by M. D. Cooper
His gaze drifted to Irradia’s lumpy surface, which still dominated the left side of his holodisplay, but his attention was on the music, not the half-mined asteroid.
Then a portion of the asteroid’s surface seemed to jump.
Jacob’s focus zoomed in on the image, watching as ejecta began to fly from Irridia’s surface as his equipment registered a massive surge of gamma radiation.
That doesn’t seem right, he thought, while pulling up the next rotation’s schedule. They shouldn’t be using anything that explosive to mine the seam.
There was a series of final blasts scheduled, so the presence of explosions wasn’t surprising, but a blast that large within a uranium-laden asteroid was beyond dangerous. As he considered the danger, his visual showed jagged lines begin to appear across the asteroid, outlining a hundred-kilometer section toward the end closest to him.
Then Irridia shuddered again, and Jacob’s equipment registered a burst of gamma waves, this time mixed with beta radiation.
Oh shit! Jacob knew what that meant. Some pocket of uranium-238 had either been hit with a neutron bombardment, or had heated up enough to go critical.
Unbelievably, almost comically, the chunk of Irridia that had been outlined by fractures broke free, surging into space as several tertiary detonations occurred.
A swathe of ore handlers lay in the hundred-kilometer rock’s path. They were already reversing course at top speed, but the runaway fragment scattered them like a bowling ball blasting through pins.
Jacob gaped. His fingers froze on the controls. The closing scene of the opera blasted through his headset unheeded.
What the hell?!
As he watched, the chunk of Irridia split again, one section tumbling away—on a direct course for Jacob’s ship. He forced his hands into action, shifting his engines to try to clear the incoming mass.
Alerts on his boards registered his load shifting, and he triggered the emergency releases, angling the engines to move clear of the hunk of uraninite before applying full thrust.
Suddenly he was jerked to the side, restraints straining to hold him in his seat.
His eyes locked on the console before him. The pincer that he’d deployed the stabilizing web from wasn’t releasing the net; it was stuck, holding his ship to the ore that was now an anchor, keeping him from getting to safety.
He triggered the pincer’s emergency decoupling systems, but the angle of force being applied from the engines had jammed them in place.
Frantically, he shifted his thrust in an attempt to ease the tension on the pincer’s articulated joints, but the action caused his ship to swing around too fast, and one of the engines slammed into the fifty-meter hunk of rock stuck to his ship. The impact was hard enough that it broke the fusion engine free from its articulated arm, sending it spinning slowly away.
Jacob’s throat constricted as he gaped at the display. A dozen alarms were flashing, and a ‘mass impact’ alert was blaring in his ears.
With a deft twist of the three other engines, he managed to relieve pressure on the pincer arm, and the decouplers kicked in, allowing the arm to come free. But now the ore he’d been hauling lay between him and freedom. He swung the engines around once more, ready to boost away on a new vector, when one of them died.
A fuel delivery warning lit up, and he realized that a line must have been severed when the other engine hit the ore.
He frantically cut off those lines, but he feared it was too late; there might not be enough time to get clear of the thirty-kilometer chunk of Irridia bearing down on him—though he’d burned his engines beyond their safety limits in the attempt.
In slow motion, Jacob’s nemesis approached.
It grew until the rock was close enough that he could make out individual surface features with alarming clarity. He clenched his teeth and braced his feet against the deck, pushing, as though he could somehow make his ship move faster.
Then, by some miracle, his half-ruined craft cleared the rock by just a few meters, coming out into clear space.
A cry of joy sprang from Jacob’s lips as he brought up a rear view, just in time to see three things perfectly aligned: the ore he’d been hauling, his fusion engine that had been broken off when it hit the load, and the inexorable chunk of Irridia.
“No…” he whispered, as the ore he’d been hauling hit the engine, and then crushed it against the hunk of asteroid.
Radiation alerts flared again, and then space was alive with debris flying toward him from the resulting nuclear blast. At the very edge of his perception, he was dimly aware of the opera playing on. It had reached its very end.
As a grey blur filled Jacob’s displays, the soprano drove her blade home, singing out her agony.
It was the last sound he heard.
SUPPER ON THE SAND
STELLAR DATE: 03.07.8937 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Marine Eco Station #14, Knossos Island
REGION: Carthage, New Canaan System
Erin relaxed in the gentle swell, letting it lift and then lower her body effortlessly as she floated not far from the shore.
