Sabercat (Tommy Reilly Chronicles Book 1)

by T. L. Knighton

  Tommy's eyes widened for just a split second. How did she know about that? Granted, there was a lot more to the story, but still…then he said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

  She nodded and smiled. "Well, I know they appreciated it."

  He paused for a moment, then nodded slightly, and headed through the hatch.

  ** ** **

  Most of the crew had gathered in the rec room, a cube of space that held a couple of square tables for various games, a couple of vid screens, two sofas, and the gravity weight equipment. Usually, small groups broke off according to what people were interested in. That wasn't the case this time as everyone piled onto the sofas and glared at Harley.

  "Is he chafing nuts?" Cody asked.

  "No," Harley replied. "That's the job, that's all. It'll pay really damn well, and frankly, the ship needs the money."

  "Oh, don't give me that crap. Rich boy's loaded. We know who he is, a rich kid playing starship captain so he's got something to talk about at the country club. There's no way in hell he needs the money that bad," Cody fired back.

  "Not true," Michelle said, her voice vehement.

  All eyes turned to the diminutive computer expert. She shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable with the attention.

  "What do you mean?" Adele asked.

  "I did not trust him, so I looked. No communications from his mother, nothing to her, and nothing from anyone I couldn't peg down."

  "Yeah, but that doesn't prove a damn thing," Cody said, a hard edge to his voice. Harley could tell he was skeptical.

  "No, it does not," Michelle replied. "So I hacked his mother's system when we were on Jericho."

  "How?" Harley asked. "She's on Earth."

  Michelle shrugged and said, "I piggybacked on the EDC quantum bandwidth."

  Harley was impressed. The EDC had the most secure data connection, at least so far as anyone knew. "Captain said you were good. Didn't realize you were that good."

  "Pfui. That was nothing. You cannot hack into their data itself, but one can use the signal easily enough. His mother's system though? Much harder."

  "And?" Cody asked, his impatience growing. "What is it?"

  "She and the captain are not on speaking terms. At all. She has been trying to create new rules for interstellar transports that would put the captain and most other ships our size out of business. She even told one confidant that it's all about bringing the captain home to, quote, 'give up this foolishness', end quote."

  "Great. He's having mommy issues and our asses get to pay the price," Cody popped off.

  Tommy's voice seemed to rattle throughout the space when he said, "Is there a problem?"

  Cody stood and turned, his anger plain for everyone to see. "Yeah, there's a problem. I'm not crazy about dying so you can impress your high school crush."

  Hands wrapped around the engineer and yanked him back. Harley held him against the bulkhead. "Nothing to worry about, Captain."

  Tommy nodded. "I don't expect you to like this. You have a couple of weeks to think about this. If you don't like it, then Ararat is your port of call. However, I will tell you this. What we are doing is important. Even if it didn't pay as well as it does, we'd be doing it. It's the right thing to do. Is that understood?"

  Muttered replies indicated a grudging assent. Harley watched as Tommy turned and walked out.

  Cody grunted. "It's the right thing to do? Did he really just try to sell that chafing crap with us?"

  "You heard the captain. Don't like it, then hop off at Ararat," Harley fired back.

  "Easy for him to say. He's sitting on thirty-kay from the last run."

  Harley glared at the smaller man. "You really are an idiot, you know that?"

  "What?"

  "That day we were parked in orbit? It made us late. Every one of us got paid more than the captain. He's lucky to have recouped costs."

  Cody's gaze slowly drifted to the deck.

  "Now," Harley said, "you want to open your mouth about anything else you're clueless about?"

  ** ** **

  Tommy sat in the small office designated for the captain's use in the original plans for the ship. To be honest, he used it more for storage, but he had the trappings of an office in there as well. The battered chair, the prize from a salvage expedition launched when Harley had seen it sitting next to a trash can, was barely useable, but close enough for Tommy. The plasteel desk was acquired similarly.

  A rap at the door echoed through the tiny space.

  "Enter," he called out.

