by Ryk Brown
“Can we up the amount later if we needed?”
“You may, but it would probably raise undue suspicion.”
“We’re receiving navigational instructions, sir,” the comm officer reported.
“Feed them to navigation, Ensign.”
Cameron went to the navigation station and began plotting a course change. “They’re sending us to a fairly dense part of the rings, Captain. Not too far from the Haven colony moon itself. Should be a pretty good place to hide out for a while.”
“Very well. Take us in, Cam.” Nathan turned back to Tobin. “So how’s this going to work, again? You’re going to bring up some workers or something, and they’re going to work from here?”
“No need for concern, Captain. Very few ships that come to harvest the rings bring their own harvesting equipment and crews. There are many teams available for hire on Haven. They will bring their ships and workers here. The harvester will collect material from the rings and bring it to your hangar deck. There it will be off-loaded, sorted, and repackaged. Some goes to your hold, some goes back to Haven where it will be sold to pay for your supplies, as well as the workers doing the harvesting. It is quite common, and we get ships from all over the quadrant. The material in the rings is quite rich with precious metals and water ice. It is a unique and rare combination, as you will soon see.”
Nathan nodded his understanding. “Are we all set?” he asked Cameron.
“Course plotted and ready.”
“I’ll take us in,” he insisted. “You go and take a break. Get something to eat. You’re going to be in command while I’m gone, so this may be your last chance for a break for some time.”
“Okay. Then I’m headed for a shower and a meal,” Cameron announced as she headed out.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Jessica agreed. “I think I’ll do the same.
“Actually,” Tobin interrupted. “Where we’re going, being too clean might attract attention. It might be best if those going to the surface refrained from bathing until they returned.”
“Okay, good to know,” Nathan said.
“If there is nothing else for now, I will prepare my ship for departure,” Tobin announced, stepping back towards the exit. He waited for any objections, and once satisfied there were none, spun around and headed out the door.
Nathan looked at Jalea, who had been silent the entire time. “This all sound about right to you?” he asked.
Jalea looked puzzled by his phrasing for a moment until she deduced his meaning. “This is the way it is usually done in this system,” she assured him. “As long as we do nothing to attract attention, I do not expect any difficulties.”
Nathan nodded his understanding, as Jalea also turned and followed Tobin out.
“I wish I was as confident about this plan as they seem to be,” Cameron muttered as she passed. “Come on, Jessica. Let’s go get something to eat.”
Jessica turned to follow Cameron out. “That’s gonna be a long, smelly shuttle ride,” she said.
“Let’s go try out some of those meal kits they retrieved,” Jessica suggested as she caught up with Cameron in the corridor. She had grown tired of the nuts and dried fruit just like everyone else on board. Jessica noticed Cameron’s expression. She usually had a serious look on her face, but her current expression was more serious than usual, even for Cameron. “What’s bugging you?”
“I’m worried about your trip to Haven,” Cameron admitted.
“Piece of cake, boss. We swoop in, do a little shopping, ask a few strategic questions, and then haul-ass outta there. Standard tourist op,” Jessica assured her.
“It’s not you I’m worried about,” Cameron told her. “It’s Nathan. Or more specifically, it’s Jalea. I don’t like the influence she seems to have over him. I don’t trust her.”
“Well, duh. Who does?”
“He does,” Cameron stated.
“No, he doesn’t. At least not as much as you think,” Jessica insisted. “He’s just playing along with her, seeing where it takes us. He’s not as gullible as everyone thinks he is. He’s actually pretty good at reading people.”
“Yeah, I know he is. But he also tends to act too quickly, without thinking things through first. And from what I’m hearing, Haven is not the kind of place where you want to be acting impulsively.”
