The Dark Colony

by Richard Penn

  Then there was Dancer herself. Lisa, Sou and Tommy took her through her paces easily. It was just like driving the tug with a grain barge attached, slow and easy, and think about the extent of the ship either side of you. They were used to a barge attached forward of a tug, but not to needing so much clearance port and starboard. Relying on the cameras, and a third-person view Tommy had coded up, they were able to do basic moves easily. They had decided that all six of them should be able to do the absolute basics, i.e. to point the ship to a given vector and apply a timed burn, so they all did that. The mother ship was actually more stable than the usual tug-and-barge setup, with her mass spread out sideways. You just had to remember that she pitched fast, but yawed and rolled slowly.

  Then there was landing. Several scenarios called for the ship to be landed on the surface of an asteroid, for one reason or another. The ship was simply too ungainly and weak to land on Terpsichore, with 33mm/s2 of gravity. They expected to encounter only one or two millimetres at worst in the Local Group. At the kind of speeds involved with this ship, the closest they could get to such low gravity was none at all. They decided to use the top of the hold as a proxy for the asteroid. Each of them had spent all their training learning to never, never let a boat contact the hold. And here they were with the most awkward vessel they had ever flown, attempting to do just that.

  The ship had normal bronze attitude jets on the back and sides, but only the weaker plastic ones on the front, so it was decided to go in aft-first, aiming to stop in space just a metre or so above the surface. Then a tiny bit of thrust to move downward, and a slightly lesser thrust to counter it…

  Clang! ‘The whole bloody thing rings like a bell!’ said Lisa, the first to try it. ‘That should have been as soft as a feather. We’re not going to sneak up on anyone this way.’ Any sound other than the clunk of matching hatches was a source of fear in a space vehicle, and Lisa was rattled.

  ‘That’s OK. If we’re being sneaky, we’re not going in with a 25-metre ship with sails on it. The Blob is for sneaky.’

  She announced her intention to lift off, and applied lift. Nothing happened. ‘Tommy, this thing is not taking off, what’s going on?’

  Tommy checked all his instruments, confirming the steam jets were working. Then he noticed a signal from a small dial he’d added to his detector screen. ‘Oh shit.’

  ‘Engineer Hansen, don’t give me “Oh shit.” What’s going on?’

  ‘Um.. Aye, Captain, sorry. It’s magnetism. The hold has been sitting at one orientation in the solar wind for eight years, and it’s been magnetised.’

  ‘How come we didn’t spot this before?’ asked Lisa.

  ‘It’s a very weak field, normally we don’t put 200 square metres of mild steel into contact with it.’ Magnetism was not something they normally had to consider, it was something that planets had. Big planets.

  ‘Suggestions, engineer. Do not tell me this ship has to be ignominiously dragged off here by a harbour tug. Good suggestions.’

  ‘Aye-aye, Cap’n. You still have the big manipulator arm on the tug cabin. It’s inside the fairing, but it still works. You could… push down with that.’

  ‘Won’t that damage the fairing?’ asked Lisa. ‘The whole idea with the arms is that we’d rip the fairing off before using them.’

  ‘Yes it will, but we can fix it quickly. For the future we’ll leave a hinged flap there. In case we have to do it again.’

  ‘Still feels bad. Other suggestions?’

  ‘You could fire the main drive. That would drag us forward, and probably have enough force to free the ship.’

  ‘But also might damage the fairing, and make nasty burns in Engineer Nemecj’s nice clean hold.’ Lisa weighed up the two kinds of ignominy, and decided to take the first.

  ‘Co-pilot. Engage manipulator arms to free Dancer from the hold.’

  ‘Aye-aye, Captain,’ replied Tommy. Not a time for informality. There was a horrible graunching sound, and the ship bounced free of the hold. On the video they could see it flapping its wings like a bird, as the forces settled out. They arranged for immediate repairs, then repeated the operation, first with Lisa driving, then Sou and finally Tommy. The new hinged panel worked correctly.

  The exercises had taken up the whole day, and it was nearly six. They ordered up the works bus, leaving Dancer with her purple watch-me-I’m-armed lights flashing, and returned to the station for their farewell dinner.

  23 Into the Dark

  In her most inglorious move yet, Dancer was to be thrown into space by two big harbour tugs, rather than going out under her own steam. This meant she would arrive at her first destination with full tanks, but did not make for a dignified departure.

