“Fine!” Jimmy yelled. “I got nothin’ to worry about. We’ll all be dead first, with you in command.”
“Shut up, Jimmy,” Ali bellowed. “Leave well-enough alone.” Ali released Jimmy, but stood ready to grab him if the young boy was as reckless as he thought. Jimmy surprised everyone by remaining unusually calm.
“So, seeing we need you idiots as crew,” Stiles began, “I suggest you go about whatever duties you have.”
“C’mon, Jimmy,” Ali prompted, “we’re going to engineering. I got some computer stuff that needs work before the EVA.” Ali took Jimmy by the arm and the two boys left in silence.
“And you,” Stiles glared at Henrietta, “watch yourself. Don’t think you hold all the aces.”
“What do you mean by that?” Henrietta insisted.
“The captain is stronger than any regs you’ll find. So go on; go prepare another of your little treatments for Peter-Pan. Once you’re done with that, though, I want you down in the hangar prep room to prepare suits for me and Ali. I’ll leave instructions at the prep-med station, but let me know when you’re down there; I may want to stop by and monitor what you’re doing.”
“Aye, aye, Sir.” Henrietta offered a mocking salute as she left the galley. She noticed Stiles smile at her back as she exited.
* * *
“Are we sure we know what we’re doing?”
“No, but do we have a choice?”
“Not really,” Jimmy answered Ali truthfully. Jimmy placed the helmet over Ali’s head and finished clasping it with a firm clockwise twist. “I think that’s all. I did everything the manual said to do.”
Jimmy’s voice came back to Ali over his suit speakers now that his helmet was firmly in place. It sounded tinny and like it came from far down a tunnel.
“Gee, thanks for the inspiring speech.”
“All monitors are solid green, Ali.”
That was Henrietta who was down in medical again, where she was keeping a close eye on both Ali and Stiles. She just returned to her office from her recent work in hangar med-prep. There, she checked out all the automatic diagnostics from the spacesuits to the ship, and ran a few emergency exercises to be sure they all responded properly. As far as she could tell everything was now ready for the retrieval of the Wasatti boarders.
She locked in Ali’s data-stream and confirmed with Perry that they could also monitor his real-time condition. Everything associated with their suits and their medical readings would be transmitted directly to her office, where each breath and heartbeat would be recorded. If anything was amiss, she had absolute authority to abort the mission. Not only was she able to make that decision, but she could activate computerized remote suit thrusters that could bring them back to the hangar. It was a failsafe system that could be used by the ship for anyone on EVA who became incapacitated—or anyone stubborn enough outside the ship to ignore her medical commands.
“Just waiting for Stiles,” Henrietta remarked.
“He’ll be right here,” Jimmy relayed. “And here be I, with arms opened wide.”
“Remember, Jimmy,” Henrietta replied, “I can see if you screw on his helmet improperly. So don’t even think about it.”
“Rats,” he replied. Ali laughed through his speakers.
Stiles came into the hangar prep room with his helmet already in place. He twisted it on as he made his way through the open airlock from inside the ship just in time to catch the laughter. “What’s so funny?” he asked.
“Oh, nothin’,” Jimmy answered. “Nothin’ a’ tall ….” Jimmy sounded happier than he had since the Vega battle. “Let me look you over.” Jimmy began checking all the connections on Stiles’ suit.
“No, that’s not necessary,” Stiles replied tersely.
“Yes, it is,” Henrietta corrected. “Regs, Stiles. Nobody goes outside the ship without a preflight check.”
“Lota good that’ll do,” Stiles answered. “A trained monkey could do better’n him.”
Jimmy spent a moment superficially going over Stiles’ pressurized suit, trying to look obviously uninterested. “Double-rats,” Jimmy complained. He screwed in a loose air regulator, and airflow immediately doubled in Stiles’ suit. “Thanks loads, Henrietta. You shoulda let him go out there like that.”
“Sure, and the vacuum would have blown that connector right off his back.”
“Yeah, I know,” Jimmy replied. “But don’t worry, Stiles; we’ll eventually learn to follow your commands; even monkeys. Better luck next time.”
Stiles grunted his thanks.
