Rescue Branch (Kinsella Universe)

by Gina Marie Wylie

  “The colonists at Ceres no doubt expected to make a fortune from all that water. Except while water isn’t as common as mud in the outer system -- quite the opposite -- it’s not that unusual. There are other bodies covered with oceans of the stuff. Not to mention people who’ve grown up surfing on the ocean consider you a total fool to expect them to pay a thousand dollars for a cubic meter of water. Ceres, like India, is poverty-stricken. Actually, it’s more poverty-stricken than the home country. Yes, they don’t have to pay the thousand dollars a cubic meter for water, but oxygen, hydrogen, methane, metals -- they all cost like the devil. They didn’t take into consideration that on Ceres, everything but the water is buried under a hundred kilometers of water.”

  She laughed. “Like you, I found I’m ignorant of things I need to know. I don’t think the folks on Ceres are stupid, but they are handicapped by politicians back home who are.

  “No doubt some of you envision the asteroid belt as a crowded place, with rocks spinning and tumbling all over the place. There are -- but the volume of space is huge... and even though the number of rocks is in the millions -- it still means they are rather sparse.

  “Out at the Aft Trojans, they’ve modified a number of asteroid orbits. Out there it doesn’t take much to make a big change. They’ve moved rocks with additional desirable materials closer to the habitat. Their plan is to have a formation of a number of rocks, all about a hundred kilometers apart, traveling in company. They’ll be able to lay claim to them, mine them -- and in the end make a lot of money from them. All legal.”

  The shuttle pilot came back into the passenger compartment. “Lieutenant Cooper, a priority call from Ceres. They’ve told me to sheer off.”

  Becky hastened forward. They were a fraction of a light second distant, so communications were close to normal. It was a man that introduced himself as the habitat manager. “I am Ramujin, the colony manager.

  “We’re asking your party to return to Earth, Lieutenant.” He cleared his throat. “Do you have any spare seats?”

  “Seats?” she asked, confused.

  “We have to evacuate the colony. Right now we are sending infants out, as we can.”

  Becky thought quickly. “We have four extra seats; six are already filled. For babies, we have arms. Send along a couple of pregnant women who can hold babies in their arms.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “A supply ship landed a short time ago; one of the pilots noted that the piers the colony was built on are no longer visible. I regret to say that the colony appears to be foundering.”

  Becky turned to the pilot. “At five g’s, how long until we can be down?”

  “Not long, Lieutenant. That’ll be uncomfortable.”

  “Ten babies and four pregnant women are worth some discomfort.”

  “Aye, aye, Lieutenant. You go back and strap in and let me coordinate with Ceres. Hurry; I suspect we’ll have a priority.”

  “Don’t bother to contact Grissom. Plan on lifting as soon as we can, a single G. We’ll be back close to Grissom before a radio transmission can get there.” She gestured ahead. “Do you understand what wasn’t said?”

  “Sir? I don’t understand.”

  “They are still unloading the cargo ship, maybe they just start moving people ASAP. But we’ll be back first... no one back on Earth knows about this yet. Think of yourself as Paul Revere.”

  “Good God!”

  “Relativity bites, doesn’t it?” Becky told him. “Get with Ceres, get things going. Tell them we’ll spread the word as fast as we can.”

  She returned to the cabin. “Strap in. Prepare for five gravities. Something has turned up.” She sat down and strapped in.

  “Who here is a parent?”

  There were headshakes. “Well, you’ll get some practice. How many of you know what happened to the Fore Trojan habitat?”

  “One minute, Lieutenant Cooper,” the pilot announced over the intercom.

  “Roger that. We’ll be ready.”

  She spoke one last time. “Think on what happens if your insulation is good enough to hold against the temperature -- but the surface is water ice. The Ceres colony manager told me that their habitat was ‘foundering.’ Contemplate the truly amazing ways that off-world life presents new and unusual dangers.”

  The pilot started counting down, and the pressure steadily mounted. To put it mildly, having five people sitting on you was more than uncomfortable. On the other hand, they didn’t have much velocity left to change. In about ten minutes, the pressure eased off.

