Dunn didn’t reply. If there was an impact or explosion in the aft section, it could have spun the ship, provided the attitude thrusters had failed, or if there was no power when it happened. Either way, it was like hitting one end of a suspended see-saw. In z-g and a vacuum, once something started spinning, it wasn’t going to stop until something forced it to. But it wasn’t just the axis rotation that bothered him. The slight twist to it didn’t make much sense at all unless there was another impact on one side of the ship.
“Sir? Permission to start deceleration?”
“Granted.” Dunn activated the comms. “This is the Captain. Prepare for deceleration and potential collision.”
Yellow warning lights spun in the corners of the bridge. Across the ship, other lights came to life. The marines would be strapping into their flight couches in case the deceleration required g-force maneuvers or in case S&R Black struck a KBO.
Debris and rock fragments cluttered the area around Mira. Either or both could be from the impact that started her spinning. Without significant gravity to affect the trajectory of the ship, any matter exposed to the vacuum should have been blown out of the pressurized ship and into space. But that didn’t mean additional pieces of equipment, shards of metal, or other matter ejected by the ship after the explosion or impact hadn’t made its way out of the aft portion. Until they had a chance to analyze the debris, it was impossible to know what it was from. He put a note in his block to have the marines bring in some of the trash for analysis.
The canopy made a rattling sound as shards pelted off the aluminum. Dunn felt a chill and his adrenaline began to spike. Now was the rough part. Oakes and Black were focused on getting past the worst of the debris, but there was little room to maneuver; they were too close to Mira to take evasive action. Mira seemed to cant slightly as the attitude thrusters pushed them closer to her position.
“Permission to cut gravity, sir.”
“Granted,” Dunn said. He activated the comms again. “Prepare for z-g. I repeat, prepare for z-g.”
The lights changed from bright yellow to maroon. Before they began the approach, the marines had locked everything down using magnetic fasteners or stowing them away in their coffins. Cutting power to the grav-plates kept the humans aboard from feeling any g-forces.
“Range to target?”
“Twenty kilometers.”
“Cut thrust,” Dunn said.
“Aye, thrust to 1/8 power,” Oakes said.
“Oakes, call out range every kilometer.”
“Aye, sir. Nineteen km.”
Dunn waited as Oakes called out the distance between their ship and Mira. The count became slower and slower. After the call outs were nearly two minutes apart, Oakes called out the distance of three kilometers.
“Bring us in slow, Oakes. We’re not in a hurry.”
“Aye, sir.” Oakes’ eyes stayed focused on the screens, his block connection instructing S&R Black’s engines and thrusters. Black was no doubt helping him with this. Considering Mira’s rotation, matching speed and her orbit required pinpoint precision. Luckily, his pilot could do most of the math in his head, which is one of the reasons Dunn had fought to get him assigned to S&R Black in the first place.
Through the cockpit, he saw empty space. Mira had seemed to float to the starboard side. He glanced down at the display, watching as Black continued to pipe in video of Mira and their position relative to it. She was in bad shape. Now that they were no longer behind her, the damage was easy to see.
The aft section with the engineering decks, reactors, and engines was riddled with tears and rips. The durable Atmo-steel had been shredded like paper. The largest hole in the hull seemed to be at least forty meters in diameter, the metal at the edges bowed out as if from an explosion.
Well, there goes the impact theory, he thought. Then again, that was premature to say. Whatever had made that hole had definitely been an explosion of some sort, but that didn’t mean the other damage had been made by the incident. He’d have to wait until after the inspection to make a better determination.
Oakes began controlled thruster burns to match Mira’s speed. Once S&R Black slowed, Dunn saw through the screens that he’d managed to keep their ship a mere fifty meters from Mira and directly across from her rotational axis. “Good job, Oakes.”
“Thank you, sir,” the pilot said, pride in his voice.
“Black. What’s our status?”
The AI responded almost immediately. “We are stable and beyond Mira’s possible torsional rotation. Based on long-range scans, we may cut across the orbits of smaller KBOs and debris. Nothing to threaten either ship, but personnel entering the area between the ships, or attaching themselves to either hull, will have to do so with extreme caution.
