Frontiers 07 - The Expanse (12 page)

The two men manipulating Vladimir’s REMS-pole slowly lowered their end, causing the other end to lift the plug off the floor. The servos in the REMS-pole kicked in, humming as they exerted additional lifting force to compensate for the weight of the plug and the heavy trunk line connected to it.

“Activating field opposition,” Vladimir announced as he pressed the button on the remote. “Advancing the plug.”

The men again moved the arm, sliding it farther forward. The ship shook again as another piece of debris struck the hull. The men stopped their advance momentarily as they steadied themselves.

“
Chort,
” Vladimir cursed under his breath. “Forward,” he urged.

The men continued advancing the pole, moving the plug closer to the receptacle on their ZPED’s junction box.

“One hundred centimeters,” Vladimir reported as they continued to advance the plug. He glanced at the other remote operator. The man was concentrating on his display as well. Vladimir assumed that he was matching their rate of advance centimeter for centimeter as best he could. “Seventy-five centimeters,” he continued. “Fifty…”

A loud pop accompanied a blue-green arc of electrical energy jumped from each of the ZPED’s junction boxes to the poles on the plugs that dangled from the end of the REMS-poles.

“
BLIN!
” Vladimir looked at Lieutenant Montgomery, his eyes wide with fear and uncertainty.

“It is all right!” the lieutenant declared. “The energy jumped, and the connection was made when you closed within fifty centimeters! This was to be expected!”

“It was?” Vladimir exclaimed. “Thank you very much for warning me!”

“I apologize,” the lieutenant told him. “You are now connected and in phase.”

Vladimir looked over at the technician near the energy cell on his side of the room. The technician checked the indicators on the cell, then turned back and nodded at Vladimir.

“
Gospadee,
” Vladimir mumbled as he regained his composure. “Continue advancing and make contact,” he ordered.

The men continued sliding the pole forward, moving the plug all the way up to the socket and slowly inserting it into its receptacle on the ZPED’s junction box as the blue-green energy sparked and jumped about.

The ship shuddered from another, even larger impact, knocking Vladimir to the floor. One of the technicians manipulating Vladimir’s REMS-pole also lost his footing and fell into the pole, knocking the technician on the other side over and away from him. The clamps on the end of his pole broke free from the force of the suddenly shifting pole and slid across the top of the partially inserted plug, making contact with the edge of the receptacle. Blue-green energy leapt up the pole, blowing past the limiters at the tripod mounting head with ease and finding the technician still clinging to the pole for balance. A gurgled cry of pain erupted from the man’s mouth as the massive amount of energy generated by the idling ZPED surged through his body. Had most of the energy not been channeled directly to the energy cell, the technician’s body would have been instantly vaporized. Instead, he stood there frozen, clinging to the electrically charged pole and unable to release his grip.

The remote control exploded in a shower of sparks in Vladimir’s hands as he quickly released it. He looked at the technician not more than a meter in front of him, his face frozen in pain and terror. “
Bozhe moi.
”

“We must free him!” one of the Takarans exclaimed as he charged toward the frozen man.

“NYET!” Vladimir cried out, but it was too late.

The Takaran ran at the Corinairan technician, momentarily adding himself to the conductive circuit and knocking the Corinairan free from his death grip on the electrified REMS-pole. There was a flash of blue-green light as the Takaran made contact and the energy invaded his body as well. A moment later, both men lay on the floor just beyond the smoking remote control unit that Vladimir had dropped. Faint smoke lingered around them, slowly rising from their bodies.

Vladimir scrambled to his feet to help the injured men, his face recoiling in disgust at the smell of burnt flesh.

“Medical emergency in the ZPED room!” Master Chief Montrose called over his comm-set. “Two men down! Repeat! Medical emergency in the ZPED room. Two men down!”

“The plug!” Lieutenant Montgomery yelled. “It is not inserted all the way.”

Vladimir stopped and looked at the plug, then at the bodies of the two men as others rushed to their sides. He looked back at the lieutenant, his eyes pleading as the ship was rocked by another impact.

“If that plug falls out and is knocked beyond fifty centimeters, the ZPEDs will be out of phase!”