“Alright; double greens down the board,” Henrietta reported. “You are both ‘go’ for EVA. Perry, what’s your vee-status?”
“Forward velocity has been cut,” Perry replied, “and we are drifting. There are no planetoids within 15 million miles.”
“That’s your cue to scram, Null-Grav,” Stiles commanded.
“Roger that,” he replied. Jimmy exited the prep room to the observation deck above the hangar doors and sealed off the airlock. “You guys ready for depressurization in there?”
“Go for it,” Ali replied. He felt his suit adjust to the developing vacuum as the atmosphere in the airlock sucked back into the ship. Ali studied the monitors next to the exit hatch. “Okay, pressures on both sides of the door are equal. We’re ready. Stiles, are you a ‘go’?”
“Let’s do this thing,” he replied.
“Stiles,” Henrietta reported, “your respiration rate is climbing. Take deeper breaths. Shake it off.”
“Trying ….”
“Yeah, I can see that,” Henrietta said. “You’re both doing good now. I know it’s not easy out there.”
The airlock hatch slowly opened to empty space. Ali took a cautious step to the brink and leaned out, ready to begin his first spacewalk. Far in the background, vibrant nebular banks—in every conceivable color—painted the black pallet of the universe. Bloody and bloated Antares hung to the rear of the ship, bathed in a yellow, diaphanous haze. “This really is beautiful,” Ali stated. “Like a dreamland.”
“I can see that,” Henrietta confirmed. “Everything you see is being recorded. The folks back home will love this when they see it.”
Ali knew Henrietta was trying to calm them down with small talk, and with her psychology background she was doing a great job. He almost forgot where he was. She’ll make a great doctor when she grows up, Ali thought.
“Ali, is Eva ready?” Stiles asked from behind.
Ali issued a test command to the utility mule. “Yeah, she’s responding nicely.” Eva was the remote helper they were taking out in space with them. It was the size of a small ground car, could maneuver by herself, and in addition to holding all the tools they would need on the job, she had the power to retrieve the Wasatti bodies and bring them back into the hangar.
Ali stepped onto the outer platform and got his first view of Perry’s hull. He looked down just beyond his toes and saw an infinite drop into space. Without scale to compare to, he had no idea how far he could see. Breaking away from the void, he concentrated on Perry’s hull again. He looks really cool, Ali thought.
He glanced back into the airlock and saw Stiles still standing in the middle of the room.
“Can we hitch a ride on her?”
“Who?” Ali asked slightly distracted.
“Eva, you idiot.”
“Can’t see why not,” Ali replied. “So, what are you waiting for? Come on out and play. It’s nice outside.”
“I advise not riding on Eva, guys,” Henrietta cautioned. “If she burps, you might end up smashed against Perry’s hull.”
“I think it’s worth the chance,” Stiles replied. “After all, it’s not like we have a lot of experience maneuvering by ourselves out here.”
“Okay,” Henrietta replied grudgingly, “but be careful. Try to stay to the outside of the ship.” Henrietta paused for a moment before continuing, “Perry, make sure that happens.”
“I shall do that, Henrietta; bu
t I might need to utilize thrusters occasionally to side-slip away from the boys.”
“Understood,” Henrietta confirmed.
Ali and Stiles attached their tethers to an accessory clamp on Eva and grabbed hold to hitch their ride. “Okay, Eva,” Ali commanded, “begin ship-forward movement at two fps.”
*COMPLYING,* Eva replied.
“Everything’s smooth in the groove out here,” Ali reported. “Perry, can you shepherd Eva remotely from there?”
“Yes, I can,” Perry replied. “I will bring her to the target area at a continual two feet per second. Prepare for a slight vector change.”
Eva angled toward the bottom of the ship and proceeded forward. At that speed it would only take five minutes to reach the warriors. Ali admitted it was a good idea to ride Eva. They would save at least a half hour of arduous arm-over-arm climbing along the hull, which likely would have exhausted them even before they arrived on target. He did not look forward to that at all.
“Hull looks darn good, doesn’t it?” Ali observed.
“Beats me,” Stiles replied. “Looks like metal to me.”
