Страница 15 из 72
"Perhaps," Orofan said. "But I will not face the ancestors having stood by while war was made against a race which has offered no provocation."
"Indeed?" Lassarr's voice dripped with the sarcasm of fear and anger combined. "And destroying them outright, without warning, is more honorable? A few aarns ago you didn't think so. Or do you intend instead to condemn a million Sk'cee to death?"
"I don't know," Orofan said, gazing at the screen that showed the approaching star. "There is still time to decide which path to take."
Lassarr was aghast. "You're going to leave this decision to a last-aarmi impulse?"
"Orofan, there's barely a tenth of an aarn left," Pliij said, his voice strained.
"I know." Orofan focused on Lassarr. "But the Dawnsent is mine, and with that power goes responsibility for its actions. It is not honorable to relinquish that load."
Slowly, as if finally understanding, Lassarr signed agreement. "But the burden may be transferred to one who is willing," he said quietly.
"And what then of my honor?" Orofan asked, tentacles rippling with half-bitter amusement. "No. Your honor is safe, Voyagemaster—you were prevented only by force from following the path you deemed right. You may face the ancestors without fear." He hefted the assault gun. "The final choice is now mine. My honor, alone, stands in the dock."
And that was as it should be, Orofan knew. In the silence he stared at the screen and made his decision.
—
Ten minutes till cutoff. Alone on the bridge, Chandra tried to watch every read-out at once, looking for deviations from their calculated course. The Origami's navigational computer was as good as anything on the market, but for extremely fine positioning it usually had the aid of beacons and maser tracking. Out here in the middle of nowhere, six A.U. from the sun, the computer had to rely on inertial guidance and star positions, and Chandra wasn't sure it could handle the job alone.
She reached for the intercom, changed her mind and instead switched on the radio. The lifeboat bay intercoms were situated a good distance from the boats themselves, and Goode would have a better chance of hearing her over the boat's radio. "Goode? How's it going?" she called.
Her answer was a faint grunt of painful exertion. "Goode?" she asked sharply.
"Trouble, Captain," his voice came faintly, as if from outside the boat. Chandra boosted both power and gain, and Goode's next words were clearer. "One of the lines of the boat's cradle is jammed—something's dug into the mesh where I can't get at it. I'll need a laser torch to cut it."
"Damn. The nearest one's probably in the forward hobby room." Chandra briefly considered dropping back to one gee while Goode was traveling, but immediately abandoned the idea. At this late stage that would force extra high-gee deceleration to still get to the rendezvous position on time, and there was no guarantee they had the fuel for that.
Goode read her mind, long-distance. "Don't worry, I can make it. What's the latest on the Intruder?"
"As of four minutes ago, holding steady. At a light-minute to the nearest tachship, though, that could be a little old."
"I get the point. On my way."
The minutes crawled by. Eyes still on the read-outs, Chandra mentally traced out Goode's path: out the bay, turn right, elevator or stairway down two decks, along a long corridor, into the Number Two hobby and craft shop; secure a torch from the locked cabinet and return. Even with twice-normal weight she thought she was giving him plenty of time, but she was halfway through her third tracing when the drive abruptly cut off.
The sudden silence and weightlessness caught her by surprise, and she wasted two or three seconds fumbling at the radio switch. "Goode!" she shouted. "Where the hell are you?"
There was no reply. She waited, sca
"I'm back," Goode said, panting heavily. "I didn't trust the elevator—didn't realize how hard the trip back would be. Sorry."
"Never mind; just get to work. Is there anything you can hang onto? I've got to run the nose jets."
"Go ahead. But, damn, this torch is a genuine toy. I don't know how long it'll take to cut the boat loose."
A chill ran down Chandra's spine, and it was all she could do to keep from hitting the main drive and getting them the hell out of there. "Better not be long, partner. It's just you and me and a runaway monorail out here."
"Yeah. Hey—couldn't you call for a tachship to come and get us?"
"I already thought of that. But the nearest tachship is only a light-minute out, way too close to get here in one jump. He'd have to jump out a minimum of two A.U., then jump back here. Calculating the direction and timing for two jumps that fine-tuned would take almost twenty minutes, total."
"Damn. I didn't know that—I've never trained for tachships." A short pause. "The first three strands are cut; seven to go. Minute and a half, I'd guess."
"Okay." Chandra was watching the read-outs closely. "We're almost back in position; I'll be down there before you're done. The boat ready otherwise?"
"Ready, waiting, and eager."
"Not nearly as eager as I am." A squirt of the main drive to kill their velocity as the nose jets fell silent; one more careful scan of the read-outs—"I'm done. See you below."
Goode was on the second to the last of the cable strands when she arrived. "Get in and strap down," he told her, not looking up.
She did, wriggling into the pilot's couch, and was ready by the time he scrambled in the opposite side. Without waiting for him to strap down, she hit the "release" button.
They were under two gees again practically before clearing the hull. Holding the throttle as high as it would go, Chandra confirmed that they were moving at right angles to the Intruder's path. Only then did she glance at the chrono.
Ninety seconds to impact.
Next to her, Goode sighed. "I don't think we're going to make it, Chandra," he said, his voice more wistful than afraid.
Chandra opened her mouth to say something reassuring—but it was the radio that spoke. "Avis T-466 to Origami lifeboat; come in?"
A civilian tachship? "Lifeboat; Captain Carey here. Listen, you'd better get the hell out of—"
"I know," the voice interrupted. "I eavesdropped a bit on your problems via radio. You're ru
Chandra hadn't bothered to look at the 'scope yet, but even as she killed the drive Goode was pointing at it. "There he is. Coplanar course, intercept vector, two-five gee...." The blip changed direction slightly, and Chandra realized suddenly that an amateur was at the controls.
Goode realized it, too. Muttering something, he jabbed at the computer keyboard, kicking in the drive again. "Tachship, we're shifting speed and vector to match yours at intercept; just hold your course," he called. "You've got standard magnetic grapples?"
"Yes, and they're all set. Sit tight; here I come."
The seconds ticked by. The blip on the 'scope was coming up fast... and then it was on top of them, and the lifeboat lurched hard as the grapples caught. "Gotcha!" the radio shouted. "Hang on!"
And with seconds to spare—
The universe vanished. Blackness filled the viewports, spilled like a physical thing into the lifeboat. For five long seconds—
And the sun exploded directly in front of them, brighter than Chandra had seen it for weeks. A dozen blips crawled across the 'scope, and the lifeboat's beacon-reader abruptly came to life, informing them they were six thousand kilometers north-west-zenith of Earth's Number Twelve navigational beacon.