“I noticed the lack of bridge when we docked,” Houston said. “Artifact of the explosion?”
“Apparently. We’re still not sure what happened but we have some guesses.”
“I thought it was a reactor failure,” Houston said.
“Could have been but I’ve never seen one blow like that, have you?”
Houston frowned for a moment. “No,” she said, drawing the word out. “Not without assistance.”
“Me, either. We may never know, but right now we need some help. It’s going to be a while before we can get the station replaced, so we commandeered the hull.”
“Where’s the rest of the crew?” Anderson asked.
“Zoya’s in the auxiliary bridge aft. We’ve got the only survivor from the station tending the coffee pot in the galley but we could use some help.”
“No, the rest of the Mindanao’s crew,” Anderson said.
“I have no idea where they are,” Natalya said, giving a small shrug. “Somebody came in and picked them up a couple of days ago. They never talked to us.”
“Somebody came in, picked them off, and then ran?” Houston asked.
“Basically,” Natalya said. “I’m not sure where they are now but Zoya filed a salvage claim yesterday.”
“Shrewd,” Houston said. “How can we help?”
“We need somebody aboard to handle the lock and the boat deck. We have an operational shuttle, that can ferry people back and forth between here and the marshaling yard. Ahokas has been doing the in-system comms but somebody to give her a break from that would be good. Personally, I’d appreciate somebody who can take on the galley and make it work for all of us.” Natalya shrugged. “That’s just off the top of my head.”
“Well, there’s certainly more leg room here,” Houston said. “How long is it going to be until we have a station again?”
Zoya stepped out of the passageway and onto the brow. “Depends on what you mean by a station, I think. I’m putting together a proposal for home office. Rather than try to scratch-build something, I want to order a prefab unit. Grinder to start, then adding on a smelter, an alloy unit, and a metal forming operation.”
Houston’s eyes grew rounder and rounder the longer Zoya spoke. “Who are you?”
“Oh, sorry,” Natalya said. “This is Zoya Usoko. We came over from Margary as soon as we got word.”
“You’re one of the Usokos?” Anderson asked.
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know Nikolai had a sister,” he said.
“I’m his daughter.”
Houston elbowed Anderson. “Chew on the foot you have in your mouth for a while before you start sticking the other one in, all right?”
Anderson frowned and glanced at her. “Huh?”
Houston shook her head before turning back to Zoya. “Sorry. How can we help?”
“We can’t unload you until we clear some of the existing cargo in the marshaling yard. We also can’t refuel you until we get some fuel shipped in,” Zoya said. “So, we need to hunker down, see what resources we have, and keep people breathing until we have more capacity.”
Houston nodded. “Makes sense. I’ll stay aboard the barge with my engineer, if that’s all right with you. I can loan you Anderson here, along with his partner—Joan Ayers. I’ll check with the first mate and see what he wants to do.”
“We’ve got about another three days before the next miner is due,” Natalya said. “It would be good if we can have some kind of system in place to keep the ships running and the people safe until we have a proper facility.”
“Let us know if there’s anything we can do.” She bit her lips and looked at the deck. “We’ve all lost a lot of friends. Getting back just as the balloon went pop gave me a kick in the gut. I can’t imagine how the other crews are going to feel when they get here.”
Chapter 36
Smelter Seventeen:
2368, February 21
Natalya slipped the shuttle along the side of the can until she spotted its ID. “Bravo-kilo-oscar and a bunch of numbers.”
“Roger. That’s the refined metal,” Zoya said over the radio. “When the time comes, we can probably use that.”
“Roger that. I’m coming back. Looks like Dusty Sky’s almost here. I can see their running lights.”
“I can see them from here,” Zoya said.
Natalya spun the shuttle back toward the station and gave the main thruster a short goose. She knew Zoya watched from the observation deck in the marshaling yard, but couldn’t make out her shape in the darkness.
