Part 23 (1/2)
Then the shock wave from the monstrous blast of lightning pummeled the Queen, less violent than the uncontrolled ravening of the blaster beam.
Rip fought to damp the s.h.i.+p's shuddering, and at last he felt through the vibration of the controls under his hands that he had succeeded.
”Sections, report,” he ordered, his throat dry and raspy.
”Ionospheric oscillation beginning to subside,” reported Lossin. ”Comsat lag decreasing slightly.”
Rip listened intently to the others as he scanned his console, alert to any change. The Queen was unstable with the hole in her, and he had to hold her speed down while they were climbing. But climbing they were.
”Manifest shows the coolant tanks blew away about three tons of cielanite,” said Dane, reporting last. ”I think everything else came through all right, but I'll need a tour of inspection to be sure.”
”Do you think the cielanite helped trigger that-” Jasper's voice trailed off.
”Conflagration,” said Tau. ”Or make up a new word; but I'll bet we never see the likes of that again.”
”Not for Tooe! Not for Tooe!” came the fervent a.s.sertion, and sudden hilarity swept the s.h.i.+p in the aftermath of tension.
”We still have two pirates to deal with,” Rip warned, hating to do it.
In confirmation, Lossin tonelessly read off new coordinates. ”Intruder at four mark forty-two, forty-two hundred kilometers and closing.” His voice ceased and his eyes widened, the fur of his cheeks puffing out. ”Intruder has lost power. no. jet emissions ragged. They are pulling out of action?”
”Could it have been the shock wave?” Dane asked.
”Acting like something hit them,” Stotz said. ”Except we know the Star has no weapons-”
”We should have a few minutes before the next one's in position,” said Rip. ”But then what? We can't expect another miracle.”
”The G.o.ds laugh,” said Lossin unexpectedly. ”Signal incoming.” At Rip's motion, he tapped it into the general com.
”. hostilities will cease. Weapons fire will be considered an act of war against the Patrol, and will be dealt with accordingly. ”
”Comsats report five s.h.i.+ps vectoring in on Hesprid IV,” Lossin said, his voice a plangent ba.s.s. ”They match Patrol corvette specs. Intruders attempting evasion.”
”Ooooh, let's watch the fun,” AH drawled, and again the others laughed, the dizzying hilarity of sudden and intense relief.
Rip breathed slowly in aching lungs as he watched the two pirate s.h.i.+ps fall out of sight around the planet. He grinned at the futility of the damaged one fleeing the relentless vectors of the Patrol vessels, which were equally armed, and with much better discipline. The other, with the greater gee endurance of the Shver, might escape. But not for long.
The Queen was responding now, albeit sluggishly, and no threat awaited. Rip felt the tension leak out of his shoulders.
The sand s.h.i.+elds snapped shut.
”Entering ionosphere,” said Lossin. ”Ringing continues to damp down.”
Rip studied the plot on his screen. If the Tath's projections were right, when the s.h.i.+elds next snapped open, they'd truly be out of the ionosphere and into s.p.a.ce, which meant they could rendezvous with the North Star-and the Patrol.
All they had to do then was convince the Patrol that they had a valid trade with the Floaters.
Rip chuckled to himself. After what they'd just been through, dealing with the Patrol would be a snap.
Murphy willing.
Chapter Twenty-Three.
Tooe woke up and glanced at her chrono, making an automatic calculation. She was glad she no longer had to reckon Hesprid time; it was hard enough translating Terran Standard into Exchange time.
”A week,” she said to herself as she bounced out of her bunk and yanked her tunic from the cleaner. The movement sent her backward, which just for a moment took her by surprise. Her body adjusted before her mind did, leaving her with a second of dizziness, and then she laughed and dived at her console, making a note to tell Momo in the long letter she'd been writing about how she-Tooe-had actually gotten so used to gravity she made little mistakes in reaction.
