Chapter 16: Confrontation

This was the first time he'd gotten a really good look at Skryben from the outside. When he'd first boarded her, it had been by way of an enclosed passageway from the busy docking facility of Fleet Headquarters. On his only other trip outside, Rand had been confined within a shuttle craft. His only glimpse of Skryben had been a flash of golden hull over his shoulder as they dove for atmosphere, and coming back he'd been out cold.

Now, he was out here in nothing but a light coverall, its elastic knitting his body's only defense against the pull of vacuum. A clear bubble enclosed his head, supplying air from the pack on his back.

He had almost instinctively oriented himself so that the crystalline flame of Mother Galaxy formed a floor to the space around him. Skryben was below him, to his right, while the remains of the ice ball was up and left. A pulsating umbilical stretched between them, attached to a bulging sheet of plastic shrouding the ice ball's surface.

This kind of mining was routine for Skryben and her crew. First, a low intensity beam from number three turret had bathed the slowly rotating ice ball in unaccustomed radiance, just enough to melt its gasses slightly. Then, when it had been shaped to a glistening spheroid, the plastic sheet had been spread, freezing down solidly to a portion of the newly smooth surface. Through the sheet, warmth was once more applied, the liquids and gasses drawn off to fill Skryben's storage tanks. Very soon, there would be nothing left of the ice ball but a few shards of rock in a plastic bag.

The ice ball hadn't been as large as they had hoped. Its irregular shape had fooled them, giving a stronger echo than it should have for its size. It would be enough, though barely. That had been Quartermaster Aweti's considered judgment. Enough to replenish their stores, and give them the raw material they needed to finish Skryben's repairs.

He really wasn't needed, out here. The crew knew what had to be done, and how to do it. Still, it was a chance to get outside, away from the too familiar confines of Skryben's rooms and corridors. He could breathe more freely, strangely enough, out here where there was nothing at all to breathe.

'... calendar?... '

'... year one, day seventy four, hour thirteen, minute forty, second zero... Mark!... '

They would soon be done, and headed back toward home. The ice ball shrank to nothing even as he watched, and was gone.

'... Rand?' Berniss's call came from within his own mind, relayed to him through Skryben. 'Please come inside. The conference will be in thirty minutes, and there are things we both must do... '

It was time to go back, anyway. His air supply would soon be getting low, and his training at the Academy had drilled into him the need to keep plenty of reserve air in his pack. He swung his arms in circles until he was facing Skryben, and triggered a gentle shove from his thrusters. Nothing seemed to be happening, but he knew that he was moving. It would be only too easy to build up a lot of speed, out here where there was nothing to measure it against. He didn't want to break an arm or a leg, crashing into Skryben's hull. He cushioned his impact against the hull with bent knees, using his thrusters to keep from bouncing away as he straightened up.

He entered by the amidships lock, not far from Skryben's engine rooms. His coverall went limp, peeling off as air puffed in around him, and he stowed it in a locker just inside the corridor. Brushing the wrinkles from his uniform tunic, he floated along the corridor to the engine room.

This level housed the jump engines, the enigmatic machines which would hurtle them past, not through, the light years. They weren't much to look at, these triumphs of engineering and abstruse theory. Blank faced shapes of solid metal, non living constructs. Opened up, they wouldn't have been much more impressive. A casual study would have revealed nothing of the meticulous care that went into the tangled windings of their insanely distorted coils.

Rand didn't understand what made them work. Nobody really did, other than a few theoreticians. He only knew that when sufficient amounts of energy were shoved through those coils, they produced a field that reacted against normal space time. Any matter within their field disappeared, to reappear almost immediately somewhere else. While the direction depended on the exact configuration of the field, the distance depended only on its strength. The maximum distance that had been achieved in practice was almost exactly 1.87 light years.

Well, that had been the maximum before Skryben's wild leap across the space between star clusters, and he didn't quite see how that feat could ever be duplicated. Not that he wanted to. The consequences had been death. Death for too many of Skryben's crew, and almost for Skryben herself. But enough daydreaming! This wasn't getting him anywhere. Rand headed for the man hoist, letting it float him up a couple of levels. He had one more stop to make, before he rejoined Berniss.

"Rand!" First Officer Tshegh's hail held a note of pride. "Come on in, and take a look at what we've managed to do."

The gutted housings of the two ruined capacitors hadn't been touched, but the third one looked far different than it had the last time he'd seen it. Part of the outer housing had been taken off, and the ruined portions of the interior cells replaced by hand fashioned blocks of ceramic. Now, Tshegh and his helpers were busily putting the housing back together.

"You've repaired it? Great!"

