Nimbus

by Jacey Bedford

  “Right now?”

  “Sorry. We delayed the launch by half a day so I could come and pick you up, but we’re scheduled to depart at eighteen hundred hours.”

  Lynda Munene gave Cara a wave as she made her way across the hangar.

  “Who are they?” Cara jerked her chin toward a couple heading for Solar Wind: a man in a pair of close-fitting kinetic legs, rolling across the floor at walking speed next to a tall, elegant woman.

  “That’s Mr. and Mrs. Lister, J.P. and Pami.”

  “Really?”

  “He’s the brains, she’s the b—”

  “Beauty? Were you going to say beauty?”

  “No. Is she? I hadn’t noticed.”

  “You hadn’t?”

  “I was going to say brawn.”

  “I think you were right the first time.”

  As Pami Lister turned to glance in their direction, Cara pulled Ben to her and kissed him full on the lips. She felt his surprise and then his gratifying response.

  “Take that for now, Mr. I-Hadn’t-Noticed.” She grinned and slapped him lightly on the arm. “Look after yourself.”

  “You know I always do.”

  “No, you don’t. You always take care of other people first. Why do you think I’ve insisted Ronan join the mission?”

  “Point taken. I will be careful, I promise.”

  She let him go and caught a tub cab to Blue Seven where she dumped her underwear in the laundry and repacked the bag. Self-cleaning underwear would only last for so long.

  She felt a little empty.

  *Cara, are you back on Crossways?*

  *Just arrived, Jake. Where are you?*

  *Would you believe it, at my cousin’s graduation ceremony.*

  *I would believe it. Tell Dree congratulations from me.*

  *She’ll be looking for a job now.*

  *Are you hinting?*

  *Just saying.*

  *You know the Free Company doesn’t take on . . . * She’d been going to say deadheads, but she pulled herself up in time. *normals.*

  *I know. She’d be willing to have a receiving implant if that would help. She’s real smart.*

  Dree had been disappointed to learn she wasn’t psi-tech material.

  *No matter how smart, a receiving implant would still put her at the bottom of the pecking order in the Free Company. She’s worth more than that.*

  *I get it, but—*

  *I tell you what, Jake. If she doesn’t get her dream job offered, we’ll talk again. All right?*

  *Yeah, thanks.*

  Sanctuary would need a good administrator, and being a deadhead might be an advantage.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  SALVAGE

  BEN NOSED SOLAR WIND INTO THE KNOT OF debris that had almost proved fatal on their last trip. This time they had the Listers on board.

  “Potential Eastin-Heigle ship dead ahead,” Yan called.

  “On screen.” Ben watched as the bulk of a battleship hove into view. “Is that the Howling Wolf?”

  “I believe it is.” Yan’s voice held a note of awe. “I can’t believe they didn’t scuttle her before they left.”

  “She’s a thing of beauty. Maybe her captain didn’t have the heart, or maybe she’s booby-trapped up the wazoo and waiting for us to trigger one huge explosion.”

  “So we get to see if the Listers are as good as their talk.”

  “We do, indeed.” Ben spoke over the comm. “Suit up, everyone. We’re going after the Howling Wolf.”

  J.P. had an adapted space suit that worked in tandem with his kinetic legs. As a Psi-Mech, he controlled the mechanical leg sheaths with his mind, so he had full mobility. Pami had taken Ben aside in a waft of expensive perfume and explained that he didn’t always choose to use the kinetic legs because they took up a proportion of his thoughts and sometimes he needed his full attention on something else. Ben hoped he had a hundred percent of his attention on cracking the Eastin-Heigle security program.

  There was a reason Ben had wanted Cara occupied elsewhere while he took a crew to diffuse a bloody big bomb.

  “Stand off a hundred klicks once the away team has latched onto Howling Wolf, Yan.”

  “What if you need fast extraction like last time?”

  “We have more intel than last time.”

  “You trust the Listers?”

  “They’re still alive.”

  “It’s your fu— err, choice.”

  Ben laughed and left the pilot’s chair to Yan.

