Sunday, November 6, 2011

Chapter 7

Did Den give you the good news, Kara?” Jass asked as she finished her breakfast. “He thinks that he can repair the old transmitter so that you still have a back-up.”

Yes, he sent me a message this morning.” Kara took a pouch of juice from one of the drawers and pushed a straw into it. “I'm glad he's so good with repairs, it really makes things a lot easier.”

Jass nodded, then wiped her mouth. “Time to head up for my first watch. I'll see you at fourteen-hundred hours!”

As she pulled herself along the corridor toward the main cabin, Jass went over her schedule for the day. It had been nearly a week since the transmitter had been replaced, and it was functioning normally. After a few days of unusual schedules to cover for the extra-vehicular repairs, the crew had settled back into their normal routines. Some of them she saw more than others. Dani was almost always hovering near the ceiling of the main cabin, though she wore headphones and rarely spoke. Kristin often came up when she had a free moment, and Aaron was often present checking the engine firing schedules or making slight trajectory adjustments. Kara monitored her console closely, only relying on the alerts on her handheld computer when she had to. But Denjiro rarely left the aft compartments of the ship, except for meals, and Martina and Merriam spent most of their days in the science lab, running the experiments that had been commissioned. She made a mental note to check in on them at the end of her next shift.

Dani waved to her as she took her seat in the captain's chair in the main cabin, then went back to typing on her computer. As always, Jass took note of the ship's position and speed at the beginning of her shift and recorded them in the captain's log. When she was in training to become a pilot, she'd been told a spacer's legend about a captain who had neglected this essential duty, relying on his instruments to alert him when he got close to his destination, and went a whole day before noticing that the engines had malfunctioned and were no longer providing thrust. She finished entering the information into the log, and pulled up the news reports that Kara sent to her console every morning. Most were of limited interest at best: the fluctuations of the Martian economy, mergers between larger shipping companies, another one declaring bankruptcy. It was all the usual ebb and flow of business.

But this morning was another item, one that made her stomach feel like it was tying itself into a knot. Another ship had reported an act of sabotage. The Myrmidon was bound for Earth from Mars, carrying a cargo of communications equipment, valuable minerals, and the usual assortment of private mail. Two days' journey out of Mars, an explosion onboard had caused a failure of the engines, and the ship was dead in the water. A rescue mission had to be sent to collect the passengers and tow the hulk back into port. The ship was salvageable, but the cost was staggering, and rumor had it that the owner was planning to sell both the ship and his own shares in his company.

Jass closed the report with a shiver. She had once taken a job aboard the Myrmidon, on a quick run between Phobos and Earth's moon. It was a solid ship, not easily damaged. The captain and owner was a good man, and a fair boss. She'd enjoyed her time on board.

The communications console beeped, but Jass stayed where she was. All communication alerts would be sent to Kara's handheld computer; if it was something important, Kara would give her the whole story.

She pulled up the reports that each crew member had made the previous day and perused them. Nothing seemed out of place. The science lab reported that the experiments were going well, and the ones set to be off-loaded at Cybele had been completed and stored for the remainder of the trip. Aaron had spent a day working out a set of alternate routes from Cybele to Gaspra, and had uploaded them along with his daily report. Denjiro had run a diagnostic on the ship's engines and found them to be operating within nominal levels. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

The communications console beeped again, and Jass looked at it, irritated at the noise. Kara sailed into the room and quickly silenced the sound. “Captain, I'm getting an unusual message.”

What's unusual about it?”

It's not coming from Mars or from Cybele,” she explained. “It's on a frequency that most ships of our size use, but it's being sent along a wide beam instead of the narrow beam that we generally use.”

Wide beam? So they're sending something out, hoping that anyone will hear it. Distress call?” Jass unbuckled herself from the captain's console and joined Kara.

Definitely. It's the Pequod, they say they've been attacked and can't move. They have a crew of twelve, and they had just left Cybele, headed to Mars. I'm not sure how close we are, but it's a good bet we're several million miles closer than anyone else.”

Jass nodded, thinking. “Get Aaron up here, I want to see what a side trip like this will cost us in fuel. Then contact the Pequod, let them know we've got their signal. Tell them to hold for further information.”

