Drifter's Run

by William C. Dietz

  Many seemed unaffected but here and there Neubeck saw definite changes.

  A normally calm power tech shouted into his intercom as if the volume of his voice could get him what he needed. And there, over on the other side of the bridge, the usually dour fourth officer was cracking jokes like a professional comedian.

  It was quite a show but she had little time to appreciate it. The moment the bridge crew realized Neubeck was there everyone spoke at once.

  "Which do you want more, Captain? Argrav or power to the force field?"

  "The passengers are worried, Captain… there's a mob forming on the boat deck."

  "The fire's out in the Purser's Office… she wants to know if we'll repressurize. The passengers want their valuables."

  "Silence!" The voice belonged to Rubashkin and it had the desired effect.

  Neubeck put on her smile, the professional one which said, "I'm confident and you should be too." She gave her orders in a crisp, calm voice.

  "Hold your questions until asked. First things first. All personnel not actually part of this watch to the rear of the bridge. You'll be called on as needed."

  Ten or twelve people headed for the rear of the bridge.

  "Andre… how much power on the drives?"

  Rubashkin was a big burly man, with beady little brown eyes and a thick black beard. There were circles of sweat under both his arms.

  "None, Captain. The meteor hit both drives. We could shunt some power from the fusion plant to the auxiliary thrusters, but it wouldn't do much good."

  Neubeck swallowed hard. None! It seemed hard to believe. "How about repairs?"

  Rubashkin shook his head sadly. "The engineering spaces got the worst of it. The meteor killed all of our engineering officers and seventy percent of the techs. The survivors say that drive one is completely hopeless. As for drive two, well, they aren't sure. Repairs would take the supervision of a competent engineer."

  Neubeck's eyes went to the main screen. Durna filled it with her fiery presence. Could she actually see the sun getting larger or was that just her imagination? She cleared her throat. "How long before Durna pulls us down?"

  Rubashkin shrugged. "Forty, maybe fifty hours."

  Damn! They would have to take a hit right on the edge of the sun's gravity well.

  Neubeck shifted her gaze to the nav screen. It showed the entire Durna system, including the asteroid belt, Dista, Pylax, and the other mostly uninhabited planets. They needed assistance and needed it fast. "You called for help?"

  "First thing," Com Tech Formo answered. She was small, with severe bangs and an elfin face. "I looped a distress call. Still no answer."

  Neubeck nodded understandingly. They were a long ways out. Still, Durna was a well-populated system, and they should hear something soon. "All right. Let me know the minute you get a response."

  Neubeck turned to Rubashkin. "It sounds like the passengers are getting restless. How many did we lose?"

  Rubashkin examined a printout. "Fourteen. Due to the point of penetration the meteor killed more crew than passengers."

  Neubeck nodded her understanding. "Gather all the friends and family into one place. B lounge would do nicely. Get the chaplain down there. Whatever you do, keep 'em away from the rest. Grief breeds panic.

  "How 'bout the main banquet room? Any damage?"

  Rubashkin glanced at the fourth officer and got a shake of the head. "No damage, Captain. Why?"

  "Call the galley. Tell them to prepare for a party. Get a hold of the chief steward. Tell him to notify the passengers. They have one hour to prepare for a costume ball. A thousand credits for the most attractive outfit. Once you have them in the main banquet room make sure they stay there until further orders."

  Rubashkin smiled at Neubeck's plan and turned away to give the appropriate orders.

  Neubeck motioned to the fourth officer. He stepped over. His name was Arthur Zembey and in place of the frown he normally wore there was a smile. "Good evening, Captain. Have a nice nap?"

  Neubeck smiled in return. "Somewhat shorter than I would've liked, Arthur, but it'll do. Where's number one?"

  The first officer was a woman named Indulo and should've been on the bridge by now.

  "Unconscious," Zembey replied. "She led a damage control party into drive room one. Something came loose and bounced her head off the inside of her helmet."

  Neubeck swore silently. Indulo was a real loss. Well, one had to make do. "Listen carefully, Arthur. I want you to coordinate all damage control. Get a patch on the hull. Repressurize the damaged compartments as soon as you can. Seal drive room one and forget it. Do what you can for drive room two. Have it ready for repairs. Sift the passenger list for engineers. Maybe we'll luck out. Sol knows we deserve it!