  “Look after my ship.”

  “Since I can’t fly her through the Folds without a jump gate, you’d better come back, or Crossways will have to send out some rookie jump pilot to rescue us. I can’t tell you how embarrassing that would be.”

  Despite his otherwise excellent piloting abilities, Yan couldn’t see the void dragon. He’d never grasped the technique of entering and exiting foldspace without a gate.

  Ben climbed down the access tube to the suit room where Lynda Munene was already waiting. Issy Monaghan and Corin Butterfield were on standby. There was no use risking more personnel than absolutely necessary. For the same reason, Ronan wasn’t going across with the first party.

  Pami was helping J.P. into his suit, her own fastened as far as her waist with the top half dangling down behind her.

  “Okay, sweetie?” she asked.

  “Fine.” J.P. did a series of squats in the suit, testing his connection with the legs.

  Pami shrugged into her suit.

  “Let me help you with that.” Ben had stepped forward before he’d even put his brain into gear. Pami’s buddysuit hardly disguised her hourglass figure. Ben put his thoughts on lockdown as he checked her fastenings and clipped the helmet to her collar. He tapped the helmet to remind her to reset her comm. “Everything all right in there?”

  “A-okay, Commander Benjamin.”

  Ben busied himself getting into his own suit and let Lynda check it for him. *Are we set?* he asked.

  *Set,* the Listers said in unison.

  *Set,* Lynda said.

  Ronan entered, already fully suited. *Set,* he added.

  *We are. You’re not,* Ben said.

  *Would you like to explain that to Cara, or shall I?*

  Ben thought about it. *You’re sure?*

  *Sure.*

  *Okay. Set,* Ben said.

  They cycled through Solar Wind’s airlock and, tied on a line, jetted across to Howling Wolf.

  *Main airlock,* J.P. said. *That’s the only place I can disable the intruder protocol.*

  They moved as a unit to the main lock. J.P. and Pami unclipped themselves from the main line, but stayed clipped together.

  *We have a window of eighteen minutes after the hatch opens,* J.P. said. *It will take six of those to cycle through the airlock, so stay cool. Mark the hatch opening in three . . . two . . . one. . . . Now.*

  Ben activated his timer and followed the Listers into the airlock. At least this one was big enough to take all five of them at once.

  *Howling Wolf,* Ronan said. *She has a bit of a reputation.*

  *She has, indeed.* Ben looked around the airlock, bland and workmanlike. *I was on her once before, when I was in the Monitors. It was during the Burnish War. She’d been sent to put down the rebels with extreme prejudice, but her captain, Jeb Nash, gave me a window to take out a party of refugees—families of the rebels, mostly women and children. He agreed he wouldn’t notice them slipping away.*

  *Sounds like a compassionate man,* Ronan said.

  *Not compassionate enough to spare the rebel base, but, yes, it was a small mercy, and I made the most of it.*

  *We’re in.* J.P. cut across Ben’s reminiscence.

  The airlock finished cycling, and the inner door cracked and shooshed open. Emer
gency lighting shone around them, but the long corridor in front of them was dark.

  *There’s atmo,* Lynda said, *but it’s only residual. Life support is off; ship’s systems are locked down. It’s colder than Hell.*

  *Find me a systems station,* J.P. said. *I expected one right here.*

  Ben’s chrono, showing on the heads-up display in his helmet told him they had ten and a half minutes left. Without gravity, they pulled themselves along the corridor, pushing off and floating where there was enough of a sightline to tell them where they were heading.

  *I thought he’d studied the download,* Lynda said.

  *Everyone’s a critic,* Pami said. *That was for a cruiser, dumbass.*

  *Right. Cruiser. Battleship. Try this way.* Ben turned left at a junction and slapped the wall. The ship’s plan sprang into life.

  *Three doors down,* Ben said. *Let’s move it.*

  They found a secondary station, turned on the emergency lighting, and stood aside while J.P. and Pami went to work.

  J.P. stared at the control panel for longer than Ben expected, then with gloved fingers, tapped a couple of controls. A second panel lit up, much more complex than the first, and J.P. examined it.

