Cold Sleep, page 19
Zed puts his hands to his temples, massaging them. “What can we do about it?”
“Depends. What are the chances you can get me to the navicomp?”
“Not good. It’s still depressurized, far as I know, but we’d have to go through the central corridor. Hiroki re-pressurized one of the cargo holds. Dug me out of one of the empty caskets. The others too. Means there’s probably Revs wandering about. They’ll have wearalls and rebreathers—gives them enough protection to move around. We seen a few but they could be up to anything. And you never know what kind they are—if the Doc ain’t totally full of shit. Maybe you’ll get the clever ones, maybe the crazy ones. Either way, it’s not worth the risk.”
“EVA?” The thought of stepping outside the ship again makes my guts clench.
“Don’t see how. Can’t breach the hull here and with the ion drive on, the access port is a no-no. Only airlock we can get to here is where the ITF shot down Riggs.”
“But you got into the Comm Array from outside…”
“No way. We cut through between the outer hull and the inner bulkhead.”
“So we use those to get forward.”
“Seems navigators know jack and shit about ship construction.”
I raise my eyebrow at him. I’ve let him think the chain of command no long matters but as I get a handle on the situation, it becomes clear now is the time to reassert my seniority. Starting with a little respect from the ranks.
He ignores me. “Only the engines require a double hull and the space between is always depressurized. Get a rupture of the outer hull? No explosive decompression to rip out vital parts of the engines and cause a meltdown.”
“Then, Warrant Officer Hong, I need you to help me access the ship’s main chronometer.”
“Why? You want to know what time it is?”
“I’ve been out of it, but that doesn’t mean the chain of command has fallen away. Gather the others. Our first priority is to gain access to the ship’s atomic clock.” Parade ground worthy snap to my voice, ok a little rusty sounding but strong. Confident. He folds his arms and smiles coldly. “That’s an order, mister.”
“Hiroki pulled this stunt on us. We refused. Guess that already makes us mutineers. Now, you want my help, you gotta explain things to me. You want the others to fall in line, we explain it to them. We’re about done with being controlled by anyone.”
“You realize when the ship gets back to dock, you’ll be court martialed?” Dangerous card to play, but it’s my last one.
Zed’s laughter echoes in the small chamber. “If we ever get anywhere resembling a space dock again, I’ll gladly take a flogging and dishonorable discharge from the service. But, you know I’ll be taking my share of the score too. Never forget it, Kara. I know your dirty little secret. And in case that devious mind of yours starts turning gears that say, ‘kill him,’ don’t think I ain’t got some insurance in place, make sure you get dragged down if I don’t make it.”
A bluff? Probably… unless he’s told the others. They’d probably forged a tight bond in the year they’d been scraping a bare existence from the wreck we’re all entombed in.
I sigh, where command fails, creative diplomacy might succeed. “You’ve got every right to think so little of me after I abandoned you. Believe me, I regret it. And I’m not looking to hurt you, Zed. Command has to work a certain way or the ship is doomed.” He snorts. “Maybe you don’t see it now, but here’s a question. You’ve been free of Hiroki for over a year. In all that time, you’ve done what? Scuttled into this hiding place. Raided him what? Once? Lost a man to the ITF and you still can’t tell me the numbers. This is not a command acceptable result. We want out of this, we need to take decisive action and there’s no such thing as decisive action taken by a committee.”
“You done?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
“Good. Now in simple words tell me why we need to pull the chronometer out.”
“It’s tied to the navicomp. Slight changes in gravity affect time. Make it pass slower or faster for the ship. When the navicomp knows the ship’s vector, it can use the small changes in the ship’s time against an external measure. Usually a continuous radio signal from Earth but also from known stellar objects like pulsars which produce regular emissions. The comparison allows for highly accurate measurements of the local gravitational fields acting on the ship. It’s essential for navigation.”
“I follow. How does that work? I mean…”
“Zed, do you understand how a holovid works?”
