Star Road (17 page)

His movements were so excruciatingly slow. Sparks and streamers of energy flew off of him, surrounding him in a cone of fire.

How long can even a mining suit take that kind of beating?

“If you could move a little fas—”

“Damn it! I’m going as fast as I can! This is ... disorienting I’m used to solid ground.”

McGowan’s voice turned sharp and loud in the headset.

Annie leaned back in her seat. She wanted to ask him how his suit was holding up, but—

What if it isn’t?

It sure as hell didn’t look it.

“We can’t wait much longer. I’m going have to punch it to shake these Road Bugs.”

“Gimme two minutes!” McGowan said.

On the port monitor, she watched as the miner knelt down in front of the vent and started to work. His left shoulder now led into the blast of the storm and it glowed as brightly as an arc torch.

White-hot.

And then something much larger than a chunk of ionized metal flew away, skimming off the hull of the SRV.

~ * ~

Ivan sat in the gun turret, his hands on the controls as he watched McGowan through the transparent Plexisteel.

He had to give the man credit.

He had
cojones.

Of course, McGowan might not be able to see what Ivan—and, no doubt, Jordan—could see.

Scores of Road Bugs ... everywhere.

Now coming from every direction.

Swarming.

All shapes and sizes.

These mechanized monsters—designed to resemble horrific creatures— converged on the slow-moving SRV, pacing along beside it. Through the swirling glow of trailing embers that engulfed the ship, their faces with glowing eyes and gaping jaws closed in with slow, mechanical purposefulness.

Ivan’s trigger finger began to twitch.

Just a little.

The sense of impending action sharpened his senses ... He felt:
alive.

He watched McGowan work on the port-side vent. He experienced no tension. No emotion. Just an intense ...
interest
in what was going on.

The thought that they might all be dead soon was not sticking.

There were other things to think about.

Things he’d have to face if—not
if
—
when
they came.

~ * ~

McGowan drilled into the port vent and then a warning beep sounded inside his helmet, piercing.

He focused on the HUD inside his helmet and saw the problem the same instant the speaker inside his helmet said: “Joint rupture imminent. Zero atmospheres. Prepare for extreme life support.”

His stomach tightened.

The words flat. Their meaning ... dire.

He looked down and saw that the mining suit sleeve between his wrist and elbow started ... disappearing.

A steady stream of glowing particles tore at it, leaving the suit—his impenetrable mining suit—in tatters.

“Christ,” he whispered. Then: “I’m so close.”

“Say again?” Annie’s voice was sharp over the commlink.

“We have a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

“Let me rephrase that.
I
have a problem.”

He winced as he said this. All he could do now was wait for the inevitable.

“Is the vent damaged? What is it?” Annie asked. Her voice calm... steady, but it rang hollow in his ears.

McGowan narrowed his eyes.

Get ready for it.

“Executing extreme life support measures.” The mechanical female voice inside his helmet didn’t betray an ounce of pity.

And then it came.

In a sudden hiss that changed the pressure in his suit so suddenly it made his ears pop, a jolt of ice-cold pain encircled his arm a few inches above the elbow.

The suit automatically injected a high dose of painkiller into his system, but it didn’t take effect fast enough.

How do you get ready for something like this?

The pain came in a sudden white flash that made his skull ache as if it was hit with a hammer.

Tears filled his eyes, but there was no way he could wipe them away. The suit’s ventilation system would dry them soon enough.

But his vision remained just clear enough to see the jet of blood that shot out from the now-shortened sleeve of his left arm. It froze instantly in the vacuum of space and the crystals blew away in a bright-red icy shower.

McGowan watched with vague detachment as his left arm—
what had been his left arm
—clattered against the deck of the SHV and rolled away, dropping into the Road below the ship.

Either shock or the meds finally kicked in, and then he didn’t feel the slightest bit of pain.

“McGowan. What’s happening out there?” Annie shouted in his ear, as if she were right there inside the helmet with him.

“Cauterizing wound,” the mechanical female voice inside his helmet said.

The captain must be able to hear that as well. Did she know what it meant?

Doubtful... she probably hadn’t had much experience with mining suits.

“Suit’s not holding up,” he said. “I thought it would, but—”

“How’s the work coming?”

“It’s a bit more difficult now—”

Without my goddamned left arm.

“I have to pick up some speed if we’re going to shake those bugs,” Annie said.

He listened as she paused.

“I need that other deflector online now.”

“I’ve got to head back inside,” McGowan said. He felt disoriented. Without immediate medical attention, the pain would eventually cut through the meds.

“How are the vents?”

