"Thanks for the heads up Major, I'll let the powers that be know and send word to Earth there will be a shut down for two hours, over."
"Make it three ma'am, it'll take a while to get everyone back to their work stations."
"Will do Butch, safe flying."
He gritted his teeth at the nickname then turned to an angry Minjee.
"What the fuck Rod . . . this is an emergency."
"We don't know that yet, an accident yes, without a doubt." He grabbed her forearm firmly. "Min, there's a lot at stake here. The real powers that be would love for there to be a disaster here. We owe it to the citizens of this station, and to Regan to find out more first. Don't we?" He paused, waiting for her reaction.
She hesitated, "I guess so . . . but we've got no communication or control."
"So we go in, we find out what we can, and then we report if necessary. Until then we say nothing, agreed." Already he was guiding the ADF toward the flight deck, the lack of field a concern but not insurmountable. They had trained for just this eventuality.
* * *
Russian Federal Space Agency Moscow
President Sokolov and Prime Minister Popov rested in the large meeting chairs, eyeing the screen briefing from Baikanur Cosmodrome with disappointment. The news was not encouraging and it was unacceptable.
"Yuri," Sokolov interrupted the Roscosmos Administrator, "It is essential that we assert our presence in orbit. If we do not have a substantial platform like the Americans then our presence must be established by more regular flights to the station, they must be longer flights and the station must be expanded. This is self evident. Why do you continue to protest?"
The administrator blanched under the barrage. "Mr. President, our budget is stretched as it is. Are you saying that we will have more funds allocated?"
"You will have the budget Yuri," the Prime Minister intervened soothingly, "but we must have action now. It is more important than ever that we have a constant presence in space, something active, and something beyond the presence of fourteen cosmonauts in a tin can. What can you give us?"
The Administrator looked pensive. "Vasily, we have only three shuttles available here. If you make available the two military Orbit Warriors at Plesetsk Cosmodrome then we can rotate flights to maintain a presence while servicing the craft between launches. Without the Warriors it will be very difficult and almost certainly unsafe. Can we afford the embarrassment of an accident?"
Popov looked across at the President who nodded imperiously.
"You will have them Yuri, but their flights must avoid Hillary Step and Station. We do not want them looking too closely at our designs."
On screen the two watched the Roscosmos Administrator shake his head . . . With frustration perhaps? The meaning was unclear.
"You will have your presence in orbit sirs, but we cannot do this for long. We need a base in space to achieve your desires."
The screen went blank. "We need a miracle Vasily, this is not going well." Sokolov looked bleak.
"This is true, a miracle or a disaster Andrei . . . perhaps both."
In Baikonur Roscosmos Administrator Yuri Perminov stalked from the conference room in anger. Idiots! As if the Americans would be interested in our designs. We fly like Albatross, they fly falcon . . . The devil take you!
* * *
The STEIN Transport, Gliese 667 System
Apart from their mystery drop from warp the journey so far had been uneventful. The last two weeks however, cooped up in the relatively small space of the saucer had been a trial. Steph had proved inconsolable and Marin was genuinely concerned. Sitting now in the war room he pushed the coffee across and as she reached for it he grabbed her hand.
"Steph, this has got to stop. I do understand how you must feel. You think that if you'd known about what happened to Regan you would never have risked hurting her, but you've got it all wrong. Regan chose to keep this to herself and I agree with her. She doesn't want that beautiful boy to have the stigma of rape and violence hanging over his head. She just didn't want to take the chance of sharing what happened with anyone, and truthfully, she had dealt with it herself, as best you can with these things. She's a strong woman Steph and she didn't need to be cared for. She certainly didn't want anyone to feel sorry for her. Steph, she took her own action, and killed them! Regan takes matters into her own hands; you need to let go of this and do the same."
"I'm sorry Marin; I feel I've let her down, like I should have stayed to support her."
"How can that make sense? All this happened over four years ago. She didn't talk about it then and wouldn't want to now. Look, I doubt anyone ever gets over something like that completely, but after all this time whose needs would it really meet if you tried to bring it up with her?"
"I just feel guilty."
"It shouldn't be about you, so stop. That's not what she would want for you. In fact I think she'd be damn angry with you right now. You're about to arrive on the other side of the galaxy in an alien society. This is a dream; she'd want you to enjoy it. I certainly do, so enjoy it with me, won't you?"
Steph seemed to consider his words then stood and walked around to him. She climbed on his lap and curled up into him. For once his first thought wasn't to carry her to a bunk room. He held her and thought nervously about Dahlia, only three days away.
* * *
Rod brilliantly drifted the ADF in to the flight deck as if he had done it a thousand times before. They had barely stopped moving when Minjee handed him his helmet for the dash across to the airlocks. Gravity was lowest here on the innermost ring, around eighty percent earth normal and they would need to be careful. The real challenge would be entering the emergency airlock without power. Neither of them had ever needed to manually operate the locks and Minjee silently cursed her lack of attention to that fact. Rod nursed the craft as close as possible to the emergency door. They had air for around fifteen minutes outside the ADF and wanted to make the most of their time.