“You kidding? Basic maintenance job.”
“Bad example but go with it. Do you need to understand how it works to see the picture?”
“Well… no.”
“So do I have to school you on relativity and advanced astrodynamics for you to take my word for it that the chronometer is used to navigate?”
“OK. Cut to the chase. What’s this got to do with knowing if we’re going too fast?”
“The size of the variation. If we know where we are based on some simple observations, then working out what the rough gravitational field should be is possible. Time dilation from excessive velocity would show a much larger variation than what we could expect from the area of interstellar space we’re travelling through.”
“OK. You’ve lost me but I’m willing to accept this is important. To make this work, you’re gonna need to either get access to the Comm Array or what? Get a telescope?”
I remember the look of desperation on Hiroki’s face when the Comm Array compartment had started to depressurize. He’d moved to the array itself, in a panic. Treated the loss of atmo and arrival of Zed and the others as an afterthought.
“Let’s forget about the array for the moment. You make it sound like we don’t want to mess with Hiroki.” The thought of my old friend, an erratic but brilliant sawbones, being dangerous makes me want to laugh but Zed’s brow unfurrows as I say we’ll avoid the array. Zed, big, street-hardened slab of a man that he is, is terrified of the doctor.
“So… you gonna look out the window or what?”
“No. Shouldn’t be too hard for a technical whizz like you to access the data lines going into the navicomp.”
“There’s no way we can out-hack the nanites.”
I think of the link-key, but it’s pointless. It must be with Hiroki, like the data sliver with the narc synthesis programs. “We don’t need to hack anything. Just read off the raw data from the Charon’s forward radio dishes.”
“Hold on,” Zed says and crouches in front of the data terminal. Ship’s schematics display and zoom in to the forward prow. Looks like a small radio dish tucked behind the generator for the ramscoop and another on the other side of the ship tucked behind the ramscoop repeater. Both shielded from the magnetic interference of the scoop itself and pointing off in an arc nearly ninety degrees away from the direction of travel. Lines highlighted in blue run from the dish, down along the engine compartment until it comes behind Charon’s cowl and traces along the line of the main corridor to the cargo and command compartments. Where it traverses that corridor, the blue line becomes dotted and, as Zed zooms in, other lines leap up, highlighted in red and displaying warning symbols.
“So?” I ask.
“Yeah, they’re still feeding into the navicomp. Looks like the dataline wasn’t compromised by the damage where the VIP boat used to be. Some issue with bandwidth and dataflow but I don’t think it’s important.”
I blow out a long breath. “Well, at least we know the navicomps not been flying blind all this time. Where can you access the dataline?”
“Crawlspace for maintenance to the main port fusion rocket. Tight fit, but I should be able to splice in a line to the main engineering comp.”
“You make it a one-way connection.”
“How would I do that?” He frowns.
“You mean, if we do this, the Gestalt will be able to access the engineering systems through it?”
“And? They already control the engines. Can’t control the navicomp without you, unless Hiroki was lying about that. We’re locked on course. Only thing they can do is change speed.”
“Couldn’t they hack the CO2 scrubbers you got in here? Or open the doors and vent this to vacuum?”
“Nah. Quit worrying. About the only thing they could do is see what we’re doing.”
“We’d draw their attention to the forward radio dishes.” I feel a shiver which starts bone deep and runs like light fingertips all up my spine. “They could use those dishes for comms, couldn’t they?”
“Yeah. Sure. I guess. Who’re they going to be signaling though? Little green dudes?”
“Earth.”
“Not unless we’ve changed course to face back the way we’re coming. Fixed arc on those dishes, according to this. They can move enough to lock on any signal in the forward arc of the ship. Comm Array is used for anything from the rear arc. Hmm, according to this, right now it’s pointing forward too. Far as it can. Anyone listening to that station would get bleeding ears.”
“What?”
“It’s angled right at the trailing edge of the ramscoop’s magnetic envelope. Open signal too. Gotta sound like the whole universe is screaming.”