It took next to no time for Natalya to park the shuttle and clamber out of the cockpit.
“We still don’t know who or why,” Ahokas said.
Natalya looked up and saw her standing in the open door. “No, we don’t. I’m pretty sure somebody’s working on that, though.”
Zoya stepped into the dock behind Ahokas. “I can guess the why,” she said.
Ahokas turned to look at Zoya. “Why?”
“I’m going with claim jumpers,” she said. “This system has to be at least passably rich in ores. Somebody else knows and wants it for themselves.”
“Did you get the assay back from the company?” Ahokas asked.
Zoya shook her head. “Not yet, but I know how my grandparents think. They invested a lot here when they didn’t really have to. They wouldn’t do that without a pretty good reason.”
“You think that’s likely?” Natalya asked. “Claim jumpers?”
Zoya lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Whoever it was wanted this station out of their way. Is there another reason, when there are literally millions of other systems going begging out here?”
Natalya’s mind spun through options but none of them seemed to stick. Even Ahokas frowned and stared into the middle distance.
“What if they didn’t want to take over the claim?” Ahokas asked.
“What then?” Zoya asked.
“What if they just wanted to ransom the station and crew?”
Zoya opened her mouth but closed it again without speaking, her brow furrowing and her gaze focused somewhere Natalya couldn’t see.
“Ransom to whom?” Zoya asked after a few moments.
Ahokas shrugged. “Well, maybe extortion. A ‘Give us all your metals and we’ll let the station live’ kind of thing.”
“That seems plausible,” Natalya said, looking at Zoya.
Zoya nodded. “Why a nuke?”
“Well, that’s a pretty big gun to the head,” Natalya said.
“And what? It just went off?” Zoya asked.
Natalya shrugged. “Makes a certain amount sense. I wonder if they’d done it before and this time somebody screwed up.”
Zoya’s eyebrows rose. “That’s going to be difficult to track down.”
“Yeah,” Natalya said.
Zoya frowned and shook her head. “Shall we go greet the new kids?”
“Probably better.” Natalya looked at Ahokas. “You want a ride over?”
The woman peered out at the crippled ship. “I guess if I want a bunk, I better claim it now, huh?”
Zoya nodded. “Probably.”
“Any spare clothes over there?” She plucked at her coverall. “Even with the fresher, I’d like to give it a rest.”
“I’m not sure,” Zoya said. “The crew from Rock Ripper was emptying the lockers and getting the berthing areas spruced up, last I heard.”
“What are they going to do with it?” Ahokas asked. “It’s silly of me but somebody else’s clothing? Seems disrespectful or something.”
“We should make a shopping run,” Natalya said.
“Shopping?” Ahokas asked. “Where?”
“Where’d you go on leave?” Zoya asked.
“Leave?” She shrugged. “Everybody congregated on the station.”
Zoya looked at Natalya. “Suggestions?”
“Mel’s probably has the best selection.”
“Couple of days?” Zoya asked.
“Something like that. With the Peregrine’s legs, maybe a bit more than a day over and a day back.”
“We should make a shopping list,” Ahokas said. “I don’t expect your ship will carry bulk items but a few amenities wouldn’t be amiss.”
“Let’s plan on that for day after tomorrow,” Zoya said with a nod to Natalya. “I’ll have to stay here this trip. You get to go.”
“What’ll you do while we’re gone?” Natalya asked.
“I’ll try to sort out the personnel. Make a list of who wants to stay and who wants to go. See how many of the crews want to bail out of here and get back to wherever home is.”
“Think many will leave?” Natalya asked.
“Some will want to move on to the next opportunity rather than wait for us to get back online.” Zoya shrugged. “Human nature.”
“The barges aren’t jump capable. Are the haulers?” Natalya asked.
Zoya shook her head. “Not unless they changed the company doctrine. They’re all specialized ships and they belong to the company. The crews are employees. If they want to quit, we can expedite them to either the Ranch or Mel’s. If enough want to go, I’ll ask Pop-pop for the crew bus.”
