East of the Sun, West of the Moon

Chapter Sixteen

“Well, twelve of the thirteen techs and pilots are present,” June said. She was meeting over dinner with Herzer, Megan and Evan to discuss the personnel situation. “Only five, six with Mrs. Boehlke, have volunteered. One, a computer tech, has most pointedly and emphatically declined. The others are ‘thinking about it.’ The thirteenth, one of the pilots, appears to be among the missing; the Rangers can’t find him anyway.”

“Joie’s here?” Megan asked.

“Yes,” June said, smiling and shaking her head. “She is most spectacular is she not? She is ‘thinking about it.’ Herzer, I have a question?”

“Yeah?” Herzer said, taking a bite of steak. It was military steak, thin and tough. He’d already made a mental note to see about the quality of the food available for the mission. He didn’t care one way or another, but it was going to be important to morale.

“What is your history with Linda Donohue?”

Herzer looked puzzled and shrugged. “Don’t recognize the name. None that I know of.”

“She apparently recalls you,” June said, primly. “And she is quite afraid of you and Megan. Megan in particular.”

“Describe her,” Megan said, just as puzzled.

“Twenty-five,” June said. “Got that from her records; could be anything from seventeen to seventy. Redhead. Good looking. Slim. She works in Duke Dehnavi’s office.”

“Oh, crap!” Herzer said, blanching.

“The doxie?” Megan quipped, raising an eyebrow. “Whatever is she here for?”

“Engineering,” June replied. “She’s got background in particle field generation. She’s said that she’ll go on the mission, but only if she’s assigned as an assistant to Geo Keating, who is listed as an Engineering Tech Three on the basis of his background.”

“Geo Keating?” Evan snapped. “You found Geo Keating? Good God!”

“Okay, who is Geo Keating?” Megan said, smiling.

“He’s a brilliant field theorist,” Evan said, shaking his head. “He was offered a Key and turned it down! Said it would interfere with his work! An amazing mind, a true genius.”

“He’s been working as a day laborer in Raven’s Mill,” June said, shaking her head. “Quite philosophical about it. Rather absentminded. He volunteered. No particular interest in the money, he just wants to examine the equipment on the ship. Something about radiation effects and shielding. I couldn’t follow it.”

“Where is he?” Evan asked, standing up.

“Permanent quarters,” June said.

“Evan, we’re not done here,” Herzer pointed out.

“We’re close,” Megan said. “I’ll go talk to the males about the importance of the mission, you go talk to the females. Then we’ll switch, tomorrow, for the holdouts. See how many we can get.”

“The only female holdout is Miss Donohue,” June said. “And she’s willing to go if she can be Mr. Keating’s assistant.”

“I wonder what she thinks she can get from that?” Herzer mused. “I don’t trust her as far as I can throw her.”

“Like Evan, she seems to be very impressed by Mr. Keating,” June said with a shrug.

“We’ll see,” Herzer said. “I think I need to talk to her, first.”

“Okay,” Megan said, nodding at Evan. “Now we’re done. Have fun talking to Mr. Keating. Don’t stay up all night.”

“I won’t,” Evan said with a grin.

“You,” Linda said, bitterly, when she saw who was at her door. “Come on in,” she added, waving at the sparse quarters.

“Let’s head down to the rec room instead,” Herzer said, grinning faintly. “Not only is it more comfortable but it’s less likely to cause comment.”

The rec room in the transient quarters was almost identical to the one where she’d awaited her interview, with the exception of its being devoid of reading material. There was a sink with hot and cold water, some stuffed chairs grouped around a coffee table and a pool table.

“To clear the air,” Herzer said, sitting down by the coffee table. “I didn’t know you were one of the techs until this evening. So I didn’t drag you into this intentionally.”

“I’d half wondered,” Linda admitted. “But I couldn’t figure out what was in it for you except simple malice, and you’re not the malicious type. Now, Megan…”

“What happened wasn’t a blip on her horizon,” Herzer said. “Especially with all of this going on. She hadn’t known, either. And we both would have been completely surprised if June hadn’t brought you up. So. And so. But what’s this with you and Geo Keating? Evan, who’s the chief engineering officer, went into spasms when he heard he was here. And apparently you want to be his assistant. Why?”

Linda paused and thought about that and then shrugged.

“Did you have any heroes, you know, Before?”

“Sure,” Herzer admitted. “The guy I work for, now. I’ve discovered he puts his pants on one leg at a time. And they’re ugly legs.”

“It’s like that,” Linda admitted with a chuckle. “I’d thought about contacting him, Before, you know? But I just felt like a… a…”

“The term is ‘fan girl’ or ‘groupie,’ ” Herzer interjected. “I actually knew Edmund’s daughter. I was getting ready to meet him when the Fall hit.”

