Finally there was the kiloton fusion nuke strapped to his side in its harness. A black carbotanium sphere twenty centimetres in diameter, thoroughly innocuous looking.
Chas did nothing for five minutes while he thought about his situation; then he began to cut strips of wood from the cherry oaks to form a splint and a crutch.
Hidden behind its event horizon, the singularity came into being two hundred and twenty thousand kilometres above Murora, its intense mass density bending the course of nearby photons and elementary particles in tight curves. It took six milliseconds to expand from its initial subatomic size out to fifty-seven metres in diameter. As it reached its full physical dimensions the internal stresses creating the event horizon ceased to exist.
Lady Macbeth fell in towards the gas giant, ion thrusters squirting out long spokes of cold blue fire to halt the slight spin caused by venting coolant gases. Thermo-dump panels stretched wide to glow a smoky cardinal red as they disposed of the excess thermal energy acquired during the starships frantic flight through Lalondes polar atmosphere. Sensor clusters swept the local environment for hazards while star trackers fixed their exact position.
Joshua exhaled loudly, allowing his relief to show. Well done, Dahybi. That was good work under pressure.
Ive been in worse situations.
He refused to rise to the bait. Sarha, have you locked down those malfunctioning systems yet?
Were getting there, she said blandly. Give me another five minutes.
Sure. After the harsh acceleration of Lalonde orbit, free fall was superbly relaxing. Now, if shed just give him a massage ...
That was one hell of a scrap back there, Melvyn said.
Were well out of it, Warlow rumbled.
Feel sorry for the scout teams, trapped on a planet full of people who behave like that. Melvyn stopped and winced, then gave Joshua a cautious glance.
She knew what she was going down to, Joshua said. And I meant what I said about going back to check.
Reza Malin knew what he was about, Ashly said. Shell be safe enough with him.
Right. The flight computer datavised an alarm into Joshuas neural nanonics. He accessed the sensor array.
Muroras storm bands were smears of green and blue, mottled with the usual white ammonia cyclones. A thick whorl of ochre and bronze rings extended from the cloud tops out to a hundred and eighty thousand kilometres, broken by two major divisions. The gas giant boasted thirty-seven natural satellites, from a quartet of hundred-kilometre ring-shepherds up to five moons over two thousand kilometres in diameter; the largest, M-XI, named Keddie, had a thick nitrogen methane atmosphere.
Aethra had been germinated in a two hundred thousand kilometre orbit, far enough outside the fringes of the ring to mitigate any danger of collision from stray particles. The seed had been brought to the system in 2602 and attached to a suitable mineral-rich asteroid; it would take thirty years to mature into a structure capable of supporting a human population, and another twenty years to reach its full forty-five-kilometre length. After nine years of untroubled development it was already three and a half kilometres long.
In the same orbit, but trailing five hundred kilometres behind the young habitat, was the supervisory station, occupied by fifty staff (it had accommodation for a thousand). The Edenists didnt use bitek for such a small habitational environment; it was a carbotanium wheel seven hundred and fifty metres in diameter, eighty metres wide, containing three long gardens separated by blocks of richly appointed apartments. Its hub was linked to a large non-rotating cylindrical port, grossly under-used, but built in anticipation of the traffic which would start to arrive once the habitat reached its median size and He3 cloud-scoop mining began in Muroras atmosphere. During the interim there were just two inter-orbit vessels docked, which the station staff used to commute to Aethra on their inspection tours.
Lady Macbeth had emerged forty thousand kilometres away from the solitary Edenist outpost, a jump accuracy Joshua was entirely satisfied with considering the conditions. Her sensors focused on the station in time to see it break apart. The rim had been sliced open in several places, allowing the atmosphere to jet out. Small thrusters were still firing in a useless attempt to halt the ominous wobble which had developed. Optical sensors revealed trees, bushes, and oscillating slicks of water rushing out of the long gashes.
Like the Ruin Ring, Joshua whispered painfully.
Small circular spots on the carbotanium shell glowed crimson. The tough metal was visibly undulating as the structures seesaw fluctuations increased. Then one of the cryogenic fuel-storage tanks in the non-rotating port exploded, which triggered another two or three tanks. It was hard to tell the exact number, the entire station was obscured by the white vapour billowing out.
As the cloud dispersed large sections of the wheel tumbled out of the darkening centre.
A hundred kilometres away, two fusion drives burnt hotly against the icy starscape, heading for the immature habitat. One of the ships was emitting a steady beat of microwaves from its transponder.
Theyre here already, Melvyn said. Bloody hell. They must have jumped before we did.
That is the Maranta s transponder code, Warlow said without any notable inflection. Why would Wolfgang leave it transmitting?
Because hes not the captain any more, Ashly said. Look at the vectors. Neither of them is maintaining a steady thrust. Their drives are unstable.
Theyre going to kill the habitat, arent they? Sarha said. Just like Laton did all those years ago. Those bastards! It cant hurt them, it cant hurt anybody. What kind of sequestration is this?
A bad one, Warlow grumbled at an almost subliminal volume. Very bad.
Im picking up lifeboat beacons, Melvyn said with a rush of excitement. Two of them. Somebody escaped.
Joshua, who had felt eager triumph at their successful jump to Murora and anger at the stations violation, was left empty, leaving his mind in an almost emotion-free state. His crew was looking at him. Waiting. Dad never mentioned this part of captaining a ship.
Melvyn, Sarha; recalibrate the injection ionizers for the number one fusion tube. Whatever thrust we can get, please. Im going to need it. Ashly, Warlow, get down to the airlock deck. We wont have much time to bring them on board, make sure they come through as fast as possible.
Warlows couch webbing peeled back immediately. The cosmonik and the pilot went through the floor hatch as though they were in a race.
Dahybi, recharge the nodes. Ill jump outsystem as soon as we have them on board. If we get them on board.
Yes, Captain.
Stand by for combat gees. Again!
On the other side of hugely complex schematic diagrams, Sarha smiled knowingly at the hard-used martyred tone.
Lady Macbeth s fusion drives ignited, driving the ship towards the twirling wreckage of the station. Thermo-dump panels hurried back into their recesses as the gee force climbed. The starships sensors tracked the two fusion drives forty thousand kilometres ahead. Joshua was wondering how long it would take for them to spot the rescue attempt. If they use the sensors the way they do the fusion drives they may never see us. Maranta was only accelerating at half a gee.