  *Can he do this or not?* Lynda asked.

  *No distractions,* Pami snapped.

  Ben glanced sideways at J.P.’s faceplate. Was that sweat beading on his forehead?

  Six minutes to go.

  Time stretched unbearably slowly. Finally, J.P. moved. He pressed both hands onto the console and leaned forward.

  Four minutes to go.

  *He’s in,* Pami said.

  “Self-destruct in three minutes,” the ship announced calmly.

  *Can we do anything?* Ben asked.

  *Stay out of his hair,* Pami said, but her own mental voice sounded strained.

  J.P. clutched the console with his hands.

  *Legs,* he said.

  Pami grasped him around the waist and anchored him.

  He’d abandoned control of his legs in order to give the ship’s systems all his attention.

  “Self-destruct in two minutes,” the ship said.

  There was no point in running for the door. The airlock was on a six-minute cycle and Solar Wind was standing well away. At least she’d be out of the immediate blast radius.

  And Cara was safe.

  Ronan inched toward him until their suits were touching. They’d been side by side in life-or-death situations before. There was nothing to say.

  “Self-destruct in sixty seconds,” the ship said in a slightly grating voice.

  “Self-destruct in fifty seconds.”

  “Self-destruct in forty seconds.”

  “Self-destruct in thirty seconds. Twenty-nine. Twenty-eight. Twenty-seven.”

  Ben tried to shut the countdown out of his mind. The Free Company would be all right. Garrick could solve any problems Crossways hit him with. He was sorry he’d not had the opportunity to see Rion again, but his brother would be fine. He was resilient, and he had Nan, and Ricky, and Kai.

  “Nineteen. Eighteen.”

  He didn’t want to die.

  “Seventeen.”

  Not here, not now.

  “Sixteen.”

  Still too much left to do.

  “Fifteen.”

  And there was Cara. She would be all right. She was capable . . .

  “Fourteen.”

  But, oh, he didn’t want to leave her . . .

  “Ship’s systems restored.”

  He sucked in a deep breath . . .

  “Self-destruct terminated.”

  And relaxed.

  “This is Howling Wolf, Captain Jeb Nash in command. How may I help you?” The generated voice almost sounded real.

  Quarter gravity bound Ben’s feet to the floor. He wanted to kneel and kiss it. *Everyone okay?*

  J.P. sank to the floor, his legs sticking out at odd angles. *I am now,* he said.

  Pami knelt by him and tapped the faceplate of her helmet against her husband’s.

  *I think I’ve tested my buddysuit’s plumbing to destruction,* Lynda said. *But, yes, okay, now.*

  *Okay,* Ronan said, his mental voice steady.

  *Have you got nerves of steel?* Ben asked.

  Ronan shook his head. *No imagination. It helps tremendously.*

  But Ben had seen the beads of sweat on his face. He touched his friend’s arm, briefly. *Let’s go see if we have a functioning battleship.*

  *Link me with Solar Wind, Lynda, please. Yan. You can come alongside now. Send Issy and Corin over. She’s ours.*

  *Okay, Boss. Stand by.*

  Issy, Corin, and Lynda settled themselves into engineering and checked out the ship’s systems. There was some superficial damage. She’d taken a couple of hits in the battle and showed signs of one section having been depressurized and restored again, but they pronounced all sections safe and life support online again. The air was breathable, and the heating systems would achieve a safe temperature for humans in less than thirty minutes.

  Having done their job, the Listers expressed a desire to find a cabin and rest. J.P. looked exhausted. Pami heaved him to his feet, and he took over control of his legs again.

  “That was a close one, Commander Benjamin. I don’t mind admitting it.” J.P. said. “I think I earned my cut.”

  “Yes, you did. Are you still willing to try for any other ships we find?”

  “If they’re Eastin-Heigle, they’ll be easy after this one.”

  Ben and Ronan set off to explore the ship. They found crew quarters and sick bay on this level.

