Space Rescue One (3 page)

      Richard left the briefing room. Shortner closed the hatch behind him and turned back to Chief Dickson. "Well, are you going to document him for dismissal or not?"

      "Will you support me if I do?" asked Dickson.

      Shortner answered, "You know I can't do that. I have to pass judgment on the request. If you need support, then you better get it from members of your team. What I said earlier about going out short-handed still applies. You're lucky that everyone came back alive. If someone died out there, you'd be the first person I'd nail. Maybe the only person. I probably wouldn't be able to touch Saber, even though he disobeyed your orders. You know why."

      "No, I don't, sir."

      "Because he played the part of the hero by disobeying your orders. The public would crucify you and adore him. Anyone who tried to pin any blame on Richard would be sticking his head in the same noose with you. You better wise up and learn to play politics. Evaluate the situation in advance. You should have anticipated that you might have trouble attempting a rescue with one less technician. That's part of being a chief. You could have cleared it with me first or asked for a replacement from Team Two."

      Dickson stated, "Yeah, I should have. I guess I was in a hurry."

      "That's the other reason why you would be burned. The public would catch onto all that with the media's help and put up a howl over it. Now either get rid of Saber the right way or help him get his act in order. You're dismissed."

***

The navigator called out, "Still in alignment. As long as we don't have an asteroid big enough to disturb us, we should be perfect. Helm, take us in."

      The intercom blared out. "Ship is in alignment for sleeve connection. All hands brace for minor scraping impacts. Ship's thrusters forward slow."

      The helmswoman said, "Thrusters ahead slow. Initiating thrusters now."

      The navigator continued to watch through the scope at the alignment. It was a tricky maneuver to take the
Space Rescue One
and place it around the
Excelsior
like a belt. It was sometimes called "sneaking up" because that was what it resembled. The
Space Rescue One
was approaching from the
Excelsior
's stern. The
Excelsior
would soon be inside the
Space Rescue One's
hollow center.

     Then one of the rescue teams would collar the
Excelsior
to the
Space Rescue One.
From that point on, the
Space Rescue One
would provide propulsion and steering for both ships. About the only bad thing about it for some of the
Excelsior
's passengers was that they wouldn't be able to see anything other than the
Space
Rescue One's
hull through their portholes while the two ships were connected.

***

"Clarke, are you going to support me in documenting Richard's drinking problem so I can remove him from the team as a menace?" Dickson asked.

      "No, Chief, I'm not. If it weren't for him, Shelly wouldn't be alive. I can't fault a man's drinking when he does the right thing otherwise. I drink some myself," Clarke answered.

      "So do I, but neither of us drinks like Richard," Chief Dickson said.

      "I still can't do it to him, Chief. He hasn't done anything wrong while we're on the job. I just can't do it. Maybe if he didn't pull his weight, Chief, I could."

***

The navigator said, "Exc
elsior
slipping through. Alignment still looks AOK."

      The helmswoman said, "Speed remains constant."

      "Excel
sior
one-quarter through," said the navigator.

      The helmswoman called out, "Slowing down now."

***

"Aren't you going to ask me, Chief?" Laumer asked.

      "No, Technician Laumer. I hardly think that you'd be willing to considering the circumstances less than an hour ago," Dickson answered.

      "You're right. I won't support you in harming the man who did his best to save my life. Even by not supporting you, I still haven't repaid the debt I owe him."

      "Well, I don't fault you for thinking that way. Maybe if it was me he saved, I might think that way, too. However, if he causes one of us to be hurt or killed later, you're going to be just as guilty as his drinking."

***

The navigator said, "Excelsior coming to three-quarters point."

      The helmswoman stated, "Applying retro-thrusters. Brace for possible impact."

      "Relative speed near zero," stated the navigator.

      The helmswoman exclaimed, "It's going to be gentle!"

      Someone shouted, "Yeah!" which was picked up on the intercom.

***

"Effective today, you're on the wagon. You take one drink, I'm putting documentation forward to have you dismissed from the service," Dickson said.

      "You don't have the right to order me to quit drinking, Chief," Richard replied.

      "You want to bet? Either you follow this order or we'll take it to the old man. You can be dismissed for insubordination just as easily as for drinking. You can even get jail time for it —unless you want to quit the team voluntarily. I can always get you space on the
Excelsior,
you know. Then you can drink all you want since you won't be my problem. Now which is it going to be?"

     There was a gentle bump.

      "We've docked around the
Excelsior
now, Richard. You don't have much time to decide. We'll have hatches aligned shortly. If you want to quit so you can drink, then the
Excelsior
's got plenty on board," Dickson said.

The intercom blared, "Attention all
Space Rescue One
personnel. This is a priority alert scramble. Freighter in distress. Repeat, this is a priority alert scramble."

      Richard entered the Ready Area. Chief Dickson and Shelly were already there dressing and talking.

      Dickson asked, "You want to go on a date when we get back? There's a new cloneo showing. It's a Stallone-Willis-Gable adventure using the latest computer cloning imagery."

      "I guess so, Isaac," Laumer answered.

      "What's the freighter's problem?" Richard asked.

      Chief Isaac Dickson turned toward Richard. "Cargo spill breached the engine rooms. She's using battery power for life support."

      "What kind of cargo spill?" Richard asked.

      "Corn. Nothing hazardous to handle. Flex suits should be sufficient for the task," Dickson answered.

      "How soon will we reach her?" asked Richard.

      "Less than an hour. She left Earth only a few hours ago," the Chief answered.

