Torchship by Karl K. Gallagher Read Free Book Online Page B

momentum. The
starboard side leaned into the ice with a hiss as it melted the crystals in
contact. More snow flew up from the base melting into its foothold. A few
coughs from the thrusters broke them free of the melt. The ship floated free
and still. This close to the center of the iceberg it had no noticeable
gravity.
    Schwartzenberger burst out
laughing and instantly apologized. “I’m sorry. No complaints about the landing.
That was tougher than any I’ve done in my whole career. It’s a great landing.
It’s just—we’re not going to walk away from it.”
    Mitchie giggled. She wouldn’t
want to take a vacuum suit across those crystals either. She turned off the
running lights. “What now, sir?”
    “Now we wait. Get some rest.”
She nodded and partially unstrapped. With just the hip belt on she curled up
and fell asleep. Schwartzenberger went below.
    The captain’s briefing to the
passengers had no new information other than, “Wrap up, it’s going to get cold.”
They still seemed reassured by his hold on the situation and confidence that
the Navy would arrive soon. When he finished his first mate insisted he take
time for a sandwich. The passengers returned to their positions. Bobbie and her
friends stared at the sliver of sky still visible. John watched everyone from a
perch behind her. Everyone else clustered around the observation device,
pretending they were attracted to it instead of repelled by John’s glare.
    “How’s Guo doing?” the
captain asked between bites.
    Bing answered, “Fine. I gave
him an IV to get his fluids back up. He fairly well cooked in there. Didn’t
complain but he flunked a pinch test. His color’s a lot better now.”
    “Good. And Billy?”
    “Just some bruises from
crawling around during the high accel. Some of the maneuvers rolled him around.
I sent him and Guo down below for a nap.”
    He nodded and chewed. He
relaxed a bit as the food replaced some of the energy he’d burned off in
stress. He could actually believe they were safe for the moment.
    “Captain, could I have a
word?”
    “Certainly, Professor . . .
Tsugawa?”
    “We were studying the
composition of this object as we descended. I’ve never had the chance to
examine a ring component so closely before. It’s really an excellent
opportunity to research the origins of the ring system.”
    “Well, I’m glad this side
trip had a silver lining for you.” Schwartzenberger hoped he’d managed to keep
most of the sarcasm out of his voice. This was still a paying customer.
    “I’m wondering if you’d be
willing to do us a favor as long as we’re going to be here for a while.”
    “Oh?” The captain
diplomatically suppressed several variations on Get to the point .
    “Would it be possible for you
to obtain some samples from the object for us? Doing a chemical analysis of
their composition could provide an immense amount of insight for us.”
    “Huh. Maybe. I don’t know if
we have anything we could store that in.”
    Bing offered, “We’ve got
three days’ worth of empty food coolers. Wouldn’t be hard to make them
airtight. You’d still have slush when you got home though.”
    The professor smiled. “Slush
is fine. Thank you.”
    “Don’t thank us yet,” said
the captain. “We’ll have to see if we can do it safely. I’ll talk to my crew
when they’re back on duty.” He suppressed the urge to charge him for the extra
services.
    “Of course, sir. Thanks for
your consideration.”
    When Billy woke he was eager
to do the vacuum work. The captain and mate were unsurprised. The deckhand was
always up for anything he might be able to impress girls with. Bing had stacked
half a dozen coolers and a roll of vacctape in the airlock. To Billy’s dismay
the captain insisted on both a safety tether and a maneuvering pack.
    “The girls won’t think any
less of you for it,” whispered Schwartzenberger as he checked the straps and
seals of Billy’s suit.
    “I’m not—hmpf.” Billy put