The Apprentice Starship Engineer: Book One The Link (9 page)

I monitored my suit displays as the air pumped out of the lock. Everything looked good. These suits were awesome. Someday I’ll buy my father one, I thought.

Jack stopped us outside the lock. “Get your sightseeing done now,” he said.

Bob was right. I’d never get enough. I turned, scanning the sky around us.

“Okay, if you girls are done, let’s get to work,” Jack said. He headed off toward the rim. I stayed close. He stopped next to an emitter. He looked around. “Where the hell is Bob? Come on, Bob! Hurry up!” Bob was still near the airlock and started toward us. Jack swore. “Well, let’s go over the procedure one more time. First, hook up your tether.” I thought I was going to die of boredom as he went over the procedure. For the hundredth time, he said, “A flat is a sixth of a turn, so when I call for a flat, turn the nut one sixth. Remember we’re only adjusting course. The fine is right here.” He pointed to a threaded screw with a servo mounted onto it. It was turned to the end, and that was the problem.

Jack plugged in the test equipment and started the calibration procedure. By the time Bob arrived we were ready to begin the first adjustment. Bob and I worked two adjustments each, and as Jack called out the station to turn, we hustled back and forth, turning the adjustments one flat at a time. It took an hour and a half before Jack was happy.

Bob was fuming when we finished. “What the hell, Jack? We need to go faster or this whole job is going to take another eighteen hours.”

“That’s what it takes. We can’t go any faster or we could overrun the servo and cause a course change or oscillation. We can’t risk it,” Jack said.

“Oh, bullshit. We could go a half turn at a time until we get close at least.”

“The procedures say a flat at a time. I’ve never adjusted a ring emitter before. Have you, Bob? Oh, and by the way, if we overrun the servo, that could cause violent course corrections. We don’t have any inertial dampers out here, do we? We’re doing this by the book, and during the rest of the alignments, hook up your tether, Bob.”

Each alignment took longer, and Bob whined more and more, never letting up. Jack stopped answering him. At the start of each emitter adjustment, Jack checked my safety line before starting. We’d just started on the eighth emitter.

“Damn you, Jack, I’m going to turn it one half turn,” Bob said.

“Don’t,” Jack yelled as the ship lurched, throwing us off the emitter.

I shot away from the ring, flailing my arms, desperate to find a handhold. With a jolt, the safety line stopped me as the straps bit into my thighs. The ring changed direction, heading right toward me. I threw up my right arm to block my collision and heard it snap as my helmet bashed into a support. I bounced off and spun, wrapping the safety line around my legs in a tangle. As it came tight, I was pulled around and landed on the ring feet first on its return. I grabbed the safety line near its hook with my left hand and hung on tight. 

In a flash, I understood what had happened. When Bob had turned the adjustment a half turn, he’d caused a huge error in the tachyon array. The automatic controls had tried to adjust, but the ship’s reaction controller saw the warp bubble move. It’d tried to correct with the main engines, creating another error, which had caused the huge swings we were now getting. In short, the two systems were fighting each other. Putting the ship in to manual might stop the swings if the pilot was good.

“Captain, go to manual helm—now,” I yelled.

“Captain, he’s right. Go to manual helm!” Jack said.

“Manual helm,” the captain said.

I hung on tight as the ring swung back and forth. I held my breath as the warp bubble came dangerously close to us. Each swing was less, and after a lifetime, the ship settled, holding a good position in the middle of the bubble. Bob headed toward airlock C-two. 

“Hey, kid. Drake, you there?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“We need to finish this. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good. Let’s finish.”

I tasted blood, and noticed globs of it being sucked up by my suit. Not able to see out of my right eye, my head rang and my right arm felt numb and useless. We had a job to finish and no one else to do it, so I’d told Jack I was good. I told Margret to turn up the tinting on my face shield and turn on my suit lights. When Jack asked, I told him it’d broken during the accident.

Medical called. “Doc Weston here. You don’t look good on my monitors. I recommend you both return to the ship for treatment and evaluation.”

“Doctor, Drake has suffered a broken arm, concussion and other injuries,” Margret said.