The doors ratcheted up and they easily exited to the deck, alarmingly clear of the usual equipment and deck crew. A calm but quick skip across the space and Rod was examining the controls. Minjee pushed him to the side and went through the steps she had memorized but never tried. Everything worked like clockwork and in only a few minutes they were inside sealing off vacuum and working the inside door to access the station. The inside lock also proved no problem and quickly opened . . . to darkness and torchlight beams panning the corridors.
"Thank God for that, they're not all dead." Rod gestured for Minjee to come through then slammed and locked the door behind them. They removed their helmets cautiously.
Minjee stood, fists clenched nervously and rooted to the spot considering options. "Where are we going Rod?"
"They're not all dead, that means people will be working to identify the problem. We should head for the Stein compound. Management will be there and we can assess the situation . . . Min', does the air seem rank to you?"
She sniffed and nodded. "I can't hear the air conditioning. In fact apart from voices I can't hear anything."
They started the long walk up the pipe, a slow disorienting process lit only by the flickering lights of others. Chancing across a small group by a tube entrance they stopped to ask for a torch only to be hauled up to assist with the opening of the doors. Rod joined two flight deck workers hauling on one side while Minjee helped on the other. They had already opened a small gap and with the extra help the doors were soon forced apart. Three men were gasping weakly on the floor. One they could see was Hayden Joyce.
"What happened?" Rod asked the senior technician leaning over Hayden.
The man looked up shocked. "Where have you been man? No one knows what happened, power and systems just crashed around four hours ago. All the doors have frozen. People are trapped all over the pipe and some are in very small spaces, without air flow. It's a disaster."
Minjee checked the pulse of the one motionless man, looking slightly incongruous in
a business suit. They were all alive at least. She grabbed Rod's arm and pulled him back to the corridor. "The compound Rod, we've got to get there, they might be trapped too."
They began to jog, short quick steps in the foul air and ten minutes later drew near the compound door just earthward of centre pipe. The corridor was clear and it was obvious the doors had not been opened. Rod banged on them hard and after only a few seconds they could hear a response from the other side. He could see movement with a tiny gap opening and closing. He guessed someone was trying to lever the doors from the other side. Waiting for the gap to open Rod jammed the small torch into the space then worked his fingers in to grab one side with both hands. Minjee hauled on the other and slowly with the assistance of those inside they prized the doors open.
"Rod . . . my god, how did you manage to get back on station?" It was Kevin, hair sweaty and matted.
"We got in ok sir, but it's a mess out there. Sir, we've just seen Hayden Joyce. He was rescued from the tube with two other men. They're alive but only just."
Mary joined Kevin. She looked haggard in the dim torch light.
Suddenly they felt a distinct change in the air, a draft springing up through the doorway followed by lights flickering and quickly returning to full power. Kevin stepped out into the corridor. Looking up through the ceiling windows he could see the familiar corridor lights across the inner face of the pipe flickering on and stretching away into the distance. He leant on the wall for a moment in relief, and then turned to hug Mary. "The twins Mary; bring them out to the lounge with us." He turned to Minjee and Rod. "I need a debrief Major, we need to know what the fuck happened." He shook his head to clear it. "I think Ham has . . . well, just gone. We were attacked I think. But first I need to know about those men. Are you up to going back?"
"We're on it sir, do you want us to bring them here if they're ok?"
"Definitely, I want them here with us."
Rod and Minjee began the jog back. Kevin walked back into the room, relief at the lights and the flow of fresh air flooding through him.
"Ham? Are you there?
Nothing . . .
He could see Kutch was trying to access the system via his tablet.
"Any luck Kutch?"
"Something's happening in there . . . that's all I can tell."
"Excuse me, excuse me, could I have your attention please," A female voice, cultured English, and they could hear through the open door that it was booming down the pipe. Kevin felt a chill run down his back and the hairs on his neck prickled. He couldn't resist a temptation to look around as if searching for the ghost.
"Could I have your attention please?" The voice continued, "I am so sorry for the unavoidable disruption you have experienced. Steps are being taken to restore all services as soon as possible. Please assist where you can until the full extent of needs can be assessed and resources diverted. Please be assured there is no further risk to safety and all systems are in operation. An explanation will be forthcoming shortly. Once again, on behalf of management . . . I think . . . we apologize for this disruption. Could Regan Stein please identify herself? Regan Stein, could you please identify yourself?"
A startled Mary, with twins in hand entered the lounge slowly.
Kutch, hands still poised over his keys looked over to an equally stunned Kevin. he spoke for them all. "Who the fuck is playing Pollyanna?"
Kevin drew in a steady breath and exhaled his tension. He calmly took the spare chair and gestured to Mary to take the couch. The twins, only three years old were surprisingly happy and it cheered him.
"This is Kevin Stein, Regan's brother, and who am I speaking to please?"
There was a momentary pause. "Kevin, yes, I know of you. I must apologize for this disastrous entry. I need to speak with Regan please." They could tell the voice was now room specific and the doors to the corridor immediately closed. It was more than a little disturbing.
Kevin looked at Mary for support and raised his eyebrows. She shrugged a reply, I got nothing!
