Humanity Unlimited 1: Liberty Station (28 page)

“This is one of our habitat zones,” Lee said, smiling at Harry’s bemused expression. “We have other areas for growing food hydroponically, but places like this let the crew have a taste of home.”

“I’m surprised you don’t have a view of space here. Radiation?”

The officer shook his head. “Not exactly. We have a powerful magnetic field that will protect the ship once we leave Earth. Impact shielding and water surround each hull. Micrometeorites are a concern, as well as cosmic radiation that might be too energetic for the magnetic field to stop. There
are
a few viewing areas, but we thought the habitat zone wasn’t the right place for them. We’ll look at one before we stop off in the cafeteria.”

Harry mulled that over. “I saw my cabin had a kitchenette. If there’s a cafeteria, what use is it?”

“Want to watch something on the screen while you snack on some chips and dip? Maybe make a grilled cheese sandwich or an intimate dinner? That’s why we put one in every set of quarters. Feel free to use it or not, as you like.”

He saw movement in one of the trees. Something was up there. An orange cat walked out on a limb and stared haughtily down at them. It crouched and leapt to another branch, seemingly accounting for the Coriolis Effect with ease.

“You have cats,” he said, surprised. “Do you have pests?”

“Not that I’m aware of. The screening process was good enough to make sure we didn’t get rodents or insects. Vacuum does wonders for that. No, we have some cats and dogs as common pets. They’re all domesticated and friendly.

“We have several crewmembers dedicated to seeing to their health and wellbeing. Given how quickly they breed, we should be able to start allowing private pets in a few years.”

The area next to the park was similar to a mall, with all kinds of stores. Many of the people were dressed casually. Harry was glad he’d brought some of his regular clothes.

Lee gestured around them. “You can buy any number of personal items in these stores. They’re charged to your account.”

“How do they know who I am?”

“That’s a good question. We’ll get you set up with a chip in your palm. The ship will know who you are and be able to track you anywhere inside the hull. That’s partly for safety. We don’t want someone wandering into a dangerous section of the ship.”

“It’s also a security feature,” Harry said approvingly. “You know if someone enters an area they aren’t cleared for.”

“True enough,” the captain agreed. “That isn’t the reason for them, though. We’ve vetted every member of this crew very thoroughly. The cafeteria is just ahead, but let’s go see the observation level first.”

That required a detour to the edge of the habitat area. A short set of stairs led them up to an airlock. The doors stood open and he could see a wide room with a clear ceiling. The central spine of the ship was directly overhead and shone brightly in the sun. The Earth occupied one side of the view, seeming to spin quickly.

“It’s beautiful,” Harry said. “I think I’d get a little dizzy if I had to watch it all the time.”

Lee laughed. “Most people feel that way at first, but the mind adjusts just as well as the body. The micrometeorite protection for this area is under the deck. If you’re ever here and this section loses pressure, there are hoods and oxygen canisters in the lockers against the wall. Keep calm, put one on, and go to the lock. It has two doors, so you can get back into the habitable area.”

Harry pointed at the section of the spine facing toward the Earth. “Those are the engines? They don’t look the part.”

“Appearances can be deceiving. The hull there is on hinged arms. When the time comes to boost, it opens like a flower. And, once we reach a new orbit, the hull closes and we can use the equipment mounted there. We get the best of both worlds.”

Harry watched the universe turn for a few minutes in silence. This made him feel almost insignificant. The entire Earth could vanish and the rest of the galaxy wouldn’t notice.

“What’s the plan going forward?” he eventually asked.

“We’re still bringing the last of the crew and supplies aboard. We have another dozen lifters coming. Once the new reactor is online and our current one is playing backup, we’ll disassemble the solar array and put it into storage. That will give us six docking points for the lifters.

“Once the last of them has unloaded, we’ll rotate the ship so the engines are in line with our orbit around the Earth and start boosting. We’ll break orbit on a course for the comet Miss Cook found the coordinates for.”

“How long will it take us to get there?”

“It’s not all that far away, so about ten days. We’ll boost to a speed somewhat faster than it and coast into the same orbit. Then we’ll decelerate to match speed.”

