East of the Sun, West of the Moon

by John Ringo

  "How?" Evan asked. The Tammen field generators were a secondary system whose primary control node actually ran through engineering. Assuming they captured engineering, that would give them latitude control. Especially if Geo could "soup them up."

  "The reason Tammens didn't use intermediate generators was that the theory didn't work for them in the 24th century," Geo said, looking over at Linda. "Why?"

  "I'm not..." Linda said then frowned. "Ah, the tertiary chaos equations of field junctions weren't worked out until...2679 by...by..."

  "Izakaiah Romanov," Evan said, grinning. Geo was always playing the "professor" game with the two.

  "You're so far beyond me," Paul Satyat said, shaking his head. Satyat was the designated engineering tech for Team Van Krief, a short, stocky brunette with burly hands and shoulders. He had studied various forms of engineering throughout history but only brushed on quantum engineering practices. He was more than capable of doing the nuts and bolts work, but the theoretical side left him cold.

  "Same here," Nicole Howard admitted. Nicole was, arguably, the prettiest of the several females on the mission. She was medium height with long blond hair, dark tanned skin, greenish blue eyes and long, shapely legs. But most guys didn't much beyond a truly phenomenal chest. For all that she was smart as a whip and, if anything, better at the nuts and bolts work than anyone but Evan. She actively enjoyed tinkering with equipment and her hands showed it, being rather overdeveloped and strong for the rest of her looks with broken fingernails and heavy calluses. "And I don't see how you can rebuild one to generate intermediate fields," she added, leaning over Geo from the other side and running a finger over one part of the schematic. "They collapse without an Izakaiah transform module. And I don't know about you, but I don't know where I can scrounge one off the top of my head."

  Linda looked across Geo and gave her a cool look that Nicole either didn't notice or pretended not to.

  "Oh, we'll have to build a module from scratch," Geo admitted, leafing through the ship's documents, oblivious to the two gorgeous women pressed on either side. "But it's mostly a matter of setting up a transform equation for generation and the materials. There's a xatanium injector that's used for the latitudinal thrusters and...hmm..."

  "Geo?" Linda said, gently, after the pause had stretched out. "We're still looking over the ship systems, here. Maybe we should worry about third form equations later?"

  "Oh, very well," Geo said, smiling at her sunnily. "But it's all very fascinating! Much better than building walls!"

  Evan looked up at the door on the end as there was a tap then walked over. There was an L shaped curtain around the door so no-one could see in and he entered the small alcove to undo the bolts and locks.

  "Yes?" he asked the Blood Lord guard on the stoop.

  "Message from the Dwarfs," the Blood Lord said, trying not to grin. "Time for Miss Howard to get fitted."

  "Aaaaah!" Nicole yelled from inside. "Not me!"

  "Time to face it, Nicole," Evan said, trying not to grin back at the guard.

  "Ow!" he heard behind him and a slap. Then a moment later Nicole came to the door, her face set.

  "One damned word..." she said, tightly.

  "What was the slap?" Evan asked, trying very hard not to grin.

  "Paul," was all she said, striding out of the door.

  * * *

  Herzer cleared his throat and tapped on the door, cautiously.

  "Yes?" Megan said as he stuck his head around the edge of the door.

  The computer techs a room in the team headquarters building, since there were only a limited number of interfaces in the ship. Megan and Courtney were bent over one of the shuttle interfaces, puzzling over a list of icons.

  "Time," Mike said, nodding at her.

  "Oh, crap," Megan said in her most unladylike tone. "I guess I've got to get it over with, don't I?"

  "Yep," Herzer said, surreptitiously scratching at his crotch, keeping the movement out of sight with the door. "Especially since they're working on a full armor suit for you. You're scheduled right after Nicole. So..."

  "I'd better go get...ready," Megan said, frowning.

  "It's not that bad," Herzer assured her. "If I could do it..."

  "I'm going, I'm going," Megan said with a sigh. "See you in a few hours, Courtney."

  "Okay," Courtney replied, trying not to smile. "Have fun."

