Read Online Blood and Fire by David Gerrold - Free Book Online Page B

now.”
    Korie glanced at the small monitor panel set inside his own helmet. It showed what they were seeing on the Bridge of the Star Wolf . The flickers were clearer on the screen. They left tiny dark trails. But they were still insubstantial, appearing and disappearing seemingly at random. Not a lot. It was like something half-glimpsed out of the corner of the eye; when you turned to look directly, it was gone. Korie had the impression of tiny lights that were pink and gold and red, but not really.
    And then there was that other thing—the sound of the Norway . It was different . There were none of the familiar background noises of a living ship. Korie’s eyes narrowed. The air circulators were off. The coolant pipes were silent. The water and sewage systems were equally still. The silence was eerie. Even the quiet beeps from the various monitors were absent. Starships aren’t silent. No matter how well designed or constructed, whether macro, micro or nano, things make noise. Liquid flows through pipes. Air moves through tubes. Everything whistles, vibrates and hums like the pieces of a massive faster-than-light church organ, striking deep chords and mechanical harmonies. This ship ... didn’t. The effect was terrifying.

    â€œThe ship is deserted?” Hodel asked.
    â€œNo,” said Korie. “HARLIE detected life aboard her. They’re just not at this end.” He unclipped several small round probes from his suitbelt, activated them and tossed them down the corridor. The units righted themselves in midair, popped open tiny lens ports and scanner outlets, then headed deep into the Norway . Back on the Star Wolf, a control team would monitor and direct the units.
    Korie waited for a confirmation from the captain. “The probes aren’t showing anything alive. But there’s a lot of noise in the signal.”
    â€œYour orders, Captain?”
    â€œGet the log and get out of there.”
    â€œAye, aye.” Korie gestured the team forward.
    Bach and Shibano followed close on Korie’s heels. Bach swung her rifle nervously from one side to the other.
    â€œAfraid of ghosts?” Shibano whispered to her.
    â€œNope. Just don’t want to be one.”
    Korie frowned back at them. “Belay that chatter.”
    â€œAye, sir. Sorry.”
    They came to a vertical intersection in the corridor, a place where ladders extended both up and down. Also diagonal access tubes opened off to the starship’s farm. Korie directed Bach, Easton and Hodel up the ladder to the “north end” of “Broadway”—where the ship’s main corridor terminated. He, Shibano and Berryman continued aftward through the keel.

Sparkling

    The funny flickering in the air was a little more noticeable here. Berryman frowned at his scanner’s readings, a growing sense of disquiet in his chest. “Sir?” he said to attract Korie’s attention.
    Korie hesitated, waiting. “What is it?”
    â€œSome kind of ... wavicle , I think.” Half-wave, half-particle, with some of the behaviors of each. Unpredictable.
    The flickers were starting to drift toward them now. They looked harmless, but clearly, they were an unknown phenomenon and had to be regarded as deadly until proven otherwise. Certainly, they were related to the condition of this vessel.
    Shibano reached out and tried to grab a few of the fairy pinpoints, but they whirled out of reach like motes of dust. He grabbed again and again, but each time the sparkles eluded him. There were more twinkling pinpoints around him now, flickering in and out of existence. They were both beguiling and ... disturbing. They danced in the air with a nervous quality.
    Berryman turned slowly, trying to scan them with a hand-held unit, but the wavicles seemed to be avoiding an area defined by his scanning field. Both Korie and Berryman noticed it at the same time.
    â€œDo you want to try turning that off?” Korie