“My parents were the kind that made me study,” Linda said, shrugging. “It’s why I can read and write, but they pushed me more than just that. Mom had me do a presentation on particles when I was about… oh, nine or so. So I found this primer by a guy named Keating to study. And it was just… amazing. The enormously complex made clear and simple. I fell in love with the way particles work and focused after that on that, particle physics and field interactions. Hell, your girlfriend can make a portal, I know how one works and I bet she doesn’t!”

“You might be surprised,” Herzer said. “She’s more than just a pretty face. And so, apparently, are you. Go on.”

“So about half the modern studies on field interaction are by Keating. I was a hopeless fan girl of his work. And now, I’ve got a chance to work with him. That’s it, really.” She paused and thought about it and shrugged. “The chance to work with him is worth the chance of getting my ass blown up or decompressed or whatever. And he’s physically fine, he’s been working as a laborer if that’s not stupid enough! But he’s sort of absentminded. I think I can help. Help him. I don’t care if we get the ship or not, frankly.”

“Well, that’s silly of you, but I won’t get into a debate,” Herzer said, frowning. “However, if that’s your cost, you’re in. As his assistant. I don’t suppose the fact that he’s going to be independently wealthy from this mission has anything to do with it?”

“Not a bit,” Linda said, firmly. “I’ll admit that now that I know he’s still alive, and around, means I may just attach myself to him like a limpet. But that’s because of who he is. I’d gladly support him rather than the other way around. But I’m damned well going to do my best to make sure he doesn’t fade into obscurity again. A laborer!” she added in a bitter tone.

“I understand your point,” Herzer said, smiling. “I’ll get you moved to permanent quarters. Which are, frankly, just as bad as these. Training starts day after tomorrow. Tomorrow you’ll be processed for your positions, meet some of the rest of the team, things like that. We’ll be training hard; we don’t have much time.”

“Welcome to Icarus Base, I’m Commander Herzer Herrick,” Herzer said, looking out at the group. Everyone had been issued coveralls in the color of their field — red for pilots, green for computer techs and blue for engineering — and had almost automatically gathered into their specialties. He noticed that Linda was snugged right up against Geo Keating and the two, with Evan listening, had been engaged in a low-voiced conversation right up until he mounted the dais.

“I’d do the whole ‘thank you’ thing,” Herzer continued. “But each of you is here for your own reasons, some of you for the money, some for the good of mankind as you see it, and some for… odder reasons,” he finished, looking at Joie and Linda. Fitting Joie, who was a seven-foot-tall woman with fully functional wings, had been a challenge. He could just imagine what it was going to be like getting her into a space suit. “But you’ve all agreed to the mission so let’s talk about that for a minute.”

He flipped up the cover on the easel to a simple map of the ship.

“When I got this mission dumped in my lap, I had a hard time figuring out what the attack point should be,” he admitted. “The obvious balance point seems to be the control room. However, shuttles can be overridden and manually piloted. So you can’t ensure control of the fuel supply from the control room. The ship, itself, however, is unimportant. What is important is the fuel. Who controls the flow of the fuel, wins. The mission, therefore, will be twofold. The shuttles can be demobilized by removal of critical components, notably the helium injectors for their fusion plants. Spare injectors are located in Maintenance,” he added, pointing to a point on the upper third ring. “Initial action will be to secure one or more shuttles, depending upon who lands where, then to secure Maintenance. Once Maintenance, and the injectors, are secure, we will begin taking and sabotaging the rest of the shuttles. Up to five shuttles will be maintained to supply the Coalition plants with fuel and bring up reinforcements and remove wounded. In addition, if personnel permit, the engine room will be secured and control room systems will be destabilized by control of secondary nodes,” he finished, pointing first to engine room and then to points on the ship.

“I anticipate that New Destiny will attempt to retake the shuttles when they determine our plan,” he said, shrugging. “We’ll work to cluster the shuttles near Maintenance and hold them. However, if we have control of one functional shuttle, and New Destiny has none, I’ll be happy. We can resupply and reinforce indefinitely; they’ll be stuck.”

“What about teleport?” one of the female pilots asked.

“One of the first questions I asked,” Herzer said with a grin. “The ship never comes inside lunar orbit and porting out that far is unstable. As to porting within the ship, Councilwoman Travante will be accompanying us and will enforce a teleport block. It will only hold for us, but we anticipate a New Destiny Key-holder being on their side and so we’ll probably be blocked as well.