She couldn’t remember a time she’d ever been so happy. The day at Martin’s beach house had been perfect. Now as the sky was easing toward twilight, the light of the Cradle was twinkling to life on the eastern horizon. The cliff that overhung the beach was already shadowy and gave no indication of the secret SATC facility housed inside it.
It had been the construction of the SATC that had originally brought her and Martin together. Erin smiled as she recalled her first encounter with the grumpy Doctor Ryland; he’d stood in the water a little ahead of where she was floating, and she’d been on the beach. She’d since discovered that Martin had a much more pleasant side to him, provided you weren’t threatening his precious sea creatures.
Erin sighed. She would have to leave the water soon. Martin was cooking a special dinner, and Isa had gone in to take a shower more than an hour ago.
Erin chuckled.
Her AI’s laughter echoed in Erin’s mind.
After a few more minutes of lazy floating, Erin said,
Erin heard Walter’s laughter for a second time.
Erin’s attention was drawn to the shore, where Isa had emerged from the beach house. She stood on the step barefoot, dressed in a bright sarong, her hair twisted up onto her head.
She called out, “Erin, what are you still doing in the water? You must be wrinkled as a prune. Come and take a shower, or you’ll be late for dinner. Martin says it’s nearly ready.”
“But it’s so beautiful out here,” Erin responded with a dramatic sweep of her arm above the water. “Do you think we can maybe eat outside?”
“I’ll ask him. But you better not take too long getting ready. He might just say you can’t have any.” Isa stepped back into the house.
Erin swam a few lazy strokes to the shallows and waded out of the water onto the beach. Martin wouldn’t carry out the threat Isa mentioned, of course, but Erin didn’t want to waste any more time. Martin could turn prickly if she made them both wait for her. He seemed to take most things in life seriously, and tonight he was cooking by hand, going to a lot of trouble to make the evening special.
Now that she’d finished hollowing out the last of the moons Tanis wanted for her secret shipyards, Erin could take a whole two weeks of vacation. Up until then, she’d only managed to spend a few days with either Isa or Martin when she had the opportunity to swing by Carthage. This was the first time the three of them would be together for her visit, and she didn’t want to spoil the mood on the very first day.
Reaching the dry sand above the tide line, she walked the short distance to the open door of the beach house. However, as she was about to step inside, Martin spotted her.
“Outdoor shower first, don’t forget,” he said, gesturing to the side of the house.
“Oh yeah. Okay.” Erin had forgotten about the seawater shower that was required before entering Martin’s home.
She followed the hard path around the house to the shower. The spray activated when she stood beneath the showerhead. As she washed the sand from her feet and legs, she recalled the time she’d wandered into Martin’s house before even meeting him. She’d probably left a trail of sand on the floor for him to discover later; it would have been another transgression to add to the list of reasons she’d given him for hating her presence, though he’d never mentioned it.
She wondered what else she’d done that had annoyed him. The funniest thing about Martin’s fussiness was that he never complained about anything, but she knew exactly what that twitch of his jaw muscle meant.
Finally clean of sand, Erin returned to the doorway, where she was allowed inside. The living area was steamy and warm and filled with the smells of supper cooking. Isa was lying on her front on the sofa, watching a vid and wisely staying out of Martin’s way as he cooked in his small kitchen. Erin passed through the room and went to take a hot shower and wash her hair. When she was dry, she dressed in loose pants and a sleeveless top before returning to the living area to find it was empty.
“We’re out here,” Isa called, spying her through the open door.
Erin crossed the room and stepped outside. The sight that greeted her made her heart skip a beat. Martin and Isa had created a short walkway and a level rectangle out of boards, and standing on the rectangle was a table and three chairs. The table was formally laid out with a tablecloth, cutlery, plates, glasses, and serving dishes. In the center stood candles in tall, slim candlesticks. The flames flickered in the gentle sea breeze.
The scene was beautiful, but what really moved Erin was the sight of Isa and Martin. They were talking as they waited for her, and their faces were illuminated by the candlelight and starlight.
Erin stood in the doorway, drinking in the scene, her heart full.
Isa noticed that she’d stopped on her way to the table. “Come on, slowpoke. Don’t stand there all goggle-eyed. Come and sit down and stop keeping us waiting.”
“Yeah,” Martin said. “Hurry up. The appetizer is getting cold.”
“You two looked so great,” Erin said as she walked the final few steps to the table, giving them a wink as she came within the candlelight. “And then you spoke.”
Isa grinned. As Erin took her seat, Martin lifted the lid on a dish. The cloud that rose from it held a tang of seawater. Erin suddenly realized she was ravenous.
“Do you want wine or cream soda?” Isa asked.