  "Have the pilot run a computer projection. How long can we wait before launching the boats? Meanwhile hide all the damage you can. It hurts morale. And have someone get me a cup of coffee, but make it black, I'm on a diet."

  Zembey gave Neubeck a salute along with a big grin. The captain was going on her annual diet! The ship would live! He hurried off to execute his orders and spread the news.

  As the fourth officer departed, Neubeck felt her eyes drawn to Durna. It filled the main screen like the mouth of a hungry furnace just waiting to grab her ship and pull it down. For the first time since the meteor hit she felt really scared.

  15

  Lando liked exercise, the real kind, which involves some sort of accomplishment. If there was anything more boring than walking on a treadmill he couldn't think of what it was. Walking was boring, the gray little compartment was boring, and his thoughts were boring.

  On the other hand, not being in shape was even worse, so he did it anyway. Melissa was a welcome interruption.

  She entered the gym like a cyclone, jumped onto the treadmill, and walked backward. She wore a big grin. "I know something you don't."

  Lando used a towel to wipe the sweat off his forehead. "Good. I hope it's some math."

  Melissa produced an exaggerated pout. "That's not fair! I'm doing very well. You said so yourself!"

  Lando snapped the towel in her direction and she jumped off the treadmill. "Sure, but 'very well' and 'outstanding' are two different things."

  Melissa made a face and stuck out her tongue. "For the next few days I'll be too busy to study math."

  "Why's that?"

  "'Cause we've got a tow that's why. A big one."

  A timer went off. Lando stepped off the treadmill. Sensing his absence the machine turned itself off. "A tow, huh? How do you know?"

  Melissa jumped up, grabbed the chinning bar, and swung back and forth. "I know because I was on the bridge when the call came in." She dropped to the padded deck with a small thump.

  "In fact… Daddy should call right about now."

  So saying Melissa assumed a dramatic pose and pointed toward the intercom. It bonged right on cue. She smiled triumphantly as Lando shook his head in pretended amazement.

  "Lando here."

  Cap sounded tense. "We've got a tow, Lando… a big one. I need you on the bridge."

  "Coming," Lando answered, and chased Melissa down the corridor toward the lift tubes. She won as always.

  They arrived on the bridge to find everyone else already there. Cap was seated in front of the NAVCOMP typing away, Dee was slouched behind the weapons control module, and Cy hovered in midair.

  "What's up?"

  Lando dropped into the seat next to Dee. She wore a tight ship-suit and he liked the view. Dee knew it and smiled.

  Cap answered without turning around. "We received a distress call from an Empire liner called the Princess Claudia."

  Lando gave a low whistle. "The Princess Claudia. The biggest and the best. What's the problem?"

  "A meteor strike," Cap answered. "It punched a hole through her hull and disabled both drives."

  "What about her force field?" Cy asked. "I thought the big liners ran 'em full-time."

  "Normally they d
o," Cap answered, "unfortunately theirs was down for repairs. A meteor happened along, and whamo."

  Dee shook her head sympathetically. "Rotten luck."

  "Yeah," Cap agreed distractedly. "But that's not the worst of it. They were pretty close in when the accident happened. Bit by bit they're falling into the sun."

  Lando was on his feet. "Into Durna? How long do we have?"

  Cap pushed a button that shunted the NAVCOMP's output over to the main screen. Lando saw the system, a projected course that would carry them dangerously close to the sun, and a digital readout. It read forty-one hours, sixteen minutes, and thirty-two seconds. As he watched the two changed to a one.

  Cap turned around. His voice was grim. "During the next thirty minutes Junk will accelerate to maximum speed. Even so it will take eighteen hours to get there, and by the time we put some tractor beams on her, the Claudia may have fallen too far for us to tow her alone. Even the most optimistic computer projections say we'll be lucky to hold the ship where she is. In fact, given her mass and Durna's gravity, she could pull us down with her."