“How soon before this place looks like a parking orbit?”
Zoya shook her head and chuckled. “Not long. If they’re following protocol they’ll be staggered by as much as a week coming in. In ten weeks we’ll have another eight or nine ships here.”
“One part of me thinks that’s a long time,” Natalya said.
“Yeah. Then you remember how long it takes things to happen in the Deep Dark.”
“Exactly.”
Chapter 37
Mel’s Place:
2368, February 24
Natalya secured the main engines and double-checked the shore ties. “We’re here.”
Ahokas peered out at the docking bay and shook her head. “I haven’t been here in a decade.”
“I still can’t believe your crews never left the smelter.” She double-checked the systems before pulling her belts off and standing up from the couch.
“We had a lot of turnover,” Ahokas said. “Most of the crews rotated in and out without calling it liberty.”
“I’m not surprised. You have to be dedicated to being in a can to stick with it.”
Ahokas offered a faint smile and made an ostentatious show of looking around the tiny cockpit.
Natalya chuckled and shrugged. “Point taken.”
“I can’t believe you and Zoya live on this ship.”
“We don’t always.” Natalya flexed her shoulders and twisted to loosen up her lower back. “When we first came out to Toe-Hold space, we lived on Dark Knight and had a small apartment there. We’re between jobs now, but we usually have a place to go when we need to get off the ship.”
A cloud seemed to pass across Ahokas’s face. “It’s going to be a long time before we have that back again, isn’t it.”
Natalya sighed and nodded. “Well, probably. Do you need to talk to somebody while we’re here?”
“Talk to somebody?”
“Professional therapist? Psych eval?” Natalya asked. “You took a hell of a blow. It’s only been a couple of weeks.”
Ahokas’s gaze turned inward and she put a hand over her mouth. Natalya watched her swallow hard. “Not yet.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before looking at Natalya. “I’m probably still in denial. It doesn’t seem real. Like I’m going to wake up in my bunk and find it was all a dream.”
“I can only imagine what you’ve been through. Are still going through,” Natalya said. “If you need anything, please ask.”
Ahokas swallowed again, like she had a pill stuck in her throat. She caught the corner of her lower lip between her teeth and nodded.
The lock-call interrupted the moment.
Natalya headed for the lock. She gave Ahokas a final glance. “I mean it,” she said. She sighed and keyed the inner door open. A uniformed official stood outside the ship, reading something on his tablet.
He looked up as the outer door levered open. “Ms. Regyri, welcome back to Mel’s.”
“Zeke. How’s life at the hub of the universe?”
He chuckled. “Another day in paradise.” He consulted his tablet once more and flipped a couple of screens with one index finger. “You’re good as far as we’re concerned. You have anything you shouldn’t?”
“Nope. You wanna check?”
He laughed and shook his head. “Maybe next time. Is Zoya with you?”
“No, but I have a passenger.”
His eyebrows rose and his head cocked a little bit to the left.
Natalya turned to look back into the ship. “Kim? We need to get you checked in.”
Ahokas stepped out of the lock, smoothing down the front of her coveralls, looking between Natalya and Zeke. “Hi.”
Zeke held up his tablet and took a digital of her. “Your name?”
“Kimberley Ahokas.”
“Where you from?”
Ahokas glanced at Natalya. “Originally or lately?”
Zeke’s head came up and his eyes tightened slightly. “Lately is fine.”
“Usoko Mining Seventeen.”
He made a notation and offered his tablet. “If you’d give me your thumb?”
She reached forward with her right thumb and pressed it to the screen.
“Thank you,” Zeke said, looking back at the screen. After a couple of heartbeats he nodded. “Thank you, Ms. Ahokas. Welcome to Mel’s Place. You have unlimited visa until and unless you violate station regs. You’re welcome to apply for permanent status by contacting station administration on your tablet.” He rattled off that last as if he’d said it a thousand times. He looked up and grinned at them. “Welcome aboard.”