  “Just a quick look,” Ronan said. “I heard the sick bays on these ships were state-of-the-art.” He stared at the gleaming surfaces. It didn’t look as though it had been abandoned in a hurry. Everything was in its place.

  Through sick bay was a mortuary alcove. An array of lights showed that three of the cold chambers were occupied.

  “I guess when they transported the living, they didn’t have room to take the dead,” Ben said as Ronan pulled out each of the drawers in turn.

  “Odd that they didn’t simply hold a funeral and cremate them. Uh-oh. Did the ship say that Nash was captain?”

  “Yes. He must be coming up for retirement sometime soon.”

  “Looks like he’s been retired permanently,” Ronan said. “Asphyxiation. He must have been in one of the depressurized compartments. Same with the other two bodies.”

  “Ah, sorry to hear that. Nash was a good man and a fine captain. We’ll deal with the bodies later.”

  “Oh, shit!”

  “What?”

  “There’s someone in the emergency cryo chamber. Not dead. They left someone behind!”

  “Badly injured?”

  “Not injured at all as far as I can tell.”

  “Any notes?”

  “Aww, hell. He’s in cryo storage pending neural reconditioning. No more details, though there may be a personnel file on him somewhere. His name’s Oliver Lopez. He’s a pilot.”

  “Is he safe where he is?”

  “He’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”

  “Then he’s a problem for another day.”

  They checked the ship plan on the sick bay wall and made their way up to the bridge. After Solar Wind, it felt enormous. There was a captain’s chair as well as a pilot’s station and a nav chair. There were additional stations for a comms tech, a systems tech, and two gunnery operatives, a weapons systems tech, and a defense station. Next to them was a dedicated damage station.

  “All the bells and whistles you could hope for,” Ben said.

  “Or not hope for if you happened to be on the other side.”

  “Indeed.”

  Ben sat in the captain’s chair and flicked on the holo s
creen. “Pretty big chair to fill,” he said. “Nash was vastly experienced.”

  “Do you fancy yourself in that seat?” Ronan asked.

  “No. Not my style. Garrick will find someone. Maybe Oleg Staple can use her as a flagship—presuming the engineers say she’s suitable for a jump drive.”

  *Hey, Boss.* Lynda cut in from engineering.

  *Lynda, how goes it?*

  *Corin and Issy are here. On first examination, it looks like we can fit one of Kennedy’s Mark II jump drives. There’s some repair work to do to the damaged sections, and refitting the jump engines will take about eleven days.*

  *What’s her capability now?*

  *Sublight engines are online. We can get her out of the debris field and give the engineers room to work on her.*

  *Stand by.*

  *Yan, did you get that? Rendezvous one hundred klicks outside of the debris field.*

  *I’ll follow you.*

  Ben abandoned the captain’s chair and took the pilot’s console. *Sublights online. Let’s go.*

  For such a big vessel, Howling Wolf was remarkably responsive. Ben nudged her through the densest part of the debris field without mishap and covered the hundred klicks in barely ten minutes, half of that being deceleration.

  *How does she handle, Boss?* Yan sounded eager.

  *Sweet as a nut. She’s all yours for the refit.*

  *I’m looking forward to that.*

  Ben rounded up Lynda, Issy, and the Listers while Ronan prepped Oliver Lopez’ cryo pod for transfer across to Solar Wind. They left Corin in charge of engineering, and Yan Gwenn took over as captain and pilot. They’d send a team to install a Mark II drive and make repairs.

  *I want this on my résumé even if it is only temporary,* Yan said from Howling Wolf as Ben settled in to take Solar Wind through the Folds to Crossways.

  Crowder took the invisible glass elevator right to the top of the building for a full board meeting. Tori LeBon had given him a heads-up late the previous evening. They’d lost three colonies, now, though they’d managed to keep two of the losses completely secret in case it affected their stock figures. Ditto the ship losses.

  Five years ago their ship losses in foldspace had been in line with everyone else’s, one or two a year. Accidents happened. They were sad, but statistically there were more deaths from accidental drownings on planet Earth than from flying the Folds.