Ude offered.
<The Transit is operating on the same chronometer as our ship, Captain,> Becca pointed out.
<Which means that Captain Walton would have been asleep too,> Alain mused.
<To Ude’s point, Captain, the engines might have been shut down in a sequence, either by the duty officer or the captain,> Hermione explained.
<Depending on the sequence in which the engines went offline and the delay between them, it could mean the freighter deviated from its original trajectory,> Alain reasoned.
<That’s my concern, Captain,> Ude said. <According to the retrofit, the engines were not emergency synced, as in later freighter classes.>
Alain’s calm was shaken by the growing complexity of the problem. He turned toward Hermione, much as he’d seen Alex look at Julien for advice.
<It would be advantageous, Captain, to expand our telemetry range,> Hermione sent. <I propose this routine.>
Alain viewed the image he received. The Trident’s four travelers sailed outboard of the warship. <How far?> he asked.
Hermione provided details for Alain.
<The travelers’ telemetries would extend our view of space, Captain,> Hermione sent. <The Trident could impart velocity to the travelers at launch, which would limit the ships’ energy expenditures. Of course, at some point, we would need to recover the travelers and charge their power banks.>
<Hermione, set the search parameters that give us maximum coverage,> Alain requested. <I want the travelers’ controllers directing the return of those ships when their energy levels drop to ten percent. In addition, I want you to direct the search. Use whatever search parameters maximize the greatest coverage of space in the shortest amount of time. Notify me when we’re ready to start.>
<Understood, Captain,> Hermione replied. She shifted algorithms and hierarchies to accommodate the captain’s directives. As she did, she unlocked her avatar, activated the bridge holo-vid, and stepped beside Becca.
Down below, the pilots launched their travelers. They sat quietly in their seats. Hermione had control of their ships.
The holo-vid displayed the increased swath of space that would be covered, as opposed to the Trident’s capability. The coverage represented a nine-fold increase, and Alain nodded approvingly.
Becca received a set of instructions from Hermione. She examined the search routine. It was complex, requiring the Trident to weave a pattern. Then the travelers would be recovered and charged, while the warship made a short transit. She ordered thé to bolster her focus.
* * * * *
<Emergency, Captain,> the third mate sent to Kara Walton and First Mate Jackie Olmand.
Kara and Jackie jerked awake, grabbed coveralls, and dashed toward the bridge.
<Define,> Kara ordered, keeping the link with Jackie.
<The controller took engine three offline, Captain, and we dropped out of transit,> the third mate sent.
“Black space,” Jackie muttered, as she gained the bridge.
“Shut down the engines,” Kara ordered, as she stepped around Jackie’s broad stature.
“Done, Captain,” the third mate replied. “There’s more news. As we dropped out of transit, engine one shut down.”
“Jackie, query the controller and plot our trajectory changes,” Kara directed.
Jackie jumped into a chair and ran the numbers. “We deviated by less than a half degree for six point three seconds. Then, two point seven seconds later we shifted again by one point one degree.”
“Port and down. Then port,” Kara mused.
“Correct our trajectory, Jackie,” Kara ordered. “Bring us to a parallel course.”
“Employing attitude jets, Captain,” Jackie replied. She judiciously adjusted the freighter’s trajectory to turn the ship to starboard and slightly up until the pilot confirmed they were on a parallel course.
“Displacement?” asked Kara, when she heard the pilot’s report.
“We’re out of position by six hundred and forty thousand kilometers, Captain,” the pilot replied.
“Jackie, how much is left in the attitude tanks?” Kara asked. “Can we adjust our course to reach our original vector and then correct our trajectory to maintain it?”
“What’s the matter?” Kara asked, as she regarded Jackie with concern.
“I used more than half of the tanks to come to a parallel course,” Jackie explained. “Two more course corrections would require that I use only a quarter of the tanks each time.”
“And?” Kara pressed.
“Using the tanks that sparingly would mean ...” Jackie began, but halted. She sent her calculations to the pilot, who dropped the numbers into her program.
“Captain, we would rejoin our original vector in thirty-eight hours,” the pilot reported.
“And we would have no attitude jets until we fired our remaining engines,” Jackie pointed out.
“Which are both on the starboard side and would shift us farther off course,” Kara said.
“Use a quarter of the attitude tanks to make the first course correction, Jackie,” Kara ordered. “Then get the crew together and find out what it’ll take to give us even thrust. You’ve thirty-eight hours to make that happen. Otherwise, I don’t think our escort will ever locate us.”
Before Jackie exited the bridge, she checked her panel to ensure the freighter was sending an emergency signal. It meant that the freighter and the Trident had separated to a distance that comm signals would be taking a while to reach each other. The best course of action would be to flip end over end and come to a halt. Unfortunately, engines one and three opposed engines two and four and without balanced thrust, maneuvering was impossible.
Jackie gathered the crew, who were clustered in the corridor just outside the bridge. Worry was evident on their faces.
“Suit up,” Jackie ordered. “The engines might be shut down, but that area is still hot.” When the crew remained fixed in place, she growled, “Move it,” and they jumped into action.
