by Gary Weston
'You aren't a relation of Dixon Cragg, are you by any chance?'
'Craggy? No. But he taught me the most important lessons about ships I ever had.'
Fawn chuckled. 'That's him. Feel the ship. Feel the cannon.'
'It's the best advice I can give you. Easy. Easy. Now we have it. Centre the target. Gently pull both triggers.'
Fawn let off a few bursts of energy. Most shots missed, one clipped the rock, blasting chunks off it.
'Not too shabby,' said Flare. 'A little more sensitivity, and a lighter touch on the triggers.'
'Feel the cannon. Ok.'
Fawn centred the red circles on the rock and pulled the triggers. The laser burst smacked dead middle of the rock, splitting it into a thousand pieces.
'I hit the son of a bitch.'
'Nice shooting. There's hope for you yet. Breezy. Any more rocks around here?'
'A few hundred.'
'Good. Pick the nearest one and take us on a slow orbit. Fawn's about to take one out when we're moving.'
'Here we go,' said Breeze. 'Go kill a rock.'
The Eye did a slow orbit around the rock.
'That's kinda small,' said Fawn.
'What can I say?' said Flare. 'They don't make space rocks like they used to. Kill the damn rock.'
Fawn concentrated, now on a smaller target in a moving ship. Her first shots were wide of the target and the concentric red rings were all over the screen.
'Fawn...'
'Yeah. Feel the damn cannon.'
She got the rings back. Compensating for the speed and orbit of The Eye, she squeezed the twin triggers and obliterated the rock.
'Now that's what I'm talking about,' said Flare. 'Breezy. We hit a sitting duck. Now we need to be doing it at speed.'
'Say when,' said Breezy with a chuckle.
All Fawn Dillow could see were a whole bunch of rocks as they flashed by them. Getting a fix on them was close to impossible.
'Hey, Breezy.'
'Hey yourself, Fawn. Enemy ships will be moving a hell of a lot faster. You gonna kill some damn rocks?'
Dillow heard the chuckles of three experienced officers, itching to show her how it was done.
'Feel the cannon. I can do this.'
More by luck than judgement, she hit one. Breezy took them through a quarry load of space rock.
Flare said, 'You should get these blindfold.'
Fawn had only half seconds to aim and shoot. She was getting a fifty fifty strike rate. Encouraged by her improving performance, she upped her game. Just to tease her, the better she got, the faster Breeze flew The Eye. Another laser joined in and three more rocks were smashed.
Flare snapped. 'Titch. That was you, I'm guessing?'
'Sorry, Captain. Couldn't resist it.'
Lance Dillow took over. 'Okay. All four lasers fire at will. Breezy. Stop making it so easy for them.'
'Music to my ears, Commander. Let's see if you can keep up, people.'
It wasn't about aiming and shooting. It was about becoming one with their weapons, turning off the logical parts of their minds and using instinct and gut feeling. Fawn was up to a ninety percent hit rate. The others were ahead of her, but not by much. They were leaving a growing pile of dust in their wake.
'Ok, Breezy,' said Lance. 'Enough playtime for now. Take us home. Well done, shooters. You shot a bunch of rocks minding their own business. Think about things moving at high speed wanting to take us out. Next time, no pussy footing around. We do it like we mean it.'
Chapter 23
'And what time do you call this?'
'Tell her, Breezy,' said Dillow. 'We've been on target practice.'
'That's right, Skye. Dillow even got lucky a couple of times,' said Breeze.
'Hey. I was good. Eventually.'
Skye had heard enough. She was tired and felt like she didn't have back up. 'Now you two fine ladies listen to me. We don't build us a new injector, we got no ship, and you don't go playing space cowgirls. I need some serious input here, and I don't mean tomorrow.'
'Pull your head in,' said Breeze. 'We're here. And where are the engineers when we need them?'
'Pulling eighteen hour shifts, like everyone else. Building cannons and fitting them to freighters. More cannons for ground cover. All we gotta do is build a complete gas injector and fit it to that damn ship.'
Breeze said, 'anybody tell you how hot you look when you're pissed off?'