  The door slid into the pocket built into the wall, allowing Harley to enter. The big man stepped in and slid the door closed behind.

  "Sorry you had to hear that, boss."

  Tommy shrugged. "I'd probably have thought the same thing in their boat. It's not like they haven't been bent over a few times themselves. No reason for them to expect me not to do the same."

  "As long as you're not doing it, there's nothing to worry about."

  Tommy sat there, saying nothing for a few moments. "You remember the ship that picked us up?" he asked.

  Harley smiled and said, "How could I forget. Most beautiful ship I ever saw."

  "That crew. They weren't just a group of people working together. They were more than that."

  "They were like a family."

  Tommy nodded. "That's why I bought Sabercat. I wanted that. Marco, Selene, Mom, they're blood, but family? Maybe in name, but not much more than that. That crew though?"

  "Yeah, I understand."

  Tommy looked up at his first officer. "We don’t have that. Neither did any of the others. I've got a damn college degree that's supposed to help with this, but none of it tells me what I'm doing wrong."

  Harley laughed.

  "What?" Tommy asked.

  "You think you're doing something wrong?"

  "I'm not?"

  "Only in thinking this sort of thing just happens," he said. Harley turned to move the stack of boxes in the old kitchen chair across the desk from Tommy and sat down.

  "Look," Harley continued, "you're wanting a brotherhood. That doesn't just get willed into existence. Hell, I was in the Corps, and with all that meant, it didn't just happen there either. It took time and took us going through hell for it to happen, and you're worked up that it hasn't just happened after a few months of floating in the black together. Not exactly a reasonable request."

  Tommy smiled softly. "Guess not." He had a point. That crew had been together for years. On the trip back to Earth, they regaled Harley and him with tales of escaping pirates and corrupt customs officer on a dozen different worlds. They'd been everywhere and been through everything.

  His crew hadn't. Not yet. Not this crew, at least.

  "Just worry about keeping us in jobs. Keep everyone paid. They'll eventually figure out that you're putting your neck on the line for them, and they'll respect it. Just make damn sure loyalty goes both ways and you shouldn't have too much to worry about."

  "That's all it'll take?" Tommy ask, his smile shifting to playfulness.

  Harley shrugged. "Well, since you already do a lot of the crap jobs on this boat, yeah, it is. They recognize that you don't have to on some level, so it'll creep into their thinking. Eventually."

  "I hope so."

  "Now," Harley started, "I have to ask, how much of this is because it's right, and how much is because you feel guilty?"

  Tommy looked at the other man incredulously for a moment, then his look shifted to sheepishness. "A bit of both, really."

  "You realize you can't just make up for everything you did, everything you were, by risking your life just because someone you wronged asks, right?"

  Tommy nodded. Harley was right, he couldn't. That much bad doesn't just get wiped away, no matter how much we tried to do to make things right. Not that he could really turn off the guilt either, and trying to atone helped with that.

  "Just keep it in mind next time someone asks," Harley offered.

  Tomm
y nodded again, then after a moment said, "You realize it's not about her, right?"

  "It's not?"

  He shook his head. He could understand why Harley would ask, though. He'd asked himself about once an hour until he got an answer that felt like the truth.

  "Then what is it?" the other man asked.

  "It's about me. I'm still trying to figure out how to forgive myself."

  Harley looked at him the big man was concerned. Anyone with a brain could see that. "There's got to be an easier way than getting yourself killed."

  "I'll let you know if I figure one out," he said with a grin.

  Chapter 4

  Tommy made his way down the passageway, the discolored metal feeling gloomier than normal. He looked up and saw his engineer working his way in the opposite direction. The last few days since the crew meeting had been tense, and the glare in the engineer's eyes made it clear that he shouldn't expect anything different going forward.

  "Cody," Tommy said with a nod of greeting.

  Cody bit an apple, his glare intensifying.

  So that's how it is, Tommy thought as they approached one another. Tommy shifted to allow the other man to pass in the narrow passage. Cody, however, decided to stay square, bumping into the captain.