When Jackie confirmed that every crew member was properly suited, she regarded the twins through her faceplate. They were the freighter’s engine maintenance engineers.
<Patrice and Paulette, you have the lead,> Jackie sent via her implant. <Keep us safe.>
The twins headed aft through the ship’s bow section. Then they entered the long galley that ran through the cargo modules. The last section was an extension of the ship’s tail. Trusses anchored the engines to the cargo modules. If the engines failed to shut down in an emergency, explosive charges could separate the trusses from the cargo module section.
The first compartment at the end of the trusses held the engine control room and generators. The crew found the compartment eerily quiet.
The starboard and port pairs of engines were governed by separate consoles, and Patrice and Paulette each stepped to one and ran diagnostics.
Patrice was the first to speak. <The starboard engines, two and four, were shut down by the manual,> she sent. <They’re ready for restart.>
<That’s good news,> Jackie replied. She looked at Paulette, who was tapping quickly on her panels, continuing to hunt for the problems. Jackie waited until her patience faded. <Update, Paulette,> she requested.
<Number three initiated the first emergency stoppage,> Paulette replied. <Housing temperatures indicate the engine containment area is hot. I’m assuming a meltdown.>
<There goes number three,> Pauline commented drily.
<Keep going, Paulette,> Jackie urged.
<Number one isn’t responding to diagnostics,> Paulette sent.
<What about temperature?> Pauline asked.
<It was within operating parameters before it went offline,> Paulette replied.
<Then the issue might not be the engine,> Jackie surmised. <We might have had signal interruption between the engine and the control panel, and the controller assumed an engine problem.>
<It’s p
ossible, but it seems unlikely,> Paulette returned. <Except for some signal transfer circuits, the connection is nothing but cable.>
<On this freighter, everything is suspect,> Jackie replied. She’d been about to reference the ship in a torridly derogatory manner, but she didn’t want to demoralize the crew. <Nothing else to do but for the two of you to get in there,> she said, indicating the access hatch to engine one.
The hatch wasn’t meant to be accessed on a regular basis. Repair on this order was reserved for the orbital platforms. Crew members set about removing the retaining bolts that locked the hatch in place.
Hatch was also a bit of a misnomer. It wasn’t like Pauline and Paulette were going to walk through the opening pushing a tool cart. The small round hatch gave the engineers access to a crawl tube.
While the crew members removed the retaining bolts, the twins sorted through their diagnostic equipment, selecting the devices they expected to need.
The twins finished packing their devices. They slipped packs on their backs, and Pauline sent, <Ready.>
<Open the hatch,> Jackie ordered.
A crew member grabbed the locking handle and tried to twist it. It didn’t budge. There was room for two individuals to grab the handle, but their combined attempt failed. They turned to Jackie, their eyes appealing for help.
Jackie rolled her shoulders. Her suit gave her greater dimension, making her appear as wide as she was tall. The crew members vacated the space, and Jackie grabbed the handle and heaved. It still didn’t move.
Anger at the dilapidated state of the ship rose in Jackie. It merged with her fear of being stranded in space and dying slowly of oxygen deprivation or water or food — whichever came first.
The emotions drove Jackie, a New Terran born with an extraordinary physique. Jackie grabbed the handle, braced a boot against the near bulkhead, and levered herself into position. With her entire body straining, the handle squealed in metal torment as it gave up and turned.
The crew made various private comments about Jackie, while she jerked her thumb toward the hatch, which she’d swung open.
Paulette went first. She placed a knee in the opening, ducked her head, and crawled into the tube. The light on her suit lit the way. Pauline quickly followed. Behind them, the crew closed the hatch, lubed the stubborn handle, and then locked the hatch.
<The rest of you return to the bow module. I’ll stand first watch,> Jackie sent. <I’m to be relieved in three hours.> Then she set the relief schedule order.
The last crew member to exit the control room closed the hatch. Jackie checked her suit, which indicated the room’s air pressure, oxygen level, and temperature. When the indicators were seen to be good, she retracted the faceplate, and the suit shut down the air supply.
Jackie sat down, bracing her back against a bulkhead. Her thoughts drifted. At first, she tried to imagine ways out of their dilemma, but every option required outside help. If the escort didn’t find them, then help wasn’t coming.
Finally, bored and needing a distraction, she accessed the controller, selected the vid that she’d been watching when the emergency struck, and let the images transport her to another place and time.
The twins crawled through thirty meters of tube. Then it angled. Another ten meters farther, they met another hatch. Beside the hatch was a panel that glowed green, and Paulette pressed it. The tube’s air was evacuated, and the panel turned red.
<This one better give way,> Paulette sent. <Jackie would never fit in the tube.>
Despite the horrendous circumstances, Pauline couldn’t help but chuckle about the image of Jackie in her suit wedged permanently in the tube.
Paulette’s first and second attempts at the hatch lever were unsuccessful. She felt a tap on her leg. Reaching behind her, Pauline placed a short pry bar in her hand.
Underneath the lever was a shallow depression, and Paulette stuck the blunt end of the pry bar into the depression and pulled as hard as she could in the confined space. When the lever didn’t move, she used the top of the tube to brace herself so that she could place all her weight on the pry bar.
