The Legend of Corinair (16 page)

Jessica and Enrique were both sitting together in the back row. Ever mindful of security, Jessica always wanted to be in a position where she could keep an eye on everyone else. “If the belt is constantly mined,” Enrique asked, “isn’t it possible we’ll be spotted?”

“The breadth of the belt, and the distance between most objects makes it highly unlikely, unless there just happens to be a ship in the vicinity when we arrive. Tug assures us that once inside the facility, we will be well hidden to even the most active penetrating scans.”

Nathan turned on the display behind him. A representation of the layout of the Darvano system showed up on the screen. “We’d prefer to jump into the system as unnoticed as possible, and close to our final destination. “Tug, do you have any recommendations?”

Tug, Jalea, and Allet were all sitting in the front row. Allet, having been working pretty much nonstop since he came aboard, looked like he could fall asleep at any moment. Tug and Jalea, although probably no more rested than anyone else, appeared more attentive.

Tug straightened up slightly before speaking “Captain, I would suggest arriving on the far side of the fifth planet. It is a massive gas-giant—almost a proto-star—that gives off a lot of radiation which will obscure the sensors of most ships. As long as we remain in a relatively low orbit, we should remain undetected.”

“Is there no traffic in the area?” Vladimir wondered. “Perhaps the nearby moons?”

Because of the radiation levels, the gas-giant’s moons are not hospitable,” Tug explained. “And the close proximity to the asteroid belt results in frequent collisions between the existing moons and rogue asteroids captured by the planet’s gravity well. For these reasons, this part of the system is not commonly navigated.”

“What about the radiation?” Vladimir asked. “Is it safe?”

“As long as we do not linger in orbit for more than a few hours, we should be safe,” Tug promised.

“Doctor?” Nathan said, looking at Abby who was sitting by herself, directly behind the three members of the Karuzari. “Will the gas-giant’s gravity well present any problems?”

“As an arrival point? No. However, you may have to compensate for its gravity rather quickly when we jump in next to it.”

“Maybe we should assume a speed equal to the orbital velocity of the altitude we expect to arrive at before we jump?” Cameron suggested.

“That would probably help mitigate the sudden change in gravitational forces,” Abby agreed. “If done properly, I suspect you will require no more than a minor orbital inclination correction burn.”

Nathan looked at his audience for signs of any other questions. Sensing none, he continued. “Okay then, that’ll be our entry point. Once we have achieved a stable orbit, we’ll launch the shuttle. Josh, you guys will be carrying a team of four into the base. Tug, Jalea, Vladimir, and Jessica, will all be going into the base to check it out and make sure it is still operational before we take the ship inside. Now, the place has been powered down for years, so you’ll all have to go in full pressure suits.”

“Captain?” Josh interrupted. “Are you saying we’re gonna be flying
inside
that asteroid?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Excellent. I’ve smashed rocks, captured rocks, and even dodged rocks. But I’ve never flown
inside
a rock.”

“The shuttle doesn’t have an airlock, sir,” Loki pointed out.

“Then I guess you’ll all be wearing pressure suits.”

Josh looked excited about that prospect as well, even if Loki did not.

“Once you get inside, Jess, check the place out and power it up. Once both Tug and you are satisfied that it’s safe, we’ll break orbit and get inside as quickly as we can to avoid detection.”

“And if there’s traffic in the area?” Jessica asked.

“If necessary, we’ll jump in close. But we’d like to avoid that if possible, as the jump itself creates quite a flash which is highly noticeable if you happen to be looking in the right direction.”

“It is highly unlikely that we will encounter any traffic,” Tug insisted. “This particular asteroid was chosen due in part to its location. Most of the asteroids in the area have already been mined to their limits, so there should be no interest in that particular region.”

“What are you planning on doing once you get inside this rock?” Marcus asked.

“Once inside and securely docked, we should be able to power down many systems and more easily conduct repairs. While we’re there, we’ll be sending Tug and Jalea to Corinair, along with a load of ore to sell. They should be there for at least a day, during which they will procure more supplies and attempt to make contact with members of the Karuzari that may be hiding on Corinair.” Nathan looked around the room again. “Any questions?”

