Blue Defender
Page 8
More tossing and lightning. More stomach-churning drops. The flight seemed impossible and endless. Her altitude dropped below a thousand meters.
Much too low.
But then the storm waned and ahead she saw land. Rising up through the fading haze.
The headland. To the port–north–and about thirty kilometers off.
The trouble was, her path led her parallel to it. The storm’s winds, even as they faded, still forced her to the south.
The headland was rocky and rough. Some green showed, where straggly plants clutched at relatively recent volcanic flows. Not a hospitable landscape at all.
Matti-Jay brought up the mapping again. The headland jutted out into the ocean’s arm by over sixty kilometers. If she’d been able to fly true, she would have made it.
But the storm had punched that plan apart. Her altitude kept dropping. Running the engine was only slowing things down. And stressing the Blue Defender’s airframe.
No matter what she did from this point she was going end up setting down in the ocean.
Matti-Jay closed her eyes. She was just going to be another casualty. Another one on the list of people who’d been killed out here at Ludelle.
She hoped the others made it.
Matti-Jay stared at the display. She kept her foot on the stabilizer pedal and her hands on the yoke. She wasn’t giving up yet. Just that a crash was inevitable.
Look at her runabout. The display showed red and orange dots everywhere on the schematic. Probably wouldn’t even survive the ditching. The craft’s hull would shatter on impact. It would go straight to the bottom. And take her with it.
If only she’d had both engines. That would have given her that extra boost. All the dragon’s fault.
Matti-Jay stared at the mess of the schematic on her display. There was something there. Something she could...
The ultramagnetics.
The vessel’s space drive. Designed for use only in vacuum.
She was four hundred and eighty meters above the churning sea. Fifty kilometers from land.
Dropping fast.
With a flick at the console, she brought the ultramagnetic drive online.
Chapter Twenty
Warning lights and messages flared across the Blue Defender’s cockpit displays. Matti-Jay had to enter more overrides to get to the ultramagnetic drive controls.
The ultramagnetic system split apart hydrogen atoms–the deuterium form–to create thrust. A very controlled and precise reaction. Not just like the old rocket engines burning their fuel with an oxidizer.
The ultramagnetics provided an awful lot of force. You didn’t just use the system fly along in an atmosphere.
Hull Damage the displays told her. Atmosphere present and System possibly compromised.
Her altitude was four hundred and fifty meters. And dropping.
Matti-Jay tapped in override after override. It was as if the ship was actively trying to prevent her from saving them.
That was its job.
It wasn’t smart enough to balance things in its own favor. The ship just tried to protect its own hull and systems. It couldn’t make a call that it was better to risk running the ultramagnetic drive than risk crashing into the ocean.
Well, that’s why overrides existed. Ships could run themselves just fine. Sometimes they just needed coaxing from their pilots.
Three hundred and ninety meters altitude. Forty kilometers to go.
Ultramagnetic drive online, the display said. As if the Blue Defender had done it, but grudgingly.
“Thank you,” Matti-Jay said.
She guided the drive’s reaction to one percent. That would be plenty to power her that last forty–now thirty-eight–kilometers.
Hopefully without tearing the runabout apart.
The ultramagnetic drive had a single nacelle. Central, at the stern. The thrust was centered. Unlike the air-breathing jets.
Which had been the problem anyway.
Enter override code to activate ultramagnetic drive, the display read. Warning, ultramagnetic drive is for zero-gravity, vacuum operations only.
“I understand,” Matti-Jay said.
Not that the runabout could hear her.
SHE TAPPED IN THE CODE. Nothing happened.
Ultramagnetic drive operation not recommended in gravity field.
“Got it.”
The ship just testing her. Making sure. Like double checking before you deleted an important file on your handheld.
Ultramagnetic drive operation not recommended in atmosphere.
“Yes, yes.”
Enter override code again.
Matti-Jay entered the last override code.
Ultramagnetic drive ready.
Matti-Jay tapped the activation point.
The thrust blast shunted her back into her seat.
The ship screamed.
Everything shook. The sky became clear.
But the nose drifted lower.
The altitude reading peeled down.
Three hundred meters.
Two ninety.
Two eighty.
Much too fast.
Two seventy.
Matti-Jay grabbed at the yoke.
Two fifty.
Two forty.
The yoke slipped from her hand.
Two twenty.
She grabbed again.
Two hundred even.
ONE NINETY.
One eighty.
Matti-Jay grabbed at the yoke. Missed again.
One sixty.
This was not going well.
Chapter Twenty One
The cockpit in the Blue Defender felt tiny and cramped. The stink of hydrocarbon smoke came from somewhere. Probably the ultramagnetic drives. Already on fire. Just to add some drama to the inevitable crash.
One hundred meters above the waves.
Matti-Jay could see them. Below. Whipping by in a blur. The Blue Defender’s airspeed rose and rose. The ultramagnetic drive shoving the little vessel along far faster than she should be going.
As the height diminished so did the distance.
Matti-Jay kept pulling on the yoke. She held so hard that it cut into her hands. It hurt.