“Thanks, Zeke. Anything new since the last time I was here?” Natalya asked.
“Glitchy’s closed up but a new guy reopened the place as a brew pub.”
“What happened to Glitch?”
“Retired. Caught a fast packet heading to the High Line. Going to visit his great grand-kids.” Zeke shrugged.
Natalya nodded. “Can’t blame him. How long did he run that place?”
“Longer than I’ve been alive,” Zeke said with a snort. “He claimed fifty stanyers. I got no reason to doubt it.”
“End of an era,” Natalya said.
“Yeah, but the new brew pub is doing great. Food’s good. Beer’s better. Generally quiet but does a nice dinner business.”
Natalya grinned. “I wouldn’t say no to a good beer.”
“If you go, knock on the door. Tell ’em ‘Joe sent me.’”
“‘Joe sent me?’” Natalya asked.
Zeke nodded. “Seriously. How long you going to be here?”
Natalya looked at Ahokas. “Couple of days? Maybe three?”
Ahokas nodded. “That should be long enough.” She looked at Zeke. “Anything else you need from me?”
Zeke shook his head. “Thank you, ma’am. We’re good.”
Ahokas nodded again and disappeared back into the ship without another word.
Zeke took a half-step forward. “She all right?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Natalya glanced over her shoulder and stepped down off the ramp, leading Zeke away from the ship a couple of steps.
“You know UM17?”
Zeke shook his head and shrugged. “I know Usoko Mining. Everybody does. But there’s too many little stations around to keep track of. Her credit balance is big enough. That’s all I really need to know for this job.”
“She worked at the marshaling yard for a Usoko Mining smeltery operation halfway between here and the Ranch.”
Zeke stared at her. “What happened?”
“It’s gone.”
“Gone? How?”
“Blew up. Nothing but an expanding cloud of scrap metal and radiation. She’s the only survivor.”
Zeke took a step back and glanced at the lock
. “Do I want to know anything else?”
Natalya shrugged. “Lots of speculation but she was directing cargo ops from the marshaling yard. It took her team, the station, and the bridge off a visiting Barbell.”
Zeke gave a low whistle. “What ship?”
“The records showed it as Mindanao, but who knows.”
Zeke grimaced. “Yeah. I take it no joy on the crew?”
“Apparently they were just pulling back when the candle lit. We got there a few days later.”
Zeke’s eyes widened. “Wait. You and Zoya?”
“Yeah. She’s one of those Usokos. She’s still there trying to put things back together. We’re here to do a little shopping and pick up a few supplies to tide us over until we can make some more regular arrangements.”
Zeke shook his head. “So you’re going to try to rebuild it?”
“That’s the plan. The mining fleet is still there. The marshaling yard doesn’t appear damaged. We’ve got the disabled hull for housing so we can get the crews off the barges in rotation. Beyond that? Usoko sent an engineer and Zoya.”
“Failure is not an option, I take it?” Zeke asked.
Natalya snorted. “Failure is the default. At the moment, Zoya’s just trying to keep anybody else from dying while she works out what to do with the claim.”
Zeke rocked back on his heels. “Pardon my saying, but she doesn’t seem old enough to have that much responsibility.”
“She grew up with it. It’s the family business.” Natalya bit back anything else about Zoya’s background. “We got comms re-established, and we’re rotating the crews back from the belts. There’s a lot of ‘now what?’ going on. So I brought Ahokas over to get some things and get her away from the scene for a couple of days.”
Zeke looked at the ship again, then back at Natalya. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
His tablet bipped. “Duty calls.” He stuck out a hand. “Welcome back.”
She shook his hand and nodded. “Wish it was under better circumstances.”
“You and Zoya are always welcome as far as I’m concerned.” He gave her a final nod and scampered out of the docking bay.