“Not to worry, Commander. I’ll have his back the whole time.” Jessica looked at Cameron, who said nothing. “Seriously, Cam. This is what I do, okay? He’s not going down there alone, you know. He’s going to have two spec-ops, a marine, and an ex-ground-pounder backing him up.” Cameron looked at her with a puzzled look on her face. “Oh, you didn’t know? Vlad spent four years in greens before he got into the academy. So you see, you’ve got nothing to worry about. If any trouble starts, Haven won’t know what the hell hit’em!”
Cameron was a bit surprised at her enthusiasm, unaware of Jessica’s desire to do field work. “Just don’t let him wander off by himself, or worse, just him and Jalea. I still don’t trust her.”
“You’ve got it, Commander. Eyes on the skipper twenty-four-seven,” she joked.
Cameron stopped in the middle of the corridor. “I mean it, Ensign.” Cameron looked dead on into Jessica’s eyes. “You stick to him like glue. Understood?” she ordered.
Jessica straightened up, her expression becoming more serious. “Yes, sir.” The two of them stood there staring at each other for a moment before Jessica finally spoke up again. “Can we go eat now?” A tiny smile began to form on the corner of Cameron’s mouth, as she turned to continue down the corridor toward the mess hall.
— 2 -
“You wanna give me a hand over here?” Nathan asked Cameron as she entered the bridge. “It’s gettin’ a bit crowded out there.” Cameron made her way over and took a seat at the navigation console next to Nathan.
“Damn,” Cameron exclaimed. She had never before seen the navigation screen with so many ship tracks displayed. “I guess the rings of Haven are a popular place.” Nathan wasn’t really listening, instead choosing to concentrate on flying the ship using the course plots Cameron was already feeding him. There were at least fifty ships in their general area, and despite the great distances between them, they were all moving fast enough that a few seconds hesitation could spell disaster.
“Suggest you maintain a considerable distance above the rings until we reach our harvesting zone,” Ensign Yosef reported from the sensor station. “There are quite a few stray rocks floating just outside the normal plane of the rings. And they’re a bit hard to detect until the last moment.”
“How much longer until synchronous orbit?” Nathan asked.
“Two minutes,” Cameron answered calmly.
“We’ll come in high over our assigned parking spot. Once we sync our orbit, I’ll translate down slowly into the rings.”
“Copy that.” Cameron closely monitored the ship’s rate of deceleration, making sure the flight computer would match their forward velocity to the proper orbital velocity for their assigned altitude. Although they were still traveling at considerable speeds, in relation to the rotational speed of the gas giant below them, it was no more than a diminishing crawl.
“One minute,” she announced.
“I’ve got a ship approaching from astern, slightly to starboard,” Jessica warned. “She’ll have a visual on us in five minutes.”
The last thing they wanted was for other ships passing by to get a good look at them. Although the Aurora had been designed to have a less threatening appearance than the Earth’s Defender-class warships, she still looked more like a warship than a freighter. Though all her weaponry was recessed into her hull and covered up when not in use, anyone with a bit of knowledge about ship design would be able to pick out her weapons emplacements with ease. Even if they didn’t, the battle scars and the huge hole in her bow would be enough to raise suspicion on its own.
“We may have to translate down faster than I’d hoped,” he warned Cameron.
“I think it’s best no one gets a close look at us. Not if we can avoid it.”
Cameron said nothing. She knew why he wanted to duck the ship into the rings as soon as possible. The rings were just as dense as Tobin had described, and it was not something that you wanted to fly into too quickly. If someone did get a good look at them, and then reported what they saw to the family that controlled the Haven system, things could become a lot more dangerous than a quick-drift down into the rings.
“Synchronous orbit achieved,” Cameron reported.
“Scan directly below us, Kaylah,” Nathan called out. “And don’t be afraid to alert me if we’re about to hit something big.”
“Yes, sir,” Ensign Yosef responded.
“Translating down.” Nathan fired the docking thrusters, pushing the ship straight down towards the rings. He held the thrust far longer than usual, picking up considerably more speed in his translation than anyone, especially Cameron, could feel even remotely comfortable about.