  "Just wait until it's your turn," Megan said, tightly.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Over the millennia there had been various types of space suits used. One of the most popular prior to the development of field generation suits had originally been developed by a political entity called the Soviet Union. The Mir suit had only a single entry and exit point and the user donned it by climbing through a port on the back and then sitting in it cross-legged. It was more of a small ship than a true "suit" but it was popular because it was robust and very unlikely to fail.

  However, it was a pure micro-gravity system and impossible to move around in with any sort of gravity. The Icarus team required suits that could move from micro-gravity to the full auto-grav of the personnel portions of the ship. Of all the choices, the "leopard" suit was the most suitable given their time constraints.

  The Leopard was, essentially, a whole body glove that fit like a second skin. Using multiple layers of fabrics it transferred off heat, prevented loss of air and shielded the body from heat and radioactivity. However, it had to be absolutely skin tight since any air-pockets would tend to create bulges. If they were small they would cause small reduced air-pressure areas that ranged from painful to actively dangerous; the low-level vacuum could cause anything from small "hickeys" to bleeding through the skin. Larger pockets tended to be less painful – the suit would only allow so much bulging so their vacuum level was lower – but due to the shape of the human body they tended to migrate to joints. There the swelling of the suit caused it to become rigid at the joint, reducing or eliminating movement.

  Getting it absolutely skin-tight was the hard part. The only way to do that was to either have the user around while the inner liner of the suit was constructed, a multi-hour process that required near absolute stillness, or have a full-body model of the user.

  Given their time constraints, and the difficulty of staying still for hours, McCullough had insisted on using the full body model method. The problem being, it was, basically, a plaster model of the body at skin level.

  First the user would be covered in a thick layer of plaster and cloth. After that had set, the form was cut away and removed. Then a "statue" of the user was cast in the form from a rubber mixture. There were various lumps put in places to mimic items like the catheter bag and water carrier that would be inside the suit. Once the statue was prepared the seamstresses, including now Mirta, carefully constructed the suits, layer by layer, on the statues.

  Really, when all was said and done, the only problem came down to step one: making the mold.

  * * *

  "Okay, I'm ready," Megan said, stepping out of the shower wearing only a robe.

  "Not quite," Herzer said, grimacing and holding up the jar of petroleum jelly.

  "I cannot believe this," Megan replied, slipping off the robe and standing in front of him, naked.

  "You're still wet in places," Herzer said, trying not to stare at the fully shaved body. He was still itching from where his "shaving" was growing back in.

  "Help me?" Megan said after a moment, holding out a towel with a slight, unhappy, smile.

  "You're going to be okay with this?" Herzer asked as he carefully dabbed at some wet spots.

  "I'll live," Megan said, gritting her teeth. "I can handle a bunch of dwarfs leering at me. I don't have to like it."

  "I'm sure they won't leer," Herzer promised.

  "And I want you to be there to make sure," Megan said, picking up the jar of jelly and scooping out a double fingerful. "Please?"

  "Okay," Herzer replied, picking up the jar in turn. "Do your back?"r />
  "And various other spots," Megan admitted, slapping the petroleum jelly on her arm.

  The plaster would, of course, adhere to anything it set on. The petroleum jelly, which had to be rubbed on in a very thin layer all over the body, was to ensure the plaster would release the user's skin. By the same token, any body hair would be ripped off when the form was removed. Thus the full body shave.

  Herzer tried to act as if slowly rubbing petroleum jelly all over Megan's body was nothing but another job. He was not, however, that good of an actor.

  "Herzer," Megan said, huskily, "you're just supposed to be putting on a thin layer. Not rubbing it in lovingly."

  "Sorry," Herzer said, lifting his hand. "Maybe you should do the back of your thigh."

  "I think I can get the rest," Megan admitted, breathing in and out deeply. "Although, there's a nasty kink in my neck..."

  "Maybe later," Herzer said, stepping back and turning away.

  "I'm sorry, honey," Megan said, reaching a hand out and touching his arm. "Sooner or later, we're going to get some time."