On it.” Kara quickly typed and sent the messages. “It'll take them a while to respond, we're still far enough away that there's a bit of a lag.”

Let me know as soon as you hear from them,” Jass instructed as Aaron entered the room.

What's going on?” he asked, looking from one woman to the other.

We've got a wide-band distress call coming in from a ship called the Pequod. They got hit with an attack between Cybele and Mars and are dead in the water. We're the only other ship making that run right now: if we can't pick them up, they're going to have to wait for a rescue from Mars,” Jass said.

And you want to know if we can afford to swing by and help them out.” He pulled himself over to the navigational console and began pulling up information. “I'll see what we can do.”

Jass moved to the captain's console and sat down. She punched a quick message to Kristin into her computer and sent it. A few minutes later, the payload specialist arrived in the cabin, and Jass quickly filled her in on the developing situation. “I need you to work with Aaron and Kara on this one. Aaron's trying to plan a route that will allow us to rescue the crew of the Pequod, and Kara's communicating with the ship, Mars, and Cybele. We need to make sure that we can bring these people aboard given our current stores of oxygen and food; maybe Cybele can give us some extra supplies, or the Pequod may have some stores unaffected by the attack. Figure out what we can do, and give me your proposals as soon as you can.” The three nodded, and sat at their desks, working intently.

After a tense period of waiting, Aaron sent a file to Jassmyn's console. “Ok, this is what we think our best option is. The trickiest part will be the approach: the Pequod was moving at nearly top speed when her engines went dead. We're traveling in almost the opposite direction, so we're going to lose all of our momentum when we match velocities with the Pequod. I estimate that the rescue will cost us at least 25% of our fuel, due to maneuvering to dock with the Pequod, and the time it will take to build our speed back up. The Pequod says that the explosion that damaged their engines took one of the fuel tanks with it, but they were able to save the other one. They can replace about 17% of our fuel, and Cybele says they can give us the remaining 8%, but they're going to have charge the company for it.”

Jass cringed, and Kristin nodded. “Yeah, I don't like it either, but it looks like our only option. We can't just leave them there. I've checked the available space on board: we can't save any of their payload, but they're going to seal up the ship, wait for a salvage crew from Mars and hope for the best. If they get their payment for their cargo, they'll cover the rest of the fuel charges. We can fit the crew, but it'll deplete our oxygen by about 30% for the time they'll be on board until we can dock at Cybele. The Pequod says we can have their supply of remaining oxygen, but it was pretty low since they were on the last leg of their trip. Their current supply should be about 20% of ours, and I think we can make it work. We always stock more than we need, anyway. The Pequod says that they'll bring as much food aboard as they can, so we should be ok on that count.”

Jass felt the beginnings of a headache forming behind her eyes. “How will it affect our schedule?”

Aaron spoke again. “Not good. This will put us a week late getting to Cybele. It'll probably take us an extra day there to get everyone off the ship, unload the cargo, and refuel. If we get the full load of fuel that we've been promised from Cybele and the Pequod, we should be able to afford a little extra engine burn on the way to Gaspra. We may be able to get back on schedule then, but I won't know until I officially plan our outbound route from Cybele.”

Kristin saw the look of frustration on Jass' face and leaned forward. “It's going to be fine. This happens sometimes. I've never heard of any ship getting penalized for delays that occur while on a rescue mission. We can do this.”

Jass stared at the information on the screen in front of her, then straightened up. “You're right. We can do this. We're going to do this, and we're going to do it well. Kara, let Cybele and the Pequod know that we're going ahead with this plan. We'll advise them of any changes as we go. Aaron, start planning our new route. I assume we'll need to do some manual driving to dock with the Pequod. See if they can do anything to lose as much momentum as they can, we're going to need every bit of help we can get. Kristin, start prepping the ship to take the Pequod's crew aboard. Our crew can sleep in the main cabin, I don't want any visitors up here, especially not from a ship that's been sabotaged. They can share the crew's quarters until we land on Cybele. Set up a rotation for using the galley.”

