And Matt had complained about the loss of workers who had decided to return to their families in this time of stress. Could she justify it to him as keeping her crew happy? What would Johannes say when he came back to take over his ship?
She didn’t care, couldn’t afford to care. If she wanted to live with herself, she would have to accept any punishment – even banishment, should they find her actions detrimental to Family.
She opened the comm. “Vic? Send me Keith Talbot.”
* * *
Scout-1
Friday 13 August
As Scout-1 approached drop, all four linked hands.
“Drop.”
Ritter on the far left toggled the switch with his left hand. His right held Carol’s, somewhat behind him, who held Angela’s who held Rolf’s. A glitter ran down the ship from bow to stern as the spacer’s version of St Elmo’s fire flared.
“Whoa!” Angela exclaimed as the wave of euphoria crashed over her. She breathed out, stunned by the feeling of drop as she had never been before, and saw the planet Saturn, with its rings in the distance.
“Shields up,” Ritter reported.
“Detectors show nothing close ... nothing medium ... nothing long range,” Angela said.
Rolf ran through the check again, but nothing came up for him, either.
The four relaxed, and just stared at the sight in front of them. Titan hovered in the foreground, and the starfield in the background framed the whole picture. They sat in silence for some minutes.
“Beautiful, just beautiful,” Carol whispered. “I would never have believed.”
“Enjoy it while you can,” Ritter told her. “We’ll hang around for a few hours, then we have to go back to hyperspace – Jupiter and Io await us.”
“Can we get pictures?” Carol asked.
“Definitely. Ship has a hi-res camera,” Rolf told her. “Also, we have one inside, so we can get one of you here on the flight deck, with Saturn in the background.”
Carol turned to him with such a grateful look on her face that Angela had to look away. “You don’t know how much that means to me.”
“I’ll get it now,” Rolf said, and stood.
He came back, and had Carol pose alone in the pilot’s seat, with the planet showing through the window. Then, one with her and Ritter standing together.
“Come here, Angela,” Carol said. “I want one with you, too.”
And, thus, the camera captured memories all around, including some vid. Angela had never felt so happy in her life. She had a job that, although she didn’t love it, gave her room for advancement into something she had only dreamed of. She had made new friends, felt wanted, loved. She had a place where she belonged. A place that – she gazed out the forward screen – offered her sights such as this.
Over a dinner that they all shared, Angela felt inhibitions falling away. She felt able to talk freely of her dreams with those who would understand and not ridicule. On Amalgamated 684, she hadn’t dared talk about becoming a pilot for fear of being ridiculed. Only Wen had known – and then only at the very last.
Sitting back in her chair, she thought back to that moment. He hadn’t ridiculed, but had accepted her – well, her dreams, anyway, if not her body and her love. Looking at it from her new perspective, she realized she hadn’t loved him after all. She had just wanted full acceptance, and had felt him the only one on that ship that might give it to her.
She noticed the looks that Carol sent Ritter’s way, and the ones he sent back. They excused themselves, and she and Rolf hid smiles.
Yes, and she had wanted that so much that she had gone after a taken man, one who loved another woman. Small wonder that he had not taken her up on her offer. Her face heated as she recalled her actions in 684 and then in the lifeboat. She had thought only of herself there. Poor Wen! Faced with the loss of love – how would she feel if Rolf were suddenly taken from her? – and everything else he knew, no wonder he had not wanted a naïve girl who wanted to replace Lil in his life. As if she could have.
“Let’s go watch Saturn for a bit,” she suggested.
Rolf stood, took her hand, drew her to him, and kissed her. She felt her stomach flip. Had Wen had felt when he kissed Lil? The poor man had lost so much. Small wonder that he now threw himself into work, trying to forget.
And that remained the one sad thing in her life: his sorrow. The guitar had helped, she knew, but she still owed. He had saved her life, stopped her from suicide, left her alive to experience this. She gazed on the wonder of Saturn, with a man, who actually did love her, at her back, his arms around her, holding her to him.
