The Guns of Two-Space (63 page)

Hayl stared at the brace and the hook in surprise and then looked up. "The hook is sharp on the inside?" he asked.

"Two-space sharp at that," DeWalt replied. "So be careful with it. I've got a guard for the blade to use until you learn to control it."

Melville added, "And, Mr. Hayl, before you start worrying about losing your place in the Navy, I think you should consider Admiral Lord Nelson, in Hornblower and Jack Aubrey's days, who lost not only his arm, but an eye as well. It didn't seem to hurt his career much!"

"Aye, sir, that it didn't," Hayl replied thoughtfully.

"Here, now, you two, I think you've had enough time with him for today," Mrs. Vodi exclaimed as she came through the door. "Come bother the lad another time, he needs his rest, he does!"

As she ushered the two from his bunk, Hayl sat up and looked at them both and said, "Sirs?"

They stopped and looked at him.

"Thank you," he said simply.

DeWalt nodded, and Melville looked at him and said in return, "I think you have it wrong, Mr. Hayl. I thank
you
for saving my life by taking on those two backstabbers. Without your help I would most likely have been overwhelmed. You
are
a 'good pup.'"

Hayl smiled, examining his brace and hook, and then scratched his monkey's head distractedly. "Well, it looks like I have some work to do here, so I'd best get busy."

His monkey said, "Eep," and nodded, and Hayl felt the purr of his new arm nestle up against his soul.

"Good mornin', Mr. Hayl!" called Hans, standing on the upper quarterdeck observing the sails and rigging.

"Good morning, sir," replied the midshipman as he came up to the quarterdeck. "I came to see if I could get caught up on the Ship and all that's happened recently. If you don't mind, sir?" Hayl grimaced and concluded hastily, "I hate to say it, but I've been remiss in my duties and haven't been paying attention to our track. Nor much of anything else outside of sick bay, for that matter."

Hans nodded slowly and thoughtfully as he looked down at the lad. The boy looked good. Not great, mind you, but good for someone who's been through a helluva fight against overwhelming odds, lost a hand, had it reattached, and then had it removed again.
Lad might jist have it in 'im to go far if 'e gets past this hump here,
Hans thought to himself.
Got grit, 'e does!
 

"Well, lad, I'd say ya had 'cause ta be a mite distracted. Ya done okay. Hell, ya done better'n most o' the gents as went ta yer last dance. After all, them vacuum-suckers di'n't make it back alive!"

Hayl surprised himself with a grin, and smothered it. Then he caught the edge of a smile on the old seadog's face. "In any case, sir, I thought that perhaps I should catch up on the Ship's status. I heard about the troubles with the water—Mrs. Vodi was heartsick at losing so many cats—but I don't even know the Ship's position. I don't know where we are!"

Hans and his monkey spit over the side. "Cats! Huh! Damned, filthy, creatures. Too uppity ta even say hello, an' always sneakin' up on yer. Give me a good faithful dog any day. At least a dog'll stand by ya when the dance starts! A dog'll protect yer loved ones from critters an' mentally deranged folk. Against a determined opponent even a medium sized dog can make a good speed bump. But a cat's barely a piece of pea gravel. Even if it
was
willin' to put up a fight, which it ain't. So, Vodi may be heartsick, God bless 'er, but the overall impact on the Ship is minimal."

Hayl just grinned and nodded politely. He wasn't about to take sides in the cats vs. dogs debate.

"Overall the Ship's in good order. Runnin' a mite low on potable water, but we're okay 'cause we's on track fer landin' at the Hero Cluster tomorry. We'll go straight in to Hector, 'cause 'at's the planet where the cluster capital and Navy headquarters is located."

"Tomorrow!" said Hayl, surprised that time had gone by so quickly.

"Aye. I'm a lookin' forward ta a nice long shower, an' then a bath." Hans chuckled. "'Course they prob'ly don't wants me ta use up the planet's
entire
water supply, so I'll try an' conserve some an' shower with a friend!"

Hayl turned red from the tips of his ears to his collar and cleared his throat. "Umm. I guess that makes sense, sir," he said feebly.

"Damn straight it do! Wait 'til yer a bit older an' you'll find out wat I mean!"

Taking mercy on the boy, Hans changed the subject. "How ya gittin' on with yer new flipper? Chips done tole me it wus special, but I can't see as it looks much different from any I've seed a'fore."