On it.” Kristin planted her feet against one of the chairs and propelled herself toward the corridor. Kara and Aaron busied themselves at their consoles, working out the details of the plan.

Jass went to her own desk and pressed the button for the ship-wide communications system. “Attention on board. We've received a distress call from a ship en route to Mars from Cybele. They are without working engines, and need our help. We'll be slowing and coming around to match their velocity in about three days. The crew will be coming aboard and we will take them to Cybele where they will be able to make arrangements for getting back safely. The Pequod and Cybele have both offered to help us refill the fuel and oxygen we'll be losing. The crew of the Pequod will be staying in our quarters until we dock with the colony on Cybele, and all crew of this ship will sleep in the main cabin. Over the next few days, we'll be rearranging the ship to accommodate our guests. Ms. Marshall will be heading up this effort, so please be willing to help out if she asks. More details will be given as they arise. Thank you.”

She switched the speaker off and fought back a smile. “Well, that should ruffle some feathers.”


No, Merriam, they can't sleep anywhere else. The only places here that can house that many people are the standard quarters or the main cabin, and I'm not having strangers sleeping in here. It's a security risk.” Jass pulled herself down the corridor quickly, Merriam keeping pace with her.

That's ridiculous! I won't be able to sleep in the main cabin, it's freezing cold and wasn't designed for people to sleep in. If I don't get enough sleep, I'll end up making stupid mistakes with the experiments, and then we won't get paid for them.”

Jass grabbed one of the handholds in the corridor and jerked to a stop. Merriam shot past her before he recovered himself and turned around. “No, you listen to me. Check your contract. If the science payload is compromised by the science technician, the companies who booked the space are not bound to pay, and that pay is what constitutes his salary. So in other words, if you can't figure out how to sleep when you need to like the rest of us, and you let it affect your work, you don't get paid. There are plenty of sleep aids in the med lab, and you are free to use them. It's only for a week.”

It's a violation of my privacy!” His eyes were bloodshot, and Jass wondered if he'd already started sacrificing his sleep for other pursuits.

you signed up for a deep space supply run expecting privacy?” Jass couldn't help but laugh. “This isn't one of StoneSpace's luxury liners or personal transports. This is a small supply ship: there is no privacy. We can't afford the space.”

She continued into the main cabin, leaving Merriam sputtering in protest behind her. She closed the door to the corridor, but didn't lock it. The only other person in the cabin was Dani, floating near the ceiling with her eyes fixed on her computer.

Dani, be glad that you're not in charge around here. If I hear one more complaint today, i'm going to shove the person who complains out of an airlock.”

The programmer laughed quietly. “There's a reason why I never went to flight school. They keep trying to make you try to get your own ship and that just wasn't going to work for me. Though I wouldn't say no to my own orbit-hopper...”

Ugh, you really like those little things? Sure, they'll get you to low orbit quick and let you get to any other spot on the planet within an hour, but they've got almost no shielding, they can't get you off-world, and they eat more fuel like it's as cheap as iron dust.”

Dani shrugged. “They look cool, and I like being able to control where and when I go places. But it doesn't really matter, I'll never be able to afford one.”

Jass made her way to her console, but instead of reaching for the buckle, she pushed off from the chair and floated to the forward window. The sun was almost directly behind the ship, and the only light from outside came from the stars.

Why'd you go into this business, then? You're a talented, intelligent woman. Couldn't you have found something more...lucrative?”

Dani shrugged and reached down to anchor her computer to console. “It's not about the money, really. I mean, more money would be nice, sure. But in this job, I get to be left alone. In a bigger ship, there would always be someone demanding a report, waiting to see my latest work, changing it until it was unrecognizable and didn't work...” She shook her head. “No amount of money could make up for the stress of that.”

Didn't you dream of more? As a kid? In college? Wish for a great job where you could do whatever you wanted and jet around the solar system with important people?” Jass scanned the route in front of the ship, wondering if one of the tiny points of light was Cybele.

Dani shook her head. “No, I just wanted to be left alone.”

