Homesick

by Paul J. Joseph Chapter 4 The Departure Deck The departure deck had reduced gravity because it was the smallest room on the ship. Unlike the other rooms in the living areas, it was not divided in half, and the floor was much closer to the gyro rod, reducing the centrifugal force of the rotation substantially. The room was a junction between the three large shuttle pod bays positioned equidistantly from one another in a ring around the departure deck. From the point of view of those inside, the bays appeared to be below them, accessed by ladder ways leading from sliding hatches built into the floors. One of these hatches was now tinted red, to indicate that the shuttle pod normally within it had not returned, and the bay had remained depressurized. The door would obviously not open under those circumstances, but one couldn't be too careful. The room was small, but not so cramped as to make it impossible to work. The gyro rod was exposed, however, and Ian, being a tall man, tended to bump his head on it occasionally. In this room of all rooms, the architectural theory behind the ship was most obvious. In effect, this relatively narrow pole which held the ship together looked the most like what it was: the axle in the hamster wheel of the ship. Again, Ian was there first, casually looking around the room. He had rarely been to the departure deck. It was something of a hassle to get to, in that one had to briefly climb into the gyro rod casing and float down an access corridor, which would be at 0 g. And also, though it was perfectly safe according to the ship's designers, only a fool would casually frequent a small room in which the floor was made up of 3 doors that could potentially open into the vacuum of space. Buds came through the access door next, carrying two canvas bags full of equipment. Her hair was tied back and she wore her green cloth uniform jacket, denim pants, and heavy boots. Strapped to her arms were several packs containing field gear. On one arm she had an emergency medical kit and her hand-held computer. On the other, she carried communication equipment and a small tool kit. Around her neck was slung a head set with a chin-mounted microphone. She spotted Ian and nodded to him approvingly. "You’re with me, okay?" "What?" Ian looked surprised and uneasy for a second, and then quickly regained his stance. "As you wish, Captain," he said professionally. "Vlad's staying here," she added. "Somebody has to, and frankly I think you’re more suited to this than he is." "That's fine," he said in a hesitant tone. "I just thought you'd be taking Vlad. He did the surface scan and terrain check." Buds looked around for Vlad before responding, and made a secretive gesture. "I don't care about his qualifications," she said in a hushed voice "He's been too negative and argumentative about this plan since I mentioned it." Ian nodded gravely. "I don’t think either of us is thrilled about it either, but if we’re going to pull it off I need to have somebody with me who isn’t going to argue about every risk we have to take. Is that you, Ian?" she asked seriously. "Can I count on you?" Ian stood up straighter. "Scott is a mate, Captain," he said firmly, and with a hint of sadness. "And this is your call. I’ll do my best." Sally fought not to sigh with relief. She gave Ian an appraising look. "And besides, I think you’re more fit than he is." They could hear Vlad coming. He too brought a bag. When he emerged into the departure deck, he regarded them coldly as if aware that they had been talking about him. "Vlad, you'll have the ship while we're gone." "Oh... Yes, yes!" He smiled with relief. Sally saw his reaction and fought an impulse to sneer at him. His behavior suddenly reminded her of a spoiled little kid gloating over winning a game of chance. "We'll be taking Shuttle Pod 2, obviously," she said calmly. "I've got your maps loaded into the computer packs. If we were right about the biomonitor, we should be able to track it manually on the surface even if he's dead. We will report in every fifteen minutes once we're down." "And how will you protect yourself?" Buds showed him the taser. "It's a little unwieldy for a weapon, and truth be told, I'm hoping to scare them more than harm them if we do meet resistance." She shrugged. "I just have to hope its bark is worse than its bite." "And Ian?" "We only have one of these," Sally said quietly. He nodded gravely, looking more relieved than ever that he would not be going. Ian had opened the hatch and was lowering down the bags of equipment, seeming oblivious to their conversation. Sally turned to give him hers, but then looked back to Vlad as if she had forgotten something. "Oh, and one other thing," she said seriously. "I notice that there is a launch window coming up in a few days. If we wanted to go home ahead of schedule that would be ideal. But it's very possible that Ian and I may not be back in time to take advantage of it, not to mention the fact that we're still not entirely sure that it's safe fuel wise." Vlad nodded with a quizzical look. She paused as if looking for a way of putting her next words delicately. "I'm not really sure why I'm telling you this. You see, I’m quite certain that you would have no need to perform any navigational procedures in our absence. But if for some reason that should come up, you should know that I've locked the ships navigation systems to my voice print, and I'm taking my command key with me to the planet." Vlad suddenly reeled back, his face contorted in alarm "But that is madness!" he cried. "That means that if you don't come back-" "You won't be able to leave orbit!" she finished for him. "But that shouldn’t be a problem, because I can be sure that we will come back. After all, we’ll have you up here rooting for us all the way," she said with a half suppressed playful expression. "And if by chance we do run into trouble down there, I am quite sure that you would rush to take the last shuttle pod down to find us!" She looked slightly amused at his astonished expression. "That's right, Vlad, if we go down we all go down! Even you." "Please think again on this! We've only lost one man so far-" "No!" she shouted, no longer amused. "I've made my decision and it’s final! But I do have an idea how you can be sure that that doesn't happen," she said, regarding him coldly. "Your best chance will be to give us as much support from up here as possible while we're down there. You watch the map. You follow us down with the scopes. You try to warn us if