“I was afraid you’d say that. Anyone disagree?” Korin glanced around at the circle of gloomy faces. “All right, so I have to believe it. The Mallies have science and weapons different from and maybe superior to ours. What they did to Friday Indigo shows that they regard us as expendable. That tells me there’s no way we can allow them into our universe. The Angels and the Pipe-Rillas may think those bastards can be nice guys, but even a nice guy who can do anything he likes tends to do things you won’t like. If we want to live — and I assume we do — we’d better find a plan of action that lets us.”
“Easier said than done.” Elke was biting her fingernails, already chewed down to the quick. “The Angel and I have a good idea of the structure of the multiverse, and we think we know how to set coordinates to go to any universe — including the one we came from. But we’ve beaten our brains out for a way to get there. Our only chance would be to talk the Malacostracans into lending us one of their ships, and it’s pretty clear they aren’t about to do that.”
“I never said it would be easy, Elke. But any plan, even a terrible one, is a lot better than no plan at all. So I’m going to throw out ideas. You can all chip in or disagree any time you want.
“First, and this one’s a no-brainer: somebody has to go ashore tomorrow morning with Deb Bisson. We have to talk to the Mallies, no matter how much we hate ’em. We’ve been told that they can blow this ship up any time they feel like it, and if we don’t cooperate with them we’ll automatically be considered an enemy. We need to leave here soon — we’d better, because this hulk is dying around us — but right now we’re a sitting duck.
“So who goes with Deb Bisson? Well, I’m not inviting discussion, because this one I’ve already decided.” Korin turned to Chan. “You’ve been itching to go and look for trouble ashore for days—”
“I accept.”
“ — so here’s your chance. You and Bisson seem to work well as a team.”
“We do. Any other instructions?”
“Not without breaking one of my own golden rules. In an unpredictable situation, the man or woman on the spot should make the decisions, not the general sitting on his ass a million miles away from the action. But I’ll tell you what I expect from you. I need time. Time to organize ourselves to leave this ship and establish a base on shore. And time for Elke and the Angel to nail a way to get us through the Link and off this dump of a planet.” Korin waved his hand at Elke. “I know, I know. We don’t have a ship, and I don’t see any half-rational hope of getting us one. We need time for that, too. Yes?”
His question was addressed to Tully O’Toole, who was holding up his hand.
Tully glanced at Danny Casement sitting next to him, who nodded and said, “Friday Indigo didn’t say we could only send two people ashore. He said they only wanted two people to take our answer to them.”
“What are you proposing?”
“We have two of our team members in the hands of the Mallies. Tully and I talked about this even before you called us back here. We’d like to go ashore and take a shot at rescuing Chrissie and the Tarb.”
Instead of replying, Dag Korin leaned back and put his hand over his eyes. Finally he said, “Damn me, that’s a hard one. I don’t know what your friends are going through up there, but I can’t imagine it’s pleasant.” He tilted his head forward and stared at Danny. “Worse than anything, I hate to lose people. Ninety-nine percent of me is on your side, cheering you on to give it a shot. But I can’t let you do it. We have a proposal from the Mallies sitting in front of us. We don’t understand all its implications, but we have to explore it farther. Now, if you make a rescue attempt, whether you succeed or whether you fail, you’ll drop a mine on what Chan Dalton is doing. So it has to be no — though I wish there was some way I could say yes.”
Danny protested, “So we just sit around, waiting?”
“Did I say that? We’re going to be busy, every one of us. Soon we’re going to leave the Hero’s Return and set up camp on shore. We have to pick a site a comfortable distance from the Mallies, preferably in an inconspicuous place that can easily be hidden from overhead inspection. Elke Siry, that’s your job. We must also decide what we need to take from this ship and what we can take — Bony Rombelle, Liddy Morse, and Tully O’Toole, you make the list and assemble everything by the main airlock. Keep it practical and assume we’re never coming back. Food and shelter should be tops, but remember we can’t make many trips and we can’t carry too much. Danny Casement, you and I are going to float. We’ll help out anywhere we’re needed. Any questions?”
“How long do we have?” That was Elke, already on her feet.
“Before Chan Dalton and Deb Bisson leave, I want to know where we’re going and what we’re taking with us. Tomorrow I want us ashore. Anything else? Otherwise, let’s get going.”
Elke nodded. “One other thing, and it’s not good. Before I returned here I checked the condition of our external sensors. Air pressure at the surface has been dropping and wind speeds are picking up. We don’t have metsats to provide confirming images so I can’t be absolutely sure, but I think another big storm is on the way — worse than when we first arrived. The first front will hit this area sometime tonight, with high winds and rain. Then we’ll have a lull, low winds and clear skies, maybe lasting all day tomorrow. But two days from now the real hurricane hits. Either we’re out of here and somewhere safe before that, or we won’t be going anywhere at all.”
Everyone gave up all thoughts of sleep. When the meeting broke up, Elke Siry at once headed aft. Chan Dalton followed her.
She turned as they came to the entrance of the control room. “What do you want? Your assignment may not begin until tomorrow, but mine already started. I don’t have time to talk.”
“This will take only five minutes.” Chan followed her in. “Let me start with a question. You understand more about the multiverse than anyone on board. Suppose we could capture a Malacostracan vessel — don’t ask me how. What would our chances be of performing a Link transition in that ship, without help from them?”
“How long would we have to study their controls and operating systems?”
“Let’s say, an hour or two.”
“Forget it. Without their help our chances would be one in a billion. For starters, we have no idea how to open the Link itself. It turns on and off in a way that we don’t understand, and it’s been off almost all the time since we arrived.”
“It was open whenever one of our ships came here.”
“I suspect that it opens whenever something wants to come through this way, but for ships that are leaving it’s controlled locally by the Mallies. I realize that General Korin believes the use of an alien ship is our only hope for finding our way home, but I can’t imagine it being possible. They won’t loan us a ship, and they won’t open the Link for us.”
“All right, a different question. Back in General Korin’s quarters, you said that you and the Angel know how to set coordinates for a Link transfer to any universe. True?”
“Quite true. Of course, I meant we know how to do it using a ship that we understand. Not an alien ship. But with our own vessel, I think we’d be able to Link to any exit point in any universe.”