“No, just a bump on my head and my arm is fine. Give me a painkiller and I’ll be fine,” I said.

The captain came on the line. “Do as he asks. Doctor, they’re the only ones who can finish the alignment. The situation is becoming very unstable. They need to finish.”

“Yes, ma’am. As you say,” Doc said.

We worked on without speaking. Jack might be hurt, but he didn’t complain. Maybe he was just tired. It felt as though we’d never finish. We were both being very careful. After hooking up my safety line, I checked Jack’s. Everything was surreal. I just keep moving. Jack called out to loosen the forward adjustments, and moving as a robot, I loosened them. I marked the flat position and tapped the wrench with my hammer. Hearing Jack was getting harder since he’d started mumbling.

My right eye bled again. I wonder if I’d lose it. My head pounded. Margret had run out of stimulants. Even after taking the painkillers they’d allow me, I wanted to scream. Jack told me to tighten the back adjustment one flat. I anchored myself with my legs. All that mattered was the bolt got tightened one flat. I waited for the next adjustment.

“That’s got it. Let’s go home,” Jack said with a hoarse voice.

“Shit, it feels as if we just started,” I said.

“You sound tired. Let’s get you to bed. Medical one, tired kid on his way to airlock C-two.”

“Margret, can you take me to airlock C-two?” I asked.

“Yes, dear, and good night,” she said. I felt a shot go into my arm and I drifted off to sleep.

* * * *

Kathy has nice legs. The short skirt looked great. She had them crossed as she read on a pad. I could watch her forever. My right eye still didn’t work. I’d lost it. Cool, maybe I could wear an eye patch. No, I’d just end up with a mechanical eye.

“So you’re awake. How do you feel? Do you need anything?” Jenny asked.

I turned over. She was on my left side. Good thing I hadn’t commented on Kathy’s legs. “No, I’m fine for now. Ah, how is Bob? Did he make it?” I looked over at Kathy. She bit her lower lip. “Did he live?”

“He’s being treated. He had a break down,” Kathy said.

“Jack? Is he okay?”

“Oh yes. After a good sleep, he’s back at work full speed.”

“That’s good. Margret, where are you?”

“Over here, dear. Right beside you where I belong,” Margret said.

“Margret, what’s wrong with my eye? I can’t see out of it.”

“When the ship corrected its course the second time, you struck your head. Your helmet took most of the shock, but you still hit hard enough to pop your right eye out of its socket and give you a concussion. You’re healing nicely. The medical staff are competent. You’re expected to walk out of here in four hours. Tomorrow you’re scheduled for a mechanical eye at ten hundred hours. Are you hungry, dear? Some breakfast? Your favorite waffles and eggs?”

“Breakfast sounds good. Thanks, but that doesn’t make up for you telling medical about my injuries.”

Kathy frowned and Jenny scowled. Margret said, “Yes, dear, I understand you’re mad at me. You’d taken a hard hit to the head, and I didn’t want you to die.”

“I’m not mad. I’m disappointed.”

“Oh.”

“I thought we worked together, trusted each other, and then when I needed you the most you panicked,” I said. The room got quiet. Both Kathy and Jenny looked very uncomfortable.

“Of course you’re correct. How can I make it up to you?”

“If I’m conscious, take no automated rescue action without my approval.”

“Okay, with a modification. If you’re incapable of responding, I shall consider you unconscious and take proper automated action,” Margret said.

“Ah, well, that’s as good as I can hope for. Thank you. I couldn’t have made it without your help. Thanks.”

“It was a pleasure to serve you.”

I sat up with a groan. “Margret, what’s wrong with my shoulder?”

“You broke it along with your arm. It’s healed now, but you’ll have sore muscles for a few days.”

Doc Weston entered the room. He pointed a finger at me, and growled, “You lay back down—now.” I laid back down. Kathy snickered, and Jenny smiled at me. He studied the medical monitors for a moment. “Drake, I don’t have a bedside manner. Don’t even think of giving me any arguments. You’ll do what I say! Light duty for at least a week. Tomorrow I’ll be fitting you for a mechanical eye. We can’t grow you a new one on ship, but once we return to our galaxy, you can have one grown for you. Young man, for the next week, you’d better do very little. I’ll check you every day at the beginning and end of your shift. If you aren’t healing to my satisfaction, you’ll find yourself back in this bed. Do you understand?”