  Finn Carpenter, the legless and notorious trainer of cats, was in charge of the release operation. ‘BNS Dancer from Tug Captain Carpenter. Ready for boost operation. Vector two three one decimal seven, low one seven decimal three, hold frame. Boost two seven five two metres per second. Over.’

  ‘BNS Dancer, proceed. Out.’

  With such a heavy mass, there was not much drama to it. The boost would continue for over four hours, at 130 mm/s2, only a tenth of the gravity on the Moon, but still four times what the crew normally experienced. The gyptians had all experienced Moon gravity on Gordonmoore, and they had felt much stronger accelerations in the couches of scooters and tugs, but not climbing around in rooms. Lisa had them do exercises, moving through the habitat modules from the Blob to the Gig, opening hatches without dropping them. They needed to be operational under boost, not lying in couches. Sou had brought a quaffle, and they made up a handball game using the Blob and the Gig as goals. After a few minutes of this Tommy was worried about his equipment, so they strung netting around the office to protect it, and resumed the game. In such a complicated space, the game became a contact sport, good for morale as well as a lot of fun.

  Lisa thought about how to maintain watch while moving about like this. Right now, the ship was under tow and not hers to command, but it would be different later. She pulled Tommy out of the game and they moved to the back of the office behind the nets.

  ‘That tug cockpit is not the right place to control the ship,’ she told Tommy. ‘We need to leave that free as a passage. Can we do it from here?’

  ‘Yes, I’ve been thinking about that. We’re going to be spending a lot of time coasting, far more than we’re used to in tug operations. We can use the remote control electronics and make a captain’s chair in here.’

  ‘That would be great,’ said Lisa, speaking a little loudly as a kind of rugby scrum was taking place in the nets over their heads. ‘Then we can all be together in here while staying in command. Make it so, Mr. Sulu.’

  ‘I can’t be Sulu, I’m Scottie.’

  ‘I’m the Captain, so you’re whoever I say.’

  She called timeout for the handball game, and they assembled around the office table. ‘Right,’ said Lisa. ‘Duty rosters. Three of us are qualified to fly the Dancer, and one of those three is going to be Officer of the Watch at any given time. I’m doing something called “Merchant Watches,” which means two four-hour watches per day. Sou, you have midnight and midday. Tommy eight and eight. I’ll take four am and four pm. I want to emphasise: the Watch Officer is in command of the vessel, unless I say otherwise. Even if I am right in the room, Watch says “frog,” you hop. Clear?’

  Tommy had been doing sums. Hand an engineer a toy, and he will try to break it. ‘Minah, make coffee,’ he barked, in a Captain Bligh accent. It was 1115, so he was on watch.

  ‘Aye-aye, er…’ she was up and getting coffee, but did not know the correct form of address.

  ‘Sir or ma’am will do,’ said Lisa. ‘I’m always Captain. Tommy, that order is perfectly OK, but do remember this is not a game. Play about with it, and a person will hesitate before following your orders. Hesitation kills. Thanks for the coffee, Minah.

  ‘This is no longer the office, it is the bridge. Watch officer will remain in
or near this chair, we’re going to set up all the controls and sensor displays so the ship can be worked from here. Remember, even if we’re coasting, the bad guys know we’re coming, and we are always, always, hoping to see them before they see us.’

  ‘This means Sou or I will be sleeping anytime after eight in the evening, so we will need quiet in the evenings. The other three are free to follow whatever pattern they like, but I would like one of us to be up and about so the watch officer is not alone. Midday to four, we all get together.’

  ‘Now, this is an exciting and dynamic mission full of life-or-death derring-do, but… it’s going to be very boring. In the early days we are all going to be learning from Tommy how to operate the technical systems. But the flight-plan takes two weeks between each of the four rocks we’re chasing. I’m open to suggestions for the rest of the time.’

  ‘I have a suggestion,’ said Shani. ‘Study. You’ve signed me up to the police without the training course. I’m going to study that, and I suggest that Minah does, too. Tommy, Krys said that there is “book-learning” you need if you’re going to qualify as an engineer. Sou, Lisa, you are supposed to be studying for your sergeant’s exams, but…’

  ‘Don’t be shy, Shani. Spit it out,’ said Lisa.