“I recommend vehicular approaches only and full armor for all personnel. Marine load outs should include emergency equipment as well.”
“Of course,” Dunn said. He’d planned on doing that anyway. Black had already warned them of stray KBOs and debris. If either ship wandered across a shatter storm or a micro-meteorite shower, he’d pull the marines back, have them seek shelter in the vehicles, or return to S&R Black immediately. If there was no time for either of those possibilities, they’d have to think on their feet. Maybe seek shelter in one of Mira’s airlocks.
The image of thousands of red eyes staring at him from the darkness once again filled his mind. Dunn shivered and pushed it away. He reached for his mag-mug, his movements slow, but fluid in the z-g. He put the mug up to his lips, opened them, and the hot fluid dribbled through the lid and into his mouth. The moment he pulled his lips away, the coffee stopped flowing. He let the liquid float in his mouth for a moment, coating his tongue and cheeks, before swallowing.
“Oakes. Are we green?”
“Aye, sir. Position and speed matched. No problems on the flight end,” Oakes said.
“Nobel. How we doing?”
Nobel’s voice returned through the comms. “Sir, engineering is green across the board. We have one diagnostic error in O2 recycling, but Black and I are tracking it. We think it’s a faulty sensor. Other than that, we’re good to go, sir.”
Dunn smiled. “Good job, marines. Oakes. Let’s get some gravity in the personnel decks. Leave the cargo bay in z-g.”
“Aye, sir,” Oakes said.
“Marines,” Dunn said over the general comms, “prepare for gravity.”
“Gravity in 3-2-1.”
The grav-plates on the ship sprang to life with a barely perceptible hum. Dunn’s stomach lurched before settling into its normal position. The brief instant of vertigo receded, leaving just a touch of fluttering in his stomach. He unbuckled from the command chair and stood. “Oakes? You have the bridge.”
“Aye, sir.”
He and Taulbee exited through the hatch and into the main personnel hall. “That went smoothly, sir,” Taulbee said.
Dunn grunted. “Which means something else won’t.” Taulbee said nothing in reply. “James? Get Gunny and Kalimura to meet us in the briefing room.”
“Aye, sir.”
When Dunn stopped at the briefing room’s entrance, Taulbee continued walking down the hall to the duty stations. Once gravity came back online, the marines would have left their couches and resumed their normal duties while the ship was in flight. This time around, of course, that meant more diagnostic checks on the ship, and analysis of Black’s data streams of Mira.
Dunn walked straight to the holo-table and sat down in front of it. He initiated a private connection to Black. Since Taulbee was personally fetching Gunny and Kalimura, Dunn had a few minutes to himself which he desperately wanted.
Black. Bring up your analysis of the damage to Mira.
Of course, Captain, Black responded.
The holo-display jumped to life. A light-enhanced video played, Mira tumbling through space as seen via the starboard cameras. The tumble stopped and the ship rotated to a side-on view. The light-enhancement melted into a 3-D model.
Several areas in the aft glowed red, three of them flashing.
A circle appeared around the large rip in the engineering section. This area indicates an explosion from inside the engine compartments, Black said. My sensors find no evidence of residual heat, meaning the nuclear reactors are down and the ion drives are either damaged beyond repair, out of fuel, or simply inert.
He nodded to himself. Will that rip affect our tow?
Black paused. He imagined she was running a large number of simulations. Captain, the rip may prove problematic for hull integrity if Mira experiences any significant g-forces. Otherwise, hull integrity appears to be suitable for the tow.
What about the other tears in the hull?
When Black spoke, puzzlement colored her voice. They appear to be impact points from hundreds of small objects. The Atmo-steel is perforated in multiple places. Very few of them are larger than a meter wide, but some are as large as five meters in diameter. The metal is bent downward, which is consistent with fast impact from relatively massive objects.
He frowned. “Massive objects?” Please clarify.
If they were caused by micro-meteorites, I doubt they would have done more than make a dent unless they were traveling at incredible speeds. Micro-meteorites lack the proper mass to create that much damage. Unless, of course, they were composed of solid metals or heavy metals.