  Tommy spun and asked, "You got problem?"

  Cody stopped and turned slowly. "Yeah, I do."

  "That's obvious."

  The other man smiled, his grin almost feral. "Hey, I guess I'm just an ass for not wanting to die for nothing. But hey, you're the captain, so feel free to wreck the ship any way you want."

  Tommy stepped forward, putting his face just a few centimeters from Cody's. "I told you that if you didn't like it, stay on Ararat. Find another crew."

  Cody laughed. It was a hollow sound without any sense of joy whatsoever. "You really think that's an option? With my record?"

  "You've got six months on board. Everyone will get a letter of recommendation from me. You'll sign on somewhere else."

  "Yeah, a letter from a dead man that can't be checked out and a record that barely even got me on this piece of chafing scrap metal," Cody barked.

  "What do you want? You want to let Dianne get off and find another way to Armstead?"

  "Yeah," the other man barked.

  "Not gonna happen."

  "Why, huh? Why do you have to be the damn white knight? Why do we gotta die for her?"

  Tommy glared at the other man, his mind racing for an answer. "That's the job," he finally uttered.

  "The job? You're saying that's the job? That has got to be the worst answer I've ever heard. You don't give a chafe about any of-"

  A loud crack and a violent shudder cut Cody off, sending both men slamming into the wall hard, both crumpling onto the deck afterward. As Tommy pushed himself up, the light shut off, plunging the entire ship into darkness. Bright red emergency lights flipped on after a few moments.

  "What the hell was that?" Tommy asked as he turned and looked around.

  "Not a clue," Cody said, an ear cocked to the noises of the ship.

  Tommy made his way to a com panel on the far wall. He pressed the blue button and spoke into the mike. "Adele, report?"

  "We have lost all power. Running diagnostics, but I think we hit a meteoroid," the pilot reported.

  "I take it we're not venting atmo then. Why didn't the forward shield bounce it?"

  "We're in the Carson Field. It hit us from the side."

  "Deermo!” Tommy curse. “Okay, let me know what the diagnostics say."

  Cody looked him, his eyes wide. "I'm heading to engineering. Whatever it is, I'll need to at least stop by there."

  Tommy nodded. "Do that. I'll head to the bridge."

  A short time later, Tommy stepped onto the command deck. "Okay, what's the word?"

  "We lost a coolant line on the port side. I already have the remotes crawling to find the damage."

  Tommy nodded once and said, "This being fed to Cody?"

  Adele nodded from her pilot's seat. "Yes sir."

  He watched the grainy image as the tiny robot with magnetized wheels rolled its way over the aged metal. In the distance, he could see the spray of engine coolant jetting out into the infinite blackness of space.

  Adele expertly directed the robot closer until Tommy could see the damage.

  "Coupling," he said matter-of-factly.

  "You guys seeing this," Cody said over the com.

  "Yeah, I see it."

  "I can get another coupling fabbed into about twenty minutes. The problem is where we're at."

  "Yeah, I know."

  "Am I gonna get hazard pay for this crap?" Cody asked, a hint of humor trying to find its way in.

  "Why? I'm the one going out there," Tommy said.

  "What?" Cody barked in surprised.

  From the door to the bridge, Harley added a "What" into the mix as well.

  Tommy turned to face the big man. "You heard me."

  "It's the Carson Field. Micro meteors bouncing all over the damn place. You do not want to go out there," Harley said.

  "You're right. I don't. But it's too dangerous for anyone else," he said. Pressing the com button, he said, "Cody, get the part fabbed up. I'm going to get suited up in a few and head outside."

  Harley stared at him, making him rather uncomfortable.

  "I'm going out there. Get used to the idea," he said as he stepped toward the door and nudged his way past his first officer.

  "You're nuts, right?" Harley said, trailing him.

  Tommy smiled and said, "I've been accused of that a time or two."

  Grabbing his arm, Harley spun Tommy around. "Dying won't solve anything. You know that, right?"

