Long View - Zelde M'Tana Part 8

"First Officer Parnell speaking for the Great Khan. Second Officer Adopolous, here with me, sends his respects also. Captain Czerner-well, he's busy, if you understand 70 me. Says he can be up in twenty minutes, no sooner. But sends his greetings."

After a time-Zelde knew she should be able to guess the distance from it, but she hadn't noted the seconds when Parnell first spoke-the other's call stopped and a new voice came. "h.e.l.lo, Parnell. I think I remember you from the-uh, Academy. First Officer Bernardez here, bringing you the great good will of the Hoover. Captain Durer, now-you'll recall him also, I do believe. But the poor man's having a bit of a fever, just at the moment, and he's full of enough sedation to keep half the s.h.i.+p drowsy. But I'm sure he'll be pleased to have your regards and I do think I'll take the liberty of sending you his own."

."And Captain Czerner's," said Parnell, "to all of you on the Hoover." He cleared his throat. "And what news from other friends?"

In the delay, Zelde heard the silence crackle; then came the voice of Bernardez again. "You'll recall Raoul Vanois, from the backwoods planet? Well, he had a thing to say of Terranova. Being there a time, staying offs.h.i.+p in the town, he found it cold sleeping. But quite warm, that odd man said, when under enough covers." A laugh came. "And doesn't it just sound like him, though?"

"Yes," said Parnell. "I know Raoul, all right." Brows raised, he looked at Dopples; then both men nodded. Zelde started to ask what it was all about, but Parnell shook his head.

Bernardez may have chuckled; with the background noise, Zelde couldn't be sure.

Then he said, "And now where might you be heading, this fine year? We were out of Far Corner for the Twin Worlds, but hardly clear of atmosphere when the Attila pa.s.sed us going in and messaged a change of plans. So now, instead, we're for-" The signal crackled and, for a moment, failed.

Parnell silenced his own sending to say, "I swear he did that on purpose." Then, with his "Send" switch live again, he said, ". . . and naturally we'll give word of you when we get there." Dopples winked at him and grinned.

Watching the blips, Zelde saw that the s.h.i.+ps had pa.s.sed their closest and were moving apart. Bernardez' voice came weaker. "And it's been a good meeting, Parnell and Ado-polous-we don't get so very many, do we now? Perhaps, some decade from here and groundside together, we'll have 71.the chance to buy each other a great untidy lot of drink."

Parnell swallowed. "I'd like that, Bernardez." But incoming signal was gone; maybe the other had heard, and maybe not. Parnell turned to Dopples. "You know what I think?"

The balding man nodded. "You think he's Escaped, same as we are-and didn't dare say it, same as us. Isn't that it?"

"Yes. I wish-" He shook his head. "But no-we couldn't chance it. Bernardez, though. . . ."

Zelde cleared her throat. "You know him, do you?"

"How well I do. And if anyone had been voted 'Most Likely to Escape,' my vote would have gone to Kickem Bernardez." He shook his head. "No-that's an old story and not for here. But you know why I think he may be Escaped?-a reason that didn't come to me until afterward?"

Dopples made no move or sound; Zelde shook her head. "All else aside," said Parnell, "did he sound like a man talking for the benefit of his captain's recording instruments?"

"But one thing he did tell us," said Dopples. "On Terra-nova, the Underground is alive and well."

Maybe they'd missed the chance to find an ally, but at least the meeting had gone without trouble. Consensus, when Parnell reported to s.h.i.+p's a.s.sembly, was better safe than sorry. Zelde wasn't so sure-but no point in arguing. The chance was past.

Leaving the group, Zelde checked the way the stretch plugs felt in her lobes and decided it was time she got the rings put in. Below, in the maintenance shop, Henty Mon-teil disagreed. "One more step first, Zelde. You've got a little swelling there-do it your way, you may have a lot." Zelde felt herself pouting; Henty grinned at her.

"You want these to look good, don't you, the first time Parnell sees them?"

So Zelde shrugged, and went away with another set of b.u.t.tons showing-but those, she decided, would be the last.

Next day, Parnell called a meeting of Control officers and senior ratings. The subject at hand was twenty-two-year-old Carlo Mauragin, recently promoted from his 72.Navigator-second rating to Third Hat. Zelde sat back in a corner, hoping no one would notice she didn't rightly belong here. She liked Carlo well enough; his temper wasn't too even, and sometimes he didn't answer on-the-job questions too good, but he was mostly friendly.