I grin. Hiroki has angled the comma array to give the Gestalt nothing but static and locked it so anything in the main computer will receive that sound, non-stop. It probably isn’t painful to them like it’d be to us, but it’s a big “fuck you” gesture to them all the same.
“Chronometer—that’s more of a pain in the arse. Have to crack open the ion drive casing and get inside it while it’s active. In a voidsuit.” Zed sucks his teeth. “It’s doable. You need to see the chronometer itself or just the data?”
“Just the data will be fine.”
“Well, finally something easier.” He looks up at me, a thoughtful expression on his face. “What’ll we do if we’ve gone past the redline?”
“You believe in God?”
His face screws up. “Er, no.”
“Well, then there’s nothing you could do.”
“What’s God got to do with this?”
“Only, if we have gone past the redline, about the only thing left to do is to start praying. One way or another, we’re doomed.”
CHAPTER 19
* * *
They’ve all gathered around the airlock, Joud carrying a makeshift speargun he’s fashioned from a gas canister and a length of pipe. Sarah bearing a jagged length of machined metal cut like a flat and rectangular sword blade—its edge glints in the light but she’s not bothered to put a point on it. The hooded look in her eyes puts me off asking her about it—I can’t shake the feeling she’s longing for a confrontation. Not specifically with me, but with anyone or anything. Akima carries the laser torch with its battered generator swung over one shoulder and the silvered fabric of a vacbag over the other. I raise an eyebrow at this, but it makes sense. Maybe we’ll find a survivor somewhere who needs to be stuffed in the bubble but more likely she’s carrying it in case we come across some food or water that’s been preserved and needs a way to transport it without vacuum perishing or evaporating.
Last of all, Zed joins us. He bears the massive jaws of the bulkhead shears, twice the size of the ones Hiroki had used to kill Revenant Zero. Way too big to be a weapon, even used against an unsuspecting target. Does he realize or is this a male ego thing?
“You’re all packing quite an arsenal.”
“Need it,” Joud says. “We’ve seen the occasional rev with their wearall sealed up, coming into the depressurized areas. They’ve not got much air, maybe ten minutes tops but…”
“Oh, really.” I arch an eyebrow at him. “They aggressive?”
“Not so much, but you never can tell. Some of them seem more interested in collecting supplies or gathering the broken optical matrices they use as teeth. Others, well I’ve encountered at least three that came at me soon as they saw me.”
“So the aggressive ones are sophisticated enough to use makeshift suits?”
“Oh yeah. In fact, they’re often in ones that look like someone made more of an effort. You know, actually strapped a compressed air cylinder on them to give them some extra time.”
“Sounds like milspec survival training, wouldn’t you say? Bit like the space survival training we had at the academy.”
“Hadn’t thought of it like that.” Joud smiles at me. “Guess that’s why you’re a commander and I’m an ensign.” He winks.
There’ve been some changes there alright. I swear he’s flirting with me. It’s… charming. Less direct than the way Zed used to show interest, but just as masculine. Maybe even more confident. I catch the scowl on Sarah’s face. Jealousy? Another angle to work, should I need it.
“Can we cut the jawing and get on with this?” Sarah says.
“Easy now,” Zed says, setting a hand on the shoulder of her voidsuit. “We need to catch our breath a moment before we go jumping into this. Calm, controlled. None of this running off and hacking Revs if we spot them. Clear?”
Sarah grits her teeth for a moment then speaks. “It’s clear.”
“OK then.” Zed turns to Joud. “David, you have any luck with Kara’s suit radio?”
“It’s software, not hardware. There’s a shifting algorithm that keeps anyone from changing the frequency. I’m guessing it encrypts any comms on that frequency too.”
“Guessing?”
“Too sophisticated for me to break the program down and take a look. If I had to commit to an explanation, I’d say it’s a QI virus.”
I keep my expression neutral and note the same careful impassivity on Zed’s face. So… he hasn’t told them everything after all.