'You're not my type. Now get busy.'
* * *
Mars Commander Tagg Potts couldn't remember the last time he slept more than four hours straight. If he wasn't doing that, he was doing this. Now he had a grim faced Armour Dillow in front of him.
'Problem?'
'We got determination. Not a lot else.'
'Training didn't go well?'
'Training went very well. For a rookie shooter, Fawn did good.'
Potts stifled a yawn and stretched. 'But?'
'Give me fifty ships armed to the teeth with two hundred top shooters, we might break even.'
Potts knew the giant to be a straight talker. He was telling it how it was.
'We might have nine, maybe ten ships, maybe a couple more, and as many shooters as we can train up.'
'Cannons?'
'A dozen. Perhaps a couple more.'
Dillow shook his head. 'Our shooters might be able to knock out a flea's eye from a thousand paces. We send out finest and bravest into battle, we'll be sending them on a suicide mission. We need more.'
Potts slammed his desk with his fist and eye-balled Dillow. 'We got no more, damn it.'
'Yeah. And that's the problem.'
'I get it. We're the damn underdog.'
Dillow turned and went to the door. 'I wish that were true. Tagg. We ain't even the under puppy.'
He left the office, his words leaving a bitter taste in Potts's mouth.
Chapter 24
Three days and most of three nights later, the new injector was done. It was made of various alloys, scrap parts, bits and pieces, ceramics, plastic and marsillium, It was also made of so much more. Blood from cut fingers and grazed knuckles. Sweat from the heat of the welding guns. Tears from the frustration when things didn't go right and they had to pick themselves up off the floor and start again. They had pushed themselves beyond all known limits, but finally, it was done. It stood ten feet tall, had a diameter of five feet and weighed in at an impressive three tons.
'That,' admitted Skye Lewquarker, 'Is without doubt, the ugliest thing I ever built.'
Breeze said, 'If anyone asks, I had nothing to do with it.'
'Does it work is all I need to know,' said Dillow.
Skye said, 'That will have to wait until tomorrow. No way are we dragging this thing over to the ship and fitting it until we're rested.'
'Agreed,' said Dillow. 'I've a husband and a little girl somewhere, wondering where I am. I'll see you in the morning.'
* * *
'If you weren't home in another half hour, I'd have come and dragged you back here,' said Joel.
'Sorry. Shyne in bed?'
'Seven stories I had to tell her before she went to sleep. Fawn. You need to spend some time with her.'
Fawn snapped, 'Don't you lecture me.'
'I wasn't. Look. I know how hard you're working on that ship, but you're not alone in that. I'm designing important modifications for the freighters to have laser cannons fitted. I got engineers and commanders screaming at me for my plans and I'm trying to look after our daughter at the same time.'
'I was hoping Misty could help out with Shyne for some of the time.'
'Misty's as busy as anyone else. She's full time as a volunteer at the childcare centre. Shyne was there for a few hours, but with me most of the time. We're all working ourselves into the ground.'
'I need a shower.' She paused before leaving the room. 'We're all worn out. Joel. I know it isn't easy, but we have to keep pushing ourselves. We have no choice.'
Joel nodded. 'I know. I supp
ose you're back at the ship tomorrow?'
'We're going to try to fit the new injector. If that works, we can try firing up the thrusters.'
Joel said, 'Then you'll be learning to fly the ship. We'll never see you.'
Fawn knew that to be true. There was nothing left to say, so she went off for her much needed shower.
Chapter 25
'Thanks for the loan of the book, Richie.'
'You're welcome, Max. Enjoy it?'
Morgan nodded. 'Pretty good. It passed away a couple of hours. Not too bored are you?'
'I'll be glad to be busy on Moon.'
'We're lucky we are fairly close at the moment. Just another twenty days to go, there about.'
Richie said, 'At least there's plenty of helium three on Moon.'
'How exactly is it extracted?'
'Ah. It's an interesting process. The helium has been collecting on Moon's surface from the Sun for billions of years. Some areas richer than others. Our facility is in a rich zone, with about twenty five parts per billion of helium.'