Hayl beamed widely. "It's really good, sir! It ain't like my hand, but it works great, and in some ways its better, see?"

He held up his left arm, showing off the hook on the end of the leather and Nimbrell wood brace. "Mr. DeWalt told me he used part of the Keel, so it's like I've got a little piece of the
Fang
with me all the time. And see, it lets me grab stuf. And it's
strong
! I can crack nuts with it!"

As Hans watched, the hook on the end split in two and opened and closed like a clamshell as the middie demonstrated how he could grasp with it.

"And look, the hook has an edge here and here, so it can cut stuff. And it's sharp! Sharp as my dirk!"

Hans gaped in sincere amazement and said, "Well dip me in two-space an' call me a vacuum-sucker! That does take the cake, son, currants and all!"

Hayl looked at it affectionately and said, "And it's sort of funny... When I'm using it, it kind of 'purrs' in my head, and I can sort of
feel
things through it. It's strange, but I can tell things are there, but it's... different from my hand."

Hans shook his head. "By the Lady, it's too much fer an old man, but I'm cursed glad it's workin' fer ya. Stick with it, an' purdy soon you'll be back up ta snuff."

"Aye, sir. Captain Melville reminded me about Admiral Lord Nelson. It didn't seem to hurt his career any!"

"Nope, it sure din't!"

"Thank you, sir, for the update. I had best be going before Mrs. Vodi finds out I'm up here. Talk to you later, sir!"

Hans nodded and watched as the boy—no, young
man
—walked off forward.
Lad's comin' along nicely, he is. A bit more time an' seasonin', an' he'll do jist fine.
 

* * *

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
 

* * *
 

"So what have you got planned after we arrive in the Hero Cluster, Daniel?" Asquith asked as he picked up his wineglass.

Fielder laughed. "Bert, what do you
think
I have planned? First, I'm going to find the hottest shower I can to get the smell of this trip off me, and then, in no particular order, a steak with all the trimmings and a decorative lass with intentions of committing bodily assault on a man in uniform!"

Asquith quirked an eyebrow and chuckled. "Another old friend like what-was-her-name, Ursula?"

Fielder paled slightly. "No, I believe I've sworn off old friends for awhile. I think I'll make some new ones."

Sitting across the wardroom table, Hans chuckled and said, "I jist gots ta be wunnerin' why ya have such luck with yer ol' girlfriends, Lieutenant? Maybe it's sumthin' in yer karma. Or mebbe it has ta do with your choice o' ladies?"

Lt. Broadax whacked him lightly on the arm—well, lightly for her. Hans grabbed his arm and gave her an aggrieved look.

"Leave 'im be, Hansie," she said. "His girlfriends always ends up being a big slice o' fun cake fer me, with blud-an'-guts icin' on top! I wish 'im well. Hopefully he'll find somebudy with a pulse, bad judgment, and no restraining orders against him. An' then she'll try ta kill 'im, an' we'll git invited to the dance!"

Fielder was still trying to digest this, in appalled bewilderment, as Broadax rolled happily along.

"Besides we got's ta make some plans fer ourselves, ye know. I think we oughta git the biggest hotel room we kin find, so long as it's got a big shower an' a tub."

Hans turned to her with a grin. "An' why's 'at, angel?"

"Well, ye knows I gots trouble reachin' 'tween my shoulder blades good, an' I gots some spots 'at need some attention."

Fielder blanched and thought feverishly,
Okay, selective deafness doesn't work. Maybe if I concentrate on something I've got to do. Something... anything!
His eyes closed briefly as he shook his head minutely.
Lord, why me? Between this, getting beat in the pistol match, and whatever that poison was that got into our water, this has got to be the worst trip...
 

"Well, now, Angel, turn-about's fair play. After all we gots kinda in'erupted last stop!" Hans said, turning to look irately at Fielder.

"Now, Hansie, like I said, it all turned out fer t' best, di'n't it? We had us a nice li'l dustup, an' den we gots ta clean an'
lubricate
our equipment, eh? Remember?" she chuckled slyly—which sounded like a gravel crusher working on a small chunk of granite.

Oh my God! Why, me?
Fielder smiled sickly, and said "Steward, why don't you bring the brandy so we can toast our upcoming port call?"
I wonder how much booze it'd take to induce deafness? Maybe a touch of blindness? Memory loss?
Fielder looked at the bottle and sighed.
Nowhere near enough onboard. And just imagine the hangover!
 

