Birgirs. Should she remember a Birgirs? Then she did. “Sergeant Birgirs, then—fitness instructor? He ran us off our legs.” Ky grinned. He had taught her how to handle larger opponents. “Are you staying in?”
“Absolutely,” Gossin said. “This is my life and what I want. Not going to complicate things with marriage or family; if I don’t screw up I could make sergeant major. Maybe. At any rate, I’m in for the duration.”
Ky liked her: sensible, direct, and utterly professional. She considered asking Gossin about the others in the second raft, but Gossin spoke first.
“Admiral, by your leave, I’ll take a party outside to brush the snow off these canopies. I see a little sag over there.”
“Go ahead,” Ky said. They could talk again later. She watched as Gossin chose a crew, noting that she mixed personnel from both rafts. Then she went out herself to stretch and look at the bay, the snow melting quietly into dark water. Sergeant Chok was just coming out of the other raft, and Ky beckoned to him.
“You’ve got inflatable raft experience,” Ky said. “How long do you think the ground cloths we made will protect the raft bottoms?”
“You mean to use them again as rafts?” he asked, brow furrowed. “The longer we’re on land, the more abrasion they’ll have, even with people trying not to scoot around inside and rub the fabric against these rocks. If we’re here all winter, I doubt they’ll be seaworthy when it warms up again.” Ky nodded; he went on. “You think no one will come?”
“If we’re out of communication long enough, they’ll likely think we all died in the crash. And if whatever has kept people’s skullphones from working affects aircraft communications, they may not fly over the continent.”
“Yeah, I can see that. Well, if we take to the sea again, we’d better do it soon, and figure out a better way to steer. It’s going to get colder—this bay may freeze over and then we’re really stuck.”
“Better here than out at sea.”
“Yes, sir. Absolutely. Except there’s nothing much to eat. How many days’ food do we have now?”
“Not enough to get through the winter. We have to have another source, and right now the sea is it. You said your family farmed fish?”
“Yes, sir, but we can’t do that here. We don’t have any way to net off the bay, or make cages for them, so predators don’t eat them. And unless we move everyone into one raft and use the other one, we’ll have to fish from shore.”
“Where would be the best place?”
“Out along one of the arms, toward the open sea. Should be deeper water close in there.” He pointed into the snow. “Dangerous getting there and coming back, though, with tides and current and wind. Easy to get blown back out to sea.” A pause. “I wouldn’t advise it, sir, but I’ll try if you want.”
“Maybe when it’s not snowing and the wind’s still,” Ky said. “We should go back inside now. Get some lunch.” Meager as it was, she wanted that little lump of protein.
Chok followed her into the active raft. Kurin looked up. “Two more for lunch?”
“Such as it is.” Ky identified the speaker as Corporal Lanca, dark like her but beak-nosed and round-shouldered. He had been in the other raft with Commander Bentik. “It’s not enough.”
“It’s the same for everyone, Corporal,” Kurin said. She handed the little packet to Ky and another to Chok.
“I’m going to take a nap,” Lanca said. He unfastened the hatch, stepped over the sidewall, and made a sloppy job of fastening the hatch again.
“Typical,” muttered Kurin.
“Got it,” Chok said, and snugged the flap down.
“Problem there?” Ky asked.
“He has a certain reputation,” Chok said. Kurin nodded. “I’d heard of him from time to time. Lazy Lanca, they call him.”
“Should never have made corporal,” Kurin said, lowering her voice. “Should have washed out in Basic.”
Chok shrugged. “We need all the hands we have.”
“But not all the mouths.”
Ky gave her a sharp look. Kurin spread her hands.
“He tried to talk me out of more food—said he had a metabolic problem. I know—and I know you heard the same story, Gus—he’s got a reputation for that, too, cadging extra rations and then trying to skip out on physicals.”
“Any other problems I should know about? Or just background on the others in your raft, Sergeant Chok?”
Chok looked wary. “Well… we had Master Sergeant Marek with us; he was a big help. I think—I think Commander Bentik thought I was a bit young to take charge. And she’s not from here.”
Ky already knew Jen had been difficult at first. “The commander’s culture is much more formal,” Ky said. “But I was wondering how the other personnel were—any problems I should know about? Anyone you think deserves a commendation?”
Chok relaxed. “The rest—this is just my first impression, and they may be different now we’re on land.” He looked at her; Ky nodded again. “Barash is a stickler for regulations, likes to correct people. I think she’s just scared and that’s her way of coping. Riyahn’s a motormouth, yammers on and on, and he can panic—you saw his reactions the day our first raft was holed. He’s Miznarii, too, if that matters.”
Ky shrugged. “Not to me, if he can do his job. Do you know his training?”
“Yes; electrical systems, what in a civilian would be installation and maintenance electrician.”
“What about Tech Lundin?”
“Steady as stone. I guess most medics are. She said she worked for a field trauma team before she joined Spaceforce.”
“Good person to have along,” Ky said, and Chok nodded his agreement.
“Now Tech Hazarika, he’s weapons maintenance with a secondary in communications. More an indoor type; he’s had a rough time. Seasick a lot, and I don’t think he’s up to hard physical work. And…” Chok paused long enough that Ky gestured to him. “Well… he’s crazy about Drosh—Tech Droshinski. Who if you ask me, and you did, is a drama queen right out of vid programs. Smart enough, but the kind of woman who makes trouble.”
“Um. Sleeps around?”
“Not on this trip, so far. Just—everything is drama with her.”
“Did she start trouble with Commander Bentik?” Ky could easily imagine that happening. Offense taken, reproofs resented. She would have to be on the lookout for trouble in that direction.
“Not that I saw, Admiral, but Master Sergeant Marek was keeping close watch on the commander.” After a moment, Chok said, “I hope I didn’t rattle on too much, Admiral.”
“No, you didn’t. That was fine. I’ll be talking to everyone again myself, making my own assessments, but it helps to have something to start with.”
Everyone gathered for the evening meal—a single ration bar—as it grew dark, and then returned to their usual raft for the night. Ky thought about scrambling the crew, but put it aside for another day. Snow fell all night; the night watches had to brush it off the canopies every hour or two.
In the morning the snow still fell, though more lightly. When it stopped, the temperature dropped; the wind picked up, rattling the canopy fabric. Nobody wanted to go outside, but Ky insisted.
“Master Sergeant, we need work parties to gather seaweed and shellfish; Staff Sergeant Gossin should take several along the margins of the bay to find the best place to fish. The waste buckets from inside go to the latrine. Someone needs to use the desalinator pump to refill all the water containers with fresh water. And we need some kind of windbreak to protect our shelter. I wonder if we could pile up rocks.”
Marek looked at her as if she were crazy. “Build a rock shelter? Do you know how to do that? With round rocks?”