“Lieutenant, Dr. Henjsen wants to know if we can take another hundred kilos in samples. One more crate.”
“You’ve got the load parameters, chief. What are we running?”
“We’re at point-six-nine.”
Frig! With all the last-minute cargo crates and the ten remaining techs and Henjsen, we were running heavier than we had with the damned artifact. Still… we weren’t likely to get back to Danann. “If it’s only a hundred kilos… we’ll still be in the green.” Even two hundred would have been all right, but I didn’t trust Henjsen.
“She says it’s just a hundred. That’s the mass calc on the crate.”
“That’ll be all we can take.” I didn’t like to cut it that close. Not at all.
I ran another systems check, then started the checklist for liftoff.
Just before I finished, Ysario clicked on. “Everything’s stowed, sir. We’re tight.”
“Stand by for liftoff, then.” Finished the checklist.
Navigator Control, this is Sherpa Tigress, lifting this time.
Stet, Tigress. Report when clear of megaplex.
Shuttle came up slow and heavy. Knew it would be that way, but still felt sluggish. Checked the drives. Could see them running up, but they didn’t stop. Went right into the amber, telltales flashing.
Frig! Flattened the climb angle, but the drives were still amber. Frigging Henjsen had overloaded us! Should have done a full mass check instead of taking manifested weights.
On top of that, shuttle wanted to slew. Something aft was unbalanced.
Whole shuttle shuddered and shifted. Managed to compensate and keep the shuttle level. Decided to let Ysario handle it without asking. She’d have her hands full.
Maybe five minutes passed. The imbalance had been righted… somehow.
“Cargo problem, sir,” Ysario reported. She was panting. “Got it under control. That last crate. Must have massed three hundred kilos. Hidden sliders, never shut down. Broke the tiedowns. We’ve got it now.”
“Thanks, chief.”
Navigator Control, Sherpa Tigress, reporting cargo shift, possible mass undercalculation by planetside personnel. Matters under control. Best always to cover your ass when some idiot screws you, except figuratively and literally, it’s usually too late.
Confirm, Sherpa Tigress, matters under control.
That’s affirm, Control. We were through the worst part of the liftout, and I’d managed to get the drives back in the green, just barely. Whole drive system would need checking, maybe retuning.
Went back to routine scans. Systems showed three energy sources below—strong. Had to be the new shields. Morgan had probably triggered them from the Magellan. The baseline Danannian emissions were also higher.
Barely got out of suborbit when Morgan linked again. Sherpa Tigress, Control, interrogative status.
Control, Sherpa Tigress, estimate status amber. Anticipate return and cradle green. I could get the shuttle back into the boat bay without a problem. I could even take it for short hops outside a gravity well. I wouldn’t have wanted to take it anywhere else.
Thanks for the clarification, Tigress.
Made a slow and careful approach to the Magellan. Along the way, saw that the Alwyn had moved farther deepspace from Danann, but the shuttle detectors still registered noise in the distance, no clear indications of what might be there.
Did take a deep breath when the shuttle was safe in the cradle and ship grav took hold.
“Don’t let them off-load yet, Ysario. Have Dr. Henjsen stay there. I need to talk to her. I’ll be right there.” Before I left, I put my comm on record and patched it through to ops.
“Better you than me, sir.”
Henjsen stood at the top of the ramp in her armor, helmet off. “Why are you holding off-loading? Some of the samples are temperature sensitive.” She actually looked put out.
I could have cared less at that moment. “Doctor, you overloaded us. And that last crate was on hidden sliders, so Ysario wouldn’t know the full mass load. It had to have been close to three hundred kilos. That was more than two hundred above what you manifested. And the other crates were low-massed.”
Henjsen looked at me directly. “I know. We needed those samples. I told Commander Morgan the samples were vital. Besides, there’s always a bit to work with on safety margins.”
“We went amber on liftoff, Doctor. If you’d cheated by another hundred kilos we’d still be on Danann. Might have been in lots of pieces. Don’t ever pull a stunt like that again.”
“I won’t ever have that chance again, Lieutenant.” The bitch smiled.
I lost it. Came up with an open palm. Boosted armor and all. She and her armor flew out the hatch and hit the deck hard.
“Ysario! Help Dr. Henjsen. She seems to have tripped.”
Turned and went back to the controls. Was still seething. Had to finish the shutdown checklist and write up the maintenance report for the amber line. Took almost a quarter stan.
Commander Lilekalani—the exec—was waiting in the ready room with Henjsen.
Henjsen was out of her armor. The archeologist had a bruise along the edge of her jaw and several welts on her cheek.
“Dr. Henjsen has charged that you assaulted her, Lieutenant.” Exec’s voice was level, cold.
I didn’t give a crap. “Commander, Dr. Henjsen tripped coming out of the shuttle. But, if there are any charges to be filed, I’ll be filing them. Dr. Henjsen lied about the mass of an additional cargo crate, by the amount of almost two hundred kilos. She also deliberately labeled a number of crates with incorrect mass calculations. We were close to max load anyway. The drives went to amber on liftoff. You can check the maintenance and drive logs. You can also check with the crew chief. Dr. Henjsen’s lying—or deliberate inaccuracy—almost cost you a shuttle—and the lives of everyone aboard. Obviously, I’m furious with the doctor, but I can’t help it if she tripped over her own armor. If… if she wishes to pursue this, then I’ll be happy to file endangerment charges.”
“Are you certain of that, Lieutenant?”
“Dr. Henjsen admitted that to me just before she tripped. I took the precaution of recording her statement and also patching it through to ops.”
Lilekalani’s eyes hardened, but they were on Henjsen. “Endangering a Comity vessel is a serious charge, Doctor. I’m certain that the lieutenant would not be willing even to mention it if there were not adequate evidence to support the charge. Are you certain you wish—”
“Forget it.” Henjsen glared at me, then at the exec. “You D.S.S. types are all the same. You cover for each other.”
We just looked at her. Like she was a Covenanter wife, brainless, barefoot, and pregnant.
She turned and left.
“Nasty piece of work, that one,” observed the exec. “You could still file those charges.”
“I could. I don’t see the point, not unless she starts making trouble.”
The exec shook her head. “You handled that like regular D.S.S., Lieutenant.”
“People remember pain, sir. They forget legalities. No one ever wins with legalities. She’ll remember that she tripped.”
“I’m certain of that. You’ve logged the maintenance?”
“I did that before I left the bay, sir. Also told the mechs to check the grav system.”
“Good.” Lilekalani lowered her gravelly voice. “Don’t worry about the doctor. The captain will make sure that the Deputy Special Minister understands.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” Hadn’t thought about the politico aboard. Should have. Probably still would have knocked Henjsen ass over spaceboots. Would have preferred to have thrown her though the nanite barrier with the lock open—without her helmet.