"Well, it's not as good as we'd hoped. Our new cells don't have the holding capacity of the originals, but we're up to forty five percent of this unit's normal strength."

"Forty five percent of one third, that's fifteen percent of full strength, right?"

"You know it, Rand. And that's the best that we can do. The other capacitors are beyond help, until we get to a shipyard."

"Fifteen percent will get us there. Have you reported to the Captain, yet?"

"I'm just on my way. How are they coming along outside?"

"They're all done, coming back aboard right now. We can be on our way any time. I'll meet you on the bridge, and give him my report at the same time."

As though to confirm his words, Skryben's speakers echoed their message throughout her rooms and corridors: "ATTENTION, ALL CREW MEMBERS. ATTENTION, ALL CREW MEMBERS. ACCELERATION WARNING. WE SHALL BE RESUMING ACCELERATION IN FIVE MINUTES. ACCELERATION WILL BE 0.25 STANDARD GRAVITIES, FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES, INCREASING GRADUALLY TO 0.65 STANDARD GRAVITIES DURING THE FOLLOWING FIFTEEN MINUTES. ACCELERATION WILL BE RESUMED IN EXACTLY FIVE MINUTES FROM... MARK!"

Tshegh took the elevator, since he wasn't in much of a hurry, but Rand headed for the man hoist instead. He thought about stopping by the mess hall, but decided that food would have to wait until after he'd been to the bridge.

His subtle link with her mind told him that Berniss had finished whatever task was occupying her thoughts. He met her as she emerged from the elevator bringing her up from Skryben's brain chamber, steadying her as the ship's acceleration brought a return of gravity.

"Is everything all right," he asked. "What were you doing?"

"Just tying up a few loose ends. You'll hear about it when I make my report to Captain Jeryth."

They entered the bridge together. Captain Jeryth was there, as always, standing like a golden statue in the center of the spherical room. His eyes were half closed, as he drank in streams of data from Skryben's sensors. At the Pilot's console, Homr An Inpi studied his instrument readings.

"Officer Tshegh? Your report. What is the condition of Skryben's drive?"

"Subject to verification by actual tests, Skryben should be able to proceed almost immediately. My crew has just finished replacing the housing around our one capacitor, which has been restored to forty five percent of rated capacity. This will give us the ability to jump 0.2805 light years. Fifteen percent of our normal range. Our new absorption field should be ninety one percent efficient at that power level, allowing us to jump at intervals of one and one quarter minutes. That should move us 13.464 light years in one hour. Shorter jumps would enable the absorption field to operate at higher efficiencies, but with greater strain on the equipment and personnel due to the more frequent jumps."

"Thank you. Officer Korsun? What is our present location?"

"We are approximately one hundred and forty light years from the Imperial Cluster. If we were able to fully utilize our capacity for jumping at such short intervals, we would be able to reach its outermost fringes in ten and one half hours."

"Medic Morss? What is Skryben's condition?"

"All of the repairs have been completed. The metal flecks have been eliminated from her flesh, and she should incur no damage from repeated jumps, though it would be wise to go slowly at first. I would recommend that we pause after five or six jumps, in order to be sure that all is well." She paused, and Rand could feel her gathering her courage to continue. "There is one other matter that should be taken care of, before we begin."

"Yes? What matter is that?" Captain Jeryth frowned forbiddingly, as though aware of what she was about to say.

"The damage that you incurred, Sir. My original report stated that all of the metallo organic flesh within Skryben contained the metallic flecks which resonated to jump energies. That definitely included your own body."

"I remember your report only too well, Medic Morss." Rand thought that he'd never seen such an expression of cold anger on his captain's face. "I did not believe at the time that your concern was warranted, and I have found no reason to change my mind. My faculties have not been impaired, and my body is performing its functions without any decrease in efficiency. In any event, I do not believe that there is anything that could be done right now to repair this non existent damage."

"But there is, Sir." Berniss flushed, then paled under his steady gaze. "By calling up the record of your matrix from Skryben's memory banks, we... , that is, I have caused Skryben to construct an exact duplicate of your body. This replica is free of the metallic flecks which your present body contains. It will be a simple matter to transfer your persona to this new body."

"I repeat, Medic Morss, that such a step will not be necessary. This body is perfectly capable of maintaining its present level of operation for the remainder of this voyage, and indeed for the foreseeable future. Now, Officer Korsun, your report does not take into account one factor. With our new ability to make repeated, undetectable jumps, it should be possible to wreak havoc on Vortigen shipping. This is an opportunity that must not be ignored. You will plot a course back to the Vortigen Drift, where we shall try out our new capabilities before returning to Fleet Headquarters."

