by Jim Laughter
Almost below the threshold of hearing, he could sense the ungainly mass of the two ships twisting ever so slightly.
We only have to hold together for a little while, Delmar thought. He did not even want to think about what it was going to be like landing this makeshift arrangement.
∞∞∞
John Eagleman looked around him in disbelief as he walked along a corridor of the giant mothership. He was still getting used to his old name that everyone around him used on his brief trip out from Sol-3. He had been Yohan for so long that it seemed more natural to him. He also caught himself speaking Axia Standard with a Danish accent, the result of so many years of speaking English with an accent as part of his mission cover.
Now he was Trooper-First John Eagleman again. Even the uniform didn't feel right after wearing civilian clothes all these years. Keith had insisted John get back into the uniform he had worn proudly so long ago. Something about helping in the mental transition.
Now he was being led through the bowels of this giant ship, a thing he thought he would never again experience. Everyone around him was speaking in Axia Standard. Although he understood the words, it sounded strange to his ears. He was home, but it certainly didn't feel like it.
His rapid exodus from Sol-3 had been quite an ordeal. Arranging for a leave of absence from the college had been easier than he’d expected. Keith had advised it as a preliminary step to his disappearance later. Yohan felt funny about it at the time, but that was part of being a Watcher – leaving loose ends. You never knew when you’d have to re-tie them again.
Keith watched John take in the changes. The look on his face when they lifted in the shuttle had been priceless. Fifteen years late, but it still felt good to head back to space. Now he had to help John come to terms with the changes that had happened in the universe since being stranded on Sol-3.
"Here we are,” Keith said, indicating a doorway on their left. They entered. In the middle of what turned out to be an office was a desk. The man behind it looked up, recognized John, and smiled.
"Welcome back, John,” he said as he rose and offered his hand to an astonished John Eagleman. "It's been too long."
"But what are you doing here?" John asked his former commander. "I expected you'd be out to pasture by now."
"I almost was,” the commander in front of him said. "But something told me to stay and finish some business. I guess you were it."
"It's good to see a familiar face,” John said while he shook the commander's hand.
"When I heard from Keith here about your rescue, I had to stay to greet you,” the commander replied. "And now we need to talk. If you could excuse us, Keith?"
"Certainly.”
Keith excused himself and closed the door behind him. He thought about what the commander had told him earlier via the comm signal between Sol-3 and the mothership. Keith's heart went out to the returned Trooper. He was just glad he wasn't the one to have to tell John Eagleman the bad news.
∞∞∞
Half an hour later, the two men emerged from the office and began a slow walk down the corridor of the vast ship.
"So that's it then, sir?" John asked his commander.
Around them, the ship hummed with activity as the Troopers and other service personnel went about their daily tasks.
"I'm afraid so,” the commander said. "Again, I am truly sorry about your wife's untimely death as well as your oldest son."
They lapsed into silence as they continued along the corridor.
Soon they found themselves in a deserted lounge looking out into the empty space around them. In the distance, they could just make out the faint shape of one of the outer planets of this system. Indiscernible from the stars was Sol-3 where John had spent so many lonely years.
They both stared into space. "What was it you said about my youngest son?" John asked his commander.
"That he is now a Trooper-Third,” the commander said. "He also earned his captain's plate and is captain of one of the new Fast Attack Recon scout ships.”
"Where is he assigned now?" John asked, anxious to see at least part of his family.
"Files indicate he’s on leave on Erdinata while his ship is undergoing a refit,” the commander said. "Guess you'll want to go there yourself soon enough."
"That's right, sir,” John replied firmly. "I have some catching up to do."
CHAPTER 19
"About had enough?" Delmar asked as he walked up behind the control seat of the DayStar and clapped Jim Ontak on his shoulder. He could see the sweat on the other captain's brow while he continually tried to keep their cobbled-together ships on course.
"You mean you want to take it back?"
Delmar nodded. It only took a moment for the men to switch places. Delmar was thankful for the two-hour break but realized it wasn't enough. He and Ontak had been switching back and forth, manning the controls for more hours than Delmar cared to remember.
All around them, the other members of Robin Murrin’s crew were either watching equipment or trying to catch a little sleep by curling up somewhere. That the five of them were able to function aboard the old one-man patroller was a marvel of cooperation and good luck.
"So, how has she been?" Delmar asked, surveying the instruments.
He could feel feedback from the drive system through the controls. That in itself was unusual, which put Delmar's senses on high alert.
"The lateral drift is increasing," Ontak reported and tried to stretch a kink out of his back.
"That shouldn't be,” Dez said from where she had been watching the readings on their makeshift power arrangement. "The drive effect should be linear."
"This ship has always had a little drift to the right,” Delmar said, making an adjustment to their flight path a bit. "I'm not surprised that it’s worse with the extra mass fastened to one side."
"But it's not stable,” Ontak said with growing concern. "In just the last two hours, it has increased by a rate of seven point three percent."
Delmar turned and stared at the man.
"Don't tell me you worked that out in your head?"
"Heavens no,” Ontak said, chuckling a little. "But my estimate puts it over five percent at least."
