by S. H. Jucha
“Are any of those available to us?”
“You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”
Harbour took another deep swallow of her drink. It tasted better and better. “I am. I’m concerned for the future of the Belle. I think the downsiders would love to offer the empaths free room and board downside, but they wouldn’t spend a single coin for the rest of the residents. In my estimation, it’s time to halt, if not reverse, the downsiders’ power expansion.”
Jessie finished his meal and set his fork down. It was a spacer’s bad habit to quickly clean a plate, while the opportunity presented itself. “Harbour, I understand your concerns. Spacers are the minority here too. The stationers are the only ones with the numbers to outvote the downsiders, if it came to that, but they’re absorbed in their daily lives. It would take something mighty momentous to shake them out of their complacency and force the downsiders to the bargaining table. If it came to that, each side would be soliciting the Belle’s residents and the spacers, trying to win them to their side.”
Harbour finished most of her meal but had to quit. It was more than she usually consumed in a sitting. She did manage to finish her drink. A quick check of her comm unit revealed the late hour.
“Well, Jessie, as much as I have enjoyed the company, I’ve got to get some rest. My days are sorely tested by Sasha.”
Jessie stood first, and Harbour said, “We haven’t paid. Oh, that’s right, owner’s privileges.” When she rose, she was a little unsteady and found Jessie’s hand under her arm. At the door, Harbour gave Maggie a hug and sent the pleasure she felt.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” Maggie gushed, when the emotion passed through her mind.
On the way to her cabin, Harbour wrapped her hands around Jessie’s arm. It helped to steady her, but the truth was she enjoyed it. At the cabin’s door, Harbour asked. “Sailing tomorrow?”
“First thing in the morning,” Jessie replied.
“I enjoyed the evening, Jessie.”
“I did too. Be careful, Harbour,” Jessie replied and left.
Wow, Harbour thought, leaning against the wall. No offer of a second date. Not even a kiss. Disappointed, she touched the actuator of her cabin door with her card key.
On the way to the Spryte, Jessie examined the turmoil he felt. He believed in keeping life simple. It made it easier to manage the company and take care of his people. Since meeting Harbour, life had gotten ever more complicated. No, that’s not right, he thought. It began with Aurelia … another empath. Yet, Jessie no longer saw Aurelia in that category. She’d become crew to him, falling neatly into an existing slot. Harbour didn’t fit into any slot.
Worse, Jessie knew he couldn’t treat Harbour as spacers did one another, hooking up for some downtime and amicably calling it quits when ships sailed. Besides, Jessie wasn’t sure he could stop if he started something with her. He’d deliberately kept his eyes off her face at her cabin, afraid of what might have happened if he had kissed her.
Jessie’s musings brought him up short. His imagination was suddenly overwhelmed by the possible complications that might arise during an affair with a powerful empath, not to mention the potential risks of a bad breakup. He tried to put the events of the evening out of his mind and walked with purpose toward his ship. Despite turning into his bunk early and being aided by a strong drink and a full meal, he didn’t get a good night’s sleep.
-22-
Exploring
Darrin and his prospecting team explored an ever-expanding semicircle out from Triton’s crater where they first descended. It required them to relocate the shelter several times. The assays were tempting for the quality of ore found, but further tests indicated the team was only discovering small deposits. There was nothing that made the expenses of the trip to Triton and the exploration worth the coin.
“Nose, it looks like I might have to recommend to Jessie that we abandon Triton, unless he’s prepared to spend the coin to set up a processing operation here to refine the aggregate,” Yohlin said. She was talking to Darrin after receiving another report of an unsatisfactory day’s core samples.
“I can’t argue with you, Captain. It’s too far to the YIPS, and it offers too little return to make the investment in more sleds worthwhile,” Darrin replied. “Thing is, Captain, I know there’s quality stuff here. I can feel it.”
“Okay, Nose, but we can’t keep going the way we’ve been doing, searching on a grid pattern. I’m going to have the crew drop the search rover. I want you to double your grid spacing to cover more ground. I’ll send Tully and Hamoi out wide in the rover to take some samples.”
