He didn’t look at her; he kept his eyes on the path. Not until they had her in the OR did he snatch a glance, before Veronika and the others elbowed him aside. His heart broke, but once again he clamped down on his emotions.
Grace first. She’s all that matters.
Afterward he would turn his attention to who had done this, and when he discovered their identity there would be nowhere in the galaxy they could hide from him.
“Now,” Carla said. “Now is our chance.”
She’d gathered her supporters just before the stasis field had fallen, and briefed them on what would happen. This time they had weapons and a plan. This time, she would win.
Her biggest risk lay with those in her group she had compelled to take part, but that couldn’t be avoided. She who dares, wins.
Carla turned to Heinrich. “You know what to do?”
Heinrich gripped his automatic pistol, knuckles whitening. He didn’t look happy, but Carla knew his desire for a ride home would overcome his fear.
“Yes. Take three men and capture the spaceport.”
“Good. Remember, Ernie Blackman and Chuck Swanson are down there and we can’t be certain where their loyalties lie. You are to detain or incapacitate them.”
Heinrich licked his lips, but nodded. Carla could tell from his expression he knew what she meant by incapacitate.
“The rest of us,” Carla said, looking around the group, “to the shuttle bay. Together we’ll take Broken Hill and prepare for the next phase.”
They nodded and headed off toward the shuttle. Franz joined Carla at the rear. “We shouldn’t have done that,” he said, listening to the far-off cries as the other colonists rallied to help Grace.
“Oh for God’s sake, grow a pair, Franz! I told you, we’re doing them a favor. She’s already dead. By freeing her you’ve saved them from drawing out their grief.”
Franz remained silent, unconvinced.
“It’ll be fine, you’ll see. David will grieve and then get over her. People always do.”
Seven hours passed before Veronika was satisfied she’d done all she could to patch Grace’s broken body. She looked up through bloodshot eyes and nodded to Yuri, who disconnected the saline feed and connected warmed blood instead. The intravenous line ran clear, then pink, then red as new blood flooded in, bringing warmth and life.
They waited until the return line ran red, then Veronika started the artificial heart.
The four of them bent over their instruments. Sensors of all descriptions studded Grace’s body, and they watched like hawks to see what would happen.
“I’ve got a kidney failure!” Bethany said. “And another. Both kidneys down.”
“Liver function down!” Yuri said.
Veronika looked into Grace’s still-open chest cavity and her heart sank. Her eyes flicked to the instrument panel and back.
“Lung function negative,” she whispered. Her eyes met those of her companions and they all understood. They were too late. Grace’s body was dead, and no amount of surgical magic would bring her back.
“Her brain …” Bethany said, looking at the EEG. It showed faint flickers of activity.
“Her body is gone,” Veronika said, cursing at the unfairness of it. “We cannot save it.”
She scrubbed one hand over her face, then sighed and closed her eyes. A heartbeat later they snapped open. “Get David in here.”
“Can you do something for her?” Bethany asked, eyes wide. They were all skilled medical professionals with sophisticated instruments at their disposal, but even they couldn’t bring back the dead.
“Nyet,” Veronika said as she picked up her scalpel. “I can do nothing for her, but I can do one last thing for him.”
“T-minus fifteen minutes.”
Tension crackled in the control room air. The failure of the first rocket had dented their confidence, and so much more depended on this one. Ernie paced and rubbed the back of his neck, thinking of what Carla would do to him when she found out. He could see the scene playing out in his mind. “Well, ma’am it’s like this. We never meant to launch it, honest. We were just testing the engines and things got out of hand.”
He smiled, his countenance grim. Carla might be a bitch, but she wasn’t stupid. After this little stunt he wasn’t just going to be in her bad books, he would be toast.
Forgive me, Elsa. I couldn’t stand by and let her do this.
Afterward he would head back to Haven and join forces with David. There was always a chance she’d lied about the keep-alive signal. He’d just have to hope Elsa and the kids would be safe.
“Ernie, we’ve got company.”
His eyes snapped up at the call from Chuck, who manned the radar console. “There’s a skimmer, incoming.”