“It’s so beautiful, Rolf.” She felt tears starting to run down her cheeks. “So very beautiful.”
They stood there, seemingly forever. The entrance of Carol and Ritter surprised her. Had that much time passed? Carol glowed with happiness. Angela tugged at Rolf’s hand, and led him back to his room. Why not? Carol lived her dream, created memories that would last a lifetime. Why not her, too?
“Let’s create a few memories,” she husked.
Rolf’s hands began to undo her clothing.
“Let’s.”
* * *
Kingston, Ontario
Saturday 14 August
Carly had never before seen Pilot Paul Yrden. He had met her on FTL-1. She accepted his hand, and he had introduced himself. “I’m Matt’s cousin, if that name means anything to you. I understand we’re picking up your nephew, and bringing him up. Well, I’m scheduled to pick up another family from Buffalo – and that’s pretty close. What we’ve done is ask them to re-route to Kingston. We’ll drop you off in Kingston, hop over to Toronto to pick up a load, and then come back for you and them tomorrow. How’s that sound?”
It had sounded just fine. And tomorrow had arrived.
“I can’t believe it, Aunt Carly,” Eddie said. “We’re really going up to space?”
“Yes. You’ll be staying with me for the rest of your vacation. And, if you prove acceptable to the Yrdens and other crew, we might even keep you for a semester or two. In other words, you would live with me on Venture, and go to school there.”
His eyes went wide. She waited for the protest that he would miss his friends. It didn’t come.
“That would be totally marv.”
Marv? Kids and their slang. Probably for Marvellous. “Well, we’ll have to see how it goes. You may not like it up there. There’s no sky, no taking a walk downtown, no playing soccer on grass – or anywhere, for that matter. No fresh air.” She breathed in of that same.
Perhaps she shouldn’t harp on the negatives. Especially if she were right, and the Yrdens were pulling family – even those of otherhires – up in order to have them avoid some sort of unpleasantness.
“On the other hand, you might learn get around in zero-g.”
He licked his lips. “Can you?”
She laughed. “Oh, yes. Definitely. Part of my job.”
“Then you could teach me?”
“Yes, but there are other youngsters on board. You might have more fun with them. And I’ll be working. This may be your holiday, but it is busy season for me.”
“Look!” Eddie pointed to a shuttle landing. “Is that it?”
“It is. Come on. We’ll suit up, and board her. There’s another family coming up with us, so I expect you to be on your best behaviour.”
He laughed at her. “I can’t go running and screaming?”
“Definitely not!” she said, all prim and proper. She had never seen Eddie do anything of the sort. Since her sister and her husband had died, he’d withdrawn. This – she looked at the shuttle touching down – this was the first time she’d actually seen him excited about anything.
“Remember to do everything you’re told to do. We don’t play games, and not doing something might get you – or someone else – killed. Space is dangerous. But if you know this and plan for it, you can avoid most problems.”
As they walked out to the shuttle –
the airport had no jetways that would accommodate shuttles, as they never landed in Kingston – Eddie pointed. “Look. No windows.”
He seemed disappointed.
The hatch opened, and ground crew wheeled a ramp up to it. Carly saw Paul Yrden there, smiling. He came out, and introduced himself to the passengers. A Mr and Ms Daniels and their two children boarded first.
“So, this is Eddie.” Paul held out his hand. “How would you like to go up on the flight deck?”
Eddie’s jaw dropped. He stood there saying nothing.
“I think that means yes,” Carly said. “Are you sure that’s okay?”
“I’m the pilot. What I say goes. You can sit up there, too, if you want. I’m afraid I don’t have a co-pilot this trip. We’re stretched pretty thin.”
“Can we? Can we?” Eddie asked.
“We’d love to, if it’s no trouble.” And she didn’t lie. Eddie, well, obviously he’d love to. And her? She’d never gone up or down except in the passenger compartment of a shuttle. Yeah, she’d love to, too. Stretched thin? That said something, as well. No co-pilot? Not good at all.