“Quickly!” Vladimir ordered the other REMS-pole team. “Move over here! We must secure that plug!”

“
Med teams two and four are en route!
” the damage control officer’s voice reported over the master chief’s comm-set. “
ETA two.
”

“We must be quick!” Lieutenant Montgomery urged. “We only have a few minutes before the energy cells will be filled to capacity and the transfer trunk will again be too dangerous to handle.”

Abby and the other members of her jump drive team rushed to the sides of the fallen men.

“Turn them over,” Abby ordered, her voice calm. “Get them on their backs and remove their shirts.” She turned to the technician nearest her. “Go to the next compartment and get the med-pack.” She moved to the wall as the man left the compartment and took the med-pack for that compartment off its wall mounts. She dropped it on the floor beside the injured Takaran. As the others finished removing his shirt, she quickly opened the box, pulled out a small device, and placed it on the floor next to him. She then pulled the two leads out, stuck them onto the Takaran man’s chest, and activated the unit. “
Analyzing. Analyzing,
” the mechanical voice announced as she checked the man’s neck for a pulse. “
Stand clear. Stand clear.
” Abby pushed a button on the device. “
Shocking.
” The Takaran’s body twitched slightly as the device delivered a precise electrical stimulus intended to restart his heart.

“
Buistra!
” Vladimir urged his engineers as they detached the REMS-pole tripod from the deck. “Move, move, move!” he added as the four of them picked up the entire apparatus in one piece and carried it across the room. Two other technicians disconnected and removed the damaged REMS-pole and tripod.

The other jump drive technician rolled the injured Corinairan over. He gasped at the sight of the man’s charred face and hands. “Oh, God!” he said, recoiling from the sight.

“Get his shirt off!” Abby ordered as the other technician returned with the med-pack from the next compartment.

“
Analyzing. Analyzing,
” the device connected to the Takaran again instructed. “
Stand clear. Stand clear.
” Abby pressed the button again.
“Shocking.”
Again the Takaran’s body twitched.

“Do you know what to do?” Abby asked the other technician.

The man was already pulling the leads out of the device from the second med-pack. “I know! I know!” he exclaimed as he attached the leads to the Corinairan’s burnt chest. He activated the unit.

“Reconnect the tripod to the deck,” Vladimir ordered as he switched on the power for the second REMS-pole using its remote. Two of the technicians scrambled to secure the feet of the tripod as the other two began moving the head of the pole into position.

The ship shook as another chunk of the debris being pulled toward the black hole’s event horizon struck the hull of the ship. The tripod began to topple over as one of the technicians scrambled to keep it upright until it could be secured to the deck.

Lieutenant Montgomery had his eyes fixed on the massive, half-inserted plug as it nearly fell out of its socket while the ship bounced. “It is coming out!” he cried. If it fell to the floor, the plug would be more than fifty centimeters from the socket, and the energy transfer would cease, taking the two ZPEDs out of phase and forcing them to shut down. If that happened, he doubted they would be able to get them restarted.

“
Analyzing. Analyzing,
” the cardio unit attached to the injured Corinairan technician announced.

“Come on!” the jump drive technician tending to the injured man yelled impatiently.

“
No shock indicated.
”

The jump drive technician’s face sank.

“
Analyzing. Analyzing,
” Abby’s device reported. “
Stand clear. Stand clear.”

Abby pushed the button one last time.

“
Shocking,
” the device reported a third time. The Takaran’s body twitched once more.

“
Analyzing. Analyzing,
” the device announced. “
No shock indicated. Begin resuscitation efforts.
”

“
Pokkers!
” Abby swore in her native tongue as she bent over the Takaran’s face.

“The tripod is secure,” one of the technicians announced.

“Advance the pole!” Vladimir ordered. He looked about the room, praying that the ship stayed steady. Another bounce at the wrong moment could end their efforts and, in essence, all their lives. He watched the monitor on the remote as the two technicians steadied the pole on the tripod. Vladimir adjusted the claws on the end of the pole, raising them slightly in order to line them up. His fingers ached, their tips burnt by the electrical current that had transferred through to his remote when the first REMS-pole made contact with the ZPEDs output socket. He could barely feel the controls on the remote. “Forward, slowly, slowly…” The ship bounced again as another piece of debris struck the hull. “
Gospadee!
” He looked around again, then checked the alignment on his screen. It was still good. “Forward,” he prodded his men on the pole.