The yoke shook. Practically fit to rip from its mount in the cockpit floor.
The acceleration had eased. But the pace kept up. The runabout was just about ignoring the storm now. Who cares about a bit of wind? We’re using a space drive!
Matti-Jay almost smiled. What would the investigators make of the wreck of the Blue Defender when they got out here? They would think she’d lost her mind. Using the ultramagnetic drive in the atmosphere.
Maybe she had lost her mind.
But now she could see the coast ahead. A wide, long curving stretch of sand. With hills behind. The part where the headland met the main part of the continent.
Oh, she was going to come so close. So very close.
She let go of the yoke with one hand. Just long enough to wave up the radio controls. She needed to make a final broadcast.
Only fifty meters above the stormy waves now. The swirling spray seemed to reach almost as high as her flight.
The radio system came up.
Matti-Jay grabbed the yoke again. She kept pulling back. The ailerons and tailplane would be straining. Trying to keep the vessel’s nose up. Against the sheer blasting force of the ultramagnetics.
Way outside the vessel’s design parameters.
Not good at all.
“Charlie?” Matti-Jay said. “Anyone?”
No response came.
“Didn’t expect to hear from you,” she said. “After all, I’m battling a storm here.”
A hurricane. A force six hundred hurricane.
“My ship’s in bad shape,” she said. “I’m attempting to land.”
Fat chance of that.
“But I’m using the ultramagnetic drive. Which yes I know is forty ways of all wrong. But desperate, you know.”
The yoke still
tried to tear from her hands. Forty meters above the wave tops now.
“Anyway, I’ve seen lots of structures out here. Blue Defender’s database will have all the recordings of it. Someone should come and find the wreck. There might be useful information in her.”
Thirty meters.
The rate of fall was dropping. The coast was getting closer.
“Well,” she said. “This is goodbye. I hope you all do okay out here. Get to the Donner. She should have some jump tech buoys aboard. Send them. They’ll get your emergency message back home. They’ll come... they’ll come find you.”
Matti-Jay sniffed. So close. They’d come out here and come so very close.
She’d come so close to making it. Just a few screw ups.
The waves were growing higher. The water was shallower. The waves lifted into breakers.
Then the Blue Defender hit one. Bounced.
The impact jarred through her. Something squealed. Some part of her frame stressed beyond breaking.
The coast was less than a kilometer away.
The runabout hit another wave crest. Bounced high again.
The vessel whined. An almighty bang rocked her.
She lurched forward. Up.
Another bang. The vessel jerked sideways. The air screamed. A cold blast slapped Matti-Jay.
Water too.
Matti-Jay jerked forward in her seat. The harness pulled at her.
The runabout was in the water. Skimming along. Waves broke across the cockpit window.
Then sand. Spraying. Tinkling.
A strange hissing sound. The smell of salt.
The runabout slowed down rapidly. Still turning.
After a minute she came to rest. Stopped.
Through the cockpit window Matti-Jay could see the waves. Crashing onto the shore. And between her and the waves was sand.
She was on the beach. She’d crashed on the beach.
Her heart pounded. She swallowed. Unbelievable. She’d made it.
She’d made it.
“Hello?” a voice said from the comms. Charlie. Crackly with static.
“Charlie! I’m here.”
“Matti-Jay. You’re all right.” The static hiss almost made him unintelligible.
“I’m all right,” she said. She stared at the breakers hitting the beach. The edges of the storm hung out in the huge bay.
“Can you come to us?” Charlie said. “We’re in bad shape here.”
Chapter Twenty Two
Matti-Jay stood barefoot on the sand. The grains felt warm and damp and gritty underfoot. It was morning. She’d actually managed to sleep in her sweat-soaked clothes. She had them laid out on the the Blue Defender’s port wing to air and dry. She just wore a pair of soft overalls from the runabout’s emergency cache.
The storm had blown out but heavy waves still crashed on the sand less than twenty meters from the Blue Defender’s bow. A fringe of driftwood and seaweed lay across the beach, mixed with foam and the carcasses of fish and birds. The stink was sweet and bitter at once.
The air was thicker than she was used to. As well as the reek of organics, there was a slight metallic tang to the air.
Birds whirled around, wings spread wide, catching the air and sweeping back and forth. They called, high-pitched and plaintive. Some others, with long red legs, strode along at the edge of the water, darting thin bills into the wet sand.
On the dunes behind Matti-Jay, tall grasses waved in the onshore breeze. There were taller plants too, not quite trees, but more than just shrubs. They had brilliant pink flowers. Somehow all of this had survived the storm.
It probably hadn’t been that big of a storm really. Perhaps more like just a series of thunderstorms rather than a full-blown hurricane.
And then there was Charlie and the others. Matti-Jay had been barely able to get two-way communications going after that moment when she’d come down and Charlie had announced that they were in bad shape.
He’d called several times. Explained that there were broken legs and lacerations and that Simon was unconscious. Charlie had done what he could.
Their runabout–the ExR7–had come down very badly. From the sounds, even more busted up than the Blue Defender.