you see any hostiles. You help analyze any data we give you as quickly as possible." She smiled confidently. "You see, you're in this just as deep as we are! And don't start with that political talk about what your government will say to mine if I don't cater to you. We're a long way from the UN now, and frankly I don't care how many seats your people have on the ruling council, or what your or their priorities are. This is my ship and we're playing it my way!" Vlad glared at her, his beard trembling. She smiled again, smugly. "Wish us luck?" Vlad pursed his lips and turned away for a second in thought. Sally started to look over at Ian, but Vlad met her eyes before she did. He cleared his throat nervously, and then with some reluctance he opened his jacket and reached under his armpit to produce a sizable pistol. He handed it over discretely. "Then this you may need. It may help." Buds seized the pistol and stared at it in disbelief. She released the clip and examined the bullets. "Here is other clip in case you need," he said, pulling another metal object from a pack under his other arm and extending it to her, but she was still too stunned to take it. Ian politely took it instead. "Ian, wait in the ship for a moment," she said shakily. "Start preparations for release." She was still staring at the gun when she heard Ian's feet clanging on the metal ladder way. Once he was out of site, Buds trained her gaze on Vlad, who stood with his arms behind his back in a self righteous posture. "Just tell me how the hell. ... How in the name of ... How did you get this on board without anybody seeing it?" "I tell the truth, it was well concealed in my belongings. My government saw to it they were not thoroughly checked." "I'll say they weren't," she laughed. "I mean, a knife I could understand. A poisoned needle, a piece of piano wire, a cyanide tablet, but for God's sake a 45 caliber pistol fully loaded and complete with an extra clip? Why didn't you just bring a laser rifle or a canister of nerve gas?" "Understand, my government was concerned. They wanted I should be protected in case of mutiny or political fighting." "You mean they wanted you to win the fights!" she shouted with an expression of betrayal. "You could have taken the ship, couldn't you? Was that their plan? No, don't answer that," she said pocketing the gun. "I'll deal with this later." "Captain, I give this to you!" "I know you did! And that's why your not dead now," she said with a menacing stare. "Because if I had found this instead of you giving it to me, I would probably have shot you right here and right now!" She stared at him and took a deep breath. "I'm going to make a deal with you, Coronov. No more! If you have any more contraband of any kind I need to know about it now. And I mean anything." "Only the gun." "Well you tell your people after we break radio silence that I appreciate the gift, but they may be hearing from the Canadian government about this. Buds held up the gun. "Giving me this might have saved your life as well as mine. I know that's why you gave it to me. Not to protect Ian and me. But to save your neck. One gun still may not do it, though. If you have any other weapons hidden away, now would be the time to come clean with them." He shook his head. She gave him a final long hard stare. "Then wish us luck. We're going to need it." She then turned and climbed down the ladder through the hatch and secured it above her.   The shuttle pods were diamond shaped, with grasshopper-like legs extending in angular arches from the four facets of the lower half. One of the four corners folded down, forming the outer hatch. It was opened now, throwing light into the otherwise dark metal bay. The ship's legs, and the outer hatch ramp didn't actually touch the metal floor. The pod was secured in its place by a series of large claw clamps along its diameter. The floor below was the outer bay hatch, from which the pod would exit the ship. The pods were precious. There were only three of them, and each was really only intended to be used once. Sally climbed the ramp way into the pod. Ian was seated in the pilot’s couch looking upward at the window on the ceiling, which was actually the front of the ship. The controls were lighted and he was busying himself performing pre-flight checks. There were two other couches, one on either side of him, positioned further from the nose of the ship. Sally climbed into the navigator's couch and strapped herself in. The outer hatch retracted with a hollow sound of metal clamping against metal. The inner hatch, only a few feet into the interior, hissed shut an instant later. Sally activated her console, though she really didn't have to, looking at it with mild interest. Then she pulled the gun out of her pocket and examined it coldly. "Are you a good shot, Ian?" "Not with a pistol," he said apologetically. "My dad and I used to use a hunting rifle, but that was just for a lark." "So you never fired a pistol?" "Well, not a .45," he said with a shrug. "It's up to you, Captain,. I'll take the taser if you feel more comfortable." She looked at him critically, appraising his build and demeanor. "Your hands are larger than mine," she said after a moment of reflection. "And this thing will probably recoil pretty hard." "As you wish," he said, turning back to his console. She then opened a compartment below her console and placed the gun inside, taking the clip out first. Ian handed over the second clip without having to be asked. "We're pressurized and on internal power," he said matter-of-factly. "The bay is depressurizing and Vlad is clear of the departure deck. I've run the checklist. We should be ready to open the doors and release in just a few minutes." "Proceed when you're ready." When the door irised open below them, light from the planet made its way through the lower windows. The movement of the gyro made the blue world’s reflected light appear and disappear as the pod was carried in and out of its view. "Better brace yourself, Captain, I'm about to lock the gyro. Vlad is clear, we'll lose gravity in a few seconds." "Understood." Buds grasped the console as the action of the gyro brakes pushed her sideways. She watched as the whirling of the star-lights slowed. As it did, she could feel her weight lifting away. She fumbled with the straps, locking herself more tightly into the chair, hating the feeling of weightlessness. The planet now sat firmly below them. Waiting. "All set, captain?" "Cut us loose when you are ready." Next: Chapter 5