  “We’ll be down in six or so minutes. The ah, cargo, will be here about fifteen minutes later. You all stay parked, except for Lieutenant Cooper. Prepare to accept passengers, Lieutenant.”

  “Roger that.”

  She stood. “I expect each of you will have at least one infant to hold. If I was doing this, you’d have two; don’t be surprised what happens. We will return to the vicinity of Grissom Station and there broadcast the warning. Expect the unexpected after that. We may return directly to Earth, and if we do, it will probably be to India. On the other hand, who knows? We’ll know shortly.”

  She went forward. “How far are we from Psyche?”

  “About fifteen light minutes.”

  “Get a warning message off to them -- send one of to the Aft Trojans as well.”

  “They are a lot further away, about ninety light minutes.”

  “Send the message. If I was a betting person, Ceres has orders not to call for help.”

  “Should I send to Mars?”

  “Sure, why not? Last I heard there were about a thousand people on Ceres. I don’t know if the infrastructure can be saved, but I’d sure like to think we can save the people. Everyone who can will lend a hand, I’m sure.”

  “India isn’t a Federation member, nor have they applied.”

  “That’s a question for the politicians to work out. I’m not going to walk away from so many people. Neither will anyone else. The Aft Trojans have a shuttle that can move five hundred people in a pinch. Southern Cross is in orbit around Earth. There’s a new ship, the Palmach, working up on Psyche. Someone can get them off. We can, we will.”

  A few minutes later, long before she expected them, a vehicle from the colony arrived. The babies were transferred in hardened shells that Becky winced when she saw. Rescue bubbles would have been a thousand times better -- and even more than a thousand times safer.

  One of the crew of the vehicle was a man Becky recognized from her brief conversation. She reached out and shook his hand. “There’s nothing you need to say, sir. We’re happy to do this.”

  “They are fools -- but they are powerful fools.”

  “You have a pregnant wife we’re taking with us. It’s time you learned what’s important,” she said roughly. He sighed, looked away, and then left.

  One of the four pregnant women grabbed Becky’s arm as she returned to her seat. “You are Cooper?”

  “I am.”

  “Here.” Becky was handed a walnut. “Better late than never.”

  “Who knows? Now you’ll need to get ready to feel a bit more acceleration than you’re used to.”

  She went forward as one of the other lieutenants oversaw buttoning up the shuttle. “I want us as close to the minimum safe distance from Grissom as possible. I want the Grissom station commander on the radio first. Then, set up links to Fleet command in Maunalua and to the Southern Cross, Captain Cook and Commander Jacobsen. I’ll speak to them as they come ready.”

  The pilot eyed the squalling infant in her arms. “As you wish, Lieutenant.”

  “I wish you to hustle, considering that the cargo we carry is semi-precious.”

  “Sir? Semi-precious?”

  “The babies all have blue blankets. One of our passengers is the colony manager’s wife. I wish I wasn’t a curious person. I asked if they had a surplus of blue blankets, as they meant boys back home. She looked away, Lieutenant. She looked away. We are taking sixteen babies b
ack. All boys.”

  “Jesus H. Christ!”

  “We will do our duty, Lieutenant, no matter how unpalatable. It could just be a coincidence.”

  “Yeah, right. A coincidence. I’ll do my duty, but the pleasure I felt a few minutes ago is... sadly depleted.”

  “Grissom. The communication schedule.”

  “I once thought that promotion was my first priority; I don’t know if I could do what you do, Lieutenant Cooper.”

  “Babies. Hundreds of people. Put everything else out of your mind.”

  He glanced up as a light went from red to green. His voice turned brisk. “We are tight, sir. Better sit down until after we’re down from High Fan.”

  They lifted gradually, coming to about two-thirds of a gravity. Becky understood the logic in that and didn’t say anything. The bundle she held, wrapped in a blue blanket, let his displeasure be known, and then redoubled it after a few seconds on High Fan.

  “Lieutenant Cooper, I have Grissom on the horn for you,” the pilot told her less than a second after they were in normal space. She had gotten up as soon as she heard the pilot’s voice.

  “Rear Admiral Stephens, Lieutenant Cooper. Your pilot is squawking an emergency.”