Dopples read off the list of complaints. "These aren't charges, Mauragin; we're not sitting as a court here. But you make too many mistakes-and the same ones, too many times. So the skipper has us here to talk it over, see what's to be done about it."

The young man was pale; without his usual color he looked sallow. His mouth twitched, and Zelde saw how his hands gripped his knees. "I try to do my best."

"But you heard the record, didn't you?" Mauragin nodded; Dopples turned to Lera Tzane. "You said he's asked you to speak for him. Go ahead."

The woman stood, slirn but not looking fragile. She moved to stand behind Mauragin, and put her hand on his shoulder. "Carlo's new aboard, this trip. He's had less training than his brains deserve. His job before Escape was too easy for him; he could coast. Third Hat-well, it's a big bite, all at once."

"A big chance for him, too," said Parnell, "if he'd lived up to it."

Tzane looked at him. "On the record, I grant you, he doesn't fill the job yet. You could relieve him on your own authority, Captain, if you wanted to-but instead you've brought the matter up for vote. My vote is to give him the rest of this trip-to Terranova, I mean-to see if he can handle things."

Parnell nodded. "Defense noted. Now, vote." Seven to two, one rating siding with Tzane, the vote went against Carlo Mauragin. "All right. Carlo, you're not being punished here-merely relieved from this job at this time, without prejudice to possible future promotions. Before Escape you held-let's see-a Second rating and in line to try for First. I think you've learned enough that we can better that, for you. I recommend you now revert to First, with option to test for Chief rating when we reach Terranova." He looked around. "Vote? Including the recommended rating."

Only one did not raise a hand, the same who had sided with Mauragin before.

"Pa.s.sed. Carlo, you can move out of Third's quarters tomorrow-no rush. And 73.you'll stand Third's watches until your replacement's named and confirmed."

He waited, and Mauragin swallowed and then spoke. His normal coloring had come back. "It's a hard thing, to fall flat when you get your biggest chance. But I guess you're right-I'd had it too easy, not used to hard work, hard study. Somehow I couldn't adjust to it fast enough." He tried to smile, too, but it didn't work very well. "Maybe, taking it a little slower, 1 can get there again someday."

It was Dopples who said, "And we all wish you luck at it." Then he turned to Parnell. "Do you want the ratings to caucus again, to nominate for a new Third?"

Parnell frowned. "No-that's a popularity contest, I'm afraid. We're lucky that one out of two worked this time. I think-Dopps, let's hear your recommendation. Yours, too, Lera."

For a long time Dopples didn't speak. Then he shook his head. "You really put me in the grinder-you know that?" Parnell said nothing; Dopples shrugged. "You know how I feel about these things. But, Ragir, there's only one recommendation I can make. Your best bet, out of this lot, is Zelde M'tana." And Lera Tzane nodded.

Hardly able to hear, let alone think, Zelde sat through the vote and heard herself named Third Hat. Walking back to quarters, not quite stumbling, she thought: Why did he do that?

In the galley, first chance she had, over coffee she talked with Carlo Mauragin.

"Look-what happened-it wasn't-"

Seemed to hurt his face some, but finally he smiled. "I know that, Zelde. At first I thought, maybe, you know- you living with the captain and all. But not when Dopples put your name up." Now he looked serious. "It might pay you to be a little extra careful, though, when our First Hat's around." He finished his coffee and left.

Well, she'd thought about Dopples already-about the chance that he might be setting her up for a fall. All she could do was watch herself and double-check her work. She knew about crossing people up-she was braced, if Dopples ever pa.s.sed her an order that sounded out of line, to make sure it went on the record. And, if she could manage it, with witnesses.

74.He didn't, though-he gave her, in her new job, the same chilly courtesy he gave Lera Tzane. As near as Zelde could figure it, he was playing a straight game.

So-she kept her guard up.

Turnover was due soon, but Zelde didn't know when, exactly. If it happened on her watch or Lera's, she was pretty sure Parnell would take over-but still she wanted to know as much as she could about it.

The manual wasn't much help. It said that in theory a s.h.i.+p would push ahead- accelerate-for half the trip, then turn over and push backward to slow down. "But in practice . . ." and then the text went off into a lot of equations, and lost her. So, deciding she couldn't work it out on her own, she asked Parnell.

