animals at all aside from insects. The woods were teaming with birds, though, and their songs continued well into the night.
Liao secretly dreaded the coming of the night. The end of the emergency that consumed them all.
Allison was dead.
The thought wormed its way into her mind, digging in slowly and steadily, eating at her. Her daughter, the one she had suffered so much for, was dead.
That second night was the hardest. Fatigue forced her to sleep. When her rest came, though, it was fitful and weak, fettered with all manner of dark visions. Visions of her failures, of her inadequacies, of her daughter who had burned to a crisp on Earth's surface—the planet she had failed to protect. Rowe, ringing the buzzer on her quarters over and over, awoke her just past midnight.
"Morning, Captain." She seemed far too perky for whatever hour it was. Liao had slept in her uniform and knew that it showed, but Rowe didn't seem to care. "Two Broadswords jumped into the L1 Lagrange point."
Liao stared at her. They had a visitor? "Why didn't you call me sooner?"
"Kamal knew you hadn't had much sleep lately. The first one was ours, and we ID'd the second bird as the Iron Butterfly , attached to the Tehran . Captain James Grégoire is aboard. They should be landing within the hour."
So their message had gotten through. Liao felt like death warmed up, but she nodded appreciatively.
"Thank you, Rowe. And thank you for telling me in person."
"Oh, there was one more thing," said Rowe. "I was thinking. We have a rather large stockpile of fluorine from the cooling systems. There's always been this thing I wanted to try… we could use that to make some dioxygen difluoride. It's vicious stuff, Captain. They call it Lucifer's Gas. Shit's fucking insane . It makes almost any organic compound ignite and explode at temperatures above -184C. Obviously, it has to be stored with some serious refrigeration, but combine it with hydrogen sulphide and it'll not only burn anything we expose to it, but it will dissolve organic tissue on contact. Could be useful."
"Could be," Liao said, "make it happen."
Rowe looked pleased as she walked away. Liao shut the door before anyone could bother her any further.
A glance at the wall clock revealed that her duty shift was supposed to start two hours ago. Iraj had covered her post without her asking about it. That stung.
James was going to be here within an hour. She both wanted to see him more than anything and couldn't face him, all at the same time. She just wanted to sleep until all of this went away.
No such luck. Life was never so simple, not for her or for anyone.
Liao dressed in her usual dress uniform and then left for the hangar bay. She passed civilians on the way; the ship was overflowing with them. They would shake her hand, thank her for saving them, or request things.
Some were reasonable. Water. Extra rations. A mosquito net.
Others, less so. Drugs. Unobtainable medications. Requests to be returned to Earth.
The temperature dropped as she got closer to the exit, the insects became more prevalent and the air more humid. As she came to the hangar bay, the great mouth of the ship was open to the world, and it was raining outside. Raining like she'd never seen; water poured down at forty-five degrees, and flashes of lightning broke the dark of night.
Velsharn had given them much since they arrived, but the beautiful water planet revealed its temper. It raged impotently at the ship, battering its steel sides with wind and rain, all to no effect.
Liao, though, was not clad in iron. She walked out into the rain, water soaking her through to her skin in seconds. In the sky, through a gap in the clouds, a bright streak of light burned across the night sky, and she knew what that meant.
No more running.
The Broadsword's landing lights made her squint as it descended through the rain, halogen lights flooding the area with white glare. The ground had turned to mud, churned up by landing
Liao secretly dreaded the coming of the night. The end of the emergency that consumed them all.
Allison was dead.
The thought wormed its way into her mind, digging in slowly and steadily, eating at her. Her daughter, the one she had suffered so much for, was dead.
That second night was the hardest. Fatigue forced her to sleep. When her rest came, though, it was fitful and weak, fettered with all manner of dark visions. Visions of her failures, of her inadequacies, of her daughter who had burned to a crisp on Earth's surface—the planet she had failed to protect. Rowe, ringing the buzzer on her quarters over and over, awoke her just past midnight.
"Morning, Captain." She seemed far too perky for whatever hour it was. Liao had slept in her uniform and knew that it showed, but Rowe didn't seem to care. "Two Broadswords jumped into the L1 Lagrange point."
Liao stared at her. They had a visitor? "Why didn't you call me sooner?"
"Kamal knew you hadn't had much sleep lately. The first one was ours, and we ID'd the second bird as the Iron Butterfly , attached to the Tehran . Captain James Grégoire is aboard. They should be landing within the hour."
So their message had gotten through. Liao felt like death warmed up, but she nodded appreciatively.
"Thank you, Rowe. And thank you for telling me in person."
"Oh, there was one more thing," said Rowe. "I was thinking. We have a rather large stockpile of fluorine from the cooling systems. There's always been this thing I wanted to try… we could use that to make some dioxygen difluoride. It's vicious stuff, Captain. They call it Lucifer's Gas. Shit's fucking insane . It makes almost any organic compound ignite and explode at temperatures above -184C. Obviously, it has to be stored with some serious refrigeration, but combine it with hydrogen sulphide and it'll not only burn anything we expose to it, but it will dissolve organic tissue on contact. Could be useful."
"Could be," Liao said, "make it happen."
Rowe looked pleased as she walked away. Liao shut the door before anyone could bother her any further.
A glance at the wall clock revealed that her duty shift was supposed to start two hours ago. Iraj had covered her post without her asking about it. That stung.
James was going to be here within an hour. She both wanted to see him more than anything and couldn't face him, all at the same time. She just wanted to sleep until all of this went away.
No such luck. Life was never so simple, not for her or for anyone.
Liao dressed in her usual dress uniform and then left for the hangar bay. She passed civilians on the way; the ship was overflowing with them. They would shake her hand, thank her for saving them, or request things.
Some were reasonable. Water. Extra rations. A mosquito net.
Others, less so. Drugs. Unobtainable medications. Requests to be returned to Earth.
The temperature dropped as she got closer to the exit, the insects became more prevalent and the air more humid. As she came to the hangar bay, the great mouth of the ship was open to the world, and it was raining outside. Raining like she'd never seen; water poured down at forty-five degrees, and flashes of lightning broke the dark of night.
Velsharn had given them much since they arrived, but the beautiful water planet revealed its temper. It raged impotently at the ship, battering its steel sides with wind and rain, all to no effect.
Liao, though, was not clad in iron. She walked out into the rain, water soaking her through to her skin in seconds. In the sky, through a gap in the clouds, a bright streak of light burned across the night sky, and she knew what that meant.
No more running.
The Broadsword's landing lights made her squint as it descended through the rain, halogen lights flooding the area with white glare. The ground had turned to mud, churned up by landing
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