Odyssey

The young woman who’d given her breather to Valya still looked confused. He indicated the chair he’d just vacated. “Climb in,” he said.

OTHER THAN VALYA, eighteen people were left in the tower, most of them gathered in the dining area with whatever they pla

“Same as you. Trying to figure a way to get everybody off.”

“Can’t be done,” said Ho.

“You’ve lost your mind, Valya,” said Estevan. “Has your ship left yet?”

“Probably.”

“Call it back.”

“You need help.”

“What can you do?”

“I’m still thinking about it.”

“You’ve got a suit,” said Angie. “You can jump for it, if you have to.”

“I could do that.” That was what she intended to do if necessary.

Estevan studied her. “I’m tempted to crowd everyone on board the WhiteStar.”

“The cabin’s way too small. No way you could do it even if you had an air supply, which you don’t. You’re lucky it can fit seven. They’ll be on top of one another as it is.”

“Well,” said Julie, “welcome to the Short Timers Club.”

ON THE DISPLAY, the moonriders were burning another set of accelerator rings. “That’s the last,” said Angie. “They’ll be here in ten minutes.”

The Bergen called in. “We had a good jump, Origins. Will see you in two hours.”

And the Zheng Shaiming. “Two and a half hours, Salvator. We will be able to take twenty-six of your people.”

They drank coffee, and nobody said much. Estevan sighed, put her cup down, and got up. “How far away’s the WhiteStar?”

“Fifteen minutes,” said Angie.

“Not going to make it.”

“Don’t be so quick to give up,” said Valya. “The moonriders won’t open fire right away.”

Estevan seemed exhausted. “Good,” she said, pushing herself out of her chair. “Glad you have things under control, Valya.” Her tone had an edge. She got up, walked over to one of the other tables, and asked how they were doing. There was a whispered exchange between Angie and Julie, and it wasn’t hard to interpret. Say good-bye.

All heads turned in her direction. People hoping she had news and immediately seeing she did not. Estevan managed a smile. “I want the people who are going on the WhiteStar standing by the airlock. When it gets here, we’ll open up, get on, and clear out. Okay?”

They weren’t going to be hard to persuade.

A telescopic window opened on the displays. They saw lights.

The WhiteStar.

TOA: thirteen minutes.

Estevan gently tugged Valya out of her seat and looked at the breather. “You, too,” she said. “Go with them.”

Valya wanted to say yes, please, get me out of here. Kleigma

And Julie and Santos, about whom she knew nothing.

And Ho Smith.

“We see you,” said the WhiteStar pilot. “Valya, we can see the moonriders, too.”

Estevan answered: “WhiteStar, I don’t think you can beat them in here.”

“Have your people ready to go. This will have to be in and out.”

“We’ll be ready.”

“How many of you are there?”

“More than you can carry. We need you to take seven, plus two wearing your breathers. And one more who already has a breather.”

“Seven exceeds our life-support capacity.”

“It’ll only be for an hour or so. You can exchange when the other ships get here.”

“You’re making me liable.”

“It’s an emergency, WhiteStar. Please.”

“Okay. Do it.”

Valya hated the moonriders. Absolutely and unequivocally. She would happily have killed whatever rode the globes had she been able to reach them.

Estevan was jabbing a finger at her. “Get going,” she said.

Valya shook her head. “Not on the WhiteStar. I need somebody to get me a go-pack.”

“Why?” demanded Estevan.

“Maybe I can buy some time.”

“What? How?”

“I need a lamp. Brightest one you have.”

SHE STRAPPED ON the go-pack and went out through the main airlock, past the people waiting for the WhiteStar. There were a couple of remarks, how come she gets to leave? Wish I had one of those.

Then she was outside. The gravity unit was located in the central deck. It projected in both directions, so there was a distinct up and down along the hull. It was tricky. Had she lacked the go-pack, she could not have maneuvered, and in fact might easily have fallen off the tower and drifted away.

She used the thrusters to climb the tower, which was mildly flattened at both poles. In the distance she could see the WhiteStar, a single point of light, growing steadily brighter. The stars seemed very far, and the collider tube was lost in darkness.

So were the moonriders. She didn’t see them until they were on top of her. Two polished black spheres, dwarfed by the tower. She watched them approach, still side by side. She switched on the lamp and raised it above her head.

Eric picked that moment to call. Was she pla

“No time now, Eric,” she said. “Talk to you later.”

