CHAPTER 22
THE GREAT ESCAPE
The Eagle cast a tiny shadow against the wall of its hiding place inside an asteroid. With each passing hour, the shadow advanced like the arm of a sundial, highlighting the scarcity of time. Gallant continued to collect data on the Titan fleet, but he was concerned about Kelsey's severe wounds.
The two UP officers hunkered down in their hiding place hour after hour. They weren't getting any sleep, just a few catnaps. They bled oxygen into the fighter from reserve canisters. They also opened canisters of lithium hydroxide crystals to absorb the excess carbon dioxide. Doing this allowed them to turn off their environmental life support system, reducing their electronic emissions, but it also made them feel nauseated and achy.
Gallant’s mind was sufficiently active, but his movements felt labored, as if his arms refused to carry out simple tasks. In his dilapidated condition, Gallant mumbled to himself, and his voice sounded strange. He tried to concentrate on the tasks he needed to complete.
Gallant’s escape options seemed thwarted by the many destroyers still scouting the area. He couldn’t shake a sense of foreboding. Like in a dream, his weariness combined with his worry to exaggerate his every movement, slowing down his work repairing vital equipment.
Kelsey was sedated and lying quietly on the sleeping couch at the bottom of the tiny fighter compartment. Gallant had dressed her wounds and given her what medication he could. Her best chance now was to get to a hospital facility on Mars as soon as possible and get the best medical treatment available.
Titan cruisers showed up occasionally but then disappeared again. The presence of these ships worried Gallant. But each time the radar screens came up with a hit, the contact was lost almost immediately, drowned out by the background of space and meteorites. Gallant lost and rediscovered enemy cruisers multiple times. By now he had gone several days with little sleep.
He worked on repairing the ship’s communications equipment in an effort to contact the Mars Fleet to alert them of the dangers hiding in the asteroid field. He thought, Perhaps they could send a rescue ship to meet them.
The worst moment came when the last oxygen canister was exhausted. Until this moment, nothing was certain. They might've been killed or captured at any moment, but the possibility of escape had remained open. Now Gallant had no more time to make necessary repairs. They had reached the end of the line. It was necessary to start the environmental system and move out of their hiding place.
Gallant forgot about flashing a message to the Mars Fleet for the time being. Since the Titans on the Jupiter frontier were not mobilizing for an immediate attack, he decided to wait for events to unfold. This course of action gave him the opportunity to play a strategic card. The United Planets would have a clear advantage once they got this information because they could take action before the Titans were aware.
A fleeting gentle gust from the air conditioning duct blew across Gallant's perspiring forehead as he restarted the life support equipment. He still didn’t know whether Kelsey would survive her injuries. The thought of going back to Mars with her life still hanging in the balance appalled him. Gallant looked around the madhouse of damaged equipment and burned panels. He examined the instruments again, trying to determine what was best.
First, he restored as much of the life support and engine function as he could. Then he compared the options for trying to jury rig the communications gear. The sudden flurry of activity gave him something to take his mind off the circumstances.
Gallant calculated a winding escape path from the asteroid cluster toward Mars, but the path was so narrow and difficult to traverse that it increased the risk factor. Nevertheless, he made a stealthy dash to escape. To his great relief, the Eagle moved away from the Ceres cluster undetected.
Several days after he escaped, things were still looking gloomy. Kelsey's blood pressure was falling, and the amount of asteroid cover he would have for the next stretch of space was not very comforting. He knew he couldn't play hide-and-seek with the Titans forever. The damage condition of his spacecraft was such that he could only manage to operate it at 0.003c, a speed far below his ship’s maximum capacity.