Harry took one last look at the Earth. “I can only imagine how that’s going to freak them out down there.”

“No doubt,” Lee agreed. “I’m afraid it’s time to go get some food. I have to get back to the emergency bridge. We’re using it to monitor the reactor installation. We’ll have plenty of time to get to know one another as we head to Mars.”

Harry followed the captain out, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the glory of the view until it was out of sight. This would be an amazing trip.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“Don’t move it so quickly!” Jess said.

Chief Engineer Ray Proudfoot gave her a look. “Jess, take a breath. I promise I won’t slam the radioactive material into the reactor.”

“Sorry. It’s been that kind of week. Just go extra slowly.”

She watched him resume moving the manipulator arm that held the fuel. He inserted it into the reactor and locked it in place. She double checked the work and nodded. “Good. Really good. Thanks.”

A nuclear reactor wasn’t like a light switch. She couldn’t just press a button and have power. She had to bring it online in stages. It would take about six hours to get the reactor to full output, but they didn’t need that kind of power on a spaceship. They’d wanted the unit for its portability and longevity. For their purposes, one-quarter output was more than good enough. It would take them two hours to get it up to that.

Step by step, she and her team walked through the process. In an hour, the reactor had taken over supplying power to the ship from the weaker unit that the UN had approved. That anemic reactor would make a good backup, but it couldn’t do more than keep the lights on. They’d need twice the power to generate the protective magnetic field and fire the engines.

“Power output at 25%,” the chief engineer said at last. “Lock it down. Great job, everyone.”

Jess relaxed a little. The hardest part was over. At least until they fired the main engines.

She headed for the hatch. “I’m going to the emergency bridge. Let me know if you see any unusual readings.”

“Relax,” he said. “I have everything under control. Go get something to eat and maybe have a glass of wine. You’re wound up pretty tight.”

“I will. I even brought a fresh bottle of wine. I hope it made the trip okay.”

She left the power center and made her way forward in the spine to the emergency bridge. Her chip allowed her access to every portion of the ship, so all she had to do was wave her palm in front of the reader and the hatch slid open.

The emergency bridge wasn’t very big, but it was close to the reactor room. The large screen up front took up the most space. It showed the Earth spinning below the ship. Four angled control panels allowed the officers to monitor various parts of Liberty Station. Several observation chairs could fold down from the rear bulkhead.

They were almost ready to shift operations to the control deck. That would be a big improvement since it had gravity. This one would now be reserved for unforeseen crises.

Lee glanced up as she came in. “I see the new reactor is providing power. Well done, Jess. All systems are in the green and we’ll be ready to break orbit tomorrow morning. There are ten lifters still in the queue. The next two will lift in half an hour. The launch windows are 90 minutes apart. Once they dock, we’ll unload them.

“We’ll get a good night’s sleep while that happens and be on our way shortly after breakfast.” He looked pleased. “It’s hard to believe we made it.”

She took a slow breath and shook her head. “I’m not counting on that until we’re away. If things look good, I’m getting something to eat and have a glass of wine.”

“Have two. Goodnight, Jess.”

“Goodnight, Captain.”

It only took a few minutes to get to her room. She hesitated and then buzzed on Harry’s door.

She smiled when he opened it. “Good. You haven’t gone to sleep. I wanted to see if you were up for dinner.”

“Sure. We’ll have to go to the cafeteria, though. I don’t have anything to fix.”

“We can go to my place. I have some steak. And wine. I brought a fresh bottle. Did you get your gear?”

“Yup.” He stepped into the hall. “I’ve put everything away and I’ve been scanning the entertainment channels. You’ve got the full spectrum up here. I’m especially impressed with the sports lineup.”

Jess opened her door and led him inside. “We get the feed straight from the commercial satellites. Some of the channels will continue once we get going. The transmitter that we’ll be communicating with has a lot of bandwidth. The library is fairly extensive when it comes to movies, too. One of the benefits of Rainforest being the leading provider of streaming entertainment.”

