| Chapter 7 |
A Moment's Inattention - Chapter 8
As soon as the Maru emerged into normal space Beka checked the ship's instruments to see if there was anything nearby that could be considered a threat. Just moving her head to look at the displays was enough to send her stomach into spasms but she ignored the nausea and the dizziness She wasn't quite certain where she had dropped the Maru, but figuring out where they were could wait until she could think clearly. Seeing that there was nothing immediately threatening in the area she closed her eyes and let her self go limp waiting for the nausea and vertigo to cease. From the sounds coming from the environmental control station and the sensor station neither Rev nor Vexpeg were feeling any better than she was.
After a few moments the Maru stopped spinning and Beka's stomach decided it was planning to remain in place. Feeling almost human she keyed the ship's intercom. "All stations report," she said.
"Sensors, ready," said Rev.
"Environmental, ready," answered Vexpeg.
"Engineering, ready," said Harper. From the tone of his voice he sounded as if he wouldn't object if Beka ordered him to take a long nap.
"Pilot, ready," said Beka completing the exiting procedure. "Covas, what's your situation?"
"I'm OK," answered Covas. "But I don't think Mr Undersecretary is feeling too well."
As Beka was getting ready to ask what Covas meant the sound of someone getting violently sick came over the intercom. "I see," said Beka. "Tell the undersecretary that if he pukes on my deck he's the one who's going to clean it up."
She got up out of the pilot's seat and walked over to the sensor station. Another wave of vertigo threatened and her stomach began to protest as well but she ignored the sensations. "Rev," she said, "start feeding your sensor inputs into the computer. I tried to bail us out at PSC 110- AQ-689 but I want to be sure we're really there before we start repairs."
"Does that mean we're lost?" asked Covas. She had come onto the command deck just in time to hear Beka's last sentence. She appeared to have recovered from the effects of the Maru's brush with the slipstream remarkable quickly and Beka wondered if the NCSDF had considered her for pilot training. If the girl ever did apply for membership in the Guild, Beka was going to be sure that she was tested to see if she had any aptitude for piloting.
"It's highly unlikely that we are lost, Petty Officer Covas," said Rev. "Captain Valentine is a highly experienced pilot and experienced pilots know to have emergency egress points plotted when transiting the stream. Still it will be wise to verify our position." He glanced down at his displays then spoke up. "It seems your instincts were correct, Beka. We are indeed in the PSC 110- AQ-689 system."
Beka allowed herself a slight smile of satisfaction then reached over Rev and activated the Maru's intercom system. "Harper," she said. "Get up here to the command deck. "You and Vex are going over to the Victorious. We need to see how well she fared."
Minutes later a rather pale and shaken Harper appeared on the command deck. "Right now, Boss?' he asked. "Can't you give me enough time to find out where I put my stomach first?"
"We're not in that big a rush, Shorty. But we don't have all day either. As soon as you've recovered I want you and Vex to check out the slipstream generator and the harpoon attachment points. Make sure the generator is still firmly anchored in place then check the attachment points. From the data on Rev's monitor it looks like cable six and ten didn't just break free it looks like the entire attachment point broke loose from the hull. If that's the case you and Vex are going to have to install new beacons so the harpoons can home in on new attachment points. Rev and I will be remaining here on the Maru assessing the damage we took while you two are taking care of the Victorious"
Approximately two hours later Harper and Vexpeg were standing on the hull of the Victorious near the hole in the vessel's hull they had used to enter the ship the first time they had come aboard it. "Which do we check out first?" asked Harper "The slipstream generator or the harpoon connection points?"
"Both," answered Vexpeg. "I want you to check out the slipstream generator while I start checking out the anchor points. When you're done we'll finish checking the anchor points."
"Beka told us to stick together," objected Harper. "It's bad enough that you rushed through the suit checks but she'll flay us alive is she finds out we separated."
"What she doesn't know wont hurt us," said Vexpeg "This is what, your third salvage mission? I've spent more time in an EVA suit than you've spent on the Maru. I know what I'm doing, and we're going to do it my way."