“Easy, Nathan. Back off a bit.” There was genuine fear in her voice. It was unusual to hear an emotional tone from Cameron, especially during flight operations. Considering how fast they were dropping toward the rings, it was understandable, even if a bit unexpected.
“Come forward two hundred meters, quickly,” Kaylah ordered. Nathan didn’t ask why, the urgency in Kaylah’s usually demure voice was reason enough. Nathan blasted the thrusters again, this time pushing them forward as they continued to translate downward toward into the rings.
“One fifty,” Kaylah reported. “Come slightly starboard now.”
“I see it now,” Cameron reported. The moment Kaylah had barked out her recommendation, Cameron had switched her display over to track only what was nearby. Now she was starting to pick up the small and medium-sized rocks that made up the rings of Haven. “That’s awfully dense, Nathan.”
“How far?”
“Two kilometers. Rotate two degrees to port.”
“Rotating,” Nathan acknowledged as he applied a tiny amount of thrust.
“That’s good.” Cameron watched as the details of the field of rocks below them began to resolve into greater clarity. “Maybe you’d better pitch down and dive in nose first?”
“Our undersides are thicker,” Nathan objected.
“Maybe, but if we come in nose first, we’ve got a much better chance of not colliding with anything. And if we do, it’ll be at a shallow angle instead of ninety. Less likely to cause damage?”
“Pitching down,” he responded without hesitation. He hadn’t realized it at the time, but Cameron had made the suggestion without being argumentative. He had followed her advice on instinct, without thinking twice about it.
During their training, they had been unable to work together effectively as a team. Their operational styles had been in complete conflict. Despite the assertions of Captain Roberts that each of their strengths offset the other’s weaknesses-making them the perfect team-learning to work together without wanting to kill one another had been nearly impossible.
Their conflicting styles aside, the events of the last few days had forced them to put their differences aside out of necessity. They were no longer in training-they were fighting to survive. Despite the fact that circumstances had thrust Nathan into command-a fact that he was sure still bothered Cameron-it seemed they were starting to get along. Captain Roberts would’ve been proud, he thought.
“One kilometer,” Cameron updated. Nathan finished pitching the nose of the Aurora downward. They were now diving nose first toward the rings below.
“How far is that ship?” Nathan asked Jessica.
“Visual in one minute,” she reported.
“Will he be above or below our altitude when he reaches visual range?”
“Huh? Uh, just about even, I think.” Jessica hadn’t expected that question, and it had caught her slightly unprepared.
“How long until we penetrate the rings?” Nathan asked Cameron.
“About ninety seconds,” she told him.
“No pressure,” he muttered.
The ship continued to dive toward the rings as the unknown vessel grew closer. At this point, it was a matter of timing. They needed to get to the rings and become hidden amongst the debris before the unknown vessel got a good look at them. Nathan wanted to kick in the main drive and race into the rings, but he knew that such a move would not only be incredibly dangerous, but would also appear quite suspicious to the unknown vessel as well as anyone else that happened to be watching. Thus he was forced to run this particular race at a snail’s pace, compared to their usual maneuvering velocities.
“One minute,” Cameron updated. “Five hundred meters.”
“Unknown vessel will reach visual range in thirty seconds,” Jessica reported.
“How are we looking, Kaylah?” Nathan asked, not taking his eyes off his console.
“With this narrow profile, you should be clear into the rings, sir.”
“Guess you were right,” Nathan mumbled. Cameron said nothing, only casting a quick glance followed by the slightest of smirks.
“Twenty seconds to visual range,” Jessica reported.
“Cam,” Nathan suddenly asked, “is it okay to roll on our way in?”
“Uh, yeah, I think so. Why?”
Nathan applied a slight bit of roll thrust. “I’m gonna show them our belly as they pass,” he explained, pleased with himself.