"You learn so well," he said, "that I keep forgetting you simply don't have the math. Well-" And he explained how any s.h.i.+p, just to hold up near light speed, had to keep its drive pus.h.i.+ng so the resistance of the interstellar gas wouldn't slow it. "It takes about a month-our time-to cut from near-light to zerch. The screens and the computer tell you when the distance is right for it. Next time we're in Control, if you like, I can show you the numbers. But you won't need them-twelve hours ahead, the turnover clock lights up and starts your countdown."

He raised one eyebrow. "Is it clear to you, from the manual, what you do from then on?"

"I think so. But I'd still just as soon watch somebody else do it the first time."

He laughed. "I think we can arrange that."

Paying off at the rate of half her Third Hat's earnings, Zelde's debt to Henty Monteil was almost cleared. When the final pair of stretch plugs-the same thickness as the rings themselves-sat comfortably with no swelling or redness, Zelde went to collect.

Monteil hefted the gold rings on her palm and handed them over. "You're sure you want to pack this much weight around?"

"They don't feel so heavy."

"Over three ounces apiece. Sorry-I mean ninety grams. I grew up in one of the last places on Earth to use the old 75.measures, I guess, and still think in them, if I don't watch myself."

Zelde didn't care about that. She removed the stretch plugs and waited while Henty slipped the split rings into place. She nodded her head, shook it, tilted it.

"Heavy, sure-but I like it. Go ahead and close them-okay?"

Henty pressed the rings' ends together; over the left one she clamped a pair of her aluminum blocks. The welding took a time. Zelde felt heat at her earlobe, but only after the blocks were off did she say, "Maybe that didn't work right. My ear got d.a.m.ned hot."

The woman's mouth tightened; she looked close. "Yes- it's red there. Why didn't you say something?" Zelde shrugged; Henty said, "True-not much I could have done, by that time." She paused, then nodded. "Bigger cross-section-it changes the ratio between the heat conducted through to you and what's dissipated by the aluminum.

Just a minute." On her desk calculator, she punched keys. "All right-the other one I'll do in two sessions, letting it cool between times. Could have, on this one-next time, for heaven's sake speak up!"

Zelde grinned. "What next time? Two ears is all I got." And Henty laughed with her. A few minutes later, when the second ring was finished, Zelde spoke her thanks and left for quarters. First she made a stop. Then, at home, she made her preparations.

What she saw in the mirrors, she liked. This time, Turk had cut her hair more evenly-so short, it looked like a cap of thick felt. Her body gleamed with the scented oil she'd rubbed over herself. And those gold rings . . . She sighed. Want to look the best there is, for that man!

When the door opened, she turned to face him. "Par-nell?"

He stopped; his eyes widened. "Zelde-"

"You better shut the door." He did, but still stood there.

"Parnell-" She gestured at her body. "You like this? Me?"

He nodded, but stayed where he was.

"Come prove it." When he finally moved, she laughed. Because for a minute there, she'd been worried.

76.The funny thing was that until things started getting better, she hadn't noticed anything was wrong. Just the week since she got the rings, Parnell was more man to her than in a long while. And he seemed stronger, all ways-less tired. Well, she'd known, already-when the s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g goes good, so does the other stuff. Or maybe, sometimes, the other way 'round.

She didn't know why the rings made a difference-to her, or to him either-but they did. Okay, using the oil, too-and maybe the tight haircut and a couple new things she did now. Or just showing him-pus.h.i.+ng her own self at him more-how she really wanted him, not waiting around until he said first. All right-whatever, it helped him, with her.

She wouldn't forget again. . '

One night the s.h.i.+p jolted and the alarm rang. Parnell got up, half asleep, fumbling around getting dressed. Zelde dressed, too. He looked at her. "You don't have to go; it's not your watch."

"I want to. All right?" So they went to Control - Dopples had the watch-and heard the reports.

From the drive room, Harger was talking. "I have it back in balance, for now, and I think we have enough spares to get us to Terranova. But one landing, Captain - that's all it's good for. Without an overhaul-a new Niel-son cube, at least-where we land is where we stay."

Not talking, Parnell nodded. In his face Zelde saw the lines deepen. Finally he said, "All right, Harger. Good work-stay on it. And-none of this is your fault. We both knew they stretched our maintenance skeds on Earth, skimped the repairs." He paused. "I'll be thinking what we need to do on Terranova." He cut the circuit.