“That your stuff, Eddie?” Paul asked, pointing at a tram coming with baggage.
“Yes, sir.”
The pilot laughed. “That’s, ‘Yes, Paul’, Eddie. We don’t go formal much. So, I’m Paul, and the Cabin Attendant is Susan.” He winked at Carly. “If you call me ‘sir’, then I’m afraid I’ll have to call you Mr Martin. And, as my father used to say, why use two words when one will do. I’d prefer ‘Eddie’ and ‘Paul’. That okay with you?”
“Okay, Paul.”
“Good man. Just let me check that they put the cargo away properly, and then we’ll set you up as co-pilot. Carly, if you’ll give me a hand? I know you’re experienced.”
And how could she refuse? She checked over the entire hold. Everything checked out perfectly, including the luggage they had just put aboard. The local crew had done a good job, even given their unfamiliarity with shuttles.
“It all checks,” she said. “I’ll wait while you close the hatch.”
Paul walked up the ramp, and disappeared.
“Is this what you do?” Eddie asked her.
“Yep. It’s my job on Venture. Cargo Handler. Of course, I do a lot of other stuff when we’re in hyperspace. Otherwise, I’d just be sitting around, because there’s nowhere to transfer cargo there, and the Family doesn’t believe in paying people for doing nothing. But, when we’re in normal space, I work my butt off.”
She checked the outside of the shuttle. The door had sealed properly.
“Everything looks good here, Paul,” she said when he poked his head out.
He smiled. “Well, let’s get you aboard.”
Eddie seemed all eyes as Paul strapped him in.
* * *
Venture grew in the front screen. Eddie stared at it as if he’d never seen anything so exciting as an image growing slowly bigger. But it wasn’t an image, and this wasn’t a vid.
“That’s your new home, lad,” Paul said. “We’re going right inside. And then your aunt gets to go back to work, while you go on vacation.”
She had told him the details.
The shuttle touched down, and Venture’s outer hatch closed.
“We have to wait until she airs up.”
They waited. Eddie, at a loss for words, just stared through the screen as air filled up the bay. He had enjoyed himself thoroughly all the way up. And, on the plus side, he hadn’t vomited. Of course, fourteen-year-olds had stomachs of cast iron.
“Okay, Eddie, off you go,” Paul said, as they heard Susan open the shuttle’s hatch.
“Wait for me on the deck,” Carly told him. She waited until he disappeared. “Mr Yrden, thank you so much. You don’t know how much that meant to him.”
“It’s Paul. And twenty years ago, I was studying to become a pilot. But I couldn’t get the equations no matter what I did. A stranger – to me – came over and explained them in a way that finally made sense. She didn’t have to – and in doing so, she brought suspicion on herself. But she did it anyway because I was a boy in need. Your nephew, there. He needed a friendly face. Now, it’s not going to cost me like it did that woman, so I’m more than happy to do it.”
“Thank you, anyway.” She gave him a small kiss on the cheek. She took two steps towards the hatch, then turned back. “What happened to that woman?” She loved hearing other people’s stories.
Paul smiled. “In the end, she married my cousin Johannes.”
Carly blinked. “Jaswinder?”
“Now that you mention it, I believe that was her name.” He laughed. “Go. Don’t keep your nephew waiting. He’s probably pretty anxious – alone, new place. That sort of stuff.”
Paul needn’t have worried. Eddie had already found himself someone to talk to. Or, more probably, Wen had sought out Eddie. He saw her, smiled, and gave a small wave.
“See, Paul didn’t kidnap her, no matter what you thought.”
Offended, Eddie said, “I never thought that!”
Wen rounded his eyes. “You didn’t? Well, I have to confess that I did. You can’t trust pilots, you know?”
“You can’t?”
“Don’t listen to him, Eddie. Wen, here, is a pilot, too.”
“And, thus, I know what we’re like.”
“Eddie, this is my friend, Wen Pearson. Wen, Eddie Martin. Now, let’s get your luggage, and I’ll show you your room.”