Abby adjusted the injured Takaran’s head, pulling his chin upward to open his airway and pressed her lips around his open mouth, blowing forcefully into his lungs. She watched as his chest rose and fell with each breath, turning her head away momentarily as she filled her own lungs with fresh air between each rescue breath. After three breaths, she moved over and began chest compressions, her arms rigid and her hands locked over one another as she rocked downward. “Start resuscitation!” she ordered the technician operating the device connected to the Corinairan man.

“But the cardio unit said…”

“I don’t care what it said! Start resuscitation!”

“Yes, ma’am,” the technician responded as he moved to the head of the injured Corinairan to deliver rescue breaths.

“Contact!” Vladimir declared as the clamps touched the plug. He squeezed the trigger on the remote’s control stick, causing the clamps at the end of the pole to close tightly on the plug. He paused as the ship violently shook again, then ordered, “Push!”

The two technicians slid the pole forward a bit more, pushing the massive plug firmly into the ZPEDs output socket. Vladimir twisted the control stick, causing the clamp to rotate the plug, locking it in place. “It’s in!” he announced as he released the clamps. “Withdraw the pole quickly!”

After another round of chest compressions, Abby repeated the rescue breaths once more. As she returned to the Takaran man’s chest to continue with another round of compressions, she looked over her shoulder at Vladimir as he and his team retracted the REMS-pole and shut it down.

With both energy cells securely connected and drawing most of the idling ZPEDs power away, Vladimir and his men scrambled to quickly connect the ZPEDs to the ship’s main power grid before they ran out of time. It would take only a few minutes for the energy cells to become fully charged, after which they would no longer be pulling energy away from the ZPEDs and their transfer trunk lines. If the transfer trunk line became fully charged before they were clear, there would be more dead men lying on the deck.

“
ZPED room, Captain! Report!
” Nathan’s voice called over the comm-set. His hails repeated several times but continued to go unanswered.

The first medical team arrived and immediately relieved Abby of her resuscitative efforts. A minute later, the second medical team arrived and began their assessment of the severely burnt Corinairan man. It took them less than a minute to determine that there was nothing they could do for the man, and they joined the first team in their efforts to save the Takaran.

Abby leaned back against the wall, slowly sliding down until she was in a sitting position on the floor, her arms wrapped around her legs as she watched the medical teams work.

“What the hell is going on down there?” Nathan wondered.

“I’m sure they’re busy,” Cameron said.

“Naralena, have the med teams reported in?”

“Only that they were on scene, sir,” Naralena answered.

“How much time do we have until we no longer have enough propellant to get home?” Nathan asked.

“Ten minutes, sir.”

“Technically, if we steer a straight line for Sol, we could just do one short burn and jump along that line all the way home,” Cameron said.

“No maneuvering? No course adjustments to steer around black holes or God knows what else?” Nathan said. “What are the odds that would work?”

“Pretty much zero, I suppose,” Cameron agreed as she steadied herself against the force of another impact.

“
Captain, Cheng!
” Vladimir called over the comms.

“Go for Captain!” Nathan answered.

“
ZPEDs are hooked in and ready to go. Doctor Sorenson is ready to begin throttling up their output as needed.”

“Outstanding!” Nathan exclaimed. “One percent at a time, if you please. I don’t want to run them any higher than necessary to get out of here. No use in taking any chances,” he added, looking at Cameron and smiling.

“
Da, da, da,
” Vladimir answered. “
Starting at one percent.
”

“Loki, channel that extra energy into the mains,” Nathan ordered.

“Aye, sir. Channeling ZPED power into the mains.”

“Anything?” Nathan asked. The ship shook again.

Loki stared at his console for several seconds, waiting for an indication in the change of their rate of separation from the black hole’s event horizon. “It’s helping,” he reported with some degree of hesitation. “Barely, but it’s helping. I think it’s going to take a bit more than one percent, though.”