She found her freshly acquired bottle of wine and opened it to breathe. “We got the power online. We’re almost ready to go. How are Sandra and the rest getting along?”

He followed her to the kitchenette. “Pretty good. They’re off exploring.”

“Why didn’t you join them?”

“I’ll do that tomorrow. I wanted to review what my people back on Earth have found out. There’s still no sign of Nathan, but my mother swore revenge. We need to be on our toes.”

Jess put two steaks into the oven. “They can’t even get to us up here. I hope. I can’t wait to watch the news channels when they notice we’re leaving. It will be awesome!”

Harry didn’t seem convinced. “I’m not resting easily until this is over. Can I toss the salad?”

It would be a tight fit in the kitchenette, but she didn’t mind. “Be my guest.”

* * * * *

Nathan met the paid weasel outside the spaceport. Security was tight, so it was easier for the man to come to him. They’d broken into a small warehouse. It looked disused, so he’d taken the chance. It was large enough for his team to assemble.

The cadaverous man looked nervous as he walked in under guard. “Mister Bennett, I can’t be gone long.”

“You can be gone as long as I say. My mother tells me they took our reactor to the space station. I want you to tell me how I can get it back.”

“Impossible. If it’s up there, it can’t be retrieved.”

He punched the man in the gut, smiling as he folded and retched.

“You don’t tell me what’s possible. You take my instructions and make them happen. How can we commandeer one of the lifters and get to the space station? Once we get up there, no bunch of scientists is going to stop me from doing what I want.”

“You don’t understand. That’s impos—”

Nathan slapped him. Hard. “I’m getting tired of your excuses. I understand the spaceport is at a heightened state of security. Figure out how to get my men past it to one of the pads. Tonight.”

The man rubbed his face. He was sweating heavily. “Security is exceptionally tight, Mister Bennett. It will take me several hours to see what options we have. Perhaps if you waited a while for things to calm down, it would prove simpler to get you up there. It’s not like a space station is going anywhere.”

“Not that I need to explain myself to you, but I might be able to steal it back if they haven’t installed it. You have four hours to get back to me. Go!”

It took almost the full four hours for the man to return. He shook like a leaf, so Nathan was prepared just to shoot him, but the man had a plan.

“They’re still loading personnel and supplies. There are four launches left on tonight’s schedule. Two lift within the next hour, so I can’t get you into the secure area before they go up. One of the last two is a personnel launch. It will need to be that one.

“Security examines each vehicle going to the pad area closely, but I’ve discovered an old service tunnel that isn’t used anymore. It goes past both perimeters.”

The man took a deep breath. “You can’t just walk in and hijack the lifter. The pilot can tell the control center something is wrong in so many ways that you’d never notice. The weapons need to go into bags. They’re stored in the cabin. Once the lifter docks on the station, you can take action. Not before. You have to pretend to be the real crew until then.”

Nathan could work with that. “How will you get us into the spaceport?”

“Through the employee entrance. I brought paperwork for you. There’s a bus outside. You’re new hires, already vetted by me. Once I get you in, you have to pay me off. They’ll know I helped you in.”

“Of course. You’ll get everything you’re owed and more. Get my team where it needs to go and I’ll make the call.”

The bus ride was stressful, but the paperwork got a dozen of his men past the guards. The spy drove them to a rundown area of the spaceport and stopped beside a decrepit warehouse. They made their way inside.

The man gestured toward concrete steps leading down into the darkness. “The stairs go to an old access tunnel. It exits in a building much like this one.” He handed Nathan a hand drawn map. “Go west several blocks from the exit and you’ll find the main thoroughfare. A bus with people is going past there in half an hour on the way to pad one. The pad crew won’t check ID.”

“Is that all I need to know?” Nathan asked.

“Yes.”

Nathan smiled. “Excellent.” He drew his knife and stabbed the idiot in the throat. He wiped the blade on the man’s jacket and sheathed it as the fool writhed on the floor, drowning in his own blood. “Say hello to all the other suckers when you get to hell.”

His team fell in behind him as they made their way into the tunnel. It was nasty, but not as bad as the jungle had been. Rats and roaches he could handle.