“Warn them off.”
Chuck frowned as he punched at his screen. “Incoming skimmer, this is a restricted area. Break off your approach.”
A minute drifted by and the skimmer didn’t change course. Chuck looked up at Ernie. “They’re not responding.” He tried again.
Ernie cursed under his breath. He’d hoped to get the rocket off the deck before being rumbled, but that didn’t look likely.
“T-minus ten minutes.”
He licked his lips. Fuck it, that rocket’s going up, Carla or no Carla.
Ernie walked over to the window. He spotted the skimmer, a black dot against the clear blue sky, heading straight for them. No doubt it was Carla coming to check on him.
“Chuck, get the bird in the air, OK? I’m going to greet our visitor.”
“Sure thing, Ernie.” Chuck turned back to his screen, now showing an image of the rocket standing tall against the sky, vapor streaming from its pressure-relief valves.
Ernie slipped on his mask and exited the double doors, keeping the outside air mixing with their oxygen-rich interior. The skimmer set down just as he emerged. To his relief, instead of Carla, he saw Heinrich Schick and three others sitting inside. Ernie squinted, thinking. Heinrich had no reason to be here, and had no friends that Ernie knew of. Something wasn’t right.
Heinrich confirmed his suspicions a moment later when he stepped out of the skimmer packing a pistol. “What are you up to?” he asked, not wasting words on pleasantries.
Ernie shrugged. “Nothing much.”
Heinrich frowned. “I saw a rocket getting ready to launch over there,” he said, tilting his head toward the launch pad, three kilometers in the distance. “That doesn’t sound like ‘nothing much’.”
Ernie fought to keep a scowl off his face. Instead he spread his hands and smiled. “Relax, it’s just engine testing. Carla approved that.”
Heinrich shook his head. “I’m not an idiot, Ernie. I know how rockets work. That rocket,” he said, stabbing a finger at the tall slender machine in question, “is venting from both stages. You don’t have to fuel the upper stage for an engine test.”
Ernie smiled again. “Relax, Heinrich. It’s just a fuel pressure test,” he said, hoping his face didn’t betray the lie.
“T-minus five minutes.”
Damn that automated count. Whose smart idea was it to put loudspeakers out here?
Heinrich’s lips compressed into a thin line. “Engine test? Bullshit!” He waved the gun at Ernie. “Inside!”
Ernie tried to keep calm. “Sure Heinrich, sure.” He turned and ambled toward the door.
“Hurry up!”
Ernie sighed. Heinrich may be a duplicitous little weasel, but he wasn’t stupid. He opened the outer door and stopped.
“Open it,” Heinrich said.
“But …” Ernie said, “the air …”
“I don’t give a fuck. Anyone inside can put their masks on. Now open it!”
Ernie shrugged and complied, stumbling inside after one of Heinrich’s companions shoved him.
“Stop the countdown!” Heinrich said as he burst in. “Stop it now!”
Chuck spun around.
“Now!”
Chuck’s hand stole
toward his belt in an automatic reaction.
“Keep your hands where I can see them.”
Chuck raised a hand to his face, simulating a mask. “We need masks!”
Heinrich looked behind him. “Shut the door,” he barked to one of his henchmen, who hastened to comply.
“There,” he said with a smirk. “Happy?”
Chuck swallowed. The door hadn’t been open long and the air should scrub clean soon enough. He nodded.
“T-minus four minutes.”
Heinrich pointed his gun at Chuck. “Stop it, now.”
Chuck looked at Ernie who shook his head. “Do it, Chuck.”
Heinrich raised his eyebrows and gestured with his gun. Chuck hesitated then sighed and turned to the console, pushing buttons.
A moment later the computer announced, “Automatic overrides disabled. Command access locked.”
Heinrich blinked. “What did you do?”
“Oops,” Chuck said. “I must have pushed the wrong button.”
Ernie stood frozen to the spot. Chuck had instructed the computer to launch the rocket. The only way to stop it now was to enter the command password.
“Stop it! Stop it now!”