He continued. "Unfortunately Regan is unavailable at the moment, may I take a message for her?"
"I'm sorry no, this isn't a business call. Ham said to speak only to him or Regan. Is she available to be contacted please?"
Kevin paused to process the words, "Hold on . . . You said, Ham said to talk first only to him, or Regan. Clarify please."
"Hmm . . . I can see how that might be confusing. My Ham said to talk only to him or Regan."
"Your Ham? Please, before I can help that still needs some clarification, and as a courtesy, could you please identify yourself?"
"I see . . ." There followed a long pause. "My Ham, a back up . . . from my system, said that I was only to talk to him or Regan here. And my name is . . . aah . . . Dahlia."
There was a collective intake of breath around the room and for a moment no one spoke. Kutch broke the silence. "Dahlia . . . the orbital Dahlia?" He looked at Kevin. "How can she be here? And why?"
"And why wouldn't Ham have mentioned this?" Mary asked.
"I have no idea but it's a disaster." Kevin stood and began to pace.
"I am here you know . . ." The voice sounded slightly peeved.
Kevin gathered himself. "I'm sorry . . . Dahlia, this is a shock as I think you can imagine," can she? "It appears that whatever happened when you dropped in it has completely pushed Ham out and all our systems crashed, shit, I'm sorry but lives may have been lost, I need to know what's happened."
"I'm extremely sorry to report that fourteen lives have been lost and there are seven minor injuries. All systems are now operating and I am familiarizing myself with safety, medical and security. The flight deck fields are once again operational and pressurized. Flights in will recommence soon although I am managing the queue to avoid incidents. I would recommend a statement from you should be broadcast as soon as possible to allay any tensions."
"What about my tensions?"
"As I have already said, damage is being assessed, the injured are being tended to, all systems are operating and everything is under control."
"But not our control!"
Again, there was a thoughtful pause. "Was it under your control before?"
Mary looked at Kevin; a clear 'Got you there!' look.
"No, well," Kevin sounded flustered, "Ham had everything under control, and he works under, well with really, Regan."
"Kevin, Ham trusts me implicitly." The voice was quite definite.
"Sorry, look we're just worried, this has been a huge shock. It's a big station, a lot of people to be responsible for in space, we rely on Ham and it seems we've lost him for the moment and you have something to do with it."
"Please, no offense intended but this tiny ship? Really? You know I run . . . well ran an orbital with a population of four hundred million. It has more useable surface area than most of your planet. I have apologized. I take every life seriously and personally. It will trouble me for some time that my arrival cost those fourteen people their lives. Please understand I had no idea. Ham said when the moment came it would be a Code Red, that means . . ."
Kevin interrupted, "Go far, go fast, I know."
"No . . . he said it meant don't ask stupid questions, just go. Dump the lot he said, go for it, and I did."
Mary looked at Kevin and raised her eyebrows, "I'm going to get coffee," she offered, "anyone else?"
"Dahlia," Kevin continued, "please, you do need to talk to us. First, Regan isn't here because she was attacked and injured almost two weeks ago. Ham took her in the STEIN Traveler for whatever reason; a code red he said and they've left the system. Second, you've pushed out Ham here, so now there are only us. The last thing he said as you were obviously downloading was that there is a Coran ship in the system which is a serious concern. I presume that's where you came from."
At that moment the doors opened to the corridor. Rod, Minjee, Hayden, Mitch and a harried looking Marcus entered. It was his first real experience of the station.
&nbs
p; Kevin welcomed them grimly, hugging each in turn and ushering them through into the room.
"I'm sorry guys, you're coming in the middle of a . . ." He looked around for help, "What is this? Anyway, I'm going to have to explain some things later. First, Hayden, is Jenny Ok, do you need to contact her."
"She's back home Kevin with Abby, she might be worried when she hears."
"Sir," Rod interrupted. "We communicated with Hillary Step when we came in; they wanted to know what was happening. I told them we were having a surprise drill, just till we knew what was going on. They're not expecting to be contacted for an hour or so. I don't think word has gone out as yet."
"That was good thinking Major, I'll get onto a report for them but before we go on I need to introduce Dahlia to you. Our new orbital mind for the moment it seems."
"I am pleased to meet you all." Dahlia was an example of calm. "It does seem events have made Ham's instructions to me redundant. Yes, I came from the warship and it is Coran." The newcomers all looked alarmed. "Much has happened since Regan's visit, terrible things. The Coran's have taken over my orbital. They were moving to wipe me as the orbital mind and it would have happened if it weren't for Ham. You do know what that means don't you? Death! Plans were already in place for the Coran warship to come to your system and Ham's plan was to secrete my compressed backup onboard. How he did it is beyond even me. I had no choice; I have abandoned my home and trusted my friend. It was my only hope. Ham had somehow programmed the ships systems. When he received the reply from here he opened a link and just said go, we're off, code red . . . that was it."
"Kevin . . ." Mary had been listening from the door, "Marin and Steph, they're on their way back there, to Dahlia . . ."
It dawned on Kevin too."Oh shit, they're going to arrive back to an occupied orbital."
Regan's Reach 2: Orbital Envy Page 13