“Cream soda? Out here?”
“What do you think this place is?” Martin asked. “The boonies? I had a couple of cases delivered.” He was piling cooked shellfish on her plate.
“Awww, thanks,” Erin said. “But this kind of spread seems to call for wine.”
Isa filled Erin’s glass and then attacked the seafood Martin had served her. She broke open a mussel and slurped up the soft interior.
“Oh, wow,” she said with a full mouth. “Try some, Erin. These have to be the best I’ve ever tasted.”
Erin looked down at the steaming pile of shells. Aware of how protective Martin was of the marine organisms he was growing at his site, she asked, “Did you order these in, too?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Absolutely not. They’re no good if they aren’t fresh. I cut them off the rocks about an hour ago. Didn’t you see me?”
“I did, but I thought you were working.”
“Only on tonight’s dinner.”
Silence reigned for a short time as the three demolished the shellfish Martin had gathered and cooked to perfection.
When she’d taken the edge off her hunger, Erin said to Martin, “Hey, did you know that Walter and Eamon are old friends?”
“What?” Martin exclaimed. His eyes flicked to the side for a moment as he spoke with his AI. “So they are. Eamon didn’t say a damn thing. I wonder what else they aren’t telling us?”
“Who knows?” said Erin.
“I’ve never had an AI,” Isa said. “Doesn’t it feel weird, having another person in your head?”
“You get used to it,” Erin replied. “Besides, I couldn’t do my job without Walter’s help.”
“Ugh. Don’t mention jobs,” Isa said. “It’s been months since I quit Placement Services, and I’m still at a loose end. I’ve been thinking maybe I need to broaden my horizons.”
“You mean leave Carthage?” Martin asked before taking a swallow of wine. He began to collect the plates.
“Yeah,” Isa replied. “Maybe I should go to Tyre or Athens.” She stopped and gasped, eyes growing wide.
“What’s wrong?” Erin asked.
“We should take a trip to Athens,” Isa exclaimed. “You would both love it.”
“You mean now?” asked Erin. “Instead of staying here at Martin’s?”
“Yes. We have two whole weeks. That’s plenty of time.”
Martin looked alarmed by the idea. “I don’t know… I can’t. I can’t leave the seeding site for longer than a day or two.”
“Couldn’t you find someone to keep an eye on things for you?” Isa pleaded. “Athens is amazing. We would have a fantastic time.”
“Well I love the idea,” said Erin. “I haven’t had the chance to see any of the other terraformed worlds yet, and Athens is certainly the most interesting.”
Martin still appeared doubtful as he began stacking the plates. “Maybe you two should go by yourselves. You can tell me all about it when you get back.”
Erin pushed h
er plate of empty shells over to him. “No, we shouldn’t.”
From the expressions on Isa’s and Martin’s faces, she realized she’d spoken more vehemently than she’d intended.
“What I mean is,” she continued, “I love seeing you both when I come to Carthage, but today has made me realize I love it even more when I see you both together. Up until now, it’s been like I’m one half of two separate couples, and it hasn’t felt quite right. This is what feels right. All of us here, like a family.”
As she finished speaking, all warmth and congeniality seemed to drain from the atmosphere. Martin ceased collecting dishes. A pause stretched out. Isa studied the tabletop intently.
Erin looked from her to Martin and back to Isa again. “Have I said something wrong? What did I say?”
Isa took a deep breath and lifted her gaze to meet Martin’s.
“I’ll tell her if you want,” he said gently. “I don’t mind.”
“No,” Isa replied. “It’s okay. I wanted to, and I will.”
Erin suddenly understood, and at the same time, she realized she’d always known it would happen and didn’t mind. She saved Isa the awkwardness of spelling it out.
“Are you about to tell me you’ve been hooking up while I was away at work?”
“Yeah,” Martin said. “We couldn’t talk to you about it before now, since it’s not the kind of conversation you want to have with light lag. And we didn’t know if we even needed to have that conversation. We didn’t set any rules about what we expect from each other or the relationship, and Isa and I guessed it would be okay, so….”
“Don’t worry about it,” Erin said. “In a way, I’m glad you didn’t ask me. Like you say, you don’t need my permission to get together, and even if I thought you did, that would have been a weird decision to be consulted on. I doubt even Walter would have had any advice for me.”
“And,” Erin added to Isa and Martin while mentally rolling her eyes at Walter, “it certainly makes the sleeping arrangements for tonight less awkward.” She flashed a smile.
They all laughed, and in an instant, the tension was gone.