Jass smiled, and turned away from the window. “Sorry, I keep expecting people to want the same things I want, and I'm always surprised when they don't. At any rate, I'm glad you signed on with us. Your programming has been excellent, and Aaron says you're the best he's ever worked with.” She buckled herself into her chair and began looking over the reports that Aaron and Kara had filed earlier in the day, updating her about the status of the rescue mission. The Pequod was still two days away, and Jass was glad for the time to prepare. Had they heard the distress call much later, they would not have been able to match velocities in time. It would be a tricky proposition as it was.

The plan called for the Curious Machine to slow itself down over the course of two days while maneuvering into the path of the Pequod. The Curious Machine would then stop, turn back toward Mars, and wait for the Pequod to arrive. When the other ship's captain hailed them, the Curious Machine would fire her engines in a controlled burn that would bring them up to the Pequod's velocity. The two ships would then be able to dock: once the passengers and their cargo was on board, the Curious Machine would slow again and return to her original course, firing the rockets again to gain momentum.

Jass didn't like having to turn her ship around, but it was the only way to match velocity with the Pequod. All of the involved parties had been apprised of the schedule and everyone was ready to go. Now it was just a game of waiting and watching. The engines had been programmed to follow the new plan. The captain of the Pequod should be hailing them in about twenty hours.

She heard the door open and glanced over her shoulder to see Martina float into the room and shut the door behind her. “Hey, we don't see you up here very often. Something wrong?”

The younger woman shook her head, hair puffed out around her face. She looks like a dandelion, Jassmyn thought and bit back a laugh. Martina was very eager to please, and she didn't want her to feel as if she wasn't being taken seriously.

No, I just wanted to see what the sleeping arrangements were up here. Kristin sent me with the extra hammocks.” She held up a handful of polyester lines and Jass could see that a small herd of sleeping hammocks were drifting behind her.

Oh, good, we need to get those set up. See these little metal anchors on the floor near some of the walls? If you look above each one, you'll see another anchor on the wall. There should be enough of them, this ship is certified for a crew of up to twelve.” Jass grabbed four of the hammocks and began securing them to the walls.

Martina worked in silence for a little while and Jass looked over at her from time to time. She'd been reluctant to bring someone so young on the trip, particularly someone with so little off-world experience. But it hadn't been her call: the investors had insisted that having an intern aboard would be helpful. Jass suspected that it was because by calling her an “intern” they could pay her less than a regular spacer and expect the same amount of work.

She pulled a knot on a hammock tight and said without looking up, “It's going to be pretty close in here for the next week, so we might as well get to know each other a little better. You're studying business, right?”

Martina nodded, concentrating on tying a knot in one of the hammock lines. “Yeah, business with an emphasis in interplanetary industries.”

College can be a great way to figure out who you are and what you want out of life. Kristin and I went to college together, actually, but neither of us finished.”

Why not?” The intern looked up from her work.

I finally realized that I'd learned everything I wanted to at school and the only other things I wanted to learn were things you couldn't learn in school. Things like how it felt to wake up in zero g for thirty mornings in a row. How bright the stars are when you're away from any planets. How to live on a ship in the middle of nowhere. You know, the important things.”

Oh, I took a couple of units in Off-World Lifestyles and--”

Jass laughed. “That's not learning how to live off-world, that's learning about how other people think you should live. The only way to learn to be a spacer is just to be one.”

Martina pulled the last knot tight and tested the hammock. “I guess so.” She stretched and floated away from the floor, twisting to try to find something solid to brace against.

So what's your favorite class? I remember taking a class in basic orbital mechanics. I didn't understand half of it, but it was a lot of fun. I spent a lot of time constructing spacecraft orbits that crashed rather spectacularly.” Jass sensed that she had struck a nerve during the last exchange and tried to find her way back to safer territory.

I dunno. I guess maybe my history of space travel class? It's an elective, supposed to be pretty easy. I left before I got my final grades, but they were probably ok.”

Learn anything interesting about the history of space travel? There are some pretty wild stories there.”

I guess so. I'd have to look them up though. I think I liked the one about the first landing on Mars ok.”

She managed to get her feet braced against one of the walls and pushed off toward the door. “I gotta go see if Kristin has anything else that needs to get brought up here.”

Jass watched her go in silence. Dani said, “She has got a lot to learn.”

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