  "How 'bout other tugs?" Cy inquired. "This is a rich tow. In fact, since she has no power of her own, we can claim salvage. Surely they want a piece of the action?"

  Cap nodded soberly. "You bet they do… but we're closest… and they won't arrive until the critical moment has passed."

  Lando returned his attention to the main screen. Cap was right. They were the only ones who could help. With some money in the bank, and the crew paid up, Sorenson had resumed his search for the Star of Empire. He'd paid good money for those coordinates and planned to use 'em.

  As a result Junk was halfway to the asteroid belt when the distress call came in, a location that put her closer to the sun than the other tugs happened to be, and best positioned for a rescue. A rescue that could turn into a suicide mission if they weren't careful.

  Cy broke the silence. "Have we got a com link with the Claudia?"

  Cap nodded.

  "Good," Cy said as he squirted himself toward the comset. "I want a look at their damage reports."

  "Captain?" The voice belonged to Rubashkin.

  Neubeck felt her head come up, suddenly aware that she'd fallen asleep. A quick glance at the ship's clock confirmed that five minutes had disappeared. Eight hours had passed since the meteor strike and she was very tired.

  "Yes?"

  "The captain of the Junk wants to speak with you."

  Neubeck rubbed her eyes. She still couldn't believe it. A tug named Junk. She sincerely hoped the name reflected the owner's sense of humor… not her actual condition. Well, something was better than nothing, and the other tugs were a long ways off.

  Neubeck wanted to know who she was dealing with. "A man or a woman?"

  "A man."

  "Do we have anything on him?"

  Rubashkin had anticipated the captain's question and pushed a button. There were various advantages to working for the Empire Line, and one was a computer loaded with trivial but sometimes useful information. Included were files on all registered ships, their owners, and senior officers.

  Words appeared on the com screen and Rubashkin waited for her reaction.

  Name: Sorenson, Theodore A.

  Born: 1-30-3006 Terra

  Education:Graduated New Point Prep School 6-17-3023

  Graduated Imperial Maritime Academy 6-24-3028

  A surprisingly short list of ships and ranks followed. Neubeck skimmed through them to the final entry:

  Assumed command liner Star of Empire 3-2-3047

  Star of Empire wrecked 11-12-3049

  Subject found unfit for duty and relieved of command 8-4-3050.

  Presently owner/operator tug Junk.

  Rubashkin smiled as her eyebrows shot up. "That's right, Captain, he has more than a passing acquaintance with liners in trouble."

  Neubeck started to say something but held her tongue instead. Assuming the ship survived she'd face a court of inquiry as well. How would she fare? She could almost hear the prosecutor as he or she said, "So, Captain Neubeck, you were asleep when the meteor hit, what happened then?" She pushed the thought aside.

  "Put Captain Sorenson on."

  The face that appeared on the com screen was long and thin as if suffering from a protracted disease. He had bushy eyebrows, intelligent blue eyes, and a thin-lipped mouth. Neubeck summoned a professional smile.

  "Greetings, Captain Sorenson. I look forward to meeting you in person… and the sooner the better!"

  Cap laughed politely. "I understand. Believe me, the feeling's mutual. And that's why I'm calling. We've got some work to do."

  Neubeck sat up a little straighter. Work to do? Great Sol, her people had been working around the clock! She felt defensive and did her best to hide it. "Okay, Captain, what have you got in mind?"

  "Not me." Cap answered, "my chief engineer. I'll put him on."

  Sorenson disappeared and was replaced by a shot of a floating globe. It extruded a vid pickup and aimed it in her direction. Neubeck glanced at Rubashkin. He smiled and gave a shrug. She managed a straight face.

  "Hello, I'm Captain Neubeck."

  The globe bobbed up and down. "Glad to meet you, Captain. My name is Cy Borg."

  "I'm pleased to meet you," Neubeck replied. "I wish our chief could join in this conversation, but he was killed in the meteor strike."

  Cy sank slightly. "Yes, I'm sorry."

  Neubeck cleared her throat. "So, what can we do to help?"

  Cy was silent for a moment as if gathering his thoughts. "Given your present rate of descent, we'll be lucky to hold you where you are, much less pull you out."