Unhappy but not willing to make an issue of it Harper stopped arguing and commenced his journey to the slipstream generator leaving Vexpeg to begin checking out the harpoon connection points. His progress towards the tear in the hull was slow since he was not able to perform the leap frog maneuvers that a group of hull walkers could use but eventually he made it and began to commence his evaluation of the slipstream generator.
As Harper conducted his examination of the slipstream generator, Vexpeg was examining the Victorious' harpoon attachment points. The first attachment point, cable five's, was intact, apparently the magnetic grapple at the end of the harpoon cable had simply not been able to stay attached to the hull during the Victorious' wild gyrations through the stream. The second attachment point, where cable six had been anchored, was a different story. As Beka had feared the harpoon cable hadn't been been what had given way, it had been the damaged hull.
The force of the cable pulling on the attachment point had ripped a segment of hull loose from the body of the ship. The attachment point was totally missing probably ripped free from the rest of the hull segment. The remainder of the segment was bent, twisted and sticking up like the lid of the containers Vexpeg had seen on some worlds that were used to store food. The edges of the hull segment were jagged and looked as sharp as the lids of said containers. Vexpeg swore vehemently when he saw the torn plate. He was going to have to find another suitable spot for the Maru's cable to attach itself to. But before he could more than curse the situation disaster struck.
When the Victorious had gone to battle stations, the air that was in the unmanned compartments had been evacuated and pumped into a pressurized storage container. Normally after the battle the air would have been released back into the compartments to facilitate movement through the ship. But in the Victorious' case the ship had been evacuated and the pressurized air was never released. Until now. The transit through the slipstream had damaged the storage container's pressure valve. The valve failed and the pressurized air began to escape from the container, in the process doing a fair job of acting like a rocket exhaust. Aboard the Maru the Maru's computer noticed that the Victorious was beginning to drift and began to adjust tension in the remaining cables. The Victorious shifted and Vexpeg was thrown into the torn hull plate tearing a fifteen centimeter gash in his pressure suit. As the air pressure in the suit began to drop the emergency seal should have activated, extruding a quick hardening plastic goo that would have closed the tear and allowed the wearer of the suit time to make it to safety, but Vexpeg's impatience with Beka's safety precautions had finally caught up with him. The seal failed to activate. Before he could attempt to activate the manual backup, the bends that his species was so susceptible struck and he was bent over in pain unable to move.
In the main engineering compartment Harper was examining the slipstream generator. His mind was half on his work and half on wondering if he would be able to convince Covas to go out and have a drink or two with him when they returned triumphantly to New Caledonia. His fantasies were abruptly interrupted when Vexpeg's voice come over his suit radio.
"Harper, help me. Suit's ripped. Emergency seal wont work."
"Use your manual backup, Vex," said Harper. "I'll be there soon"
"Can't reach," came the reply. The words were labored either from pain or from lack of breathable air.
"Hang in there, Vex," said Harper. "I'm on my way." But even as he spoke the words he knew it was already too late. If Vexpeg couldn't activate the manual backup for the emergency seal he was already dead.
Epilogue
Time: CY 10086 - Aug 5163Location: The Eureka Maru
"I see," said Trance when Beka finished. "Vexpeg died because he didn't follow your instructions. But you don't have to worry about that, Beka. I'll do exactly what you tell me to do."
"That's not what killed him, Trance," said Beka. She looked the younger woman in the eyes as if she was trying to force the lesson she was trying to get across into her brain. "Vex didn't die because he didn't follow my instructions. He died because he got careless and stupid, and sooner or later the same thing will happen to you if you do the same." Seeing the look on Trance's face Beka decided to lighten up. She wanted to scare the girl into being cautious, not terrify her into immobility. "You'll be OK, Trance. Just stay close to Harper at all times, and if you're not sure about what you should do ask him first."
Beka glanced at the chronometer mounted on one of the bulkheads. "It's nearly time to meet in the airlock. We need to start getting ready for an EVA excursion. Remember what I told you about emptying your bladder and bowels. Take it from one who knows, there are very few things nastier than wearing a crap filled spacesuit."
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