"But, Captain," First Officer Tshegh protested, shaking his head. "Our new absorption field hasn't been tested. If anything should go wrong, we could be stranded. Fleet headquarters needs our report, and our new design. The damage that one ship could do isn't worth the danger of losing the information. Or the chance of the Vortigen learning the secret of our drive."

"You have not been asked for your opinion, Officer Tshegh. Pilot An Inpi, you will align Skryben's course as directed by Officer Korsun."

"Yes, Sir. How many jumps, Sir?"

"We shall accept our Medic's recommendation. Set your controls for six jumps, as rapidly as our capacitor can be recharged. Officer Korsun, you will supply the correct headings."

Rand hardly even had to look at his console as Skryben gave him the heading for the return to the Vortigen Drift. The remote star clusters wheeled and turned as her heading changed, and then they were ready.

"ALL PERSONNEL. ALL PERSONNEL. THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING. WE ARE ABOUT TO MAKE A SERIES OF SIX JUMPS, AT INTERVALS OF ONE AND ONE QUARTER MINUTES. THERE SHOULD BE NO ADVERSE EFFECTS, BUT IF ANY ARE NOTED, THEY SHOULD BE REPORTED TO THE NEAREST MEDIC."

"Third Officer Korsun, report!"

"Inertial guidance tracking. Capacitor charged. Ready for jump."

"Pilot An Inpi, report!"

"Ship heading steady. Ready for jump."

"Do it!"

"Jump completed." There had been only the slightest twinge of nausea as their new absorption field sucked up the loose energies, and Homr's voice was steady. They might well have been making a routine micro jump for all the jump shock they felt.

"Jump completed," Rand reported. "Coordinates logged into data banks."

The seconds flew as he watched the power storage indicator needle swing. In his mind, he could feel what Skryben felt, see what she saw, and all was well. The indicator needle slowed, halted.

"Third Officer Korsun, report!"

"Inertial guidance tracking. Capacitor charged. Ready for jump."

"Pilot An Inpi, report!"

"Ship heading steady. Ready for jump."

"Do it!"

"Jump completed." Again, there had been only the slightest twinge of nausea as their new absorption field sucked up the loose energies, and Homr's voice was steady.

"Jump completed," Rand reported. "Coordinates logged into data banks."

"Officer Tshegh? Your report, please."

"Everything seems to be normal. All drive components operating as expected."

Four more times, Skryben jumped. She hung there, waiting.

"Well, gentlemen." Captain Jeryth's voice was noticeably louder than normal, and a faint smile hovered about his lips as he paced back and forth the width of the bridge. "We have traveled almost as far as one normal jump would have taken us, in only a little over one fifth the usual time, and with no discernible harmful effects. Have any of you anything to report that might indicate trouble?"

Tshegh studied his console for a few moments, then shook his head. "Nothing to report, Captain, but six jumps isn't much of a test."

"We'll have plenty of opportunity to look for anything that might go wrong, before we're through. Officer Korsun? Do you anticipate any problems with navigation, jumping at such short time intervals?"

"There should be no problem, Captain. Skryben is well able to track us in the time allowed."

"Medic Morss? Your report on the effects of the multiple jumps on our crew?"

"No reports of problems, Captain." Berniss cocked her head, as though listening as she tapped into Skryben's sensors. "All crew members alert and functioning, but I still suggest..."

"Suggestion refused!" Captain Jeryth glared down at her. "This body is functioning perfectly normally!"

There was a moment of dead silence on the bridge, then Captain Jeryth's scowl smoothed out as though it had never been.

"We shall take one hour to inspect Skryben for any damage that might have resulted from this series of jumps." His voice was calm and remote as always, and Rand almost wondered if he had imagined the outburst of a moment before. "At the end of that time, we shall proceed at maximum speed toward the Vortigen Drift. Officer Korsun, how long will it take to reach our target?"

"Our present distance from the Vortigen Drift is twenty eight and one half light years, to one of the stars nearest to us," Rand reported, taking the figures from Skryben's computations. "We shall need one hundred and two jumps to reach its vicinity. At one and one quarter minutes per jump, that will be just over two hours and seven minutes."

"Very good. Compute a series of ninety six jumps, to be taken twelve at a time. At the end of each set of twelve, we shall again run a quick inspection of our engines. At the end of that series, we shall once again undergo a rigorous self inspection before proceeding to the attack. Pilot An Inpi! You will be prepared to get under way in exactly one hour."

"Yes, Captain."

It was a simple task to set up their course, and Rand watched as Berniss left the bridge, a worried expression on her face. Tshegh also left, going to inspect the engines that were his responsibility.