“Yeah,” Marcus grunted. “How long we gonna hideout
here?”

“As long as it takes, but no longer than necessary,” Nathan said, intending to be vague. “We make that determination on a day-by-day basis. All right, we’ve got about thirty minutes until we’re ready to jump. So you might as well get suited up and ready. Good luck.”

Nathan stepped down from the podium and quickly exited the room with Cameron on his heels. “How did I do?”

“Okay,” she answered. “Confident, relaxed. Not bad, considering you got lost on your way to the briefing.”

“Don’t be insubordinate,” he told her with a wry smile.

* * *

Nathan stood at the tactical console, reviewing the deep system scan reports that Kaylah had performed over the previous few hours. They had collected more than enough data to confirm the accuracy of the star charts translated from Tug’s fighter, and Abby felt confident that her plot into the system was a safe one.

Deliza again stood by Abby’s side. Since she had begun working with her on using one of the dead shuttle’s computer cores to make jump calculations, the two had become inseparable. Nathan suspected that, whether she was aware of it or not, the physicist had taken on the role of surrogate mother in the wake of the death of Deliza’s real mother.

“
Bridge, Nash,
” Jessica’s voice came across the comm-set.

“Go ahead,” Nathan said over his comm-set.

“
We’re all suited up and ready to go down here.”

“Very well. Have your pilot taxi out onto the flight deck. I want you guys ready to launch the moment we arrive.”

“
Copy.
”

Nathan looked down at the console, noting that the shuttle was already moving out of the hangar and into the main transfer airlock. Within minutes, it would be positioned outside the ship, sitting on the flight deck exposed to space.
They’re going to have quite a show,
he thought.

“Helm, put us on an intercept course for the jump in. Match velocity to the orbital velocity of gas-giant.”

“Yes, sir,” Cameron responded. She had been sitting at the helm since they had returned from the pre-jump mission briefing nearly thirty minutes ago. She had received the navigational data from Abby at least ten minutes ago, and she had already verified and entered it into the Aurora’s nav-com long before Nathan gave her the order to do so. But she knew that he was just going through the motions, making sure he didn’t forget anything.

“Attention all hands,” Nathan called throughout the ship. “Stand by for jump in one minute. Repeat, we jump in one minute.”

As the shuttle rolled out of the transfer airlock and onto the open flight deck, Jessica—who was sitting in a jump seat directly behind the flight crew—couldn’t help but notice that neither of the pilots seemed to know exactly where every control was located in their cockpit. “Uh, you guys have flown one of these before, right?”

“Define
flown
.” Loki asked, a bit of uncharacteristic sarcasm in his voice.

“You know, launch, fly around, and then land again… safely, I might add.”

“No worries, love,” Josh chimed in with his usual arrogance. “They all fly the same way.”

“Yeah, it’s just figuring out where all the little buttons and switches are that’s the tricky part.”

Jessica looked at Loki, then Josh, then back to Loki again. “You guys are messing with me, aren’t you?” She leaned back into her seat, either confident in her revelation or just not wanting to know the truth.

Loki glanced back over his shoulder, “Of course we are,” he assured her. He shot a guilty look over to Josh, who returned the expression in kind. Loki repositioned his helmet mic and contacted the Aurora. “Aurora, this is Shuttle One. We are in position and ready for departure.”

“Copy that, Shuttle One, Stand by. Oh, and guys, don’t forget about the flash,”
Nathan reminded them over the comms.
“We don’t need two blind pilots.”

“Copy, Aurora,” Loki answered as he dropped his darkened visor from the compartment along the top of his helmet down to cover his eyes.

“What’s with the Shuttle One?” Josh asked as he dropped his own visor into place.

“What was I supposed to call us? Shuttle Two?”

“Well what do we need a number for? We’re the only bleedin’ shuttle around.”

“In case we get another shuttle later, I guess. What do you care?”

“At least you could’ve come up with something cool, like Recon Shuttle or something.”

“Listen, you just fly this thing, let me talk on the radio, okay?” Loki insisted.