“Are you going to track them?” Darrin asked. Without comm repeaters above the moon, the Annie was limited by its ability to cover the survey team and the rover if it ranged past the horizon.
“Negative, Nose. I’ll keep the ship over the shelter. That’s where the majority of our crew is positioned.”
“Understood, Captain. In that case, I recommend Belinda and Rules take seats in the search rover.”
“You want the newbie aboard on an extended mission? Jessie might consider that an unnecessary risk of the girl.”
“I don’t disagree with that last part, Captain. But it gets ugly crammed inside that rover with a crew of four aboard. Rules can keep everyone happy.”
“That’s unless she goes boggy herself,” Yohlin retorted.
“I doubt that will happen, Captain. If it’s a new technique or a new experience for Rules, she’s all over it. Darnedest thing I’ve ever seen … a natural-born spacer, if there ever was one.”
“Okay, Nose, give the orders. I’ll have the rover downside tomorrow morning. Let’s hope Rules can be a talisman too. We need some luck.”
Soon after Darrin finished his conversation with Captain Erring, the remainder of the crew cycled into the shelter, and he took the four individuals aside to give them their marching orders. The group felt a flash of enthusiasm from Rules, and there were smiles all around.
“Don’t get too excited, Rules,” Darrin warned. “An extended mission stuck inside a search rover except to exit for samples and short breaks can be grueling.” He’d no more delivered his message than the group felt another pulse of excitement. “Okay, Rules, have it your way,” he said, laughing. “The rover will drop early tomorrow. After we check it over, you’ll launch on a search wedge that I’ll outline.”
* * *
Belinda woke in the morning and experienced a brief moment of trepidation. During the days aboard the Annie and downside on Triton, she’d felt like her old self and her confidence had returned. But spending days and nights enclosed in the limited space of a search rover would test her. The problem was that if her space dementia went full-blown aboard ship, the captain could order her sedated until they made station, but, with a small team depending on her as the senior crew person, the thought of risking their lives on an extended foray frightened her.
Warm support flooded through Belinda’s mind. It flushed away her concerns, and she took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. She expected it to cease quickly, but Aurelia kept sending to her until even those around her wore goofy smiles.
“Okay, Rules, we’ve all had our happy dose. Save some for the expedition,” Darrin announced. But his words did nothing to curb the crews’ appreciation. They clapped and whistled, which gained them a grin and another shot from Aurelia.
After the checkout of the delivered search rover and the completion of its loading, Belinda assigned Tully, the engineer, the driver’s seat. He had the most experience with the vehicle. She took on the role of navigator and would guide their course with the rover’s system, which was loaded with Darrin’s search wedge and would track its position via the shelter and the Annie. This would work until they got beyond the horizon. Then tracking beacons would be planted to guide them on their return to the shelter.
Aurelia and Hamoi, the assay tech, were assigned the second pair of seats. Entry into the rover was through a small airlock system
built in a cylindrical shape, allowing the twin hatches to rotate within a tight radius. It was large enough to accommodate one good-sized spacer in a vac suit.
Tully boarded first, Belinda followed, Aurelia went next, and Hamoi climbed aboard the rover last. All systems had been checked out by three techs. Nonetheless, Belinda had Tully run his own tests. When she ran a comm check with the Annie and the shelter in a twin link, she had Yohlin and Darrin feeling comfortable with her as team leader.
“Vac suits stay active and sealed,” Belinda ordered, when they got underway. “We stay sealed up for an hour until we’re assured the vehicle is tight while we navigate terrain.”
When Belinda’s allotted time passed, the team took turns helping one another out of their vac suits. There was sufficient room at the rear of the vehicle next to the airlock to hang them up.
Following Darrin’s requests, which weren’t geographically specific, but a wish list of formations that he wanted tested, the rover crew made for a distant mountain range. It took the rover most of the day to reach it.