“Ah, yes, sir,” I said.

Dr. Weston smiled. “Well, that’s a good start. Your quarters are in one of the dorms, right?”

“Yes, sir. F dorm.”

“Hmm, for the next week, you’ll use this room. I don’t want you climbing in and out of one of those holes.” He turned to Jenny. “Are you his friend?”

“Ah, yeah, were friends.”

“You work for me now. I want you to stay by his side, keep him from falling. Will you do that? Drake, you won’t stand without her at your side. Got it?”

“Got it, doc.”

“I can keep an eye on him for a while,” Kathy volunteered.

Dr. Weston nodded. “Okay if you’ll do that I’ll let him go right now. The best thing for him is to get up and walk around.” He reached over and pulled the covers off me. “Okay, get up.” He pulled me to a sitting position. He looked me in the eye. “Are you steady?” I nodded. He helped me stand. The room spun. I had to fight to stay up. Soon the dizziness passed. Dr. Weston smiled. “I’ll have someone bring you some scrubs. You don’t want walk around like that.” He left the room.

I looked over at Jenny. She blushed and gave me quick glances. Kathy stared. She had a wicked smile on her face. Jenny took my arm and pulled my gown closed. Kathy sighed as she took my other arm. It felt great having them both so near, and if my head hadn’t been pounding so hard, I might have enjoyed it.

Sandra came into my room, carrying scrubs. She smiled. “Head hurts, right?” I nodded as a tear dripped from my eye. “I should let you suffer as it’d keep you from overdoing it, but I’m a nice girl.” She pulled out an injection gun and gave me a shot, then handed Jenny a bottle. “Give Drake one of these every hour.” My headache went away. “Doc wants you up and around, but no falls. Don’t stand without someone to catch you.” She paused, stepping close to me and putting her hand on my waist. “Drake, I got you at the airlock. I know what you did. Thanks. You can miss practice tonight.” She leaned forward and kissed my cheek. “You scared the shit out of me,” she said, looking me straight in the eye. I thought she might kiss me. Kathy cleared her throat. Sandra gave me a weak smile. “Remember, Jenny, one pill every hour.” Sandra left.

I felt more puzzled than before. Bob’s words came back to me.
No way, geeky boy, not a chance in hell.

I turned to Kathy. “I need to see Jack. Let’s go to maintenance.”

* * * *

As we entered the maintenance shop, I leaned heavily on both Kathy and Jenny. My head pounded. I looked at Jenny. “Can I have a pain pill?”

“Yes, of course. Let me get you some water,” she said, hurrying away.

Kathy and I found Jack sitting at his desk. He hopped up and came over to greet me. “Kid, you had better sit. You look bad.”

Kathy helped me get into one of the chairs. “Shit, for a tall drink of water you sure are heavy.” She stretched her back.

Jenny entered with water and a pill, which I took. “We’re going to head back to medical soon,” she said.

“Okay, I need to talk to Jack alone for a few minutes.” I took out Margret and handed her to Jenny. “I promise to stay right here in this chair.”

Jack gave me a puzzled look. “Don’t worry. I’ll watch him.”

“Remember what the doctor said. You aren’t to stand without me at your side,” Jenny said. After they left and closed the door, I turned to Jack.

“Damn. Sorry, kid, you’re banged up. That should never have happened. I should have stopped him,” Jack said.

“Jack, I was there. You did everything you could. He should have listened and done as you’d said. That was the problem.”

“I like Bob,” Jack said.

“Yeah, so do I. He’s good with the easy stuff. If we keep our eyes open, we should be able to keep him out of trouble.”

“You’re a good kid. Thanks.”

“If you tell me a lucky girl is going to scoop me up, I’m going to get up and hit you.” Jack looked puzzled. “That’s what every girl I meet says to me.”