As she tabbed the note in, she noted how long her letter had gotten. So much to report! And different aspects to different people in the klinti. Momo would want to know all about her adjustments to life in grav and then back again, and about the people in the Trader camp, but he would have little interest in the flight from the pirates-other than that they had managed to evade them.
For Kithin, though, Tooe had described how Captain Jel-lico had played Dead Dog in order to fool the pirates, waiting for the apogee of their complex orbit before firing off a tight-beam to alert the Patrol.
He hadn't known any more than Rip and the others on the Queen whether his message had gotten through, or would be answered, she wrote, then she went on to vividly describe how the captain had guessed when Rip was likely to launch and then made sure the North Star was sitting right above his launch position-the last place the pirates would expect- and waiting.
The captain guessed what Rip would do, because it was what he should do-and in his turn, Rip figured out the captain's likely tactics, she wrote. You have to learn to think like them, Kithin, if you are going to pilot your own s.h.i.+p.
For Nunku, Tooe saved her report on what had happened to the planet. They were still in Hesprid s.p.a.ce, for the Patrol was very thorough on their investigations. All the scientists aboard the Trader s.h.i.+ps and the Patrol s.h.i.+ps had used this opportunity to focus every available piece of equipment at the planet in order to measure, record, and evaluate the dramatic changes going on there. Nunku the computer expert was fascinated by data gathering.
Also for Nunku, who concerned herself with the futures of the klinti, the news that they were not-alas-to be fabulously wealthy. We can keep what we mined from the planet, which will see the s.h.i.+ps upgraded and refueled, and new cargo, because we made a lawful trade with the Floaters. But even if we could land on that planet again, our Charter is suspended. The Patrol and all the authorities will be wrangling for years, the cargo master says, about the exact status of sentient beings no one can talk to.
Then for a third friend, whose aspiration was to join the Patrol, she reserved her descriptions of the Terran Federation's peace-keeping arm. By the time the s.h.i.+ps had finally rendezvoused, the Patrol had already taken care of the pirates, and they willingly shared their vidrecordings of the encounters.
Tooe had really enjoyed her interview with the austere Patrol captain. An older woman, dark of face and silver of hair, this captain reminded Tooe of Captain Jellico.
It was to Momo that Tooe talked about the Patrol captain.
She asked me a variety of questions about my experiences on Hesprid IV, and when I made jokes, her mouth had quirked in just the same way that the captain's does when he laughs inside.
Tooe paused, considering Captain Jellico. She'd discovered that making him smile just that way was tougher than making some other people guffaw like s.p.a.cehounds with two much happy-juice inside them, and she was proud of any joke that got such a reaction. I think now I am beginning to know the captain, a little. You have to know someone to be able to make them laugh. Dane, 1 can make laugh, she added.
Dane? How long had she been in her cabin, typing up their experiences?
She glanced guiltily at the chrono, then closed down her computer and zoomed out of her cabin, caroming off the bulkhead and zapping, down the corridor to the cargo area.
There she found Dane and Jan Van Ryke at the computer.
”News?” she asked. ”My s.h.i.+ft yet?”
They both turned around, and Dane said, ”Nothing besides our being finished with the recordings. Gleef is programming the comsats to continue data-collection, but Tau thinks we've got enough here to work with; any subsequent changes to the planet will take a long time.”
”Work with?” Tooe asked. Then an idea occurred to her, and she exclaimed, ”Data Trade?”
”Precisely, my young friend,” Jan Van Ryke said, his white brows beetling. He hefted a quantumtape in his big hand, and grinned. ”This here is another cargo for us-data. There will be plenty of scientists clamoring for this once we put the word out, and I plan to make some fine trades for contributing to the collective wisdom of the Federation.”
Dane nodded at Tooe. ”Wilc.o.x says the Patrol is just about finished with us. As soon as they leave, we'll get the cargo distributed.”
”Then off to the next port?” Tooe asked. She was so pleased she could not keep still, and both men laughed as she bounded from one wall to another, somersaulting midway between.