Ali figured Stiles’ carefully sculpted persona would take a serious hit in the history books when his careless nontechnical reply was replayed for humanity, but that was his problem. He’s such a poser, Ali realized. He sat back and relaxed as Eva guided them along Perry’s hull. Ali was starting to enjoy the experience.
“You guys are looking good,” Henrietta observed. “Half-way there.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Ali replied. “Y’oughta try this sometimes.” Ali craned his neck as far as his suit would allow, admiring their surroundings. He felt like a bird, soaring above the clouds. Ali saw the first signs of the warriors up ahead. “Coming up on them now. Perry, arch around them from the forward vector so we can approach them from their helmeted sides.”
Eva eased around the target and came to a stop a couple feet from the Wasatti.
“Even dead, they look mean,” Ali observed.
“Let’s get this done,” Stiles commanded.
Ali detached from Eva and climbed next to the closer warrior, leaving Stiles behind. “So, how do we scrape these bugs off the windshield?”
“How’re they attached?” Stiles asked.
Ali studied one of their arms. “Beats me. It’s hard to tell what this thing does with those claws. This looks more like a spoon than a glove. Well, maybe a spork.”
“But it’s attached to the ship, right?”
“Yeah, Stiles …. Duh ….” Ali tentatively touched the suited claw. Their armor was a shiny black—like polished ebony—and was so smooth it felt oily to the touch. It had to have been polished to the molecular level to feel so frictionless. A chill went down Ali’s spine as he made contact with it. “Man, this is creepy.” Ali tried to rotate the arm to get a better look at the way it was attached to Perry, but it did not move. “It looks like it’s attached at the wrist somehow.” Ali rotated harder. The other arm of the warrior suddenly snapped up to within inches of Ali’s faceplate, stopping just before it smashed through his visor.
“Holy crap!” Ali yelled. He flinched from the attack and lost his hold. Without realizing it, Ali started an uncontrolled spiral away from Perry.
“What’s wrong?” Stiles shouted.
Ali was too scared to reply, still trying to calm down.
“Ali, what’s your status?” Henrietta cried.
“That thing tried to hit me!”
“Are you hurt?” Henrietta asked.
Ali felt around his helmet, trying to assess his condition. If his faceplate was cracked, he would be dead in a matter of seconds and would be unable to do a thing about it. Everything felt like it was still intact, and Ali finally started to calm down. He glanced at the HUD lights to the side of his vision and saw them all still in solid green. “I think there’s no damage. I ducked in time, but that thing—I swear—it swung at me!” He tried to compose himself, steadying his breathing.
“It’s dead—,” Stiles began.
“I tell ya, that thing tried to kill me!”
“Ali, don’t sweat that right now; you’re drifting away,” Henrietta cautioned.
“Oh, shoot,” Ali replied. He forgot where he was after the attack, and started to panic again. The ship was starting to drift away, and he had trouble staying oriented as he began to gyrate head-over-heals. “I—I lost my tether-hold!”
“Relax, Ali,” Henrietta soothed. “Stop trying to fight it. Your exertions are just making it worse.”
“But how do I get back?” Ali whined.
“We got’cha,” Jimmy chimed in. “Henrietta can just guide you back in with the suit overrides. But if you keep fighting, your spinning will make it harder. She’ll freeze your suit if she has to. But then you’re locked until we bring you all the way back inside. ’Though—thinking about it some—Stiles would need to do all the work then; so maybe you should fight some more.”
“Hey,” Stiles protested.
“Oh, yeah,” Ali replied sheepishly. He forced himself to go limp. “I forgot.” He extended his limbs out, like a figure skater trying to slow her spinning. He immediately felt a slight puff along his right shoulder as the remote thruster slowly pushed his torso around to face the ship.
“How’s that?” Henrietta asked.
“Position’s good,” Ali reported. “Reel me in, but not too close to that thing. Don’t want to go near it again.”
“You’ve got to,” Stiles broke in. “We still need to retrieve the specimens.”
“Don’t see you goin’ anywhere near ’em.”
“I’m here for strategic support,” Stiles replied. “In case anything goes wrong.”
“Yeah, like what just happened?” Ali asked. Stiles did not answer. “More like strategic withdrawal,” Ali finished under his breath.