Move, you ugly piece of stubborn metal, Paulette thought, as she shoved hard. Like the first hatch lever, this one also shrieked in defiance as it gave way.
Paulette felt pats on her leg from her twin. Then she handed the pry bar back, shoved open the hatch, and crawled into the engine compartment.
The lights of stars outlined the edges of the massive engine, and the twins were momentarily mesmerized by the view.
<Let’s get to it,> Pauline sent to her twin. <Air’s wasting.>
<Control links first,> Paulette replied. She connected to a port on the side of the engine, which ran diagnostics on engine circuitry. <All good here,> she sent.
Pauline disconnected a thermally protected line from the engine. Embedded within the line was a circuit that handed off engine indicator signals to the control room. She connected a diagnostic tool in its place. <According to my readouts, this engine should start,> she sent.
<Black space. Jackie hit on it,> Paulette sent, her thought indicating her amazement. Then an idea occurred to her.
Simultaneously, each twin’s implant received the same message from the other sibling. It noted engine two as the next destination. A slap of hands celebrated their mutual triumph. They had an answer to their dilemma.
In short order, the twins reversed their route. At the far end of the tube, Pauline touched the red-lit pressurization panel and waited for the sound of hissing air.
<What’s up?> Paulette asked from behind Pauline.
<Panel’s not turning green. We’re not getting air replacement,> Pauline replied.
<Try it again,> Paulette encouraged.
<I’ve tried it three times,> Pauline sent testily.
<I could reverse and use the panel on the other end,> Paulette suggested.
<The panels are connected in tandem,> Pauline sent. <If one panel is selected and fails to trigger the air pressure exchange, the other panel is taken offline. It’s supposedly a failsafe action to protect the freighter.>
<What idiot thought of that arrangement?> Paulette sent angrily.
<The same idiot who trapped us in this tube,> Pauline replied.
<Get Jackie’s attention,> Paulette suggested, when their implant comms wouldn’t penetrate the heavy metal alloy hatch and tube.
Then Pauline banged methodically on the hatch.
8: Stranded
Ancient warrior armies battled on an open field for control of a city surrounded by tall stone walls. The warriors wore helmets and short leather skirts. They held swords and spears, and they fired arrows.
Jackie didn’t understand the reason for the fighting, but she enjoyed the display of the scantily clad, muscular men.
The sound of metal on metal disturbed Jackie’s focus, and she halted the vid. Immediately, she focused on the hatch as the origination point. She closed her faceplate and checked the panel beside the hatch. It glowed red. “Black space,” she growled. Then she banged on the hatch to indicate she’d heard.
<Captain,> Jackie sent, which the engine control room’s comm system relayed.
<I’m here, Jackie,> Kara sent.
<The twins are trapped in engine one’s access tube. Air pressurization isn’t responding,> Jackie sent. She waited while Kara took a moment to vent.
<Do we have time to drill the hatch?> Kara asked, when she got control of her frustration.
Jackie consulted her implant, which she’d set to track the twins’ approximate air reserves. <It’ll be close. Then we’ll have to patch the hole to get access again.>
<Let’s get the twins out first,> Kara sent. <We’ll deal with the second part afterward.>
In the tube, the twins lay on their stomachs to slow their air consumption. It wasn’t long before th
ey heard the sound of a drill on the other side of the hatch.
The hatch was constructed to handle decompression from the engine side. It was also made to withstand the explosive ejection of an engine. Those two circumstances meant that the hatch wasn’t only thick, but it was poured from the hardest alloy New Terra had at the time.
Crew took turns leaning into the drill. An hour later, they were on their third bit and only a third of the way through the hatch.
<Jackie, we’re not going to get through the hatch in time,> a worried crew member sent.
<I see that,> Jackie replied. <Keep at it. I’ll be back.> Then she hurried from the engine control room, and she made her way through the galley to the bow module.
Opening a storeroom door, Jackie sought a tube of nanites paste. She intended to dissociate some of the metal alloy, but the problem was application. A solution occurred, and she ran to medical. Rummaging through the supplies, she located a long slender syringe and ignored the needles.
Jackie arrived in the engine control room and sent, <Cease drilling and step back.>
When the teams cleared the space, Jackie drew a measure of the nanites paste into the glass syringe. She inserted the syringe into the hole until it touched the far end and injected a tiny amount. She waited the required length of time for the nanites to have been spent. Then she repeated the operation.
Slowly, Jackie’s progress exceeded that of the drilling. Time and time again, she refilled her slender syringe and went after the hole. The far end of the hole widened slightly, but its depth increased much faster than the width.
A growl escaped Jackie’s lips. <The syringe bottomed out,> she sent.
<Try this,> Kara sent, tapping Jackie’s back.
Jackie didn’t bother to wonder or worry that the captain had left the bridge. She regarded the piece of thin tubing and turned questioning eyes on the captain.
<Retract your faceplate, suck up some paste, and blow it into the far end of the hole,> Kara instructed.
<No, Captain,> a crew member, Laestra, sent. <Let me. Jackie’s liable to suck the entire tube of paste into her lungs.>