  “I’m just from Ceres. They are trying to evacuate the colony, sir. I’m trying to link with Fleet Command to alert them.”

  “You’re breaking up, Lieutenant. There is a lot of high frequency interference. I don’t have anywhere near the resources to help.”

  “The technical term for the interference, sir, is ‘human baby, unhappy’ -- he’s feeling significant acceleration for the first time in his six months of life. He came off High Fan a few seconds ago. I’m too old to cry at the discomfort.”

  He laughed! “I wish I could help! Maunalua is calling the brass. Please, I know we’re close, but Earth isn’t much further away. Think ‘Earth’ not ‘Grissom’ on where best to off-load your cargo.”

  “This is Captain Gilly, Lieutenant Cooper. What’s the emergency?”

  She mentally blessed the man. “Sir, a repeat of the Fore Trojan emergency -- with more people involved. The Ceres colony is sinking into the ice.” She swallowed. “I’ve received only a request to help evacuate some pregnant women and infants.” She crossed her fingers, praying he would understand.

  “Obviously a precautionary measure,” he said, sounding pompous. “I understand that you are trying to contact Southern Cross. No doubt to report your earlier-than-expected availability.”

  Captain Gilly was the best officer in the Fleet, after Admirals Delgado and Kinsella. “That’s it, sir. I’m hoping that I can take part in their next engineering exercise. I understand that it’s scheduled soon.”

  Another voice came over the circuit. “This is Thomas Cook, Captain of the Southern Cross. I heard something about infants?”

  “I expect they can be transferred, sir. Lieutenant Abbott is with me. I understand he is also to join your crew.”

  “We have four shuttles assigned currently,” Captain Cross said. “We’ll fly with the best three. I expect the rescuees can be transferred, Lieutenant.”

  Another voice spoke, Admiral Delgado. “I understand that Lieutenant Grimes is your pilot, Lieutenant Cooper.”

  “Yes, sir. An outstanding pilot.”

  “Lieutenant Grimes, make your best speed consonant with the safety of your passengers and rendezvous with Southern Cross, now in geosynchronous orbit over Tahiti. That seems to be a very popular spot for geosync orbits. You will take off some of our yard people, while Southern Cross departs on another of her High Fan tests. We don’t want to have happen to her, what happened to that French ship, whose name escapes me at the moment.”

  Just like that, Becky thought. She didn’t have to say a word out of policy. They all understood!

  She spoke. “Admiral, Lieutenant Grimes isn’t nuts about this. I imagine he’s going to demand to speak to you at once when he returns.”

  “I certainly understand his being upset. I’ll be happy to speak to him.”

  The pilot looked like he swallowed a pickle. “I think I’ve been screwed.”

  “Secrets, Lieutenant. I was on a secret mission to Ceres. You don’t need to know even as little as I knew.” She dropped the walnut on the control panel. “With no one around, and Admiral Delgado will make sure that at some point, no one is around, give him that. Just say that I gave it to you. Do not speculate on where it came from.”

  “Am I screwed?”

  “Grow up, Lieutenant! I did! There are more things in Heaven and on Earth than what we imagine.”

  “I heard what you said to the others.”

  “Learn. Learn everything about everything that you can. Can I give you a bit of career advice?”

  “From you? Sure!”

  “Tell Admiral Delgado that you are huskier than you look and that you love to read.”

  “That’s career advice?”

  “He’s looking for a new junior aide. The aide has to be husky -- and curious.”

  “Lieutenant Abbott used to be his aide. I’m not that husky.”

  “And I’ve passed the point, I suspect, that I’ll ever be considered as a junior aide. Magic words, Lieutenant. Try them; see what they invoke.”

  “And all I have to do is give a walnut in the shell to Admiral Delgado?”

  “I’m fairly certain that you’ll be safer and go further, never having speculated on the contents or lack thereof.”

  “Consider it delivered. Ah!” he exclaimed. “New tasking. Southern Cross! They have left orbit, headed to a point where they can go to High Fan. As it happens, we’re still inside the bubble around Grissom... you’ll need to sit down, Lieutenant. I’m going to need to adjust things some more.”