That didn’t make much sense. KBOs were rarely made of just metal. He couldn’t imagine exo-solar objects were much different. Can you guess as to what combination of elements would be required to create that much mass?
Black was silent for a moment. Dunn heard the distant sound of footsteps in the hallway. In a moment or two, Taulbee would enter with Gunny and Kalimura in tow.
Tungsten’s mass or greater, the AI said. Essentially an atomic weight of 186 or higher on the periodic table.
Tungsten, Dunn thought. Humanity had a lust for the metal. It was used in the creation of Atmo-steel as well as hundreds of other space-related materials. Humankind mined in the asteroid belts for dozens of metals and minerals that were no longer found on Earth, or that could be more easily extracted in z-g. But shards of pure tungsten slamming into a starship was unlikely. He’d never heard of an asteroid made completely of one metal or mineral. They were almost always a conglomeration of elements.
If we bring back a sample, do we have the instruments on board to determine what those impacts are from?
Provided, Black said, the impacts left evidence on the Atmo-steel or you manage to retrieve one of the objects that smashed through Mira’s hull.
Understood, Dunn told it. Thank you.
Very welcome, Captain Dunn.
Dunn sat in the chair and used his fingers to spin the holo-model. Black was right about one thing. The engineering decks were a complete mess. If any humans had been caught inside that explosion, they would have been flash-fried, smashed into the frayed bulkheads, or simply ejected into space. He shivered involuntarily.
“Captain?” Taulbee’s voice called from the door.
Dunn didn’t look away from the model. “Come on in,” he said. “And don’t bother saluting. We have work to do.”
The three marines filed in and took their seats across from Dunn. He stared through the 3-D model and focused on Kalimura’s face. The young corporal looked both nervous and excited. He grinned at her. “You look like you’re ready to get out there, Corporal.”
She blushed. “Aye, sir. I am.”
“Good,” he said. “James? Have you studied Black’s analysis?”
“Briefly,” Taulbee said.
“Gunny?”
“Aye, sir. Same as the lieutenant.”
“Excellent,” Dunn said. “Show me how your plans have changed, marines. I want to go over every step and detail.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Kali stood by one of the combat skiffs. After connecting her block to its on-board computer, she ran a last minute diagnostic. Fuel? Go. Ammo? Go. Thrusters? Go. She scanned the report as each system was tested for integrity and functionality. A white plume of nitrogen, barely more than a ghost of vapor, rushed out of the port thruster, and then the starboard. The aft and bow followed close after. The test fires used almost no fuel, and they were more than likely an unnecessary check, but the tiny clouds of vapor helped settle her nerves.
This was it. No more training. No more simulations. She was taking her squad to Mira in a real combat skiff with real weapons and a real mission. Instead of trying to save some hapless miner floating in Saturn’s rings, they had to stabilize Mira’s spin, requiring thruster placement, grav-walks, and careful piloting. This. Was. Real.
Ten meters away, Gunny was running through the same steps she was. That made her feel a little more confident. When she first started the diagnostic, she’d thought both the marines and Gunny would see her diligence as an attempt to mask fear.
The thunk of grav boots on the deck broke her attention from the reports. She looked up and nearly smiled. Dickerson, Carbonaro, and Elliott carried long, steel boxes of weapons and supplies. They dropped their loads next to the skiff and stood back.
Dickerson wiped a sheen of sweat from his brow. “Corporal. We have the goodies.”
“Excellent,” Kali said. She stared at each of the transparent aluminum assault lockers. One contained four flechette carbines and extra ammunition, while the others housed nano-probes, trauma kits, O2 packs, Atmo-steel cutters and sealers, suit patches, and demolition charges. The only equipment she thought they could possibly use on this part of the mission were the nano-probes. Maybe. But she wasn’t going out there unprepared. “Let’s load ‘em up,” she said.
Wendt was still in the hands of the auto-doc. The swarms of bio-nannies in his body were doing their best to repair the damage from the concussion, but it was a slow process. Another day, two at the most, and he’d be cleared for duty. And then I’ll kick his ass, she thought. But until then, her squad was one human down.
