"Targeted and tracking, Commander."
"On my mark, then." The Commander exchanges whispers with Westhause.
Rose says, "Commander, we've got another unavoidable coming up." He's insanely calm. They all are.
Weird.
The walls are closing in. The tank makes some sense now, on a local scale. Missile coming in.
We'll have to dance with it, confuse it, take it in norm, with our energy weapons. And the delay will let the other team lock us into a lethal groove.
Alarm. We go norm. "Now, Mr. Piniaz."
The result is unspectacular. The missile vaporizes, but I can't catch its death on screen.
"Commander, Weapons. We've lost the graser for good."
This junk pile is falling apart.
The dream dance on the borders of death continues another half hour. We knock out four pursuing missiles, lose another laser. Westhause squanders fuel tinkering with our inherent velocity. As always, the Commander keeps his own counsel. I haven't the foggiest what he's planning. I try to lose myself in my troubles.
A change. More excitement. I look around. Three missiles have us zeroed. How do we duck this time?
We don't have a time margin to fool with anymore. If we stop to take one, the others will get us.
"Commander, Engineering." Varese is back. "Five minutes available hydrogen."
"Thank you, Mr. Varese. Max power. Shunt as much into storage as you can."
I pan to Canaan. Getting close now. Walking distance.
"Sir?" Varese asks.
"Wait one. Mr. Westhause, proceed. Lieutenant, just give me all the stored power you can."
The Commander loses himself in thought. I look at the tank, at Westhause. He's stopped dancing.
Canaan is expanding like a child's balloon blowing up. We're running straight in.
The Commander switches on shipwide comm. "Men, this's the last hurdle, and the last trick in our sack. This's been a good ship. She's had good crews, and this one was the best. But now she's done. She can't run and she can't fight."
What's this defeatist talk? The Old Man never gives up.
"We're going to assume a cis-lunar orbit and separate compartments. That should satisfy the other firm. Rescue will round us up. During our leave I'll have you all out to Kent for a party in the ship's memory."
I can smell the pines, hear the breeze in their boughs. Is Marie really gone? Sharon... did you bring your Climber through, honey? At least a dozen were lost against that convoy. ...
The crew answer the Old Man with silence. It's the most compelling stillness I've ever experienced.
What's to say? Name another option.
"Men, we made history. I'm proud to have served with you." For the first time ever, the Old Man sits down while he has the conn.
He's done. He's shot his last round. But restless banks of smoke still brew around him. In a weary voice, he asks, "How long, Mr. Westhause?"
We're making a final, brief hyper fly. Skipping in millisecond jumps. Keeping the missiles confused.
"Two minutes thirty... five seconds. Commander."
Strange, that Westhause. Unshakable. Still as professional as the day we boarded. Someday he'll command a Climber with the cool of the Old Man.
"Chief Nicastro, give us a separation countdown. Throdahl, give Command another squirt on our intentions. Mr. Westhause will give you the orbital data. Use Emergency Two."
What will the missiles do when their target splits five ways? Three missiles. Somebody is going to make it.
Give me a break, ye gods of war.
There's a chance. Not a good one, but a chance. One small point going our way. Those three doomstalkers can't be controlled by their masters. They're dependent on their own dull-witted brains.
Which is why we've stayed ahead this long.
My stomach constricts ever more tightly. Fear. The moment of truth is roaring toward us.
We've passed some barrier the enemy won't yet hazard. Maybe Planetary Defense has maintained a tight death pocket round TerVeen. Only those three killer imbeciles continue dogging our trail.
On camera. There's TerVeen. Battered all to hell, but still in business, a spider spinning webs of fire.
The Climber zigzags. Westhause and Varese exchange curses. Final seconds before orbit.
I'll say this. When you're scared shitless it's hard to concentrate on anything else.
Write. Keep your hands busy. Anything for a distraction.
Nicastro's soft voice drones, "... nine... eight... seven..." Six-five-four-three-two-one-ZERO!
Bang!
You're dead.
No. I'm not. Not yet.
Barrages of sound rip through the hull as the explosive bolts go. Perfectly. God bless. Something is working right. The force slams me from the side. Our rocket pack blasts us away from the rest of the ship.
"We have separation and ignition on Ops and Engineering, Commander." How very perceptive.
Head twist. Glare at the tank. Where are those missiles? Can't tell. The antennae were mounted on the torus. We're flying blind....
Thrust ends. The plug-ups break it up around the Weapons bulkhead. I feel lightheaded-----Freefall.
No artificial gravity.
The Commander drifts out of his seat.
The serials are continuing in the rest of the ship. Ship's Services will be last to separate. The din there must be murderous. Charlie, I hope you make it. Kriegshauser, you never did get back with that name.
"We have separation on Weapons, Commander."
I still have one outside camera. I watch the rockets flame. Jump the magnification. There's the torus, wobbling, spinning, dwindling rapidly, illuminated by the rockets. It shows silvery patches where beams licked it.
The Climber slides out of view. A crescent of Canaan appears. We're tumbling toward the dawn. I hope Rescue can handle the end-over-end.
The sun rises. It's brilliant, majestic, as it crawls over the curve of the world we've lusted after so long.
Where are those missiles?
There's something special about a mother star materializing from behind a daughter planet. It fills me with the awe of creation. I feel it now, even though death bays at my heels. This, and perhaps clouds, are the supreme arguments for the existence of a Creator.
Time to check the torus again.
My God! A new sun!...
Berberian says, "The torus. First missile took the torus." His voice is a toad's croak.
Well, naturally. The torus is the biggest target. It'll be over in seconds.... Sighs all through the compartment. A diminution in tension. We have a fifty-fifty chance now.
"Hey! Torus again!" Berberian shouts. "Goddamned second fucking missile took the torus, too!"
"Let's have proper reports," the Commander admonishes.
I could howl for joy.
And yet... there's that third bird, lagging the other two. Big black monster with my name engraved on its teeth.
Got to get Canaan on screen. I want a world in my eyes when I go.
What a sweet world it is. What a beautiful world. I've never wanted any woman, not even Sharon, as badly as I want that world.
"Three won't target on the torus," Laramie says.
"Shut your cocksucker, will you?" Rose snarls.
Piniaz will try with his one laser, but it won't be enough. He's failed twice already, hasn't he?
Nevertheless, the Old Man has won. There will be survivors.
If Fisherman's Devil exists, his favorite torture must be guilt. Three more compartments out there, and me here hoping the hammer falls on one of them. Part of me is utterly without shame.
A flash brightens my screen. "Gone." I stammer getting the word out.
"Who?" a voice demands.
"Berberian? Throdahl?" the Commander asks.
Seconds pass. I scribble frantically, then wait, pencil poised. Throdahl says, "Commander, I can't get a response from Ship's Services."
"Ah, Charlie. Shit."