“We can’t run the engines. There’s too much chance it would get blown away when we start running into atmosphere. No. It’s okay. We’ll be careful, and we’ll leave in plenty of time.”
“How long—?”
“We’ve got a couple of hours on the Gremlin. Then, our lander should be able to sustain three people for about nineteen hours. If the Thompson’s still not here, we can fall back on the Flickinger units. We’ve got five sets of air tanks between the two ships. That’ll give the three of us an extra four or five hours each. We should be okay.”
“What happens if it doesn’t get here in time?”
“You know, Priscilla, I never realized you could be so negative. We are doing what we can. If you can’t handle your end of this, you should find another line of work.” He looked down at her. “Anything else?”
She stared into Jake’s brown eyes. Shook her head. “No, sir.”
He turned away and went back to gathering the Flickinger equipment. When he’d finished, he pulled the bag into the air lock. Then he said good-bye to everybody. “Be back in a few minutes.” He activated the field, and the hatch slid down. Priscilla heard the low, muffled sounds of decompression.
Ishraq appeared beside her. Her smile turned into a frown. “Priscilla,” she said in English, “are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She was grateful her offer to go in his place had been rejected. And it embarrassed her. Coward, she thought.
* * *
THE THREE GIRLS wore jumpsuits with GREMLIN emblazoned on the back, and the scroll-carrying hawk on the front. They spread out on the seats in the passenger cabin. “We have some games in the library,” Priscilla said. Ishraq translated for Adara. Lana apparently had enough English to get by.
They seemed happy to hear about the games although nobody made a move to consult the library. They were pretty, the way teenage girls always are. Adara said something and Ishraq translated: “How serious is the problem with the Gremlin? They don’t want to tell us.”
Priscilla sat down with them. “It’s serious, but they’ll be okay.”
Lana chewed her lip, and Adara raised both hands to her mouth and switched her gaze to Ishraq while assuming an I-told-you-so expression. Then all three were talking. What’s going to happen now?
“We’re playing it by ear,” said Priscilla. “The important thing, though, is that you’re safe here.”
“I mean,” said Ishraq, “is something going to happen to the Gremlin?”
“I’m not sure what’ll happen with the Gremlin. But you won’t go back to it. You’ll be going home with me. Or on the Thompson.”
Lana’s eyes showed anger. “All this trouble,” she said, “because a lunatic put a bomb in the engines. Captain Miller thinks it has something to do with terraforming.”
“That’s the general suspicion,” said Priscilla. “Listen, would you guys like more to eat?”
That promoted another exchange. But they decided they’d had enough. And then they began to laugh and point at something behind her. When she turned, she saw Tawny.
The cat distracted them for a few minutes. But eventually Ishraq began looking around and frowning. “Priscilla, are we going to be able to fit everybody in here? This ship seems kind of small.”
“We’ll be okay. As soon as the Thompson gets here, we’ll be able to spread out a bit.” She smiled. “One day, you’ll be telling your grandchildren about this.”
Lana folded her arms.
“Are you cold?” asked Priscilla.
“Oh, no. It’s very comfortable in here. I was just thinking—” She hesitated. “Coming over from the Gremlin was scary.”
“Was that the first time you’ve been outside a ship?”
“Yes. For all of us.”
“Well, you guys did pretty well. The first time I went out, I had heart palpitations.”
“Really?” said Ishraq. Tawny had climbed into her lap. “You don’t look like somebody who’d scare very easily.”
“You don’t know me well. But I’ll tell you, if somebody walks out of an air lock out here, and her heartbeat doesn’t pick up a little bit, she’s a pretty tough cookie.”
Barton’s moon hung in the dark sky. She wished the diamond monument were visible somewhere, but she’d already checked. It was on the other side of the world.
* * *
COPPERHEAD LOG
So far so good.
—November 17, 2195
Chapter 6
JAKE CAME THROUGH the air lock into the Gremlin passenger cabin to the sound of raised voices. One of the girls was in tears. Another was pointing angrily at Josh. “Limaza satutrukuna huna?”
Shahlah interpreted for the captain: “She wants to know why you and I are staying behind.”
“Tell them it’s all right, Shahlah. Nobody’s staying behind. We just have some reports and things to take care of.” Then Joshua smiled at Jake. “Hi, partner.”
The girls looked at Jake. “It’s okay,” he said, trying to keep it light. “We’re all going to cross over. Look, I’ll be here with them.” Then, with a laugh: “Believe me, I wouldn’t do it if it weren’t safe.”
Shahlah translated, but the girls’ suspicions did not subside.
“Jake,” said Joshua, “did you enjoy the trip over?” He grinned at the girls. “Captain Loomis likes to spacewalk.”
“It’s exciting,” said Jake. He looked toward the young lady who’d asked the question and seemed to be at the center of the growing concern. She was the tallest in the group, almost as big as he was. Her name was Nadia. “It might seem a little scary at first, but you’ll enjoy it.”
“Alkull sayakunu bikhair,” said Shahlah. “Laisa hunaka ma yad’u lilqalaq.” Then she looked at the two captains. “I told them everybody will be okay. That there’s nothing to worry about.”
One of the girls was wearing a crescent necklace. She was watching Jake with no sign of approval. “Min fadlika fassir lana limatha lan ta’tu ma’ana.”
“Karida wants to know,” said Shahlah, “if the Gremlin is going to crash.”
“Yes,” Joshua said. “It is. We won’t be able to save the ship.”
Karida stayed with it. “How long have you known?”
“We’ve known for a while.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“We didn’t want to say anything until the Copperhead got here.”
The students looked at one another. Priscilla, watching via the imager, thought they lost a degree of trust in their captain. And possibly in Shahlah.
Another of the girls was shaking her head. “’Ana ’ash’oro bil’asaf li’annani ’atait.”
“Layla says she’s sorry she came.”
Joshua tried to take Layla’s hand in his. But she backed away. “I understand,” he said. “This isn’t the kind of flight we’d planned. And I’m sorry. But everything will be okay.”
No translation of his comment was needed; the meaning was clear enough. There were some tentative smiles. Shahlah picked up one of the Flickinger belts and held it out for the nearest girl. “Let me help you, Ashira,” she said, alerting Priscilla that Ishraq had not been the only student who spoke English.
* * *
PRISCILLA DECIDED THAT, since everyone else now knew the fate of the Gremlin, she should share the information with her three passengers. “I don’t think they wanted to go into specifics while you were on board because they were concerned that it would be a bit scary.”