  Becky resumed her seat. Like the infants, she was not happy with a gradual change to two point three gravities.

  “Watch the infants for more than the usual distress,” she told the others. “Expect some.”

  She turned to Lieutenant Abbott. “Shortly you and I will be transferring to Southern Cross. Since Ceres no longer needs us, we’ve been reassigned.”

  He lofted the baby on his arm. “And the young sir?”

  “Southern Cross has a number of yard birds aboard. Lucky them, a number of them will get to go home sooner rather than later.”

  Captain Cook’s crew was briskly efficient. They rendezvoused with Southern Cross just outside the fan limit. Southern Cross had a shuttle bay where they could land inside, and they used that. Two women appeared, relieving Becky and Lieutenant Abbott of their burdens. Even as they were leaving the shuttle bay, they were starting to pump it down.

  Becky shook Commander Jacobsen’s hand. “Good to see you, Commander.”

  “Sure, right. We light up the pile in fifteen minutes every day. We set the fans to spinning just as quickly. Safe as a church!”

  “There are a thousand or so at risk, Commander.”

  “And we can take half of them.”

  “If I was one of the half, I’d kiss the ground you walk on,” Becky told her. The commander extended one finger in Becky’s direction.

  “The Captain wants you on the bridge. Your warm welcome to engineering will be on hold for the time being.”

  Captain Cook was as brisk as his crew. “What’s up?”

  “The colony is sinking, like a ship with a hole in it.

  “India is not a part of the Federation. They haven’t applied to join. Their bosses on the ground have told them not to ask for help. There are a thousand or so lives at risk.”

  “Given that we can take three hundred comfortably aboard at need, and another hundred decidedly uncomfortably -- but not exceeding life support minimums, what should we do?”

  Becky drew herself up. “What we did before. Go there and prepare to render assistance, if asked.”

  “And if they don’t ask?”

  “Captain Cook, they’ve been told not to ask for help. They’ve not been ordered to suicide if help is available.
”

  “In other words, if we happen by, they just might ask for help?”

  “Perhaps. Probably. I heard that Southern Cross was going to run some more engineering trials. Ceres is a High Fan jump away. In the unlikely event we should experience a malf, there would be someone close by that we could ask for help.”

  “Well, Admiral Delgado was emphatic: ‘Prepare to render assistance as necessary.’ I’d just as soon avoid any malfunctions.” He turned to Commander Jacobsen. “Show Lieutenant Cooper her duty station. Prepare to get under way ASAP.”

  “Aye, aye, sir. The fans are up to speed. We can depart orbit at any time.”

  “Pilot! Take us to Ceres; run at a gravity and half. Orbit the body at that point, keep a two hundred kilometer separation.”

  “Aye, aye, sir. Navigation has been running continuous updates; standby for acceleration in five minutes.” The “Standby for acceleration” message played on the ship’s intercom while Becky followed Commander Jacobsen to the engineering spaces.

  She was just shown a hatch; “Fan central, my bailiwick. You can look it over later.” A second later they were in the reactor control room. “And here we have Lieutenant Commander Trevor Brown, our head nuclear genie. Commander Brown, this is Senior Lieutenant Rebecca Cooper, your fourth watch commander. Get her squared away once we are under way.”

  “Aye, aye, boss!” He gestured in something between a wave and a salute.

  She was pointed to a seat and she promptly strapped in, just moments before the final acceleration warnings. A gravity and a half isn’t much, as acceleration is measured. Still you had to be careful. Her position was in front of the reactor temperature and pressure readings. She studied the read-outs for a time, and after a bit, asked a question.

  “I know I’m new aboard, Commander Brown, but I’ve never worked with digital readouts before -- they’ve always been analog, so you could see where the normal operating range is.”

  “There is a line along the bottom of the readouts,” the commandeer explained. “Right now, no color shows -- that means we’re in the green. I’ve asked them to change that to actually show green; that’ll be done shortly. There are all kinds of warning alarms if anything should change from nominal, or change too fast. Red is bad. Blue means the temperature or pressure is too low. One of your first learning tasks is to go over the gauge presets, review them and write me a memo if you see any changes that need to be made.”