  He rolled his eyes. "I'm not an idiot. Yes, there are a lot of small pieces out there, but space is freaking huge. The odds of me encountering another one? Astronomical. No pun intended. Besides, you and I both know that you can handle the crew as well, if not better, than I can. If I don't make it, you can get Dianne to Ararat at least."

  The big man glared at him. "You'd damn well better bring your happy ass back inside in one piece."

  Tommy smiled. "That's the plan."

  ** ** **

  The once gold spacesuit now looked more brown than anything else, any metallic flecks in the fabric long gone. Old, beat up, but serviceable. Just like everything else on the ship. Tommy finalized the last seal, but held off on the helmet until Cody brought the part.

  "If I still worked for your mother, you know I'd have tackled your ass by now, right?" Harley said.

  Tommy grinned and said, "Your point?"

  "That this is a colossally bad idea."

  Shrugging, Tommy said, "Maybe, but someone has to go out there, and the risks are real. We can't risk anyone else. Hell, I'm pretty much the most useless member of the crew at this point, so who else can we send?"

  Footsteps sounded against the metal grating as Cody strode into view. In one of his hands was a dirty, stained white tool box, a metal clip dangling by an equally dirty white piece of webbing. In his other hand was a replica of the coupling.

  "Alright, here you go," he said, handing the part to Tommy. Next, he clipped the toolbox to a d-ring attached to the suit. "Do not lose any of these tools. You can't afford to replace them for me, and we might need them again. They're kind of important and all that."

  "No replacements?"

  Cody shook his head.

  "Good to know. They secured in the box?"

  "Yeah, they are, so you should be good to go on that front. There's also magnetic attachment points on the outside of it so you can open it on the hull and it'll stay put. At least until reentry."

  "Gotcha."

  Harley slipped the helmet on and twisted it into place. A loud click sounded as the helmet locked into position.

  "Radio check?" Harley called.

  "Reading five by five," Tommy replied and turned toward the airlock.

  He stepped over the lip sticking up out of the floor and into the lock
, securing the door behind him. He looked to the right of the door and pressed the button that would release the air in the lock slowly. Above it, a green light indicated there was sufficient air and pressure for human life. It quickly shifted into an amber light for the in-between stage of not enough to live on, but not enough to open up out into space either.

  The red light flashed on and Tommy held his breath. He turned and pressed the button next to the external airlock. The door opened slowly. Beyond it was nothingness itself.

  Looking down for a moment, Tommy found the safety line attached to the right hip of his suit and clipped it onto the safety bar that ran the length of the ship. He then carefully stepped outside of the airlock. He looked to his left, toward the forward section of the ship. Coolant was still venting, which wasn't good.

  I want to meet the moron who decided to route coolant lines on the outside of the hull and give them the whooping they deserve, he thought, though he knew part of the reasoning was because the coolant would vent heat easier in contact with the cold vacuum. Of course, the materials the line was made of helped with that too. Still, it was a cheap, stupid way to do it.

  "Okay," he said, "I see it. It's about sixty meters or so down the hull. We're still venting coolant. How low does that put us?"

  "Low enough that I'm not happy about it, but I think we'll be good to go until Ararat. Maybe," Cody replied.

  "How long should this take me?"

  "In theory? Since you haven't done this before? Probably two, three hours. In practice, it needs to take you no more than ninety minutes," the engineer answered.

  "That doesn't make a lick of sense," Tommy fired back as he slowly worked his way down the hull.

  "Well, it need to happen that fast because…well…it looks like we're running out of atmo pretty damn quick apparently, so I need to get the engine running so life support will come back online. Without a viable coolant line though…"

  "So, no pressure, right?"

  "Roger that."

  Tommy cursed under his breath and continued closer toward the leak. Each step had to be very, very careful. The smallest stumble would send Tommy tumbling out into space. While the safety line would prevent him from going Dutch, he'd have to release the part to pull himself back, putting them back to square one.