      Laumer said, "And already in trouble. Well, this should prove interesting to see. Any idea how the corn got into the engine rooms?"

      "They didn't say. All I know is that they shut down their engines to prevent a fire hazard. Then they called us," Isaac replied.

***

"
Western Pride
to
Space Rescue One.
We see you approaching. This is Captain Pern speaking. My crew is unable to reach the engine rooms to clear them. Can you take some of my cargo on board?"

      "This is Captain Shortner of the
Space Rescue One.
That's a negative,
Western Pride.
We can only assist you on emergency matters. Your cargo is your business. Ours is rescue. What can we do to assist you?"

      Pern asked, "Can you give us a tow back to port then? We don't have anywhere to move the cargo that's in the engine rooms."

      "Captain Pern, I don't understand. Why can't you put the cargo back in the hold it came from?" Shortner replied.

      "We can't because it expanded. Didn't they brief you on our cargo?" replied Pern.

      "We were told you're carrying corn."

      Pern exclaimed, "Damn bureaucrats can't get anything straight. Okay, excuse me for getting upset. Well, for your information, it's not just corn. It's popping corn. The storage hold nearest the engines overheated when one of the engine shields was removed for inspection. A massive amount of the corn popped, breaking and spilling through the inner hatches. That's how it got into the engine rooms. Thank goodness it went there first since that gave us time to react. If the hull had ruptured instead, we'd all be dead now. At least we had a chance this way. We were damn lucky to get the engines shut down before any of the popcorn caught fire."

      "Then you can't get to your engine room at all now?" asked Shortner.

      "No sir. We've got popcorn in just about every cabin and hallway possible. I just hope that keeping the engines shut off will prevent a fire from starting. If one does, we might not all survive since not everyone can reach their suits."

      "I understand. We'll begin our approach from behind to tow your ship."

      "You still don't know the whole story. This is a new ship design, complete with all new problems, which was what necessitated the inspection. Our engines are non-standard and larger than what you're used to dealing with. You can't sneak up on us from behind for a sleeve connection. You'll have to tow us some other way," Captain Pern said.

      "Okay, standby. I'll coordinate with my Rescue Team Chiefs to get some ideas. Have your personnel with suits ready to evacuate in case you do have a fire," Shortner replied.

***

"Why not jettison some of the cargo? We could open their outer hatch for them since they can't reach it. I guess we could go in, bag some of it up, and then toss it out to ease the strain on their hull," Chief Dickson said.

      "That's going to take a long time to do. We'll have to go through both airlocks over and over again to make a dent if it's as bad as I think. We're also risking getting the inner hatch jammed. If that happens, we won't be able to open the outer hatch without an override command. More importantly, we're putting more strain on their batteries," Chief Brunner said.

      "Captain Pern is sending over schematics and specifications to us. That should tell us what it can withstand. Ah, that must be them!" Captain Shortner said. He accepted several sheets of paper from a technician.

      The technician said, "There's more coming. Captain Pern indicated these were the most important and sent them first."

      "Good. Just bring in the others when they arrive. All right, Chiefs. Let's look at what we have to deal with," Shortner said.

***

"I tell you that the political situation is getting bad. Mars and Venus are both putting in supplies for a siege. I think we're going to see war break out," Technician Clarke said.

      "Since when did popcorn become long range supplies to withstand a siege?" Richard asked.

      "Not just popcorn. They're stocking up on everything. They're both complaining about the high tax rates and buying weapons by the thousands. Machinery, too," Clarke said.

      "I know that they've bought weapons, but those aren't for space. Seriously, you don't believe that they'll invade the Earth, do you?"

      "No, but they think that Earth will send troops to enforce its rule. They think Earth will invade them."

      "Then it shouldn't matter that much to us. After all, there's still warfare on Earth among some of the nations. As far as I can see, it's going to be business as usual in space. If anything, it might get easier for a while. I reckon that Earth will impose an embargo on Mars and Venus. When their supplies run out, they'll beg to pay taxes and put their weapons away. I doubt if there will be more casualties than from a small riot."

      "I don't know. Maybe you're right. In fact, I hope you're right, but my mind keeps picturing it as being much larger in scope. That's the only way I see for the colonies to make their wills known. If they don't take the war to Earth in some way, then the nations on Earth won't take them seriously."

      "I just don't see it getting bad. Three colonies against Earth isn't even a fight. I doubt if the three colonies together have as much as half a million people against almost ten billion on Earth. I think the colonists are forgetting that Earth doesn't have troop ships or a space navy. We're the closest thing to anything official in space and all we do is rescue work. Why, even if Earth gathers all the freighters and uses them to transport troops, I doubt that they could send out more than five thousand soldiers with their supplies and weapons. The colonies have more to fear from an embargo than from any shooting. Same goes for the Earth," Richard said.

      "I don't think the Moon is going to rebel. They sound like they're trying to remain neutral like their charter states," Clarke said.

      "Okay, the Moon isn't part of the rebellion. What's that subtract from the total? Ten thousand? It makes no real difference either way."

***

Captain Shortner said, "Here's an update from the
Western Pride.
We can't open their airlock. If we do that, we're condemning part of her crew to death. They have popcorn jammed in some of the inner hatches. It happened when they retreated to the bridge. They can't seal off the bridge so we can't jettison part of their cargo. From what I gather, the inner airlock hatch will probably jam the first time anyone tries to get in. We'll have to establish a tow."

***

"Why won't you accept a date with me?" Richard asked.

      "Richard, you're a nice man, but that doesn't make up for your failings. You're what? Thirty now?" Shelly answered.