“I’d like to talk a bit about mission concept,” Herzer continued. “Each of the techs will be assigned to a strike team. You will be present to give engineering and computer support while on the ship. Strike team members will be minimally trained in shipboard systems but they’re primarily going to be training in space combat, which is going to occupy their time and more. Each of the team commanders will be responsible for attainment of a specific goal and will call for your support when necessary. You’ll begin training with your teams in the latter part of the program. A ‘good fit’ will probably be essential but the bottom line is that the team leader, who will be a Blood Lord officer or NCO, will be in command. That chain runs up to me and then, in very rare cases, to Councilwoman Travante. If there are differences at the team level, try to keep them at the team level. If you cannot handle your team commander in training, we’ll try to find a better fit. But you need to try to fit, first. I’ve had much the same conversation with the team commanders, by the way.

“Pilots, your team commander is Joie,” he said, gesturing at the bird-woman. “Joie is a former intel agent. Do not let her soft side fool you, if you piss her off she will beat the crap out of you. If you’ve ever been hit by a goose wing you know what I mean.”

There was a chuckle at that and the pilots, who had been more or less ignoring the bird-woman in their midst, now looked at her with interest. Joie gave Herzer a cold look and then went back to her normal expression of calculated indifference.

“Evan Mayerle,” Herzer continued, pointing at Evan. “Stand up, Evan. Evan Mayerle will be in charge of the engineers and engineering questions. Courtney Boehlke will be in charge of the computer techs and computer issues. That’s for pre-mission support and on the mission if there’s a question you can’t answer. And if Evan or Courtney can’t answer it, we’ll kick it through the whole group.

“Pre-mission items. We’re going to be training a lot and we’re going to be training here. I know that the quality of the quarters and chow are… well, they suck,” he said, pausing for the chuckles. “I’m working on the chow. There’s not much we’ll be able to do about the facilities. We’ll only be here for about a month and a half and most of the time all you’ll want is a rack anyway. If any of you have the time and energy to improve your quarters, feel free within the materials available.

“Last point before I start taking the billion and one questions.” He flipped a cover off the easel and pointed to a simple representation of the solar system.

“The refueling ship is actually headed out from the region of the Sun right now, having slingshotted around Mercury. Our intercept point will be in this region,” he added, pointing to an area off-set from the Moon. “The celestial designation system that the ship uses was developed in the twenty-third century, when there was a good bit of space travel, and is extremely helio-centric, or so I’m told. The people more familiar with space can explain it better than I can, but the intercept point will be east of the Sun and west of the Moon.”

“Herzer,” Edmund said, walking through the door. It was after midnight and Herzer was knee deep in paperwork. “If I told you once, I told you a thousand times, all work and no play…”

“Then you should have given me a different mission,” Herzer said, tossing down his fountain pen and squirting ink all over the paper. “Crap! Now I’m going to have to redo those!”

“You ever heard of ‘staff,’ boy?” Edmund asked. “You should be signing them, not doing the write-ups.”

“When I get one, I’ll use it,” Herzer pointed out. “Nobody thought to check what sort of casualties there were in the staff. Most of these are requests for personnel. I’m doing it until I get a facilities commander; Carson was handling both loads but he had time to set it up.”

“Noted,” Edmund said. “I’ll make sure you get what you ask for. Don’t just ask for what you need, okay?”

“Got it,” Herzer said, grimacing. “Boss, can you try to get me a real command some day? Not this harum-scarum, thrown into the breach bullshit? I’m getting really tired of being the forlorn hope, you know?”

“I know,” Edmund said, sitting down wearily. “I’d intended to move you to Second Legion pretty soon. There are a dozen places I’d like to put you, but I figured you deserved a real command for a while. Not exactly a vacation, but better than this shit. Hell, why am I abusing you about all work and no play? I’m the one here when I should be safe in the arms of Morpheus.”

“Rack out here,” Herzer suggested. “Or, maybe not. The facilities suck. The food sucks. The training is going to really suck. Morale is going to be a bitch to maintain, especially since everybody thinks they’re going to die.”

“Do you think it’s that bad?” Edmund asked.

“No,” Herzer admitted. “Unless New Destiny has the same plan. I’m going to try to avoid direct conflict as much as possible and build forces as much as possible. At the same time, I don’t want more people up there than we can evac if we have to. Twenty-five at a time is the max, if we don’t lose a pilot. Sixteen to twenty-hour turn time. If we take heavy casualties, I’m pulling back to two ships and riding it out.”

“Oh, how fascinating,” Geo said, looking at the hand-printed schematic. “They use Tammen field sequencers!”

The various teams had broken out into their specialties for a week and having completed the first block of training on shuttle-board systems the engineers were looking over the shipboard systems. And finding various quaint equipment that had them chuckling at all hours.

“I don’t even know what a Tammen field sequencer is,” Linda admitted, leaning over his shoulder to read the specifications of the system. “Oh, my, it’s only rated to one gigawatt! I’m not sure that could even turn the ship except in geologic time.”