Aurelia began the trip by crossing her legs under her and immersing herself in the wonderful memories she’d accumulated since making it to the El car. She saw the faces of JD, the cargo crewman; Toby, whose face always made her smile; and, of course, Captain Cinders, her rescuer. The faces of many supportive spacers marched through her mind.
Hamoi, who fell into a state of bliss from Aurelia’s unblocked emanation, began whistling softly. He whistled tune after tune, the crew discovering he was marvelous at it.
“Sorry to break up the party,” Belinda said, a few hours later, “but it’s meal time. Rules, Hamoi, break out some tasty prepackaged whatevers for us.
By the time they reached the base of the mountains, the crew was anxious to stretch their muscles. Belinda paired Aurelia with Tully, and she took Hamoi. Only Tully and Hamoi were experienced at recognizing what might be good sampling sites.
Tully and Aurelia were outside for three hours, collecting an armload of cores before they returned to the rover. Hamoi ran the assay tests, while Belinda prepared meals. Unfortunately, the assays were consistent with what the shelter-based survey team had found — aggregate with hints of tempting heavy and rare minerals.
Belinda reported the first day’s failure to Darrin.
“How’s the crew holding up, Belinda?” Darrin asked.
“We’re doing fine, Darrin. Rules is keeping us in good spirits.”
“Funny thing about that, Belinda, I’ve noticed a marked downturn in the shelter crew’s attitude. I guess I forgot how hard these long-term stays in a shelter can wear on you. Crew members are already asking me how long Rules is going to be away.”
Belinda wanted to laugh at the turnabout of the crew from their original opinion of Rules, but she refrained. Her nagging worry of what would happen to her when Rules was no longer around kept her sensitive to what the shelter crew was experiencing. Empath withdrawal, Belinda thought, what spacer would have considered it possible?
“Darrin, Tully and Hamoi think we’re going about this wrong.”
“Do tell?”
“Don’t get your nose bent out of shape,” Belinda replied, wishing she hadn’t said that.
“I see the Rules effect is pretty heavy in that rover.”
“Sorry, about the pun, Darrin. The problem is that I’ve crewed on the Spryte and the Pearl. I’ve never worked the expedition side of this company, which means that I don’t have the experience to understand if what they want to do makes sense or not.”
“I’ll tell you one thing, Belinda. So much about this business relies on technology, which you can’t dismiss, but a small part relies on intuition. You’re in charge of the mission. It’s your decision. You can’t do any worse than the base camp. We haven’t found anything either.”
“Understood, Darrin, thank you for the advice.”
The team darkened the windows and tilted the seats to nearly horizontal positions to get some rest. A few hours, later Belinda woke them, and after a quick use of the tiny facilities closet and a small meal, she called a meeting.
“I want to hear from you two,” Belinda said, pointing to Tully and Hamoi, “what you would do if you were out here without orders. You have three days to gather samples before you must turn around. Nobody is giving you directions. Where would you go?”
Tully and Hamoi grinned at each other. Spacers referred to Belinda’s request as an officer offering to let them slip their leashes. Belinda was encouraged by their reactions, but, after a half hour of arguing, there was no consensus. Worse, each of them had more than one proposal.
“Enough,” Belinda said, interrupting the latest argument. “We could sit here for the next four days, and I think you two would still be arguing. No wonder Captain Hastings said Captain Erring’s job was the toughest one. Discovering an ore strike, if you don’t find piles of frozen slush, seems more like gambling than science.”
“I have an idea,” Aurelia volunteered.
It would have been rude to let their jaws drop on hearing a newbie suggest she had an idea on how to find heavy metal, so they merely stared at Aurelia in confusion.
“Well, if no one else has a good idea, I want to go toward the buzzing.”
“Buzzing? What buzzing?” Tully asked.
“You don’t hear any buzzing?” Aurelia asked, looking from face to face. “I admit it’s really high-pitched, and, if I’m wearing my helmet, it’s attenuated.”