  "Bet on it," Herzer said, not looking at her. "Soon. Certainly as soon as the mission's done. I'm going to insist on some leave. For both of us. No political deals, no missions. Just...time."

  "I'd like that," Megan admitted, smiling. "Maybe go up to the mountains by Raven's Mill? It'll be fall by then; we can watch the leaves turn or something."

  "Or something," Herzer admitted, finally turning to look at her with a grin.

  "Definitely the something," Megan admitted, rubbing the last of the jelly onto her lower legs and feet. "I guess I'll have to do my soles when I get in there."

  "What a beastly experience," Nicole said, walking in the changing room. There was a dogleg that kept anyone from peeking in but no door and the two could hear the bustling and talk of the dwarves in the far room. Dwarf mods gave them incredibly deep voices for their size and they tended to talk in Dwarvish which sounded like a gargle festival.

  "Make sure you got every bit of body hair," the blonde said, shaking her head angrily. "I didn't. And maybe since you're a counselor they won't ogle. I guess they have to cop a feel."

  "I'll make sure of that," Herzer said, frowning. "They shouldn't have been ogling you. There were supposed to be females present."

  "There were," Nicole said, dropping her robe and striding to the shower. "They were the worst."

  The baths at Raven's Mill were co-ed and Herzer had been to them more than once. And he'd occasionally seen girls at least as good looking, or nearly as good looking, as Megan and Nicole in them. But that had removed his higher brain functions, too. He was very glad he was dressed at the moment.

  "Get your eyes back in your head, lover," Megan said, trying to sound angry.

  "Trying," Herzer admitted, looking at her and then away. "Trying."

  "Well, let's go," Megan said, picking up the robe and donning it again. "I don't know why I even bother with this thing."

  * * *

  "Please to stand in front of the forms," the lead dwarf said, pointing to two oblong wooden forms on the floor of the room. "Feet spread shoulder width apart."

  The fitting room was in the dwarf building, near the side door Herzer had found the first time he'd visited the facility. It was a large room with work benches ranging down one side and half finished "statues" down the other. Herzer could see his own near the far door. The statues, of course, lacked a head, but someone had perched a manikin head on Herzer's and painted it with a mustache and goatee.

  Megan stepped up to the forms and spread her feet apart.

  "Bit more," the dwarf said, looking her over appraisingly. "That's about right."

  The forms were attached to sliding blocks and the dwarf adjusted them to the distance of her stance then nodded.

  "Please step in the forms and disrobe," he said, stepping away as she did so.

  The forms already had plaster in them and Megan stepped into the material cautiously. It squished up between her toes and she worked them cautiously then took off her robe and handed it to Herzer.

  "Please spread your arms out and down," the dwarf said, taking one hand and positioning her arms. "Spread your fingers wide," he added, splaying her hand. "And try to hold that. Try not to breath in and out too deeply."

  Two dwarfs came up with rubber forms in their hands. They were vaguely blister shaped and Megan frowned at them as two more dwarves stepped forward and, removing strips of plaster-impregnated cloth from the forms, they began to wind them up her legs.

  "What are those?" Megan asked.

  "They're for where the catheter bag and water blister go," Herzer said as one dwarf slapped the adhesive covered water bag on her back and the other slid the catheter bag form onto her inner thigh. High.

  "Watch your damn hands," Megan snapped, looking down at the dwarf.

  "You want this in the right spot, mistress, or not?" the dwarf asked, smoothing down the edges of the moldable-rubber device. She wasn't sure if the dwarf was a he or a she; both sexes had beards.

  "Just watch the hands," Megan said, caustically.

  She stood still as the dwarves, more now working on her body and arms, starting with fingers, constructed what was to all intents and purposes a whole body cast. Solid gobs of plaster were slapped in her underarms and she nearly swore when more was thrust into the area between her buttocks.

  "Not much fun," Herzer said, soothingly. "I know, trust me. I had to have...parts sort of..."

  "Glued," one of the dwarves said with a snigger.

  "Glued up," he finished, frowning. "That was lots of fun to remove, I've got to tell you. There's still bits drying in places. And the discussion about...which way to glue it wasn't funny."