The Aurora began to roll as the unknown vessel reached visual range and passed by her. All the other ship ever saw was the Aurora’s nondescript underside as she rolled over, diving into the rings.
“Penetrating rings,” Cameron reported. “You can begin braking now, Nathan.”
“Just a few more seconds.” Although the rings were dense, they were only a kilometer thick. The last thing Nathan wanted to do was fly right through and come out the other side in front of who knew how many other ships. Finally, at the latest possible moment, he fired the braking thrusters and brought them up to full power, rapidly decreasing the ship’s forward momentum until she finally came to a stop deep within the dense rings of Haven.
The entire bridge sighed collectively as Cameron reported, “Confirming all stop.” Her fingers danced across her console, entering commands and calling up information. Finally she added, “We are now in synchronous orbit within the rings, on station at the assigned coordinates.”
Nathan turned and rose from the helmsman’s seat. “Jessica, I believe we have a flight to catch.” He then turned to Cameron, “You have the ship, Commander.”
“Aye, sir,” Cameron answered as she watched him go. Cameron caught Jessica’s eye on her way out, just in time to catch a half-hearted salute and a wink.
Tobin’s ship was already fired up, her engines idling in the hangar bay as Nathan and Jessica approached. Vladimir, Ensign Mendez, and Sergeant Weatherly were all standing near the ship, waiting until it was time to board. Each were wearing unmarked coveralls that were long overdue for the laundry, keeping in line with Tobin’s suggestion to not appear too clean.
“Well, aren’t we a motley looking group? Where’s your guide?” Nathan asked Vladimir as he approached.
“Inside, with Tobin and Jalea,” he said.
“Which one did you end up bringing?”
“Danik. Allet had no desire to go Haven. I do not think he likes the place very much.”
“That’s encouraging,” Nathan said. Just then, Tobin descended down the boarding ramp of his ship, dropping the last half-meter onto the deck.
“Is everyone here?” Tobin asked.
“Yeah, how do we look?” Nathan asked.
“Like any other freighter crew, I suspect. However, I will provide you with some cloaks to wear before we arrive. It is very common attire where we are going, as it offers an additional degree of protection against the environment on Haven. Other than all of your hair being a bit shorter than most, you should not attract undue attention.”
“And I thought my h
air needed a trim,” Enrique joked as he followed Tobin up into the ship.
One by one, they climbed up into the long, compact ship, with Nathan being the last one aboard. The interior was cramped, with three seats along each side of the back cabin, all facing inward. There was a hatch on the back bulkhead that led to a small cargo hold, and another hatch at the front end that led to the cockpit.
Nathan took his seat by the cargo hatch on the opposite side of the cabin, next to Jalea. The seats themselves were rather firm, and not very comfortable, obviously not designed for a long journey. They also had some type of restraint system built into them, the belts appearing to have seen better days. Looking forward into the cockpit, Nathan could see that Tobin was not bothering to put on his restraints, so Nathan assumed that none of them would need theirs either. The fact that Jalea also did not feel the need to restrain herself only served to support his decision.
The sound of the idling engines became louder as the exterior hatch swung up and closed, sealing with a hiss of compressed air. Once closed, the whine of the engines was greatly reduced, however, the vibrations inside the ship told of the increasing strain on her engines as the small ship began rolling, making a u-turn to port and heading into the transfer airlock.
Nathan could see out the window built into the hatch on the opposite wall, watching as the frame of the airlock moved past them. Through the front windows of the cockpit, he could see the outer airlock door. It would take only a few minutes for the airlock to purge itself of pressure, and then the outer door would open and the transfer airlock would become one with the vacuum of space.
Again the small ship began to roll. Nathan watched out the side window as the ship moved out of the transfer airlock and out into the outer bay, eventually coming completely out into the open only a few meters from the aft edge of the flight deck. As they came out from under the canopy and into the open, the light reflecting off the reddish-brown and orange gas giant outside washed into the cabin, bathing them all in its eerie glow.