'That doesn't sound like much.'
'Pretty rich compared to many planets, like Mars, for instance. We can get enough energy from Moon for our use for thousands of years.'
'That's reassuring.'
Richie said, 'It'll keep you flying all your life. Anyway, once the hydrogen, helium, carbon and nitrogen in the soil are extracted by a combination of agitation and heat, cooling to near absolute zero provides sequential distillation. Then, at very low temperatures, helium-3 can be separated from ordinary helium by what we call the superleak process.'
'Sounds complicated. I always wanted to know where the fuel for the ships came from.'
Richie shrugged. 'I'll give you a guided tour of the plant once we have it up and running. The plant does all the clever stuff. Our job is mostly shovelling it up with a dozer, feeding the plant and collecting what we need out of the other end.'
'I'm sure it's more involved and responsible than that.'
Richie nodded. 'Maybe a little.'
'Right. Back to work. Catch you later.'
Chapter 26
Freddie Morcurry was roped in to transport the new injector to the ship. Skye insisted on sitting with him for the journey. Freddie took his time, suspecting the grief he'd get if he as much as scratched the payload. Finally, they were at the site, and Dillow and Breeze had opened up the back of the ship to gain access for fitting the injector. Stella was on board, still working on the computer, trying to get more familiar with the propulsion controls. She had made solid progress, but was nowhere near confident in firing up the big plasma engine when it was ready.
The plasma engine worked both the main thruster exhaust and also the smaller take off and landing exhausts, that lifted the ship off the ground, prior to the main exhaust being used to get the ship flying at speed. It was a balancing act to control the flows of the injector and the directions of the exhaust. And all this with a ship they had little knowledge of and using controls set up with a very foreign language.
'What could possibly go wrong?' Stella asked herself.
'Absolutely nothing,' said a voice behind her.
'Craggy. Hi. What a mission this has been.'
Craggy smiled. 'I have every confidence in you girls. I heard a lot of swearing back there. Freddie's moaning and groaning squeezing the new unit in place. I couldn't bear to watch so I came in here.'
'Better for me if they take their time. I know how it all works, Skye's gone over the basic principles of the whole propulsion unit, but we have to tell it what to do from here. The theory is straightforward, I just haven't learnt the language.'
Cragg stared at the controls, scared to breathe on them, let alone touch anything. 'Have you worked any of it out yet?'
'I think so. Power to the injector comes by these sensors. That gets the magnetic coils going, the injector and possibly the two antenna that heat up the ionised plasma.'
'So. That's like just getting things started.'
'Yes. I think so. Almost probably.'
Cragg said, 'I'd have thought the controls for everything for the propulsion unit would be all together in one place. That's how our ships have been laid out since Adam was a lad.'
'Was Adam a freighter pilot?'
Cragg chuckled. 'Yeah. He got his orders from some woman named Eve, if I remember correctly.'
'I assumed these controls right here are as you say, are just for the engine. But which does what? How would they organise the controls?'
Cragg gave some deep thought to that question. 'I doubt you will ever get inside those alien minds. Maybe you're coming at it from the wrong direction. Instead of asking, how would they set it all up, try asking, how would Stella Wayward, computer expert, set it up if she was building the computer, and I bet you wouldn't be far off the mark.'
'Well. If I put the start up power sensor here which is what this is, then logically, left to me I'd put...'
'See?' said Cragg. 'Just think Stella and it'll come to you. I gotta go.'
'Thanks, Craggy.'
'No worries. If you have any more problems, don't hesitate to solve them. See you later.'
Chapter 27
'It won't fit, I tell you. Craggy. Tell them won't you? This bloody thing will not go through that opening.'
The look on all four faces told Cragg everything. He was reluctant to step in the middle of a situation getting heated. 'Ok. Calm down. Freddie?'
'It's too damn big, and that's all there is to it.'
Cragg climbed up in the dozer next to Morcurry. At first glance, it didn't look good. 'Interesting.'
'I could think of other words, Craggy.'