Belinda searched the faces of Tully and Hamoi. It was obvious they had no idea what Rules was talking about. She didn’t either, but her mental health was a direct result of Rules’ ministration, which made her a believer in the extraordinary capabilities of empaths.
Tully started to ask a question, but Belinda held a hand up to halt the discussion and think. The Annie’s mission was the discovery of new opportunities for the company, which depended on the historical success of Captain Erring and Darrin Fitzgibbon. A lot was riding on them finding something of value on Triton, and, so far, that had amounted to a huge mound of aggregate that had to be processed onsite, which meant capital expenditures for more sleds and processing equipment. But the simple matter was that it was more expedient and profitable to put all the crews to work harvesting Emperion’s frozen gases and outfit either the Annie or Spryte with tanks like the Pearl.
“Have you ever heard this buzzing before, Rules?” Belinda asked.
“At base camp,” Aurelia admitted, “but I thought it was something that happened to everyone.”
“And was it as strong as it is now?” Tully asked, warming to the subject.
“Oh, no, Tully, it was very faint at base camp, but it has grown stronger the farther we moved the shelter in this general direction.”
“Why didn’t you say anything, Rules?” Belinda asked. “You could have been developing a medical problem.”
“I considered that, Belinda, but when I focused my power on the buzzing, it went away.”
“Could that have been just you ignoring it?” Tully asked.
“I’m sure it wasn’t. I’ve spent a few hours throughout the weeks playing with the noise. I can eliminate it, if I want.”
“Let’s get back to this direction thing,” Belinda said. “You felt it increase as we moved the shelter. How about during the trip out here?”
“It has been increasing in strength, up until we turned toward the base of this mountain. Then it fell off a little.”
“Then you can sense this buzzing’s direction?” Hamoi asked.
“Not really. I don’t sense really well where emotions come from. I have to look at people and match what I’m feeling with an expression or apparent attitude to figure out who might be broadcasting.”
“Okay, but like a magnetometer, you can sense the increase in intensity. What I mean is, can you direct us toward the source of this buzzing?” Tully asked.
“Probably,” Aurelia volunteered.
“Wait. Everybody, wait a minute,” Belin
da said. “We don’t know what Rules is sensing. It could be anything.”
“Normally, I’d agree with you, Belinda,” Tully said, leaning against the rover’s steering column to consider his words. “But, here’s the way I see it. None of us doubt Rules’ capabilities. They’re extraordinary.”
For the compliment, the crew felt a wave of appreciation.
“Just focus on my reasoning, newbie,” Tully cautioned, and the sensation ceased. “Better. So, it’s a given that we have a powerful empath in our midst, and none of us know how she can do what she does. We think of her talent as sensing and affecting our emotions. But maybe that’s a simplistic concept. Does anyone know of another empath who is a spacer?”
When he received negative responses, Tully continued. “What if it’s because Rules is the first empath out here, that we’re discovering unknown capabilities about sensitives?”
“Where are you going with this, Tully?” Belinda asked.
“It’s this, Belinda. Energy, as you know, comes in many forms, one of which is magnetism. What if Triton has a huge deposit of magnetite? The iron content of this mineral is usually above seventy percent, and, if the magnetite is loadstone, then its mass could be producing a weak magnetic field. What if that’s what Rules is picking up? And, if that’s what it is, the iron in that concentration would make ingots easily, and we’d probably find a lot of other metals in the mix.”
Belinda stared at Tully, as if the engineer had lost his mind. “Tully, even if I believed what you were saying, how am I going to explain this to Darrin?”
“Didn’t he say that part of exploration is using your instinct? What have we found out here? Nothing that’s going to make us rich. I know what I’m saying sounds like chasing air, but what have we got to lose?”
“Fine,” Belinda said, throwing her hands up in capitulation.
“Are you going to tell Darrin?” Tully asked.
“Despite any rumors to the contrary, Tully, you don’t have a fool for a second mate. Of course, I’m not going to tell him. I’ll report the day’s findings to him, but I’m not saying that we’re chasing a whimsy. Okay, Rules, which way?”