Clidepp Requital (30 page)

"I'd even take two weeks. I want to get us off this planet before someone spots us and the Clidepp military comes to investigate."

"The Marines you assigned to work with me have been doing a great job. They were beginning the install the day we had to get out of that volcano. That emergency exit cost us four days. Captain, give me another full day to complete the connections and perform a full system test, and we might— and I say
might
— be ready to head out."

"That's the best news I've heard since I learned the SO people had captured the package. Keep me posted, Chief."

"Aye, Captain."

* * *

"Keep your fingers crossed, everyone," Sydnee said with a smile. "Okay, Lt. Caruthers, get us off this hunk of rock."

The small ship lifted off the tropical island where they'd been parked for seven days and began climbing through the atmosphere with oh-gee engines straining. As the ship reached the stratosphere, Caruthers engaged the sub-light engines. It was predawn on the island, and he'd kept the ship in the darkness of the planet's rotation until they were well away.

"Cancel sub-light engines, build our envelope, and engage the drive, Lieutenant," Sydnee ordered as the ship reached the thermosphere.

The envelope was already beginning to coalesce as the sounds of the engines echoing inside the ship faded to silence. Some of the bridge crew held their breath and a few offered up a prayer.

The image on the screen suddenly shifted from live vid feeds to sensor imagery as the ship entered faster-than-light speed.

"FTL, Captain, but the console tells me we're only traveling at Light-75."

Sydnee sighed. Light-75 would get them home, but it would take roughly ten and a half years if they were expected to travel the entire distance on their own.

"Understood, Lieutenant. Continue on course for GA space."

"Aye, Captain."

Bridge crew members surreptitiously stole glances at Sydnee as she stared at the monitor at the front of the bridge. Her face appeared impassive, but her brain was working overtime on the best way to proceed. They didn't have nearly enough food to last ten years. All water was recycled so that would last indefinitely, and the matter/anti-matter engines had enough fuel for fifty years. So the main problem was food. She finally decided to proceed on course until they were well away from Yolongus rather than returning to the planet to try to fix the problem there.

"Lt. Caruthers, you have the bridge," Sydnee said as she rose from the command chair. Caruthers left the helm and moved to the command chair as Lt. Olivetti moved to the helm. Sydnee was able to stand on her own feet now, the second cast having been removed the previous morning.

Once off the bridge, Sydnee headed for the sickbay. This was the first time she'd had to climb down the ladder. Previously, she had simply floated down using the oh-gee harness. But it was great to have her legs back.

"I'm sorry, Captain," Chief Luscome said as she entered the sickbay and before she uttered a word.

"Don't be sorry, Chief. We've achieved Light-75. It's going to take a while to get home at that rate, but at least we'll get home. Um, do you have any ideas on how we might improve the rate of envelope generation?"

"Not at this moment. I'll have to review all the test data and view the live systems information we're getting now that we're under way. Our engines are certainly up to the task. There has to be something out of whack with the generator. Perhaps a connection isn't solid, or perhaps something is misaligned and needs recalibration. Studying the live feedback data might point to where we should start. How long before we can stop and work on the generator?"

"We're covering about one light-year every five days, so I'd say we should continue at this speed for three weeks. That will put us far enough from Yolongus that it should be safe to stop to make repairs without being spotted or interrupted by the Yolongus Home Guard. We'll move to an area away from the normal shipping lanes to avoid all traffic while we're stopped, and our Dakinium surface will help hide us from sensor nets. Okay, Chief. Carry on."

Sydnee returned to her quarters instead of the bridge and plopped down onto her bunk. This day had held so much promise and then been a bit of a disappointment. But, on a positive note, they were
finally
away from Yolongus.

Deciding that she had to inform the
Denver
of their status, she got up and moved to her desk to record a message to Captain Lidden.

* * *

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Commander Bryant asked as he entered the Captain's briefing room on the bridge.