Hans and Hayl sat in the crosstrees of the mainmast, keeping an eager lookout for their landfall on Hector, the base planet of the Hero Cluster and the home port of the local fleet detachment. Hayl was reveling in the opportunity to sneak out of sick bay and actually do something. As always, young Hayl found himself refreshed and invigorated by the crisp, cold air and the incredible view that came with this height. And old Hans was enjoying the chance to share his hard-earned knowledge with someone who wanted to learn.

"Yep," said Hans, "navigatin' in two-space is simple plane geometry, with the stars above ta act as guides. The stars inside our galaxy is all stationary—or at least for
our
lifetimes they's stationary, an' thas good enough fer me. An' the solar systems is sorta compacted. The early explorers of Earth's solar system was amazed ta find it jist took a day or so ta sail to Mars an' Venus in two-space! The suns is all stationary, but the planets
do
move. So, solar system's is always laid out flat, always aligned with the plane of two-space, an' slowly, over the period of a year, the port moves around the sun. But the Pier sticks out and is clearly visible ta home in on, if'n ya start at the sun and spiral out. 'Specially the major Piers that've been built up with big buildin's an' fortifications on top of 'em. Ya with me so far?"

"Aye, sir!" replied Hayl.

"So, ya see, ya gotta root around a bit fer a planet sometimes, but we know it'll be fairly close to the sun. If ya don't see the Pier stickin' out on yer way in, jist go to the sun, git in the masthead, an' look around as ya spiral out. Remember, all solar systems is smashed into a reg'lar, even, sun-with-rings-around-it shape in two-space. 'Ceptin' they's compressed. Fer example, Earth's solar system is roughly two-hundred-and-fifty nautical miles in radius, or around five-hundred miles in diameter, an' it takes us less than two days to sail through it at our top speed o' thirteen knots.

"So," Hans continued, "Sol is a big yeller disk with a radius o' fifty miles, Mercury orbits at a radius o' fifty-four miles, Earth orbits at a radius of about eighty-two miles an' is almost twenty miles across in two-space, while Pluto is a bit over two-hundred-and-fifty miles from the sun..." He paused to spit tobacco juice from his chaw and look around at their two monkeys frolicking in the reduced gravity of the crosstrees.

Hayl broke in excitedly, "...and after you clear the solar system, the reduced gravitational effect increases the distance distortion so that while our two-space speed stays at about thirteen knots, the distance covered increases from a single solar system to around a light-year or so per hour which makes interstellar travel possible! And then, in the area between the spiral arms that effect gets even greater..."

Hans broke in with a laugh, "An' if'n ya knows all o' that ya don't needs me ta act as schoolmaster, now does ya?"

Hayl smiled back, unconsciously shifting his grip with his hook as he turned to look at Hans more directly. "Sir, you know that's not true! It's just so... so neat how everything comes together so we can travel in two-space from planet to planet." He sobered for a moment and continued. "While my hand might not be as good as it was, my mind is! Which means that to be a naval officer like the captain, my mind has to be sharp enough to compensate for my hand, sir. And there's lots I don't know: like what to do if you can't find the Pier right away? And I thank you for telling me."

Hans grinned at him cheerfully. "Aye, there's lots worse models ya kin pick asides our cap'n, eh?"

Hayl's monkey came swinging through the rigging to the little middie, tapped his head, and pointed downward.

"Uh-oh! It's Mrs. Vodi! I'd better get on down, sir, before she catches me up here. She thinks I ought to stay below until Lady Elphinstone clears me for climbing in the rigging! Thanks for the lesson, sir!"

Hayl dove out into the low gravity of the upper rigging, with his monkey clinging tightly to his shoulder. Then he snagged a backstay with the smooth part of his hook, slid down the line to the deck, and walked up innocently behind Mrs. Vodi.

Hans switched the chaw around in his mouth as he watched the lad. "Ya know, my li'l friend," he said to his monkey. "I gets the feelin' 'at young feller may be as int'restin' as our captain ta be around in the years ta come."

"Eep!" agreed the monkey.

* * *

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
 

* * *
 

The
Fang
's arrival at the Pier on Hector was a bit anticlimactic after the long journey and the joyous welcomes they had come to expect on their travels through the Smallness of Westerness. Even more than Show Low this was a bustling hub of activity, and they were just one more Ship in a port filled with military and commercial craft of every sort.