"Oh well, then that's ok," Delmar replied, chuckling a bit himself. It definitely helped relieve some of the tension he felt. He glanced up at the navigation equipment.
"If I read this correctly, we only have a few more hours to get to that repair ship,” Delmar said.
"I’ll be happy when it's over,” Ontak said. "I’m ready to be back on my own bridge."
"It’s almost over,” Delmar asserted. "We're practically there."
Without warning, a loud twang rang out and the DayStar lurched.
"Spoke too soon!" Delmar said through gritted teeth, struggling to bring the ships under control.
"The Robin is coming loose!" Dez cried out from where she could see the other ship through the side port.
"The power cable!" Ontak shouted. “Try to follow the direction of drift of the Robin Murrin to keep from pulling the power cable loose between the ships.”
"I'm on it!" Delmar exclaimed.
He shifted his axis and managed to bring the two ships back into contact. Through the front view screen, he could see the broken steel cables starting to whip around. He eased back on the throttle and tried to bring both ships to a stop. They heard the screech of metal against metal when the two hulls smashed together. The rest of Ontak’s crew appeared from wherever they had been sleeping.
"Suits!" Delmar ordered as the sound of the rending metal grew louder. In a flurry of action, the others jumped into their clear spacesuits while Delmar tried to keep the two ships in contact.
"What about you?" Ontak yelled, hastily pulling on his own suit.
"Get ready to take it!" Delmar yelled over the scream of tortured metal. Suddenly, the air around them rang with the screech of rapid decompression as the hull of the DayStar ruptured. Ontak was just barely in his spac
esuit. He grabbed for the controls as Delmar dove forward for his suit.
Bedlam reigned all around him. He found his vision starting to redden as blood vessels in his eyes popped from the sudden decompression.
Delmar's ears roared as the air was rapidly blown through a hole just forward of the side view port. Fighting the change in pressure and the maelstrom of debris now flying all around him, he desperately struggled into his suit. Extra hands appeared and all but stuffed him in as the last of the air left the cabin of the old patroller.
Delmar's lungs felt like they were going to burst until someone pulled the headpiece over his head and the clear faceplate snapped shut. He immediately felt his suit pressurize and stale but welcome air fill his aching lungs. He lay on the floor with his eyes closed and enjoyed the sweet, sweet pleasure of breathing.
"You all right?" Ontak asked over the suit comm. He rolled him over and looked into his faceplate.
"I think so,” Delmar wheezed and struggled to sit up. His head swam in a liquid motion of dizziness and his eyes refused to focus. He was amazed his head hadn’t exploded, and his heart beat so hard in his chest he wondered how the other people in the cabin didn’t hear it.
Struggling to his feet, Delmar saw through blurry vision the ships were now stopped in relative space. The lights were still on, so the power cable was still intact.
"How’s it look, Dez?" Ontak asked.
Delmar tried to calm back down. Being seconds from a painful, airless death was not something he took lightly.
"Pretty bad, I'm afraid,” Dez said from where she was examining the new hole. "You got any more patch material, Delmar?"
"No. We used the last when we rigged the power cable,” he said. The redness of his vision slowly receded.
"How’s the Robin?" Delmar asked Ontak.
"She's still here. But I'm afraid our cable trick won't work again."
"Why not?"
"Because when I cut the drive, the cables were free enough to fly clear of the ships,” Ontak answered. "They're somewhere out there,” he added, nodding toward the front windows of the DayStar.
Delmar found himself looking, but all he could see was empty space.
"Do we have anything else that might work?”
"Nothing on the Robin,” Dez replied from over by the hole.
"So what have we got?" Ontak asked from next to the control seat.
"As I see it, we can't move without tearing the power cable loose,” Delmar said.
"And we have no way to secure the two ships together,” Dez added.
"So we're not going anywhere,” Ontak said disgustedly. "We were so close!"
"There is one thing we can do,” Delmar said, stumbling to the DayStar's comm equipment. "Maybe we are close enough to someone to call for help."
Flipping on the transmitter, he hooked his suit comm into the system.
"Galactic Axia patroller DayStar to any ship,” he began as he looked at the others standing around the cabin.
He did not want to think of what would eventually happen to him when this was over. It might be his last duty as a captain, but he had to try to get these people he had rescued to safety.
“Axia patroller DayStar declaring an emergency,” he continued. “Any ship, please respond.”
∞∞∞
Robert Hassel sat and stared into the night sky. Delmar was out there somewhere and he didn't know where. Now only his fears kept him company. The news from the search around Panay had left him feeling empty and helpless. A boy he loved was out there and no one knew where. Earlier, Robert had even had tried the computer and contacted Ert.
YES, MR. HASSEL?
Is there any word on Delmar or the DayStar? Robert typed.
NOTHING ON REGULAR CHANNELS.
What about Stan and Leatha on the Aurora?
I WAS JUST COMMUNICATING WITH STAN, Ert reported. DELMAR WAS NOT AT THE COORDINATES WE PROJECTED, AND THERE WAS NO TRACE OF HIM EVER BEING THERE. THEY ARE NOW PROCEEDING TO PANAY IN HOPES OF OVERTAKING HIM IN CASE HE IS ON ANOTHER COURSE.
