“We don’t have a choice.”
“Jake, the pressures generated by all the accelerating and braking will increase everyone’s oxygen intake by a substantial margin. I can’t be positive, but I’d be surprised if we didn’t lose life support during the process.”
“We can manage a meeting without excessive acceleration in seven hours,” Benny said. “Perhaps a bit less. But we have to get started.”
“We don’t have a seven-hour air supply,” said Jake.
“Do it, damn it,” said Josh. “Let’s get moving.”
* * *
PRISCILLA’S JOURNAL
. . . Darkest moment of my life . . .
—November 18, 2195
Chapter 9
“THIS IS NOT going to work,” said Jake. “We’ll lose the lander at about 0800.”
Joshua shook his head. “We have a fifteen-hour supply of oxygen in the air tanks.”
“That doesn’t add up to seven hours for three people.”
“But it’s enough for two.”
“I’m not sure what you’re suggesting,” said Priscilla, “but I think we should try another jump. Maybe we’d get lucky.”
“No.” Joshua shook his head. “At this range, the jumps are just wasting time.” His eyes narrowed. “It would mean putting everybody at risk. We can’t do that.”
“So what do we do?” she said.
“I have an idea,” said Josh.
“What’s that?”
“Give me ten minutes. Then come down to the lander.”
“What are you going to do?” asked Jake.
“I’m not sure yet. Just let me take a look at our options.”
Priscilla thought she saw something pass between the two captains, an understanding. But then the girls were grouped around the hatch asking What’s happening?
When are they going to be here?
Is everything okay?
And Joshua was gone.
“We’ll be fine,” said Shahlah in both languages.
“What’s he going to do?” Priscilla asked.
“I don’t know,” said Jake.
She knew Jake pretty well by then. And he seemed rattled. But she let it go.
* * *
JAKE SAT STARING at nothing in particular.
“We have to get going,” said Priscilla. “We’re wasting time.”
“Try a little patience,” he said. His voice was flat.
Finally, Priscilla got up. “I’ve had enough of this. I’m going down to see what’s going on.”
He put a hand on her wrist. “Wait. He asked for ten minutes. Give it to him.”
So they sat. The girls backed away. Shahlah had disappeared, too. Then suddenly she was on the circuit: “Priscilla, I can’t get into the cargo bay.”
“Why not?”
“I can’t open the hatch. Can you put air into it from up there? I think Joshua is in there.”
Priscilla was already doing it. “Don’t know how I missed it,” she said. “It’s been decompressed.”
* * *
SHAHLAH WAS STILL waiting at the hatch when they arrived. It wouldn’t open until the air pressure equalized on both sides. She was in tears.
When finally they got through, the first thing Priscilla saw was Josh, floating a foot or two above the deck, his wrist tied to a frame. They tried to revive him, although Priscilla thought it was probably a cruel thing to do. If they succeeded, he would only feel that he had to go through it again.
But she needn’t have worried. He was gone.
Shahlah was sobbing. “No, no, no. He was our captain. There was no way he was going to allow one of his passengers to die. I should have known.”
Priscilla looked accusingly at Jake. It was hard to believe he hadn’t realized what was happening.
* * *
LIBRARY ENTRY
Courage is of no value if the gods do not assist.
—Euripides, The Suppliant Women
Chapter 10
EVENTUALLY, THERE WERE lights in the sky, and the Sydney Thompson came out of the darkness and eased alongside. Priscilla faced the girls in the passenger cabin. “Who wants to go over to the Thompson with Shahlah for the ride home?”
Ten hands went up. Priscilla wasn’t surprised. No happy memories here. And, of course, they liked Shahlah. “All right. But we can only send five.”
“We do not wish you to misunderstand,” said Ishraq. “It’s not because we didn’t enjoy our time on the Copperhead—”
“I know,” she said. “I think I’d want off, too. But we need five of you to stay here. Food and water issues on the Thompson. Can you guys decide? Do it quickly so we can get everybody some fresh air again.”
Ishraq and Ashira volunteered to stay. Layla raised her hand. And Karida and Kareema.
“Okay,” Priscilla said. “Good. Get your luggage. The Thompson shuttle will be here in a few minutes. No spacewalk this time.”
Johara pretended to be disappointed.
There were hugs and a few tears and an agreement that they’d all try to get together back at Union. That was speculative. Depending on where the ships were when they surfaced in the solar system, there could be as much as three days’ difference in arrival times.
Jake looked as if he were in a distant place. He returned the embraces with the emotion of a robot and watched the five girls, escorted by Drake Peifer, pass through the cargo-bay air lock into the Thompson lander. Shahlah was the last to leave.
“Thanks, guys,” she said. “I hate to think where we’d have been without you.”
Priscilla helped carry the baggage. Then Shahlah took her aside. “Is he all right?” she asked, meaning Jake.
“He’s a bit rattled. But he’ll get past it.”
“I hope so.” She wiped away a tear. “Let me know if I can ever do anything.”
“Of course. Thank you. I just wish things had turned out differently.”
“So do I, Priscilla. So do I.”
They embraced, and Priscilla returned to the cargo bay. The air lock closed, and the lander was gone.
* * *
THE THOMPSON LEFT first. Priscilla was just taking her place on the bridge when a message came in from Union. “Jake.” A male voice. “Hope everything is going okay at your end. We’ve been worried. Appreciate everything you guys have been doing.”
“That’s Frank Irasco,” said Jake. Irasco was the assistant director for WSA at Union.
“We were glad you were in the area,” Irasco continued. “Keep us informed.”
That was it. Jake sat down beside her but said nothing. The air being dispersed by the vents had already begun to feel breathable again. Priscilla switched on the mike. “Girls,” she said, “the flight to the home system will take three days and about six hours. Then it’ll be probably another couple of days to get back to Earth. We’ll be moving out in five minutes, so you should take care of any last-minute business and get belted down.” She switched off and turned to Jake. “I’ve never been more happy in my life to get away from a place.”
* * *
THE SOMBER REACTION that had taken hold of the girls when they learned of Captain Miller’s death subsided. They played games, watched holos, laughed about boys. They especially enjoyed the space-adventure series Deep Skies. They had an Arabic version. Priscilla watched an episode with them, and was fascinated by the visuals and the show’s distinctive score, suggestive of intergalactic space and cosmic mystery. She tried it in English, got hooked, and became a fan on the way home. She was especially taken with Ryan Fletcher, who played the daredevil skipper of the Excelsior, Captain William L. Brandywine.