“Ali,” Henrietta called out, “those bugs can’t still be alive. I’m bringing you in again. Do you remember where and how you touched it?”
“Don’t think I can ever forget that.”
“Good,” she replied. “I’m thinking you activated some auto-assist actuator.”
“Maybe,” Ali replied uncertainly.
“Gently touch it there again, but do whatever you did in the opposite direction.”
“Roger that. In case I get killed again, I tried to rotate his hand—claw, I mean—counter-clockwise. I’ll try to screw it back.” Ali carefully prodded the arm with the tip of his gloved finger. Nothing happened. “Here goes.” He screwed up his courage and wrapped his fingers gently over the warrior’s wrist. He tentatively rotated it and saw the opposite arm on the bug slowly swing back to its side. “Hey, look; a puppet!” Ali shouted. He manipulated the wrist and made the warrior look like it was waving at Eva’s camera. “Hello to all of you from Bugland Central, the armpit of the universe.”
Henrietta laughed. “Ali, stop clowning around.”
“Wonder where I gotta touch it to make its legs move? On second thought, I don’t think I wanna know.”
“Would you get serious?” Stiles asked.
“Yeah, it must be tough back there holding down the fort.” Ali examined the suit carapace. “I don’t see any way of detaching this connector. It looks like it is fused-solid with Perry’s hull.” He ran his hand along the entire length of the Wasatti warrior, finding nothing to set it free. “Perry, can you spare to lose twenty to thirty square inches of hull section? At two places?”
“Do you plan to cut my hull away from the connectors?” Perry asked.
“Yep. Either that, or I try to cut their arms off.”
“No, I want every piece of them brought back into the ship,” Stiles commanded.
“Me too,” Ali replied. “Besides, I’m not sure I can cut through this armor anyway. Not sure I can cut through your hull either.”
“If you mark off what you wish to separate,” Perry said, “I can self-detach it and repair the damage as soon as you lift the connector away.”
Ali too
k out a cutting torch and outlined a circle around the connector. “Can you feel the heat, Perry?”
“Yes, that is sufficient,” Perry replied.
The hull around the glowing circle turned to a sticky gel. A thin gap soon formed within the semi-liquid ring. “You should be able to pull the arm out now, Ali,” Perry suggested.
Ali tugged at the claw and felt the arm loosen.
“Hold on a minute!” Jimmy warned. “You’d better tether the body off before it breaks free. There’s no weight in space, but it still has mass. You might have trouble corralling it in.”
“Good thinking, Jimmy.”
“I was about to say the same thing,” Stiles said.
“What, complimenting Jimmy?” Ali asked.
Stiles huffed.
Ali smirked as he wrapped a tether around the torso of the warrior. He tugged to be sure it held, and then pulled harder on the loosened connector. It broke free and Ali immediately saw the hole in Perry’s hull fill back in. Within a minute, the liquid diamond reformed as if there was no damage at all. He did the same with the other boarder, and soon had both of them tied off to Eva. “All right, we got two healthy specimens for ya, Doc.”
“Understood,” Henrietta replied. “Perry, does Eva have enough power to bring the specimens and the others back?”
“No, Henrietta. Three bodies may be possible, but not all four.”
“I’ll guard the prisoners in, then,” Stiles suggested. “Ali, you can make it back to the hangar by yourself, right? Seeing I’m still tethered off ….”
Ali was breathing hard after his exertions. “Sure, you go right ahead and ride back.”
“Do you have no shame?” Jimmy asked. “How can you even sleep at night?”
“Hey, Hamadi has more mass than me,” Stiles replied. “I won’t strain Eva as much.”
Jimmy just laughed as Eva proceeded back to the hangar with two dead bodies and Stiles attached.
“Hey, Ali,” Henrietta called out, “go limp again.”
Ali relaxed as he felt Henrietta take over his suit actions. She glided Ali along at a fast clip, and he soon overtook Eva with Stiles limply attached. Ali waved at Stiles as he passed by. “See you back inside,” Ali called out. “Remember, last one in closes the door.”
* * *
Ali helped Peter to medical after exiting the forward lift and weaving through the claustrophobic obstacles in environmental. “Got a package for you, Doc.” He tried to sound upbeat, but sounded dead tired instead.