"Yes, come in Bry. I just received a message from Marcola. I thought you should view it. I've watched it once already."

As Bryant slipped into one of the overstuffed chairs in front of Lidden's desk, the message began playing on the wall monitor. When it was over, Bryant smiled and shook his head. "So she has resolved her own problems and they're headed back?"

"Yes, but if they can't get their speed up over Light-75, it's going to be a long trip. I've been drafting a message for SHQ. I'm going to request permission to send in another CPS to meet the
Justice
and bring them home."

"The situation hasn't really changed. They were able to get off the planet before and meet a CPS in space."

"Yes, but now they'll be light-years from the planet when we link up rather than someplace in the Yolongus solar system. I think that makes a considerable difference."

"Perhaps, but I wouldn't bet any money on it. I admit I'm confused by the reluctance of SHQ to let us mount a rescue mission, but they seem pretty adamant they don't want us intruding further into Clidepp space. Perhaps the first mission was only approved because everyone was caught up in post tragedy hysteria."

"I hope it wasn't just that. Those are our people over there, performing a job we sent them to do. I don't believe we can just close the book and forget about them for ten years."

"Maybe SHQ has another plan— one they're not telling anyone who isn't involved."

Lidden stared at Bryant for a full minute before responding. "Why wouldn't they tell us if that was the case?"

Bryant just shook his head slightly and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't think it's that. There must be something else."

"What?"

"I just don't know. Perhaps it has something to do with the missing ships in Region Two."

"That's a very long way from here. The
Yenisei
and
Salado
couldn't have anything to do with the bombing, could they?"

It was Lidden's turn to shake his head and shrug his shoulders.

* * *

Sydnee longed for an hour's run in the weapons container, but she was still under strict orders to take it easy. She was able to walk without assistance devices, but the doc kept reminding her that although she felt good, her legs were still not one hundred percent. So she wandered around the ship and dreamed of the day she'd be able to run until she was exhausted.

The attitude of the crew had improved considerably once they were off the planet and in FTL, as was to be expected. Even though they could only achieve Light-75, the conversations were light and happy.

Sydnee was climbing up the ladder from the Marine habitat when the feel of the ship suddenly changed. If she hadn't been in direct contact with the ship's surface, she might not have realized it right away. She finished climbing to the main deck in the CPS and hurried to the bridge.

As the doors opened, everyone turned towards her expectantly.

"What's happened?" she asked.

Caruthers, standing next to Olivetti who was seated at the helm console said, "We don't know, Captain. The envelope generator suddenly went off line."

"What do you mean by 'went off line?'"

"It just shut down. We're stopped in space."

"Is the power flow steady?"

"Yes, the matter/antimatter engine is working perfectly, and there's plenty of power. The generator just isn't producing envelopes."

"Was there any reduction in envelope generation just before it shut down?"

"No, Captain," Olivetti said. "It was working fine one second and then nothing the next."

"Wonderful," Sydnee said, without moving her lips and under her breath so no one could hear.

~ June 7
^th
, 2286 ~

"I believe I've found the problem, Captain," Chief Luscome said four days later. The generator had been removed from the repository and been brought inside for disassembly after testing outside failed to detect any issues. "The main induction coil is cracked."

"How long will it take to repair it?" Sydnee asked.

"About two days, if we had the part."

"I don't like the sound of that last part. No pun intended."

"I'm not happy about it either, but without a replacement part, I can't fix the generator."

Sydney took a deep breath and released it slowly as she thought. "An induction coil simply changes electrical current, right? Is there any equipment on board that can be cannibalized for its induction coil?"

"We became experts at cannibalizing parts while we were on the
Perry
. But this is an extremely sophisticated assembly, manufactured to very tight tolerances. It's not like the simple induction coils people are generally familiar with. It doesn't even look like one from the outside. It looks more like a very thick, flat dinner plate with a hole in the center. All the circuitry is embedded within a— a— sort of a reinforced ceramic shell."