Dopples beat his fist against his knee. "Thinking? What can we do? All respect, skipper, but half our money cargo-those women-they're crew now. Not that Terra- nova pays for such, anyway. And-"

Parnell laughed; Zelde heard the effort it took him. "Dopps! I've thought of all that, and past it."

"So? Past it, to what?"

"To figuring what we can afford, all shares willing and given a favorable situation, if Terranova won't issue us a 77.cube against s.p.a.ce Service credit. Meanwhile, First Hat, you start training combat teams."

"I don't see-"

Ragir Parnell grinned. "The h.e.l.l you don't. On Terra-nova, there'll be s.h.i.+ps.

s.h.i.+ps have drives in them. The only question, if it comes to that, is do we gut one for its drive? Or do we hijack the whole thing?"

For once, Dopples had nothing to say.

Compensating for the weakened drive, Parnell announced early turnover. "More time to slow-so that if we have periods of failure, we can still keep from overshooting." Zelde understood that part, all right. It was the mechanics of turnover, how to do it, that she was still studying.

When the turnover clock started, she saw that the actual work would begin on Dopples' watch, not long after the next time he relieved her. So this time, before leaving, she asked in advance if she could observe turnover.

Narrow-eyed, he looked at her. "You don't need my permission-not with Parnell in your pocket-and you know it. So why ask?"

"It's your watch, Mr. Adopolous-and I hear that turnover can get tricky. So if I'd be in the way-bother you any-just say so now, and when you relieve me I'll get my a.s.s out. But I really want to see how you do it-if it's all right."

After a moment, he nodded. "M'tana, I don't mean to pick on you. It's-well, I told you how I feel, early on. All right. Considering how much you don't know, you do your job. And, so far, you stay inside it. Yes-hang around for turnover."

"Thanks."

For once she smiled at him freely-but then he said, "Don't get any ideas. I still watch you."

She shrugged. "Whatever you say. Thanks just the same."

Waiting, the next twelve hours, got under her skin. For the first time since she couldn't remember, in bed with Parnell she couldn't make it. He looked bothered; she stroked his cheek. "Not your fault, Ragir-it's mine. Got my thinking all into turnover, I guess. Not enough left over, for us."

78."Turnover? Why that, Zelde?"

"Dunno, Parnell-I really don't. It's just-maybe I'm making more out of it, learning how it goes, than I should ought to."

He laughed and held her tighter. "Then we'll wait and see how things are with you tomorrow." She could grin at that, and she did.

Turnover countdown-tighter and tighter it wound her up. Dopples came on watch-the watch-twenty minutes early. Having him see and hear everything she did- that didn't help her any. Once she glanced sidewise at him, saw his eyes directly on her, and didn't look again.

The end-of-watch chime rang. On the beat of it, Parnell came in. Almost, she started to say him welcome-but she had no business doing that. She turned to Dopples. "Relief acknowledged, Mr. Adopolous. Your watch." He nodded and quickly checked the log. Zelde picked a seat, not in anybody's way but close enough to see what went on, and moved to it.

Dopples looked to Parnell. "Captain?"

Parnell nodded. "Proceed, Dopps. I'm just here to observe." He found a seat, on the far side from Zelde's. She looked toward him but he faced the screens and instruments, so she did, too.

The clock counted down. On s.h.i.+p's broadcast, Dopples said, "Fifteen minutes to zero-gee. Everybody-last chance to see that your duffle's stowed properly, then strap in!" Zelde knew-Parnell had told her-that some didn't take this order seriously. Stuff would be left loose to bounce around; couples would try s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g in the air, free-fall, and a few might get hurt. It generally happened, he said, so why worry about it? She didn't-but checked her own seat straps and watched the indicator boards.

Finally Dopples said, "Harger, cut drive and swing s.h.i.+p." All Zelde felt was no seat pressure on her b.u.t.t-and some way, she was turning. She gulped back from throwing up-not really sick, it had to be some reflex-and watched harder. Nothing happened.

She was starting to get used to it when she saw how tight Parnell's face was, watching Dopples. She couldn't figure it-now she saw that the First Hat looked scared, too. Then came Harger's voice. "The drive! Pilot stage cut out 79.with the rest and didn't start again. I've got to recycle from scratch, and hope that works!"

Parnell strained against his seat strap, then shook his head and leaned back.

Dopples looked over at his captain, nodded, and opened the intercom again. "We read you, Harger. Go ahead with it-take your time-advise progress when you can."