Wen grinned at the kid, reached out and put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I’ll give you two a hand. Good flight?”
With less to worry about now, but still thinking about the ramifications of the Yrden offer to her, she smiled for Eddie’s sake. “Very good flight, right, Nephew?”
“Right, Aunt Carly.”
Wen set down the two large suitcases in Carly’s main room. “It’s almost lunch. You’re probably hungry. Let’s go see if they’ve left anything to eat. Then you can go to sleep.”
Eddie looked at him, astonished. “Sleep? I can sleep next month. I want to see everything. Can I see the bridge?”
For a second, Carly could see Wen shut down. Then his face opened. “Sorry. That’s for authorized personnel only. And you and me, we’re not authorized. But we can go to one of the lounges and look down on the Earth from above. How’s that?”
“Can we do that first, and eat later?”
“Maybe later, Eddie,” Carly said. “I have to get back to work.”
“No, you don’t,” Wen told her. “I talked to Dave. This shift is for showing your nephew around, introducing him to people, getting him settled.”
She stared at him. “You talked to Dave, or it was his idea?”
Wen shrugged. “His idea,” he admitted.
He lied. Paying her back for her getting him pictures of Lil? It didn’t matter. He had done something nice for her. “Okay, let’s go see the Earth from up here.”
The Earth took Eddie’s breath away. Lunch filled his stomach. And then the excitement wore off, and his long day finally took its toll.
“Let’s get you to your room,” Carly said.
“Okay.”
Wen took his leave of them, and Carly watched his back as he walked away. She wondered if he would ever have a happy tale to tell. And, when he did, she wondered if he would share it with her. He still keenly felt the loss of his job as First Pilot on a ship. She had seen that as clearly as if he had stated it outright.
The man walked in pain, and nothing she could do would change that. She led the way back to her quarters, picked up a reader for newcomers, and handed it to Eddie.
“Something to study after you wake up,” she told him.
By the time she had closed the door to his room, he had already fallen asleep. Perhaps she should do likewise. She walked into her bedroom, observed the empty bed, and wondered if she would ever come in to see someone in it, waiting for her.
CHAPTER 24
Haida Gwaii
Satu
rday 14 August
“You look terrible, Matt,” Jaswinder said. She had come to brief him on the latest disaster in her area.
“You look hardly better,” he replied, and she knew that for truth.
Neither of them had had much time for sleep or relaxation lately. And that made one reason she had turned away Johannes whenever he called. If he saw her like this, had any hint as to her condition, he’d come raging over to force her to take time off, Matt and the station be damned. And they couldn’t afford that.
“We’re going to have to bolster some of the framework. It still isn’t quite solid enough,” she said, hurting inside, for she knew that this setback would force her brother-in-law to even greater exertion.
Matt closed his eyes in a grimace. “How bad?”
“Bad enough to destroy us should we attempt a hyperspace insertion without the bolstering. Not bad enough to delay us for more than a few days. I’ve had Engineering do a quick study. Repairs – or should I say alterations – will cause a problem later on, when we work to complete the station’s hull, but that’s then and this is now.”
Matt looked at the schematic that she called up. He studied it a moment. “You didn’t need to bring this to me.”
She winced at the tone. “Unfortunately, I did. We don’t have the proper materials. We’re going to need a rush order.” She looked away. “We could do it with what we have on hand, or could make with the new Tremdors, but that would see us finished and ready to jump in two months rather than two weeks.”
“Christ!” He looked defeated. Then he pulled himself together. “I’ll get on it. You’ll have your bolstering in a couple of days.”
“Good. We don’t have to stop our work until then, so that’s one thing.”
The comm buzzed. Matt stared at it, and Jaswinder got the impression of a hunted animal at bay.
“What is it?”
“Message from our people on Io, Matt,” came his secretary’s voice. Jaswinder couldn’t see her, but noted the very carefully neutral tone.
Not With A Whimper: Survivors Page 25