“Standby to jump in five,”
Abby’s voice counted down over the comm.

“Don’t get all testy,” Josh teased. There was nothing he liked more than pushing Loki’s buttons.

“Four.”

“I’m not getting testy.”

“Three.”

“Yes, you are. Like a little girl you are,” Josh prodded.

“Two.”

“Everyone close your eyes,” Jessica instructed the passengers.

“One.”

“Little girl, am I?” Loki said, beginning to take offense.

“Jump.”

Outside the shuttle, the bluish-white light again shot out from the emitters on the hull, quickly connecting them and covering the ship in a light that almost instantly intensified into a brilliant white. Through their polarized visors, Josh and Loki could see the hull of the Aurora outside, a momentary white halo covering and contouring to her hull lines. When the light subsided, the black star field was instantly replaced by the image of the massive, turquoise gas-giant that filled the sky in front of them, except for the blackness off to their starboard side.

The sudden arrival of the massive gas-giant gave them both a start, causing them to jump slightly in their flight couches.

“Whoa!” Loki screamed.

“Jesus! That’s the coolest thing ever!” Josh exclaimed.

“Cool? I just about pissed myself!” Loki admitted.

“Shuttle One, Aurora. You’re cleared for launch.”

“Copy, Shuttle One, taking off,” Loki replied as he lifted his visor.

Josh immediately fired the thrusters, pushing the ship up and away from the flight deck of the Aurora.

“Visor, dumbass,” Loki said to Josh, who still hadn’t raised his polarized visor.

“What’s that smell?” Josh asked, pretending to sniff the air as he raised his visor.

“I said almost,” Loki defended.

Josh looked at his displays, and then glanced out the windows of the shuttle, checking his position relative to the Aurora. “Hang on!” he called out to his passengers as he fired his thrusters again, slid the shuttle sideways, and then rolled off over the Aurora’s starboard side. He fired his mains at full burn, throwing everyone back into the seats as he drove the shuttle away from the Aurora at a steep angle.

“It’s going to take a lot of velocity to break orbit from that big bitch out there,” Loki warned.

“Stable orbit achieved,” Cameron reported.

“The shuttle’s away,” Nathan reported, after checking his console displays. “Kaylah, any contacts?”

“Negative, sir. The area is clear. But there is a lot of traffic around Corinair, as well as the asteroid belt itself. But it all seems to be avoiding this area.”

“I guess Tug was right,” Nathan said.

“Let’s hope he’s right about the hideout as well,” Cameron added. As much as she disliked the idea of piloting the ship into a giant cave in space, she preferred it to sitting out in the open in a system that was regularly visited by Ta’Akar warships.

“Abby, are you plotting an escape jump?” Nathan asked.

“Yes, sir. But we’ll have to get some distance from this planet before we can safely jump. Its gravity well is enormous.”

“Cam, plot an intercept course to meet with the shuttle halfway, in case we all have to clear out in a hurry. Abby, you can plot your escape jump from anywhere along her intercept course.”

“Yes, sir,” Abby answered.

“It looks like it will take them at least a couple of hours to get there,” Cameron informed him, “even at a full burn.”

“I guess all we can do is wait.”

* * *

The climb out of the gas-giant’s gravity well had been long and difficult. The noise of the shuttle’s main engines fighting to break free of the planet’s hold on them had been deafening. Even closing and sealing their helmets had done little to reduce the ear-splitting whine.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the shuttle finally broke free of the planet’s gravity and reached its cruising speed. The whine of the engines suddenly ceased as Josh ended the long, torturous burn. But instead of a much welcomed silence, there was the steady, grating sound of Marcus, the former harvesting crew foreman now turned shuttle crew chief, snoring away.

“For all that’s holy,” Josh chuckled. “The man is like a plasma drill,” he declared as he climbed out of his seat and moved back into the main compartment. When he reached Marcus, he carefully plugged in the life support umbilical from the ship to his suit, and gently closed and sealed his helmet. Finally, the snoring was reduced to a tolerable level.

“That’s better,” Josh decided, taking a seat next to Marcus and across the compartment from Jessica. “The man can sleep through just about anything,” he joked.