Her vessel lay on the sand not far behind her. Still in one piece, but with damage throughout. The scoring and tearing from the dragon’s teeth was obvious on the upper hull. As were the reds and yellows of the repair gels.
The main hatch, right by the cockpit, had closed after Matti-Jay had gotten out. Best to keep the vessel sealed against the elements.
The hatch itself was just over a meter and a half high, a half meter wide. Designed to allow access in vacuum, while wearing a suit. The airlock inside was small and cramped. At least she hadn’t needed a suit to come out here.
Matti-Jay took a good deep breath of the fresh air.
Matti-Jay had assured Charlie that she could come to them.
And then whatever chance had given them the connection took it away again. She hadn’t heard from him again through the night.
Despite the stark beauty of the landscape, she felt very alone. She’d brought along a handheld. The Blue Defender had several of the slim displays, with calculation and imaging and a bunch of other features. Importantly, it linked back to the Blue Defender’s comms systems. Any communication that came in from the others would be relayed straight to her.
She needed to be able to stay in touch. Just in case. But she also needed to figure out where she was. And get some fresh air.
And if she was ever going to get to them, she had her work cut out for her. It was going to take every ounce of expertise she had.
Matti-Jay took a breath and started a fast walk-run along the beach. No matter what, she had to exercise. Had to stay healthy.
On the Donner, through all those weeks of zero gravity, she’d had to spend ninety minutes every day exercising. The vessel had various kinds of exercise systems, from harnessed running machines and rowing machines, to hydraulic weights and other resistance methods. As well as all that, they’d all been trained to have micro-workouts through the day.
It was ingrained in her, after the training. Moments of flexing muscles, of pushing against bulkheads, of clenching fists and spreading fingers.
It was too easy to let everything atrophy in zero gravity.
Running along the beach, even at half-pace, felt so freeing. Even if her legs tingled and her arms felt heavy. It wouldn’t take too long to get used to gravity again. If she did this every day.
Hopefully she wouldn’t be here too long. She just had to figure out getting the Blue Defender operational again.
Pretty big ask.
The vessel had the microbots so there was a whole lot of self-repair capability.
But that was for minor things. The whole system had been pushed to its utter limit in keeping the vessel sealed and aloft and in one piece for as long as it had.
But Matti-Jay had skills of her own. After all, she was pretty versed in repairing things. That was her job aboard the Donner. At least, it had been her job. Who knew how much of the Donner was left? Whatever had happened, it was clear that she had no job now. Well, just the job of figuring out how to put the Blue Defender back together and get herself halfway around the planet.
Easy.
Matti-Jay almost laughed.
The sand felt good against her feet. After weeks of ship slippers and metal and plastic and sterility, the gritty saltiness was welcome. Matti-Jay upped her pace. Taking long strides.
It was hard work. Her feet sank into the soft wet sand with every step. Soon she was puffing hard.
This wasn’t entirely about exercise, that was for sure. This was about feeling something real. About, even, deflecting the grief that was looming.
All those people. People she knew.
Matti-Jay sniffed and swallowed. She came to a stop, gasping. Tears came.
She was only fifteen. She shouldn’t have to deal with this kind of thing.
Kneeling, she bent over. She felt sick to her stomach. Achy and clenching. She sucked deep breaths of the salty cool air.
The birds continued to call, screeching at her. From far off across the ocean came a rumbling boom of thunder. Another distant storm passing.
Matti-Jay breathed and breathed. Her nose streamed and her eyes watered. Not really crying. Not really.
Maybe it was all right to have a moment feeling sorry for herself. After all, how many teenagers had been trapped alone on a distant planet? Oh, right. She was the first.
Well, unless you counted Charlie. And at least he was with the other two, Delle and Simon. Even if they were hurt. At least he had company. Delle anyway. Charlie had mentioned that Simon was unconscious, so he wouldn’t be participating in any conversation.
Matti-Jay burst out laughing at the thought of it. Charlie and Delle sitting outside their own busted runabout, passing the time of day with casual conversation. Convivial and cheerful. Simon waking up at some point and joining in.
Matti-Jay puffed out her cheeks. She exhaled slowly through pursed lips.
Turning, she looked around at the Blue Defender. Two hundred meters away across the sand.
Matti-Jay took a deep breath through her nostrils. She stared at her busted ship.
“Honey,” Matti-Jay said. “Looks like you and I have got a whole lot of work ahead of us.”
Chapter Twenty Three
The next morning the sun crested the horizon with brilliant beams streaming through the low distant cloud cover. Matti-Jay woke and stretched and took another run along the beach, considering every moment what her next strategy would be.
It was good to run. Her body felt better. Looser and more free. The tingling was good now. Her strength returning.
All night she’d allowed the Blue Defender work on herself. The microbots and analytics examining her to figure out what could be salvaged and repaired. Which were the critical systems that might need workarounds.
Besides, Matti-Jay needed the rest. Mentally drained, if not physically. Well, some of that too. Piloting the runabout down from orbit and through the storm had taken it out of her. She’d slept for hours.