“We’re stuck without comms, Kara. I noticed your suit’s having problems with its left gravity boot. Better use a stikpad for now.” He hands me one of the adhesive layers and I tuck it into the thigh pouch of the voidsuit. Little point hobbling along while we still have gravity.
Zed nods. “OK, everybody. Remember the rules. We stick together. See something interesting, call out. Volunteer to keep an eye on Kara—without her suit comms she could easily get lost. David? Great, you two better use a belaying line—way too easy to get distracted out there.”
Joud’s face lights up, the expression melting his face back into the soft young man he’d been before. But aside from the thought I’ll have the ensign trying to hump my leg the whole time, Zed’s decision bothers me. Implies I need babysitting. Implies he doesn’t give enough of a shit to do it himself.
“Great, try to keep up, ensign.” Joud’s gap-toothed grin slips and I smile to myself. “All of you are armed. I’m not going out there without a weapon.”
They exchange uncomfortable looks. Joud opens his mouth but Sarah nudges him. Akima scowls.
“We’re a bit wary of you, Kara, and that’s no lie,” Zed says. “You look after yourself and screw the rest of us. We get it. It’s another part of the training, your killer drive to survive and get to the top no matter what happens. But it doesn’t make us trust you.” I wouldn’t have been more shocked if he’d slapped me.
“I… How dare…”
“I hadn’t finished. Surviving this isn’t about the individual. Someone as smart as you can see that. Every one of us increases the chances of the rest living through this. So, here—” He hands me a jagged length of metal, one end wrapped in insulation tape. “It’s not much but then all of us have to make do with tools or weapons we’ve made.”
Sarah leans forward, a savage excitement in her eyes. “All you got to do is slash their suits and they die fast enough.”
I take the shiv, walk to a pile of junk and spare parts they’d lashed together between the hammocks, and grab a length of pipe. Screw the end of the shiv into it then bang the butt against the deck until only an inch of insulating taped handle remains visible. Walk back, putting the old deliberate swagger into my step. “Yeah, all of you have hardened plating covering you head to foot. I might as well wrap myself in a foil blanket. Here’s a little secret for you—I’m the one who’s having to trust my life to a bunch of people who’ll jump on me the moment their batteries run out.” I tap the back of my head then pull up my hood and visor and seal them. It muffles their voices but I’m not listening anyway.
Gravity makes the search through the dark interior easier but with every step I can’t help but expect the ship’s acceleration to stop again. Having my makeshift spear makes me feel a little better even if it’d do precisely zip against the voidsuits of my companions. Zed has done me a favor—I’d begun to get too comfortable with them, let a sense of safety build up. Now I’m back to the simple truth of the situation. Fuck what he said. Each of them is a potential threat, and it’s less a question of if and more a question of when I’ll have to deal with them.
Joud takes his task seriously, keeping pace with me and behaving in a gentlemanly way at total odds to the mission necessities. But his head stays up and roving from side to side, playing the headlamp’s beam over every surface near us. Checking behind us, marking where each of the others were. Shining the light out into the dark expanse of the engine compartment. We stay in a tight formation.
“Kara-chan, do you read me? Over.” I must have faltered because immediately my self-appointed protector is at my side, holding my elbow. I’m about to shake him off but I resist the impulse. Make eye-contact. Break it. Look back. Smile and mouth a thank you. I swear he blushes. He opens his mouth and starts speaking then his color deepens further and he waves a hand in a vague gesture. I keep the laughter contained.
“Kara, this is Hiroki. Please come in. Over.”
I cast around, checking the others. Each is keeping a tight watch on their surroundings and the rest of us. Zed may only be a wrench-monkey but he’s made sure his people stay alert. I almost approve. No sign they can hear Hiroki.
I tab the comm. Keeping eyes on Zed, I speak, trying to keep my lips from moving. “I read you, Hiroki.” No reaction from Zed. No way can he be so controlled if he’s listening in.
