“I will, sir. It’s not a pleasurable one.”
“Even with Mr. Tyre?”
“Even with him, whether he earned it or not.”
“It’s the first lieutenant’s job, Mr. Chantir.” I brightened.
“However, if your arm bothers you I will excuse you for medical reasons.”
He considered it. “My arm is troubling me somewhat, Captain. Not enough to see the Doctor, but it’s noticeable.”
“Very well.” I summoned Alexi. “Mr. Tamarov, the first lieutenant has a sore arm. Move the barrel to your cabin. That duty is yours until further notice.” Ruefully, Mr. Chantir shook his head. Alexi, expressionless, saluted and left.
I went to the launch berth every day at random hours. I always found Lieutenant Crossburn at work.
I shared a watch with Philip Tyre. He walked carefully onto the bridge and eased himself into his chair. “Good morning, sir.” His tone was meek, his eyes riveted on his console.
“Good morning. I’d like you to run docking drill today, Mr. Tyre.”
“Aye aye, sir.” I called up the exercise and he began his calculations. Halfway through, he stopped and looked up. “It isn’t fair, sir.”
“What isn’t?”
“What he’s doing to me. I can’t stand it. Please.”
“What are you talking about, Mr. Tyre?”
“Mr. Tamarov. He’s after me all the time!”
“Are you complaining about your superior, Philip?”
He didn’t have the sense to deny it. “Not exactly complaining, sir. I’m just telling you.”
“Oh, no, Mr. Tyre. That won’t do. My compliments to Mr. Tamarov. Please tell him I’m annoyed with your conduct.
Right now.”“
“I’ve just been there,” he wailed. “He’ll cane me again! Please, sir. Please!”
I raised my voice a notch. “And six demerits for disobedience, Mr. Tyre. Another word and it’s six more.” He fled the bridge to meet his fate. Never again did I hear a word of complaint from Philip. On the few occasions that I saw him he appeared miserable. It bothered me not at all.
At last it was time for our nav check, before a final jump to Hope Nation.”Bridge to engine room, prepare to Defuse.” “Prepare to Defuse, aye aye, sir.”
I waited.
“Engine room ready for Defuse, sir. Control passed to bridge.” The Chief’s familiar voice came steady over the caller.
“Passed to bridge, aye aye.” I set my finger at the top of the drive screen while Derek watched. “Let’s see where we are.” I traced a line from “Full” to “Off’.
“Confirm clear of encroachments, Derek.” A normal check, hardly necessary but part of the routine. He checked his instruments.
“Hey! An encroachment, sir, course two hundred ten, distance fifty-two thousand kilometers!”
I gaped. “What?”
“Encroachment, sir. There’s something out there.”
“It can’t be. We’re interstellar.” I puzzled. “A stray asteroid, perhaps. How big is it?”
“I read two hundred sixteen meters, sir.” Darla.
“Small for a planetoid. What’s it made of?”
“Metal,” Darla said. “Too far away to see, but it’s radiating on the metallic bands.”
I thumbed the caller. “Mr. Haynes to the bridge. And Mr.
Chantir.” No, Lars Chantir had a fever and was in sickbay.
“Belay that summons, Mr. Chantir. Mr. Holser to the bridge.”
Vax came bounding in. He stopped to take in the situation.
A few moments later Mr. Haynes arrived, breathing hard.
The Pilot slipped into his customary seat. “Morning, sir.”
He glanced at the sensors. “Want to go take a look?”
“Good morning, Pilot. I think so.”
Vax nodded. “If we’re this close, we might as well check it out.” I hadn’t asked his opinion, but he didn’t seem to notice. “It’s probably just a hunk of ore skewing Darla’s calculations.”
“Button it, joey!” Darla flared. “I remember the last time you insulted me!”
“Cool it, Darla. He meant no harm. Pilot, put us on an intersecting course.”
“Aye aye, sir. Just a moment.” Pilot Haynes was carefully affable. I felt a twinge of guilt. He thumbed his caller. “Engine room, auxiliary power.”
“Auxiliary power on standby.”
“On standby, aye aye. All ahead one-half. Steer two ten, declination twenty degrees.”
“All ahead one-half, aye aye. Two ten at twenty degrees.”
After two hours, the Pilot at last began braking maneuvers.
I cleared my throat. “Mr. Holser, start calculating Fusion coordinates for our jump, please. No need to waste time.”
“Aye aye, Captain.” Vax reluctantly tore his eyes from the simulscreen and tapped figures into his console.
We were closing fast. “Maximum magnification, Darla.”
“Whatever you say, boss.” The screen flickered.
The unmistakable outline of a ship.
“Holy God!” The Pilot was on his feet.
Vax looked up from his calculation and froze.
The Pilot whispered, “One of ours!”
I swallowed. Not again. All those people. “Focus on the disk, Darla,” Pointless; we were already at maximum magnification.
The image expanded slowly as we neared. Darla obediently narrowed her view to the ship’s disk.
A gash ran across all three levels, right down to the engine room, as if parts of the hull had melted. The entire disk was open to vacuum.
The name stood out against the gray metal of the hull.
“Telstar!”Vax whispered. “Gone, like Celestina.No lights, no power. No signals.”
There might somehow be survivors. “Pilot, bring us alongside. Mr. Holser, organize a boarding party. Three seamen.
We’ll take the gig.”
“Aye aye, sir. Shall I go with them?”
“No.”
“Lieutenant Tamarov, then?”
“No. Me.” I saw Vax’s expression and added, “I need to know firsthand what happened.” For a brief moment I recalled Captain Van Walther, and the crowds of travelers who visited the memorial he’d left on Celestina.With shame I suppressed the comparison.
Vax was stubborn. “It could be dangerous, sir. Don’t leave the ship.”
“This time it’s in good hands. Mr. Chantir, Alexi, you.
I’m going across; don’t argue.”
I’d left him no choice. “Aye aye, sir.”
I made it even clearer.”Lieutenant Holser, you will remain aboard under all circumstances.”
“Aye aye, sir.” His tone was glum.
I smiled. “Besides, I’ll be all right. I’ll carry a rad meter and stay away from jagged metal. Don’t be my nanny.” That produced a reluctant smile.
The Pilot carefully maneuvered us to within two hundred meters of U.N.S. Telstar.With gentle applications of the thrusters he brought us to rest relative to the stricken vessel.
“Vax, be prepared to Fuse as soon as I’m back. Derek, come help me with my suit.”
We went down to Level 2. I took my regular suit from its bin in the launch berth lock and began to struggle into it.
Then I stopped; I might want to clamber around the outside of Telstar’shull. “Get me a T-suit, Derek.”
A thrustersuit was cumbersome but had the advantage of greater mobility. In my own suit I could walk, step by magnetized step, across the surface of Telstar’souter hull, but in a T-suit I could lift off from the hull and skim over for a better look. At Academy I hated regular suit drills but loved the Tsuit instruction.
I stepped into the semirigid, alumalloy reinforced suitframe. Derek handed me the helmet; I slipped it into the slots and gave it a half turn. Derek locked the stays into place; I double-checked them all. I had no intention of accidentally breathing vacuum.
With a grunt Derek lifted the heavy tank assembly and clipped it to the alumalloy supports on the back of my suit.
We strapped the propellant tanks into place. My helmet’s sensor lights flashed green; I was ready-to go. Derek’s hand fell on my arm and lingered. “Be careful, sir,” he said softly.