here. It
would na ' take much of a hole t' be causin' a ruckus.
Make sure you be lookin' around before you be makin'
any moves!"
"Sounds like
good advice, Hawk," said Carlisle, "I'll be really careful."
"Hard to
believe, but it's almost noon, station time," said Harris, "Let's
take a short break and have some lunch. After that, we can head over to the
Auxiliary Tracking Station." Each of them found a spot to clip down and
began making a meal out of their choice of the various food concentrates in
their suits. Harris resumed his training routine.
"Good job
with the drills and the piloting, Ensign," he said. "You seem to be a
natural. I haven't brought anyone in here who's done that well on their first
try."
That observation
earned him a genuine smile.
"Well...
thanks. I thought I'd do okay. To be honest, I actually have a lot of
experience with close-quarter maneuvering. My father put me at the controls of
a mining sled when I was about eight. By the time I was twelve I was almost as
good a pilot as he was."
"Eight?"
said Hawkins. "Do all Spacers be startin' that young?"
"I don't
know about all of them," replied Carlisle. "But every kid in our Clan
has to do time on spaceship simulators as soon as they're tall enough to reach
the foot pedals. The ones that show some promise get put at the controls of a
real ship while they're still pretty young."
"Well I'll
be," Hawkins responded, "Were you havin' some kind o' special
sled?"
"Yes,
several of our sleds were outfitted with dual control systems. One set of
controls was configured for smaller pilots."
"Amazin'!"
said Hawkins.
Harris joined in,
"I don't know that I've ever worked with anyone that has as much
experience with zero gravity as you do, either. These drills seemed like second
nature to you."
"I've done
similar shipboard drills hundreds of times. When you live in space your
response to an emergency has to be instinctive or people die."
"I know what
you mean," said Harris. "That's one of the biggest problems we face
out here when we're working with new personnel."
"Getting
through this ship wasn't anything like I expected, though," said Carlisle.
I spent hours going over schematics but...this was damned hard! You have to
make sure you know what's up and what's down and you have to do it all in the
dark, with just your suit utility lights dancing around. I wonder if..."
Her thought and
the lunch break were cut short by an incredibly bright flash of light that came
in through the forward viewports of the old cargo ship and flickered several
times before subsiding. Saved from temporary blindness by their self-polarizing
helmet visors, all three instinctively grabbed for something solid.
Fortunately, whatever was happening didn't cause any unexpected movements of
the old ship.
Carlisle was
closest to the viewports in the front of the ship and the first to respond.
With a quick look around for jagged surfaces or floating obstacles she took a
careful mental measurement of the room and the distances involved before
skillfully launching herself over to the port side forward viewport for a look.
No fancy gymnastics this time, she launched head first and caught herself with
her arms. Harris noted absently that in spite of the bizarre situation she had,
per regulations, immediately hooked up a second tether upon taking station at
the viewport!
"Omigod!"
she exclaimed, her voice on the edge of breaking. "Someone is attacking
the station!" In rapid succession, two more brilliant flashes lit up the
control room of the old freighter. Harris kicked over to the viewport area with
Hawkins just a split second behind him. All three watched in horror as two
cargo ships with conspicuous NITrans markings methodically pounded the now
mangled remains of the Reclamation Center's Main Facility with powerful beam
weapons that they weren't supposed to have. As defenseless as the station was
in the first place, coupled with the element of complete surprise, the task of
destroying it
would na ' take much of a hole t' be causin' a ruckus.
Make sure you be lookin' around before you be makin'
any moves!"
"Sounds like
good advice, Hawk," said Carlisle, "I'll be really careful."
"Hard to
believe, but it's almost noon, station time," said Harris, "Let's
take a short break and have some lunch. After that, we can head over to the
Auxiliary Tracking Station." Each of them found a spot to clip down and
began making a meal out of their choice of the various food concentrates in
their suits. Harris resumed his training routine.
"Good job
with the drills and the piloting, Ensign," he said. "You seem to be a
natural. I haven't brought anyone in here who's done that well on their first
try."
That observation
earned him a genuine smile.
"Well...
thanks. I thought I'd do okay. To be honest, I actually have a lot of
experience with close-quarter maneuvering. My father put me at the controls of
a mining sled when I was about eight. By the time I was twelve I was almost as
good a pilot as he was."
"Eight?"
said Hawkins. "Do all Spacers be startin' that young?"
"I don't
know about all of them," replied Carlisle. "But every kid in our Clan
has to do time on spaceship simulators as soon as they're tall enough to reach
the foot pedals. The ones that show some promise get put at the controls of a
real ship while they're still pretty young."
"Well I'll
be," Hawkins responded, "Were you havin' some kind o' special
sled?"
"Yes,
several of our sleds were outfitted with dual control systems. One set of
controls was configured for smaller pilots."
"Amazin'!"
said Hawkins.
Harris joined in,
"I don't know that I've ever worked with anyone that has as much
experience with zero gravity as you do, either. These drills seemed like second
nature to you."
"I've done
similar shipboard drills hundreds of times. When you live in space your
response to an emergency has to be instinctive or people die."
"I know what
you mean," said Harris. "That's one of the biggest problems we face
out here when we're working with new personnel."
"Getting
through this ship wasn't anything like I expected, though," said Carlisle.
I spent hours going over schematics but...this was damned hard! You have to
make sure you know what's up and what's down and you have to do it all in the
dark, with just your suit utility lights dancing around. I wonder if..."
Her thought and
the lunch break were cut short by an incredibly bright flash of light that came
in through the forward viewports of the old cargo ship and flickered several
times before subsiding. Saved from temporary blindness by their self-polarizing
helmet visors, all three instinctively grabbed for something solid.
Fortunately, whatever was happening didn't cause any unexpected movements of
the old ship.
Carlisle was
closest to the viewports in the front of the ship and the first to respond.
With a quick look around for jagged surfaces or floating obstacles she took a
careful mental measurement of the room and the distances involved before
skillfully launching herself over to the port side forward viewport for a look.
No fancy gymnastics this time, she launched head first and caught herself with
her arms. Harris noted absently that in spite of the bizarre situation she had,
per regulations, immediately hooked up a second tether upon taking station at
the viewport!
"Omigod!"
she exclaimed, her voice on the edge of breaking. "Someone is attacking
the station!" In rapid succession, two more brilliant flashes lit up the
control room of the old freighter. Harris kicked over to the viewport area with
Hawkins just a split second behind him. All three watched in horror as two
cargo ships with conspicuous NITrans markings methodically pounded the now
mangled remains of the Reclamation Center's Main Facility with powerful beam
weapons that they weren't supposed to have. As defenseless as the station was
in the first place, coupled with the element of complete surprise, the task of
destroying it
Similar Books