The engineering team had been given the ground floor of one of the wooden buildings and that was now scattered with various bits and pieces of equipment. Some of the material was original equipment used in the Excelsior that had been found around Norau, but most of it was plastic and wood mock-ups created by the previous team. The walls were covered in blackboards that had diagrams and equations on them, and down the middle were several tables. The entire engineering team was gathered around, watching Geo cluck over the ship’s antiquated systems.

“The Tammen didn’t use intermediate field generators,” Evan said, chuckling. “It was a late addition to the ship, anyway, used for reactionless vector control. They were additional thrusters, in other words, for fine attitude control. They’ve got a fraction of the output of the ion drive or the lat thrusters.”

“They don’t have to, though,” Geo said, shaking his head. “I always liked the Tammen design; it was very robust. And with some tinkering it’s capable of much higher output. I wrote a paper about it that I don’t think I ever published.”

“How?” Evan asked. The Tammen field generators were a secondary system whose primary control node actually ran through Engineering. Assuming they captured Engineering, that would give them latitude control. Especially if Geo could “soup them up.”

“The reason Tammens didn’t use intermediate generators was that the theory didn’t work for them in the twenty-fourth century,” Geo said, looking over at Linda. “Why?”

“I’m not…” Linda said, then frowned. “Ah, the tertiary chaos equations of field junctions weren’t worked out until… 2679 by… by…”

“Izakaiah Romanov,” Evan said, grinning. Geo was always playing the “professor” game with the two.

“You’re so far beyond me,” Paul Satyat said, shaking his head. Satyat was the designated engineering tech for Team Van Krief, a short, stocky brunet with burly hands and shoulders. He had studied various forms of engineering throughout history but only brushed on quantum engineering practices. He was more than capable of doing the nuts and bolts work, but the theoretical side left him cold.

“Same here,” Nicole Howard admitted. Nicole was, arguably, the prettiest of the several females on the mission. She was medium height with long blonde hair, dark tanned skin, greenish blue eyes and long, shapely legs. But most guys didn’t look much beyond a truly phenomenal chest. For all that, she was smart as a whip and, if anything, better at the nuts and bolts work than anyone but Evan. She actively enjoyed tinkering with equipment and her hands showed it, being rather overdeveloped and strong for the rest of her looks, with broken fingernails and heavy calluses. “And I don’t see how you can rebuild one to generate intermediate fields,” she added, leaning over Geo from the other side and running a finger over one part of the schematic. “They collapse without an Izakaiah transform module. And I don’t know about you, but off the top of my head I don’t know where I can scrounge one.”

Linda looked across Geo and gave her a cool look that Nicole either didn’t notice or pretended not to.

“Oh, we’ll have to build a module from scratch,” Geo admitted, leafing through the ship’s documents, oblivious to the two gorgeous women pressed on either side of him. “But it’s mostly a matter of setting up a transform equation for generation and the materials. There’s a xatanium injector that’s used for the latitudinal thrusters and… hmm…”

“Geo?” Linda said, gently, after the pause had stretched out. “We’re still looking over the ship systems, here. Maybe we should worry about third-form equations later?”

“Oh, very well,” Geo said, smiling at her sunnily. “But it’s all very fascinating! Much better than building walls!”

Evan looked up at the door on the end as there was a tap, then walked over. There was an L shaped curtain around the door so no one could see in, and he entered the small alcove to undo the bolts and locks.

“Yes?” he asked the Blood Lord guard on the stoop.

“Message from the dwarves,” the Blood Lord said, trying not to grin. “Time for Miss Howard to get fitted.”

“Aaaaah!” Nicole yelled from inside. “Not me!”

“Time to face it, Nicole,” Evan said, trying not to grin back at the guard.

“Ow!” he heard behind him and a slap. Then a moment later Nicole came to the door, her face set.

“One damned word…” she said, tightly.

“What was the slap?” Evan asked, trying very hard not to grin.

“Paul,” was all she said, striding out the door.

Herzer cleared his throat and tapped on the door cautiously.

“Yes?” Megan said as he stuck his head around the edge of the door.

The computer techs had a room in the team headquarters building, since there were only a limited number of interfaces in the ship. Megan and Courtney were bent over one of the shuttle interfaces, puzzling over a list of icons.

“Time,” Mike said, nodding at her.

“Oh, crap,” Megan said in her most unladylike tone. “I guess I’ve got to get it over with, don’t I?”

“Yep,” Herzer said, surreptitiously scratching at his crotch, keeping the movement out of sight behind the door. “Especially since they’re working on a full armor suit for you. You’re scheduled right after Nicole. So…”

“I’d better go get… ready,” Megan said, frowning.

“It’s not that bad,” Herzer assured her. “If I could do it…”

“I’m going, I’m going,” Megan said with a sigh. “See you in a few hours, Courtney.”

“Okay,” Courtney replied, trying not to smile. “Have fun.”

“Just wait until it’s your turn,” Megan said tightly.