  ‘Well,’ said Shani. ‘You two were always so studious when you were little, always had your noses in a book. Now you’re turning into action people. I wonder if it would be a good idea to do a course in… English literature?’

  ‘Herregud! Here we are zooming through space at 10,000 metres per second (quiet Tommy) and you want us to study literature?’ Tommy had been about to correct her estimate of speed.

  ‘Yes, I think that would be lovely. I’ll find you titles with swashbuckling sea captains. You will write essays for me to mark. Also, knitting. The old ladies who knit your clothes in the colony are not going to live forever, you know.’

  ‘Ha!’ said Lisa. ’Then I can knit my own pip, next time. I’m in, but I’m not ordering anyone to follow. You haven’t laid out a program for Stjepan.’

  ‘Well, Stjepan was a grown-up when I was teaching school, so I do not know him so well. Is there anything professional you need to learn—’

  There was gong sound from the console, and a voice said ’eleven fifty five, watch change.’ Tommy had been coding up a watch alarm while they were talking.

  ‘Ready to take the watch, Sir,’ said Sou, making it up as she went along.

  ‘You have the watch,’ said Tommy.

  ‘Always ”Ma’am” the officer. And give a status summary, describe the condition of the ship.’ Lisa had been reading up on military practices, during the construction.

  ‘All systems normal, ship is under tow, Ma’am’ said Tommy.

  ‘Thank you, Mister Hansen.’ Sou had been reading the books, too. She checked all the instruments, going through a checklist on her phone.

  ‘Finally, communications,’ said Lisa. ‘You may not know, but the station has been under strict censorship since we started building the ship, so we hope the enemy doesn’t know which way we’re heading. For the next couple of hours we’re still on a laser tight-beam from the station, but that will cut off once we’re coasting, and we will no longer get anything from them unless it’s an emergency. Any data you’re going to need, novels, knitting patterns, get them now. There will be no Internet after that. I’ve already told my brother I’m going to be out of touch. Do the same with anyone you love, but don’t give specifics.

  ‘Questions?’ there were none, and they broke up into groups, Stjepan talking with Shani about his study needs. Lisa was starting to feel the weight of responsibility for this team, this vessel. Whatever the roster, she was responsible every minute of every day.

  ‘BNS Dancer from Tug Captain Carpenter, over.’ There was a pause as everyone expected Lisa to answer. She looked at Sou, frowning.

  ‘Tug Captain from BNS Dancer, Watch Officer Papadakis speaking. Over.’

  ‘Dancer, prepare for free fall. Over.’

  ‘All hands prepare for free fall.’ Sou called out, and looked around the group. ‘Ready for free fall, sir.’ There was the familiar falling sensation as the tugs cut their motors, quickly settling down for these experienced spacers. ‘Stjepan, check for loose objects.’

  ‘Dancer, we are ready to release you from tow. Over.’

  ‘Proceed with release, sir, I have the helm.’ There was a double clang, and Sou touched the joystick control to correct a slight yaw. In the screen on the wall, they saw the two tugs quickly flip over in pitch and fire their engines again, not wanting to spend an extra second on the vector away from Terpsichore.

  ‘BNS Dancer from Terpsichore Tug one seven. Best of luck, guys. See you soon. Over.’

  ‘Thanks Finn. We will indeed,’ said Sou. ‘Terps tugs from BNS Dancer. Operation complete. Out.’ There was silence as they all sat and thought about falling out into the dark. Not the safe dark of a barge capture, but the howling dark, with evil in it.

  They soon settled into a routine, knitting and reading out bits from Captain Hornblower and bits of police manuals. Stjepan projected gruesome videos of internal organs, as he practiced procedures on a surgery simulator. Shani and Tommy disappeared together from time to time, which Lisa thought was all good.

  After a couple of days out, though, Tommy asked Lisa for a private chat. ‘What’s up, Tommy?’ Lisa asked, when he seemed to have trouble starting.

  ‘It’s about me and Shani,’ said Tommy. ‘Do you think its… OK?’

  ‘As far as I know,’ said Lisa, ‘why would it not be?’

  ‘Well, it seems so… naughty. Seeing teacher… naked. You know?’