Cragg said nothing and jumped down and approached the three young women. 'A bit of a squeeze, as the actress said to the bishop.' Ignoring the blank looks, he said, 'Couldn't you have allowed more clearance, Skye?'
Skye said, 'we couldn't make a workable injector as small as the old one. The working parts we use for our ships are larger and we haven't time to completely make everything from scratch. But I measured the opening and allowed what I thought was the best clearance for the complete thing.'
'Ok. So obviously we can't make the opening any bigger. But the unit is as small as it can be and still allow us to put in our parts.'
'Correct.'
'And it will fit in.'
'Thank you.'
'But the dozer attachment won't. That's the problem. We need something that can handle the weight of the unit whilst it extends into the ship, but doesn't take up so much of the clearance.'
Dillow said, 'I don't think there is anything, is there Craggy?'
Cragg stood inside the ship, central to the problem. He closed one eye and focused on the space around the new injector. Then he clambered down and got back on the dozer.
Morcurry said, 'I'm right, ain't I Craggy? It won't go in.'
'Your are absolutely right, Freddie, my old pal. Any idea where Shamini Singh is?'
'Back of Base Eleven, levelling the ground for a laser cannon to be fitted.'
Cragg worked the dozer radio. 'Shamini Singh. Can you hear me? This is Craggy. Shamini? Are you there, pal?'
'Craggy. What's up?'
'I got Freddie here. The dozer grabber is too big to get the new injector in.'
'Yeah? We got no magic wands, Craggy.'
'Me neither. The pod grabber. Where is it?'
'Stripped. Being overhauled in the workshop.'
'Excellent. The grabber arm. Still in one piece?'
'Yes, last time I looked. Why?'
'Because I want engineering to cobble it to the dozer.'
Singh laughed. 'Good luck with that.'
Cragg said, 'Screwy Driver. You there? You got five minutes?'
'I heard, Craggy,' said Sam “Screwy” Driver, head of engineering. 'You want us to fit the pod grabber arm onto the dozer.'
Cragg said, 'If you have a spare ten minutes.'
'Impossible.'
'Ok. Fifteen minutes,
then.'
The heavy sigh came back over the radio. 'The couplings are completely different. We would have to cut off the dozer arm, and weld in place a modified pod grabber arm.'
Cragg winked at Morcurry. 'You are brilliant, Screwy. I don't care what the others say about you, I reckon you're a genius. Only you could have come up with a plan like that.'
'Err, well. I do have my moments. Freddie?'
'Way ahead of you, Screwy. On my way to the workshop.'
'See,' said Craggy. 'You just gotta know the right people. Put the injector over there. Nice and easy. Right. Come with me.'
The two men got off the dozer. 'I reckon, if they disabled the hydraulics here, cut the arm off say, here, weld the pod grabber arm on when it's cut the same length, no longer, mind, but...and this is important. The grabber itself must be this way, and not that way.' Cragg used his hand to demonstrate how it should be fitted. 'Got that?'
Morcurry nodded. 'That'll work.'
'Yep. And I want you back here and fitting that bloody injector in that bloody ship in three hours' time.'
'Not a problem,' said Morcurry hurrying back to the dozer.
'Not any more it isn't,' Cragg muttered to himself. 'Skye?'
'I heard, Craggy. Three hours.'
Cragg said, 'Are you crazy? That's impossible.'
Dillow said, 'But you said three hours.'
'That's only what I told Freddie. He'll be back in about four hours. I'm off for a beer.'
When Cragg arrived home, he found he had a little visitor.
'Uncle Craggy.'
'Well, hello, Shyne. Nice to see you.'
Misty said, 'Joel asked if we could have her for a few hours.'
'And very welcome you are too, Shyne. And if I'm not mistaken, that smells suspiciously like chicken?'
'From Joel. For us looking after Shyne for him.'
Cragg got a beer from the fridge. 'Nice. I'm partial to a little chicken.'
Misty dished up three plates. 'You want fries with that?'
'Sounds good to me.'
They sat at the table to eat their meal. Shyne was becoming a little chatter box and Cragg could see Fawn in her features. Perhaps her father's eyes.
