“That’s okay,” said Jake. “Thank you.”
Priscilla had already turned him off.
“All right.” Jake pointed at the display. “Let’s concentrate on getting lined up with the Gremlin.”
* * *
TAWNY WAS OUT of the closet, and Priscilla was waiting as the Gremlin came around the rim of the planet, back into the sunlight. Shahlah appeared on-screen and delivered a tight smile. “Welcome to Barton’s World, Priscilla,” she said. She was gorgeous. The photo hadn’t done her justice.
The kids cheered when they looked outside and saw the Copperhead. Then the captain appeared. The all-right-I’ve-got-it attitude she remembered from the Cockpit was down a notch. “We’re glad to see you guys,” he said.
Priscilla nodded. “Glad to be here. We ready to start, Captain?”
“Sooner the better. One thing, by the way: The kids don’t know we’re going down. They’ve been told they’re being moved to other ships because of the engine damage. I haven’t gone into any additional detail.”
“Okay. They’re going to have to do a spacewalk to get over to us. Will that be a problem?”
“They already know about that.”
Had the Copperhead been one of the newer vehicles, say, a Mariner-class, they could have docked the two ships and taken the children off directly. But Priscilla didn’t even have direct access to the Gremlin with the lander.
* * *
JAKE CLIPPED AN imager onto his vest so Priscilla could watch everything. Then he put on one of the Flickinger units, picked up the second one, which constituted their entire supply, and went out through the air lock. Priscilla watched him cross to the Gremlin. Joshua, Shahlah, and the girls were waiting for him.
The students all appeared to be about seventeen or eighteen, and they looked both relieved and worried. Relieved, she guessed, because Jake was there; worried about doing a spacewalk.
Jake turned off the Flickinger field. “This is Captain Loomis,” said Shahlah. “He’s come to give us a ride.”
He shook hands with her and with Captain Miller, and turned to the passengers. “Hello, ladies,” he said, as if they were all cruising on the Nile. His manner suggested this was all routine stuff. No problem. We do this all the time. “It’s good to see you. Weren’t there any boys who won a prize?”
Several of the students smiled. Others frowned, indicating they hadn’t understood.
“Captain Loomis,” Shahlah said, “the boys get a separate flight. We’ve come a long way, but we haven’t come that far.”
* * *
JAKE AND JOSHUA had gone onto the bridge and were talking in low tones.
“I know,” Joshua said.
“But we can take everybody. You and I should stay with the Gremlin until it’s ready to go down. That’ll save some air on the Copperhead.”
“We’ve already talked about that,” he said. “Shahlah will stay also.”
“You sure?”
“She insists.”
“All right. We stay as long as we can. Then we’ll cross over and move three people into our lander. We’ll be pushing life support a little. But it should be okay.”
“I hope so.” Joshua took a deep breath. “If we get through this, Jake, I’ll take you to dinner.”
They laughed. “We’d better start moving the kids. How many suits do you have?”
“Two.”
“Okay. I brought an extra one with me. Priscilla, you listening?”
“I’m here.”
“Some treats would be nice. I’ll be over with the first batch in a few minutes.”
* * *
PRISCILLA’S JOURNAL
This does not feel as if it’s going to end well. The Sydney Thompson is still more or less twenty hours away.
—November 17, 2195
Chapter 5
JAKE ARRIVED WITH three girls and their luggage. All were breathless after doing a spacewalk wearing no protection other than their air tanks and a harness that seemed to do nothing more than produce a soft glow. They filed into the passenger cabin, rolling their eyes and laughing and exchanging comments in Arabic. At that moment there was no need for a common language. Priscilla and Jake helped them out of their gear.
Priscilla brought out juice and cookies, and they did introductions. The girls were Adara, Lana, and Ishraq. “Make yourselves at home,” she said.
Jake was putting the Flickinger units and air tanks into a plastic bag when Priscilla asked him to join her on the bridge.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
“No. I just need to ask you something.” When she was sure no one was close enough to hear, she lowered her voice. “Listen, Jake, I can go over and stay on the Gremlin. There’s no need for you to do it.”
Jake took a deep breath. He looked impressed. “Well, that’s very generous of you, but no. Let’s leave things the way they are. Anything else?”
“Jake, you’re the real pilot on this flight. If there’s a problem, you need to be here.”
“We’ve got a problem, and I’m here. This is what I get paid for.”
“Jake—”
“Forget it. Your job, whatever happens from here on out, is to get these kids home.” She opened her mouth to respond, but he held up a hand indicating she was to be quiet. “This is my responsibility. We’re all going to survive, so don’t worry about it. In any case, I don’t want to have it on my record that I allowed a student pilot to board a ship with problems.” He looked back at her without cracking a grin. “If I did that, I’d never be able to set foot in the Cockpit again.”
“Jake, if there’s a problem, I’m not certified to solo with this ship.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m certifying you now.”
“All right. How about we flip for it?” One of the girls, Adara, was watching them through the open hatch.
“Keep your voice down, Priscilla. And no.” He looked at the overhead. “We’re not flipping for anything.”
“Why not?” Somewhere in a deep, dark place, she wanted him to refuse her. To keep saying no, he was the senior officer, it was his responsibility. “Jake—”
“Because it’s my call. Because you’re a woman.”
That was irritating. “Women and children first.”
“That’s the tradition.”
“It’s a bit old-school, isn’t it?”
“Listen, just take care of things here, all right? Do that, and we’ll be okay.”
“You have a plan?”
“Yeah.” Jake waved at Adara. Smiled. She smiled back and turned away. “It’s simple enough. When we’ve got all the children over here, Shahlah, Josh, and I will stay with the Gremlin as long as we can. Then when we have to, we’ll come over here and move into our lander. We should be able to live off its air supply until the Thompson shows up. That way we won’t put any additional pressure on the ship’s life-support system.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said.
“Why not?”
“How are you going to know when you have to come over? You wait a few seconds too long, and you’ll all go down with the Gremlin.”
“You have a better plan?”
“Why not put the lander alongside the Gremlin? You’d be able to get to it quicker.”