  Lisa had trouble keeping a straight face. ‘She’s not your teacher now. She has no authority over you. You can—‘

  ‘Well, that’s it,’ said Tommy. ‘It’s not just sex, it’s… sex lessons! She’s telling me to slow down, use my hands more, “fuck me with your mind, Thomas, not your dick.” It’s, well, it’s not very romantic. Is all.’

  Lisa gave up the attempt to stop laughing. ‘I’m sorry, Tommy. I should take this seriously. But this is the best advice you’ve had since you started chasing girls. You know how you feel about gadgets? That’s how she feels about teaching. Romance isn’t about ripping knickers off and shagging. Good for her, I say. Speaking as your captain, I have to say, if you are uncomfortable with it, you need to say so. Any sexual contact from her after that would be a serious –’

  ‘No, no, nothing like that. I shouldn’t have brought it up. I’m really, really having a good time. It just seems so… naughty, is all. You think it’s OK?’

  ‘Absolutely. No harm, no foul.’ Tommy returned to the bridge, but Lisa had to stay and straighten her face before venturing out. If she went out now, everyone would want to know the joke. When she did go out, Shani raised an eyebrow, and Lisa gave a little nod.

  In the mornings, on Tommy’s watch, they started fighter training. Generally, Lisa took the gig and Sou was in the blob, with Tommy operating weapons on Dancer. All the weapons systems were tied into simulators when not armed, so mayhem and exploding ships happened on the screen as they would in real life. Sometimes the gig and the blob were opposed to each other in dogfights, sometimes they ganged up to attack the mother ship. Everyone aboard was strapped down for these, so Tommy was free to yaw, pitch and roll to make weapons bear on the boats.

  During one of these fights, there was a clang on the phones and in the ship, and Lisa called out. ‘Cancel, cancel, cancel,’ the signal to end the simulation. ‘I have clipped the port side fairing of Dancer, two metres abaft the gig dock. Air integrity good. I have no injury. I am in a rapid negative pitch-wise spin with some roll. Correcting now. Over.’

  ‘Gig from Dancer,’ said Tommy. ‘Do you require assistance to stabilise? Over.’ There was a technique with ropes they used for stabilising barges.

  ‘Dancer from Gig. Negative. Out.’ They could see in their displays the little boat slowing its tumble,
jets of steam coming out in various directions.

  ‘Blob from Dancer. Move to portside athwart this vessel, inspect damage to shroud. Gig from Dancer. Stabilise and proceed alongside number three camera for damage inspection. Dancer out.’ As officer of the watch, Tommy remained in command unless Lisa took over, which she did not. He had a better picture of the overall situation, being on the bridge. This took some mental adjustment, as she had been in simulated command, in the game.

  Once they had seen all the damage, Tommy summed up the situation. ‘Both the gig and the mother ship have shroud damage, but I don’t see anything affecting the underlying structure. I suggest we use the blob to unship the fairing from the gig, then pass the bits inboard through the stretcher lock so I can work on it. Once the gig is free of its fairings, we can use it to repair the outside of the mother ship. Captain?’

  ‘That makes sense. We have a week before we have to worry about being within radar range of the first target. If we were operational, I’d want you, Tommy, to do all the dismantling, but since we’re not, I’m going to use my stupid mistake as a training exercise.

  ‘All hands, I have the watch. Minah, take over the controls and external watch so Tommy can concentrate on engineering. Blob from gig. I am inactivating my attitude and position controls. Approach the gig and deploy tools to remove my fairing.’

  ‘Aye-aye, Captain. Out,’ said Sou.

  ‘Sickbay from Captain. With your permission, please empty the stretcher airlock and open exterior door. Prepare to receive non-medical parts. Parts are mild steel, not hazardous. Over.’

  ‘Captain from sickbay, lock is already empty, door will open in one zero seconds. Out,’ said Stjepan. The call-sign “sickbay” was used for non-medical matters, otherwise it would be “medic”.’

  Lisa waited inside the gig while Sou took unscrewed the parts of the fairing, carrying them in the blob’s manipulator arms and stacking them in the stretcher lock. It had wide doors inside and out, so a stretcher could be put in sideways with a medic alongside. The gig’s motors were disabled, so Sou had to grab it occasionally to stop it floating away. The disrobing reminded Lisa powerfully of a game she and Stjepan sometimes played in free fall, but now was not the time to think of that.