. Hopefully, we can make it.”
“Ain’t a lot of point if you drag in a few bags of broken flesh and bone,” Travers says.
“I know that, Lieutenant. With respect, let me do my fucking job.”
I’m smiling at Sellis’s reply. I can’t help myself. In all the time I’ve known him on the ship, he’s been in the crowd, never one to volunteer or try too hard. I know he likes his cards and his dice. I’ve never once heard him bite back.
I’m pulled sharply to the right and I catch sight of the spare EVA suit to my left. It’s being dragged along by Arkov, who is being dragged along by Sellis. Le Garre is behind me now, pressed against my back. Our arms are linked at the elbow. Hopefully, she’s managed to keep hold of the others as well.
“Chiu, are you okay?” Travers is speaking. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the two of them pressed together as we tumble around. The lines are becoming tangled, a problem if they constrict a limb, or worse, a neck. The forces out here can be difficult to judge at times. It’s different to being inside in zero gravity. You don’t realise how much walls, rails and anyt
hing else you can grab hold of stop you from losing control of your movements.
“She’s unconscious. I can’t get a reply.” Travers’s voice is professional, but there’s a quiver in there. I know what he’s feeling; he’s the XO – second-in-command. He has the same guilt that I’ve pushed to the back of my mind.
“Make sure she’s secure,” I order, keeping my tone firm and neutral, trying to help him get a hold on himself, as well as her. “There’s nothing you can do to help her right now. We’ll make an assessment when we’re back in atmosphere.”
Travers doesn’t reply, but I can see him working. Maybe he doesn’t trust himself to say the words. I let that slide.
“Okay, everyone, get ready; we’re moving the bus,” Sellis says.
I grit my teeth and tense my arm. When the pull comes, it drags me backward. I can see the Khidr now, forty or so metres away. If we’d been left to drift, it would have taken hours or even days to get to the Gallowglass. We’d have suffocated long before we got close, even if we’d been moving in the right direction.
Now we have a chance.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Johansson
I’m getting cold and sleepy.
The painkillers I’ve taken are part of the problem now. I can’t focus on the screen in front of me. The commands I’ve inputted should give Captain Shann access to the ship and all its subsystems. Now that it’s done, I need to let them know.
But I’m tired and I want to close my eyes.
I reach up to reactivate the comms. It’s a huge effort. I’m not sure why. Something might be wrong with my oxygen supply. In training, you’d declare an emergency, but I can’t do anything about now, while I’m out here on my own.
There’s chatter on the channel. I’ve been ignoring it, but I have the gist. Shann’s led the crew outside. They’re transferring to the Gallowglass as planned. I can only imagine how tough an EVA that will be. The terse, military instructions and reporting doesn’t give much of a sense of the emotions bubbling under the surface in all of us.