“I’ve done what I could do.”

Not very reassuring. There was still some buildup he hadn’t removed.

But had he removed enough so they could get going again?

He heard the weakness, the shallowness in his voice. He didn’t want to show panic ... or pain ... and he hated not finishing the job.

But then he looked down and saw that his left leg—the one taking the brunt of the storm—now glowed white-hot.

“Oh, no ...”

~ * ~

“Jordan. I have to get more speed,” Annie said.

Her focus was on the forward view, and she didn’t like what she saw.

The storm bearing down on them, and so many more bugs.

Can’t count them ...

And how many more were hidden behind the cone of light and sparks that surrounded the SRV?

“If he doesn’t get in here soon,” Jordan said, “he’s dead meat.”

Annie toggled the mic switch.

“McGowan. Get into the airlock pronto.”

No reply.

“McGowan! What’s going on out there?”

Still no reply.

Is he already dead?

On the monitor, his body looked oddly misshapen as it trailed sparks into the void, like a statue of sand being blown away by swirling winds.

And then she saw him slump, lurching to one side.

“Go, Annie. Just go. Don’t wait... for me!”

~ * ~

I’m not being brave...just realistic,
he told himself.

He stared down at his left leg, watching the fabric of his miner’s suit shred and flake away in large chunks.

And then the blinding pain. The constriction around his upper thigh. Dull... and cold ... numbing.

“Leg rupture imminent. Zero atmospheres. Prepare for extreme life support.”

He groaned and slumped to the side, shifting all of his weight onto his right leg.

“Executing extreme life support measures.”

He collapsed completely as his left leg suddenly ripped away from him. His head smacked against the hull. Hard enough to jolt his vision. A metal clang rang like a gong inside his helmet.

His leg rolled away and disappeared over the side of the vehicle.

“Oh, sweet Jesus!”

The captain’s voice in his ear ... filled with panic.

“The vents ... they’re as clear as I could get ‘em,” McGowan said. It struck him as odd that he could think and speak so clearly. He knew about “extreme life support” situations, and he’d always thought—or hoped, anyway—he would remain calm if it ever happened to him.

You’re doing good.

“So boost it, Captain. Get the hell—”

“Get back into the—”

“There’s no time for that!”

“But you’ll be ...”

Before she could finish the thought, McGowan got up into an awkward kneeling position ... so hard to do with just one arm and one leg.

He supported himself as best he could, struggling to maintain his balance as he stood up ... and then pushed off the SRV.

And onto the Road.

~ * ~

McGowan didn’t feel the impact when he hit the Road.

He felt like he was floating. Spinning out of control.

His only clear thought was:
If that Chippie back there in the SRV is getting this, she’ll probably lose her mind.

He lay there on the Road for what seemed forever. Weird energies surrounded him. And then a strange insectlike head with wide, gnashing metal jaws loomed above him.

And descended.

It was about to destroy him.

And yet, McGowan felt something else ... something more than his imminent death.

In an instant, he learned things about the Star Road that no human was ever supposed to or probably would ever want to learn.

~ * ~

THREE

THE DEATH STATIONS

~ * ~

17

EXIT POINT

A sudden shriek bubbled up
from somewhere deep inside Sinjira.

Everyone in the SRV turned to look at her, but all she could see and think and feel was the last burst of “experience” she had gotten from McGowan before he hit the Road and the transmission shut off.

What was it?

What did it mean?

Like seeing a vid run at light speed.

Then gone.

She had felt his panic and horrible pain when he lost his arm, then his leg. And his sorrow, bringing her to tears, making her tremble when he realized he would have to die.

So brave. So defiant right up to the end.

Not at all like me,
she thought.

And then: she couldn’t explain it.

Not even close.

She had “experienced” things that she doubted she would ever begin to understand.

She looked around at the faces staring at her.

Their eyes. So wide. Staring at her with ... with what?

Fear?

Concern?

Pity?

They have no fucking clue.

I was there...
with
him.

The images ... the emotions and thoughts that flashed through her mind had been almost too much to handle.

Even now, she remained shaken, immobile.

Drawing her legs up so they pressed tightly against her chest, she covered her mouth with both hands. Eyes wide as she tried to absorb what she—and McGowan—had been through.

Together.

Then, despite all eyes on her, she started sobbing.

~ * ~

No time for regrets,
Annie thought.

McGowan knew the odds... that the worse could happen. And in the end, he had jumped. He made a choice.

The SRV started gaining speed. She could see by the readouts that it was halting—sporadic—but moving. And the heat levels started to drop.

McGowan had done what he’d set out to do.