The news made Robert's heart sink deeper into the abyss of despair. He was sure Ert would have been able to find something when no one else could. However, even that hope turned out to be without merit. Now all he could do was wait, hope, and pray Agnes would return from the reunion soon. She did not know about Delmar. He was not looking forward to telling her.
∞∞∞
"DayStar declaring in flight emergency, calling any ship,” Delmar said into the suit mic again.
Although they had tried to find things to do to stay busy, he knew everyone was hanging onto his every word. It had been well over an hour since they had managed to stop both ships, and time hung heavy on their hands.
"Try the detector again,” Delmar said to Ontak. He flipped on the detection equipment again and ranged all around the ship.
"Still nothing,” Ontak reported glumly.
It had been the same for the last hour. They’d managed to detect the broken cables still traveling along their last course, but now even they were out of range.
"What about jamming the two hulls together?" someone suggested. "If we do it hard enough, they might weld themselves together."
"Won't work,” Dez said from where she was now sitting. "We can't get far enough apart even if we stretch that power cable all the way out. To create the force necessary, we'd have to hit hard enough to generate the required heat.
"I may be desperate, but I’m not that crazy,” Delmar said.
“I guess our only choice now is to abandon the Robin and leave her here,” Ontak said. “We can post her beacon and send a retrieval ship once we reach port.”
"DayStar calling any ship,” Delmar said again into the suit mic. He had gotten to the point where he didn't expect an answer. But he certainly wasn’t going to abandon the Robin if he could help it, especially not after all they’d been through to get her this far.
"Is that you, Eagleman?" a voice asked out of nowhere.
"What...who?" was all Delmar could manage as he reacted to the unexpected response.
"It is you!" the voice said again.
Delmar thought he recognized the voice but could not bring himself to believe it.
"What are you doing out here, buddy?"
"Eaton?" Delmar asked in disbelief.
"Sure is!" Eaton replied brightly.
"Where are you?" Delmar asked.
He looked over at Ontak who was manning the detector. Ontak shook his head and shrugged.
"Right in front of you!"
The space in front of the DayStar shimmered and a FAR ship, the Blackhawk, appeared a short distance away.
"And from what I see, it looks like you need me to pull your fat out of the fire."
“You’re a sight for sore eyes, pal,” Delmar said.
“I thought you were on Erdinata on medical leave,” Eaton said. “What are you doing way out here? Where’s the Patch? And who have you got with you in that tin can?”
“There are long answers to all three of those questions,” answered Delmar. “And I’ll answer each one, I promise. But right now we need to get out of these suits and into some fresh air, and we need a tow. Can you help?”
“You know, I spoke with Waldon and he told me about how he saved your bacon over Erdinata,” Eaton said. “So if you scratch up my pretty bird like you did his, or even ruffle her feathers, we’re gonna take it outside.”
∞∞∞
John Eagleman and his commander looked out through the windows of the cafe on the mothership onto the black expanse of space.
"What are you doing today?" the commander asked.
"Well, I checked into the outbound ships and found one leaving here in about two hours,” John answered. "It isn't going directly to Erdinata, but it will get me closer. Then I can make a connection for the last leg."
"Sounds like a plan,” the commander said. "So you've decided to go back home."
"Of course,” John said, a puzzled expression on
his face. "I hope to catch Delmar before he ships back out."
"The report said he’d be there for another three weeks.”
"I just hope we can have some time together. We have a lot of catching up to do."
The commander nodded. "And then what are you going to do?"
"I'm not sure,” John answered. "I'm a little out of touch with what's going on. I mean, what do you do with a Trooper-First whose skills are fifteen years out of date?"
"What about going to the academy like you originally intended?" the commander asked. "You would be a fine officer, and you've got the gray hair already!"
"Again, I'm not sure,” John answered thoughtfully. "Things have changed. I need some time."
"Then consider the Watcher Service,” the commander stated. "You have the aptitude. And you certainly have the experience and language skills. That's why I sent you on that mission in the first place."
"I'll consider it.”
“Sol-3 is on the verge of being opened to the Axia,” the commander said. “We’re going to need an ambassador when the time comes.”
“Like I said, I’ll consider it. But right now, I’m due for a change of scenery, and I need to see my son. He’s all I’ve got left.”
An aide approached their table. He had a serious expression on his face. Bad news, John thought. He’d seen that look many times before.
"John Eagleman?" the aide asked.
"Yes?" he said, rising to his feet.
"I was sent to tell you that there will be a delay in departure.”
"Is there a problem?" the commander asked.
"Not with the ship, sir,” the aide said. "But a critical situation has arisen and Control has delayed all departures.”
"What's this about?" the commander demanded.
"That,” the aide said, pointing out the window.
Outside the windows of the mothership, they could see what appeared to be three ships about a mile out. The lead ship was one of the new FAR scout ships. Just behind and to port were two other vessels, one a small freighter and the other a much older one-man patroller. As the ships drew nearer, the men were able to see the magnetic tow cables running from the FAR ship to the other two.