  "You left some hairs, here," one of the dwarves said, looking up at a very intimate spot in her crotch. "It's going to smart when we take this off."

  "Just get it over with," Megan snapped as the dwarf took a handful of plaster and smeared it on. "God, I hate this," she added, closing her eyes.

  Finally the cast was fully formed and the dwarfs took rods and inserted them into hard points on the wrists then into holders on the floor.

  "Can I relax now?" Megan asked.

  "Just lean your hands on the rods," the chief dwarf said, nodding. "It will take about ten minutes to fully set. Then we'll cut you out."

  "You okay?" Herzer asked, coming around in front of her. He'd been circling the working dwarves, giving baleful looks to any he suspected of ogling. But, really, the dwarves had been fully concentrated on the job. Or at least making a good show of it.

  "Fine," Megan said, turning her head awkwardly to look at him. "Just feeling...rather vulnerable. I don't like that."

  "It'll be over soon," Herzer assured her.

  "I'm wondering," Megan said. "About the crotch and butt region. There's no way to prevent air-pockets there..."

  "You'll wear a sort of underwear," the chief dwarf said, going over to one of the benches and picking up a rubbery pair of underpants that looked suspiciously like a chastity belt. "It will fit...closely in your crotch and between the buttocks and it has soft-plastic seals along the edges. There's a viscous fluid in it that will harden under vacuum, sealing anywhere along the edges that leaks and displacing any air in the region. You'll have the same stuff on your skin under the suit; it'll take care of any minor bubble areas."

  "This is just so much fun," Megan said, shaking her head.

  After watching the clock for what seemed an interminable time, the chief dwarf finally stepped forward and rapped his knuckles on the cast.

  "It's good," he said, nodding at the helpers. "Start taking it off."

  The cast had to be sawn off in pieces, using small hand saws. That took about thirty minutes but finally all the cuts were made and the parts started coming off, starting from the top.

  "Ow!" Megan snapped as the first part came off over her head. "I didn't even know I had hairs there!"

  "You were supposed to shave everywhere," the
supervisor said with a sigh. "I don't know how many times you people were told that, but..."

  "OW!" Megan shouted as the crotch portion was removed.

  "Think of it as a whole body wax," Herzer said, trying to be soothing.

  "Did you get all your hairs?" Megan snapped back.

  "No," Herzer admitted. "And, yeah, that hurt like hell. But not as much as getting the glue off of parts..."

  Chapter Eighteen

  Herzer took a seat in the front of the stands just before the opening of the first space combat class. The stage in front of him had some of the props McCullough had used, including a pick mace, a small buckler, some metal plates with straps attached and suit parts on a table. The mangled suit of armor was standing next to the table. Just as he sat down, Van Buskirk strode out onto the stage and took a position of parade rest.

  "Welcome to Icarus Base and all that," the captain said, looking at the assembled group of Blood Lords. Fifteen of them, mostly from his own company, had been designated as members of the five "first in" teams; those that had techs associated with them and were guaranteed to fly. In addition, a sixth "Blood Lord pure" team had been assembled under Sergeant Graff. The fifth "first in" teamleader was Lieutenant Mike Massa, his Third Platoon leader.

  Massa was medium height with brown hair and eyes and the burly look commonplace among the Blood Lords. The lieutenant was newly promoted and about to be rotated out of the platoon leader slot. An experienced fighter, he had been among the group of Blood Lords that had assaulted the enemy camp during New Destiny's abortive invasion of Norau. A sergeant at the time, his actions in first taking and then closing the north gate had led to a field promotion and a tour through Officer's Basic then to Van Buskirk's company.

  There were another sixty volunteers from Raven's Mill who had responded to the "mission involving a high level of risk" call. It was unlikely that there would be sufficient suits made for all of them by the time the fuel shuttles started landing, but they would form the reinforcement corps for the mission.

  "You all know the nature of the mission and you've previously been briefed on the plan," the captain said, looking around at the short company of elite infantry. "This is about how we're going to do it."