“You are going to get clear, right?”

“Yes,” she said. “Later.” She moved the lamp back and forth, pointing its beam toward the globes.

They kept coming.

“Come on,” she said. “React.”

Gradually, they changed their angle of approach and rose higher in the sky. They were slowing down, keying on her. Maybe.

They moved into position above her, directly in front of where she stood. One on either side.

And stopped.

A good sign. She hoped.

She opened a sweep cha

No answer came back.

“Please do not fire on the Tower until we get everybody out. It’s going to take a couple of hours.” Did they know what an hour was? She visualized the WhiteStar. And somewhere behind it, the Granville.

It was hard to keep her voice steady and her knees from trembling.

Estevan got on the circuit: “What are they doing?”

“Just sitting there.”

“Okay, Valya. You’ve done all you can. Get off. Get away while you can.”

“If I get off, they might open fire.”

“Let us worry about that.”

She wanted to go. God help her, she wanted to get as far away as she could. But she thought she knew what would happen. “Give it a few more minutes.”

“You’re impossible.”

“It would help,” she told the moonriders, “if you would say something. We know you understand English.”

Eric broke in again to plead with her to do what Estevan wished. “Get away from there, Valya. Please.”

“Everything’s going to be okay, Eric,” she said. “Relax.”

THE WHITESTAR BROKE into a cluster of navigation lights. Red and green to port and starboard. White light aft.

Lamps glowed on her commlink. The WhiteStar was talking to Estevan.

Valya took a step toward the globes. Looked directly at them. They held their position.

She listened to the air flow inside the e-suit.

The WhiteStar cruised in, slowed, slowed more, and disappeared below the curve of the hull. She felt the vibration as it co

The globes watched. She could literally feel eyes on her.

Don’t shoot.

Below, they’d be waiting for the airlock to open. She counted the seconds. Noted how solemn the stars were. How far they seemed from this particular place.

She tried not to think what the globes had done at the other end of the hypercollider. What they had come here to do. How many they had already killed.

Below, the hatches would be opening. And Terri’s people would be crowding into the ship.

The globes were waiting. Giving them time.

She could feel her heart beat. “Terri?”

“Hello, Valentina. Where are you?”

“Still on the roof. What’s taking so long?”

“We’re moving as fast as we can. Just another minute or two.”

“Okay.”

“You can get out of there now.”

“Okay.”

“Gotta go. Busy.”

She wondered what would happen if she went directly for the globes? Took them head-on? Might they open a hatch? Offer wine and an evening’s conversation? Or start shooting?

Lights appeared below the rim. The WhiteStar. It was pulling away.

“Terri.”

“Yes? Have you gotten clear?”

“I’m still here. You get them all off?”

“All nine. Now please go away.”

She looked up at the globes. If you were exactly at the right angle, you could see starlight reflected from the one on her right. “Where’s the Granville?”

“Eighty-three minutes.”

“Maybe they’ll wait.”

“Valentina — ” There was no missing the exasperation in the voice.

The globes were moving again. Drawing closer together.

“Whoever you are,” she said, “thanks for waiting. We need you to hold off for one more ship. It’ll be a while.”

It was begi

“I know you can understand me. I know why you want to destroy the project.”

She saw movement out of the corner of her eye. And heard Terri’s voice. “Valya, get clear.”

A plate had begun to lift off the surface of the tower. It was disk-shaped, set in a cradle, and the cradle was attached by extensors to a base.

“You can have the place,” Valya said. “We won’t try anything like this again. Just please give us a little more time to get everybody off.”

“Valya, get out of there.”

On the far side, a second plate was rising. Angling itself toward one of the moonriders.

Each had targeted a globe.

They were gravity generators, part of the system used to manipulate local traffic. “Terri, this is not a good idea.”

“For God’s sake, Valentina, we’re not going to sit here and let them kill us. Are you clear yet?”

The devices locked on to their targets.

“Wait!”

“Do it!”

“No, Terri. They — ”

The tower trembled beneath her as power flowed into the generators. Lamps along the bases began to glow. The globes started to descend. To fall. Red lights blinked on, the same ones she’d seen at the East Tower, and those deadly beams flared out and swept the sky. Touched one of the generators. It exploded. Simultaneously, one of the globes plowed into the hull. Valya dived for cover, scrambling behind a dish ante