Dickerson and Carbonaro pushed each of the lockers over the skiff’s side. Kali and Elliott took each and loaded them into the small cargo area. The magnetic fields came to life and locked each of the boxes in place. Since the skiff was exposed to both vacuum and z-g, every piece of equipment the marines carried had to be secured via magnetics or tethers. Tethers were a last resort, especially on ingress or egress, as they were much less stable and prone to failure. She hoped they wouldn’t have a reason to use them.
With the gear loaded, she stared at the three marines. “Once we cut to z-g, we’ll tow out the thruster packs. Dickerson? You’ve got the duty. You’ll sit in the back and mind the cargo.”
“Aye, Corporal,” he said.
“Carbonaro. I want you in the gunner seat; Elliott, handle navigation. I’ll pilot the skiff to the rendezvous coordinates.” She met the eyes of each marine in turn. “Any questions?”
“No, Corporal,” the three said in unison.
“Outstanding,” Kali said. She looked over at Gunny. His squad was still placing their gear. “This isn’t a hot zone,” she said, “so I don’t expect we’ll need our weapons. But we need to treat this as what it is: an unknown situation with shit intel. Stay on your toes. I will not have another marine in my charge nearly kill themselves because they aren’t paying attention. Understood?”
“Aye, Corporal!”
She smiled. “That’s what I wanted to hear.” She turned back to check on Gunny. He was growling at his marines. They had finally finished their load out. According to the obscenities pouring from Gunny’s mouth, they hadn’t done a particularly good job.
Dickerson giggled as he stepped away from the skiff and inspected the thruster packs.
“Something funny, Dickerson?” Kali asked.
He lifted his head and smiled at her. “Just glad I’m not in Gunny’s squad, Corporal.” He traveled the length of the tow-sheet checking each of the thrusters in turn.
The hydrazine thruster packs sat on a three-meter-square of Atmo-steel behind the skiff
s. Ten octagonal thrusters, each half a meter tall, sat in blisters on the tow-skid. Once the magnetics were activated, the skid would attach to the skiff, essentially becoming another part of the vehicle. Four spare tow-sheets sat at the back of the cargo bay. If too many of the thrusters failed, or if Mira’s tumble couldn’t be corrected by the first load of thrusters, the marines would have to return to S&R Black for another load. She hoped Black and Oakes’ calculations were correct. She didn’t like the idea of changing Mira’s trajectory only to have to repeat the process again. Each journey from S&R Black to Mira increased the chances of something going wrong and marines being hurt or killed.
“Officer on deck!” Gunny yelled.
She moved to stand at attention, but before she could, Taulbee bellowed, “As you were!”
Kali turned and found the Lieutenant walking into the cargo bay. He was dressed in a combat flight uniform, helmet held in his hands. He stared at one skiff and then the other. A slight smile touched his lips. “Gunny. Your squad ready?”
“Aye, sir.”
“Corporal?”
“Aye, sir,” she said in a loud, confident voice. Her skin prickled with nervous tension, or was it fear? Either way, she wasn’t going to show it to the rest of the marines, and certainly not to the LT.
Taulbee nodded. “We’re a go in five minutes. I’ll take the `52 on a recon flight while the skiffs make their approach. Pilots? Be ready for any adjustments.”
“Aye, sir,” Gunny and Kali said.
“Get to it,” Taulbee said. “Good hunting.”
“Hoo-ah-Black!”
Taulbee walked past the skiffs and to the SV-52. She watched as he climbed into the blocky craft’s cockpit and shut the canopy over himself. There was room inside for a gunner, but considering the mission, it was unnecessary. Even if it came to using the weapons, she’d little doubt Taulbee could handle himself without an extra marine.
“Dickerson, you ready?”
“Aye, Corporal.” He put his helmet on, but didn’t shut the visor.
Carbonaro climbed into the skiff and took her station at the mounted cannon. Elliott slid into the navigation seat and brought up the screens. Once Kali performed a final check to ensure everything was locked down and ready to go, she took her place in the pilot’s chair.
Derelict: Marines (Derelict Saga Book 1) Page 19