"How could this coil have cracked while the generator was mounted on the shaft?"

"It couldn't."

"Pardon me?"

"It couldn't have cracked while the generator was mounted on the shaft, unless it was struck by something. And there would be clear evidence of a strike if that had happened. When mounted, the coil is very well protected from impact. It had to have been cracked before we mounted the generator. It likely occurred when the unit was knocked off the oh-gee blocks at the reclamation center. Or it might have even been that way earlier. Perhaps that's why the generator was at the scrapyard. It might have been failing and been replaced by the freighter that had used it originally."

"But it was functioning?"

"Yes, but the crack could very well be the reason why we were limited to Light-75. Perhaps there was a micro-fissure that didn't extend across the entire surface when we began using it, and a small amount of vibration caused the micro-fissure to expand."

"So what do we do?"

"There's nothing we
can
do. Not unless we get a replacement."

"How common are they?"

"That's the good news, if there is any good news. They are very standardized, and it's not uncommon for a freighter to have more than one in its parts inventory. I'm not saying they're a one-size-fits-all kind of part. And the units here in the Clidepp Empire are different than the same assembly in GA space. But a freighter built in GA space is very likely to have a spare on board that we can use."

"That's a small ray of sunshine, I suppose."

"Sorry, Captain. It's the best I can offer."

"Okay, Chief. How are you feeling by the way?"

"Better every day, Captain. Perhaps in another month I'll be able to get off this bed."

"That's great Chief. I gave Doc the oh-gee rig the Marines made for me. I hope it helps get you up sooner."

"Thanks, Captain. Doc told me it would help because there would be less stress on my spine."

"You've done a great job for us, Chief. I guess it's up to me to find a solution for our new problem. Keep this information just between us. If anyone asks, you're still working on the problem. Carry on."

Sydnee went to her office and plopped into her desk chair after leaving the sickbay. The news from Chief Luscome conveyed the worst possible situation she could have imagined. They had traveled more than three light-years since leaving Yolongus, were still about seven hundred seventy light-years from the GA, and all they had available was sub-light power. Sub-light power wouldn't get them to a habitable planet in her lifetime.

Sydnee touched her Space Command ring to open a carrier and said, "Lieutenant Weems." A second later she heard, "Weems here, Captain."

"Jerry, don't repeat what I'm going to tell you. Chief Luscome says the generator can't be repaired unless we get a part common only to GA ships, so we're limited to sub-light power."

"I understand, Captain."

"How's our hydrogen supply?"

"Stand by." Weems touched a spot on the small monitor by his left hand and the fuel reading flashed onto the screen. "We're close to being topped off. The amount we used to get through the atmo at Yolongus was negligible."

"Good. Open the collectors. We're not going to be traveling at FTL, so we might as well collect fuel as we go. Then engage the sub-light engines to maximum. Cut the fuel when we're down to ten percent so we'll have a bit of control if we need it, and we'll go ballistic until the tanks are topped off again."

"Our destination, Captain?"

"Same as before, the GA border. We might as well keep traveling instead of simply sitting in space. Every kilometer gets us closer to home."

"Aye, Captain."

"Carry on."

* * *

"I just received a new message from Marcola," Captain Lidden said to his XO during their daily morning meeting.

"Have they corrected their problem with the generator and gotten their FTL speed up to Light-9790?"

"No, just the opposite. Their generator has died completely. They're limited to sub-light propulsion."

"Oh, no."

"Oh, yeah."

"SHQ can't refuse to let us go in now. Before, the
Justice
at least had a chance to get home on their own, but without a working envelope generator and being stuck out in space without a chance to get parts or a replacement, they'll die of old age long before traveling even fifty light-years at Sub-Light speeds."

"That's what I'm going to tell SHQ when I send a message later today."

* * *

"Good morning, Chief," Sydnee said as she entered the sickbay.