“Can’t,” Chuck said, spreading his hands. “It’s locked with the command override password. Only David has that.”
Ernie fought to keep his face straight – Chuck had told Heinrich a barefaced lie. They all knew the password, but he bet Heinrich didn’t know that.
The gun trembled in Heinrich’s hand as his gaze flicked from Chuck to Ernie and back again.
“You did this!” he shouted at Ernie. “Fix it!”
“Heinrich, he can’t,” Ernie said, trying to keep his voice soft and soothing. He didn’t dare expose the lie now for fear Heinrich would turn on them, but he had to do something.
Heinrich’s eyes bulged and Ernie guessed he was contemplating the consequences of failure.
“T-minus three minutes.”
“Shit!” Heinrich turned to his companions. “Go stop it!”
“How?” one asked, eyes narrowed. “How do we stop a rocket?”
“I don’t fucking care! Shoot it if you have to!”
They stood there, just looking at him, and Ernie suppressed a smirk. They were scientists, all of them. Jim Anderson, Ravi Premal, and Wade Clinton. None of them were bad people, but all of them had family back home held in stasis. None had any military experience or desire to harm anyone. It surprised him they knew which way to point their guns.
“Go!” Heinrich said, and they turned and half-ran, half-stumbled through the double doors.
For a brief second Ernie considered making a grab for the gun, but Heinrich whirled around and covered him. Instead, Ernie raised his hands. “It’s OK,” he said.
The gun wobbled in Heinrich’s hand. Ernie saw Chuck edge closer out of the corner of his eye, but Heinrich did too and shifted his gun to point it at Chuck. “Stop moving!”
Chuck froze again.
“T-minus two minutes.”
Ernie saw the skimmer lift off and accelerate away. He hoped they were smarter than Heinrich.
“Don’t worry, it’ll come back,” Chuck said.
Heinrich licked his lips and backed away a little, to keep both of them in view.
“You’ll see,” Chuck said. “Nine minutes after liftoff, the first stage will set back down, and then …”
“Shut up! I know how it works!”
“T-minus one minute.”
“Then we’ll just stack it back together again,” Chuck said in the same soothing tones. “Hell, Carla prob’ly won’t even know it went anywhere.”
Just for a moment, Heinrich relaxed, and to Ernie’s surprise he seemed to consider. “I don’t think –” he started, but his words were cut off as Ernie pounced. He barreled into Heinrich, all power and no finesse. Chuck dived for the floor and the other engineers were quick to follow. Heinrich’s gun clattered to the floor and slid to the wall.
For a moment quiet fell, then Chuck found his feet. He helped Ernie up from where he’d crushed Heinrich into a desk. Heinrich floundered, trying to take a breath after Ernie’s knee had landed in his midriff.
Chuck shook his head and flipped him over. “Paul,” he called to another engineer. “Throw me some duct tape so I can tie this cocksucker up.” He shook his head as he taped Heinrich’s wrists together. “What a loser.”
“T-minus thirty seconds.”
Ernie’s head snapped up to look at the big screen. The skimmer had just landed, the three men piling out. He held his breath. This wouldn’t end well for someone.
“Shit,” he said. “Chuck, we’d better abort.”
Chuck nodded and bolted for the console. Even as he did, the three scientists seemed to realize the danger. As one they turned and ran for the skimmer. They’d just made it as the final countdown began.
“Ten, nine, eight.”
Water jets obscured the rocket with man-made mist.
“Seven, six.”
The skimmer appeared from the mist, struggling to accelerate.
“Five, four, three.”
Chuck cursed as he tried to unlock the console.
“Two. Ignition sequence start.”
A bright green flash came from the base of the rocket, followed by the brilliant blue-white flare of the rocket engines. Chuck sagged back, defeated. He was too late.
“One, zero.”
The hold downs pulled back and set the rocket free.
“Liftoff.”
An enormous cloud of steam mixed with rocket exhaust chased the skimmer like an avenging angel. Ernie watched, heart in mouth, as it rocked in the sudden storm. The pilot did his best to keep it steady, but it proved too much for the little craft and he watched it flip and hit the ground. He turned away and rubbed the heel of one hand on his chest.
