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Authors: Jack Campbell
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comms. “This is Senior Specialist Kalil. We got the main propulsion units going.”
“I noticed!” Diaz said, as everybody else on the bridge broke into relieved gasps of laughter. “Are my controls working? I’m not seeing them active.”
“Uh, Kapitan,” Kalil said, “you are talking to the controls. Me and Senior Specialist Sasaki. We’re opening and closing the circuits manually.”
“Manually? By hand?”
“Yes, Kapitan. Right now we only have two settings for the propulsion units, completely off, or fully on.”
Diaz shook his head, looking toward Marphissa with a wondering expression. “I can live with that.”
“You may live because of that,” Marphissa said. “Tell your specialists to keep the propulsion units on full.”
“Did you hear, Senior Specialist Kalil? Keep the units on full.”
“Yes, Kapitan. Uh, there is something else I should tell you. We don’t know how long this will last.”
“What?” Diaz asked, his relieved smile fading.
“Me and Senior Specialist Sasaki had to do some, uh, creative rewiring of circuits. You saw. She and I are not, um, entirely certain what all we rerouted. Because we were in a big rush, Kapitan, because you said—”
“Yes, yes! I know what I said!”
“—and so we don’t know if something might happen because we did all that changing and cross-connecting of circuits.”
Marphissa closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.
“Senior Specialist Kalil,” Diaz said with great care, “when you say something might happen, are you talking about something like the freezer’s shorting out and the ice cream melting, or something like the ship’s blowing up?”
“Uh, Kapitan, me and Senior Specialist Sasaki think it will be something between those two things. But we don’t really know. You told us—”
“Do it as fast as possible, I know.” Diaz spread his hands toward Marphissa in a helpless gesture. “Keep the main propulsion units going, Kalil. Let me know if the ship is about to blow up.”
“Yes, Kapitan, we will tell you if that is about to happen. If we know that is about to happen.”
“Keep praying,” Marphissa muttered to Bradamont.
“Already on it,” she replied. “There’s nothing we can do for
Harrier
?”
“Nothing. No, wait. The Syndicate flotilla has seen that we started moving again. How far off are they? Only thirty light-seconds and still closing. But their vector is altering.” Everyone studied their displays as the Syndicate warships continued changing their paths through space. “CEO Boucher is altering course to stay on an intercept with us as we move away,” Marphissa said as the reason became apparent. “If they change track enough—”
“They might pass by out of range of
Harrier
?” Diaz asked. “They might, Kommodor.
Harrier
is obviously out of commission. They might think they can leave her to finish off later.”
Minutes ticked by, then dawning hope shattered as Marphissa saw that the last two Syndicate heavy cruisers had veered off slightly from their formation. “They’re going to hit
Harrier
, then rejoin. Damn Boucher!”
“One and a half minutes until they get within range of
Harrier
,” Diaz noted, anger straining his voice.
“Kommodor,” Bradamont said, “you’re too narrowly focused.”
“What? What the hell are you talking—”
Marphissa stopped speaking abruptly as Bradamont’s meaning became clear. She and the others had been watching only
Harrier
and the movements of the Syndicate ships. Perhaps the Syndicate ships and CEO Boucher had also been narrowly focused, locked onto both
Harrier
and
Manticore
as targets.
All of them had forgotten about
Pele
.
Kontos’s battle cruiser, still accompanied by
Gryphon
and
Basilisk
, zipped upward close by the two Syndicate heavy cruisers which had left the protection of the battleship. A battle cruiser might not be a match for a battleship, but at close range one could do an awful lot of damage to a heavy cruiser.
One of the
“I noticed!” Diaz said, as everybody else on the bridge broke into relieved gasps of laughter. “Are my controls working? I’m not seeing them active.”
“Uh, Kapitan,” Kalil said, “you are talking to the controls. Me and Senior Specialist Sasaki. We’re opening and closing the circuits manually.”
“Manually? By hand?”
“Yes, Kapitan. Right now we only have two settings for the propulsion units, completely off, or fully on.”
Diaz shook his head, looking toward Marphissa with a wondering expression. “I can live with that.”
“You may live because of that,” Marphissa said. “Tell your specialists to keep the propulsion units on full.”
“Did you hear, Senior Specialist Kalil? Keep the units on full.”
“Yes, Kapitan. Uh, there is something else I should tell you. We don’t know how long this will last.”
“What?” Diaz asked, his relieved smile fading.
“Me and Senior Specialist Sasaki had to do some, uh, creative rewiring of circuits. You saw. She and I are not, um, entirely certain what all we rerouted. Because we were in a big rush, Kapitan, because you said—”
“Yes, yes! I know what I said!”
“—and so we don’t know if something might happen because we did all that changing and cross-connecting of circuits.”
Marphissa closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.
“Senior Specialist Kalil,” Diaz said with great care, “when you say something might happen, are you talking about something like the freezer’s shorting out and the ice cream melting, or something like the ship’s blowing up?”
“Uh, Kapitan, me and Senior Specialist Sasaki think it will be something between those two things. But we don’t really know. You told us—”
“Do it as fast as possible, I know.” Diaz spread his hands toward Marphissa in a helpless gesture. “Keep the main propulsion units going, Kalil. Let me know if the ship is about to blow up.”
“Yes, Kapitan, we will tell you if that is about to happen. If we know that is about to happen.”
“Keep praying,” Marphissa muttered to Bradamont.
“Already on it,” she replied. “There’s nothing we can do for
Harrier
?”
“Nothing. No, wait. The Syndicate flotilla has seen that we started moving again. How far off are they? Only thirty light-seconds and still closing. But their vector is altering.” Everyone studied their displays as the Syndicate warships continued changing their paths through space. “CEO Boucher is altering course to stay on an intercept with us as we move away,” Marphissa said as the reason became apparent. “If they change track enough—”
“They might pass by out of range of
Harrier
?” Diaz asked. “They might, Kommodor.
Harrier
is obviously out of commission. They might think they can leave her to finish off later.”
Minutes ticked by, then dawning hope shattered as Marphissa saw that the last two Syndicate heavy cruisers had veered off slightly from their formation. “They’re going to hit
Harrier
, then rejoin. Damn Boucher!”
“One and a half minutes until they get within range of
Harrier
,” Diaz noted, anger straining his voice.
“Kommodor,” Bradamont said, “you’re too narrowly focused.”
“What? What the hell are you talking—”
Marphissa stopped speaking abruptly as Bradamont’s meaning became clear. She and the others had been watching only
Harrier
and the movements of the Syndicate ships. Perhaps the Syndicate ships and CEO Boucher had also been narrowly focused, locked onto both
Harrier
and
Manticore
as targets.
All of them had forgotten about
Pele
.
Kontos’s battle cruiser, still accompanied by
Gryphon
and
Basilisk
, zipped upward close by the two Syndicate heavy cruisers which had left the protection of the battleship. A battle cruiser might not be a match for a battleship, but at close range one could do an awful lot of damage to a heavy cruiser.
One of the
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