Blood and Fire by David Gerrold Read Free Book Online Page A

book throughout. No exceptions.”
    â€œAye, Captain.” Korie turned back to his headset. “HARLIE, do you copy?”
    â€œYes, Mr. Korie. I have already amended the checklists and procedures to be consistent with the captain’s orders. There are several situations in the book, however, where the standard procedures are inconsistent with the captain’s instructions. While it is unlikely that we will be confronted with such situations, I have amended the procedures for this operation in favor of caution over expediency. It seems to me that is the captain’s intention. Is this correct?”
    â€œYes, HARLIE, that is correct. You done good.”
    â€œThank you, Mr. Korie.”
    On the forward display, the Norway was looming huge. She was identical in structure to the Star Wolf , but her engines were lighter and her armaments were fewer, almost nonexistent. She bore the markings of a scientific research vessel.
    HARLIE spoke then, as much for the log as for the Bridge crew. “Still no contact with the Norway . Her autonomic system is running unevenly.
Her intelligence engine is either unable or unwilling to respond. The ship appears to be adrift.”
    Parsons nodded. Like most captains, she took the lethetic intelligence engines for granted. Korie was the only officer she’d ever met who treated the machinery with the same courtesy he gave humans. Perhaps that was one of the reasons he was able to coax so many extraordinary behaviors out of HARLIE. But even if it was only just another one of the quirks that made Korie “ our son of a bitch,” Captain Parsons was willing to tolerate it.
    HARLIE spoke up suddenly, “There is one interesting anomaly, Captain.”
    Parsons looked up sharply. So did Korie. And every other officer on the Bridge. “Go ahead.”
    â€œThere are active repulsor valves throughout the Norway . I am not sure why.”
    â€œLet’s see a schematic,” Parsons said, almost in unison with Korie. They exchanged a glance. “Sorry, Captain,” Korie said.
    â€œNo apology necessary,” she answered. They both turned to the display on her workstation where HARLIE had brought up a simplified graphic of the Norway . The repulsor valves were shown as a cluster of throbbing red bubbles located just aft of the engine room.
    Neither Parsons nor Korie said anything for a moment while they studied the display. Finally, the captain broke the silence. “They’ve divided the ship.”
    â€œThat’s what it looks like,” Korie agreed. “People on one side. Toxic something on the other.”
    â€œYes, but which side is which?”
    Korie shook his head. “It depends on ...” His sentence trailed off.
    â€œIf you were going to host a very dangerous experiment on board this ship,” Parsons mused, “where would you put it—forward or aft? Med Bay or Cargo Bay?”
    Korie weighed the possibilities. “Cargo Bay is easier to evacuate. Just open the hatch and drop everything into space. If this stuff—this thing , whatever it is—is that toxic, then I’d put it in the Cargo Bay. On the other hand ... Med Bay is forward of the Bridge, you could put additional research labs in the cabins forward of Med Bay, use the Airlock Reception Bay as a decontamination section, and seal the whole thing off from the rest of the vessel. It depends on how big and how toxic this thing is and how hard it is to control. It could be either side.”
    They studied the display in silence for a moment, as if there were a
clue in it they had somehow missed. Korie stared at the schematic of the starship. The engine room was located in the aft third. There were equipment bays behind the engine room, and the Cargo Bay was situated behind that. The repulsor bubbles were just forward of the Cargo Bay, centered on the autonomic core of the vessel, so the division of the ship was unequal, more than two-thirds