  "So?" Neubeck hoped this was going somewhere. She was well acquainted with her ship's situation.

  "So," Cy replied, "we'll try to repair drive number two. Number one is a dockyard job, but according to your damage reports, number two remains a possibility. With some power from it, plus what Junk can provide, we'll pull you out."

  Neubeck shook her head. The cyborg was wasting her time. "Sorry. It's like I said. The chief and all of his officers are dead. Some techs survived but they don't have the knowledge. We even checked the passengers. No luck."

  "You don't understand," Cy replied patiently. "I have the knowledge, and I'll tell your techs what to do."

  Neubeck perked up slightly. "You could do that? Direct them from there?"

  "Yes, I believe I can," Cy said evenly. "Now here's what I need…"

  Durna was a fiery ball that filled most of the main view screen and backlit the liner. Looking at it Lando could almost feel the sun trying to pull him down.

  From a distance the Princess Claudia looked fine. In fact better than "fine." She looked beautiful. In spite of the fact that she would never pass through a planet's atmosphere, her designers had taken care to smooth her skin and make her look like what she was. One of the finest ships ever built.

  But under high mag Lando could see the point where the meteor had plunged through the liner's outer hull. A rough-and-ready patch had been installed allowing Neubeck to repressurize the drive rooms.

  By using jury-rigged vid cams to see what was going on, and by driving the ship's remaining engineering staff to the edge of exhaustion, Cy had accomplished a great deal during Junk's long approach.

  But there was still work left to do, dangerous work down inside drive two's reaction chamber, work that they hoped to avoid. There was a chance, a slim one to be sure but a chance, that Junk could tow the liner unassisted. Everyone had agreed to give it a try.

  Lando used delicate bursts of power to move Junk even closer. "You ready, Cap?"

  "Ready," Sorenson answered tersely. "Here goes."

  There were beads of sweat on Cap's forehead as he reached out with two tractor beams and locked them onto Claudia's hull. "I have lock-on… pass the word."

  Lando touched a button and Neubeck came on-line. "Captain, we have two-beam lock-on. Applying power now."

  Neubeck nodded. "Thank you,
Pilot… here's hoping it's enough."

  Careful to apply the power smoothly Lando brought both of Junk's drives up to max and a little beyond. Twin warning lights and a buzzer came on. He checked the NAVCOMP for a change in position. A yard, a mile, anything. Damn! They were losing ground.

  Cy's voice came from Junk's drive room. He'd been monitoring their progress or lack of it.

  "It's just as we feared, Pik, she's still falling toward the sun, slower now but falling all the same. Back off the power a bit. Save it for later.

  "I'll transfer to the liner in the meantime. Things will go more quickly if I'm there in person, or in housing, as the case may be."

  Lando chuckled. "That's a roger. Reducing power now." The buzzer went suddenly silent and the warning lights vanished. He turned toward the com screen.

  "Sorry, Captain, it looks like we're going to need drive two."

  Neubeck was disappointed but determined to hide it. She forced a smile. "Well, thanks to the hard work by your chief engineer we still have a chance. I'll send my gig."

  An indicator light went from green to red. Lando smiled. "Thanks, but that won't be necessary. Engineer Borg is on his way. You might station someone at your main passenger lock though. Cy's in a hurry."

  Neubeck frowned, then smiled her understanding. "Of course! The chief has built-in transportation. How convenient."

  "It has its moments," Lando agreed. "We'll continue to slow your descent. Let us know when it's time to leave."

  Though separated from space by a metal housing Cy came closer than most to direct contact. Because his alloy casing was the same one he lived in all the time there was no sense of putting something between him and the void. He had total freedom to move in any direction that he pleased. It was wonderful, exhilarating, and terrible all at the same time.

  The trip from Junk to the Claudia was one of the loneliest moments of his entire life. There was nothing to be but himself. He felt separate, different, and terribly alone. Suddenly he wanted a body, any body, even one riddled with disease.

  He remembered what it was like to be a man. To run, jump, and make love to a woman. He remembered what it was like to make things with his hands. To push, pull, and twist parts together. He remembered what it was like to put everything on one throw of the dice. To lose, cry, and be taken apart.