“Damn.” He looked at Heinrich, who lay on the ground bound hand and foot. “You’ve got some explaining to do.”
David rushed into the theater not knowing what to expect. The three doctors worked over Grace, her chest cavity still open, revealing the artificial heart and her lungs.
“Veronika …?”
She looked up. “Come,” she said, and David went to Grace’s side. Veronika looked at him, a pained expression on her face. “I cannot save her.” She hated herself for it but she had no time to be gentle. “Her body is dead. But her mind … has not yet gone. I can give you a few seconds, no more.”
She saw the understanding in his eyes. Veronika turned to Yuri. “Bring her back.”
Yuri froze, unable to speak. “Do it!” He forced his frozen hands to inject the anti-anesthetic into Grace’s neck, the clear fluid laced with painkillers.
Veronika looked at Bethany. “Inflate her lungs.”
She swallowed but complied.
They all looked at Grace’s face, watching, waiting.
Nothing happened at first, then the muscles on her face twitched, once, twice. Her lips parted and her eyes opened. Veronika felt a shiver run down her spine. Even though she had decreed it, summoning the dead felt wrong. Any other doctor would have declared their patient dead and left her in peace. But not her, oh no. She had to do this.
Veronika knew what drove her conviction. She’d watched David. They all knew about his early morning visits to Grace. They’d seen him, hoping she would be saved, that she’d be brought back to him once more. Guilt tore at Veronika. She had caused this. If she’d let Grace alone rather than trying to preserve her, David wouldn’t be tortured. Fear had fed her guilt, fear that Grace was dead, that she couldn’t save her, and all of this agony had been for nothing.
And so it was. She had failed. Grace had been dead right from the start, and her hours of labor, all of their labor, had come to nothing. All she had left to offer was a chance to say goodbye. Right or wrong, she would try to give him closure.
Grace sighed. Her eyes lost their glaze and tracked until she found David. Her lips flickered in a small smile of r
ecognition.
“David,” she breathed.
David’s face twitched as he buried his anguish and forced a smile. “My love,” he replied, cupping one cheek.
Grace frowned as she tried to speak, and Veronika nodded at Bethany, who provided more air to her lungs.
“Joyce?”
“Safe,” David replied, his eyes fixed on Grace’s. “She’s safe and unhurt and those men can never hurt her again.”
Understanding flashed between them. Grace struggled to breathe. “Are you OK?” she asked, and this time David couldn’t maintain control. A tear welled and he forced another wan smile. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
Grace frowned again and her eyes struggled to focus. “What’s wrong?”
David fought for words, but they wouldn’t come, couldn’t come, and then understanding dawned in Grace’s eyes.
“It’s me. I’m dying.”
David cupped her face with both hands. “I love you.”
Grace’s eyes locked on his. “I … love … you,” she gasped, her eyes widening as she fought to stay conscious. David’s gaze flicked to Veronika, but she shook her head and David understood. He leaned forward and kissed his wife on her cold lips. He bent to whisper in her ear. “Always will I love you. Always.”
When he drew back to look at her face once more, her eyes stared unmoving into the distance but the faintest of smiles remained on her lips.
For a long moment David stood frozen until Veronika broke the spell with a stifled sob.
David reached out to grip her shoulder. “Thank you,” he said, then turned and walked out.
The double doors to the operating theater banged open, startling the occupants. Veronika sat next to Grace, shoulders slumped, shattered from hours of surgery, the loss of a patient, the death of a friend. She looked up at the unexpected disturbance to see Josh and Nigel carrying a large dewar between them, wreathed in vapor.
“We came as soon as we heard,” Josh said. “We brought liquid nitrogen and cryoprotectants, lots of them!”
Veronika sniffed and stood up, staring at them. A hint of hope dawned in her eyes and she turned and looked at Grace’s lifeless form on the table next to her.
Again. She would have to do it again. Her back straightened and she gestured at Josh.
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