Star Road Page 13

  Annie turned and made her way back to the cockpit so she could watch—and guide—him on the monitors.

  ~ * ~

  16

  EVA

  The first thing McGowan noticed: the total emptiness that surrounded him.

  The vast void of space stretching away from the ribbony Road in a dizzying spiral.

  As if he was in the center of his own empty universe.

  A pinpoint in infinity.

  The sense of being absolutely motionless while traveling at unimaginable speeds was totally disorienting.

  Don’t think about it.

  And then he heard and saw the storm particles—

  Not as bad as I thought.

  —flicking across his suit, making tiny orange and white sparks when they hit.

  Like subatomic insects.

  Nothing the suit can’t handle, he thought.

  It’s stood up to worse, he knew.

  Explosions of stone and ore when a blast went bad, or when the rock face of a miles-deep tunnel suddenly collapsed.

  Ignore the light show.

  He turned to face the SRV.

  “McGowan, there’s one deflector on each side of the vehicle ... about two thirds of the way to the stern. A short ladder leads up to it.”

  Annie’s voice was surprisingly crisp over the commlink.

  McGowan had a basic understanding of how the deflectors worked: they conveyed the excess engine heat generated by contact with the Road so the SRV’s engines didn’t overheat... or explode.

  Road jockeys called it “dumping the core.” Over time, though, the particles built up a residue that ground crews cleaned between each run.

  Not hard to do ... just bothersome.

  But now SRV-66’s deflectors had become useless, clogged. He’d have to see how bad.

  He clambered up to the vent on the right, taking care to plant each step securely. Beside and behind him, indistinct forms—Road Bugs—suddenly appeared from under the edge of the Road.

  “Great…” he whispered.

  “Say again?” Annie’s voice.

  “We got company.”

  “We know. Jordan has them targeted. Don’t worry. They won’t do anything unless we completely stop.”

  McGowan nodded to the emptiness.

  Right. But still... the bugs were shifting closer....

  ~ * ~

  Leaning across Nahara, who wouldn’t yield his seat, Sinjira peered out the side window and watched the miner in his suit as he moved along the right side of the SRV.

  Everything transmitted directly to her chip, so she saw and felt exactly what McGowan did.

  She felt it when he knelt down in front of the vent and opened it by removing a large cowling.

  She saw the total darkness as he leaned his head into the gap.

  She couldn’t stop thinking: This is amazing!

  But also thinking: I could die... we could all die here.

  Not so amazing then ...

  Terrifying.

  There were rumors of some black-market chips, but to her knowledge, no one had ever been recording a chip as they were dying.

  But now’s not the time.... Let’s get through this....

  ~ * ~

  Annie was seated in her command chair. Eyes fixed on two monitors that displayed the defectors port and starboard on the vehicle. She could rotate the cameras to keep McGowan in frame.

  She felt herself hold her breath as he knelt beside the starboard vent. His arm moved clumsily as the metal pincers of his suit literally dug and scraped at the mesh.

  Don’t make it any worse, she thought.

  Pieces of ionized mesh and metal flaked off from the ship—or his suit— and flew away in wild spirals of light.

  “Looks like he’s getting it,” she said.

  She watched, fascinated. The only sound—McGowan’s breath. Slow ... steady. She tried to ignore the glimpses of bugs she caught wavering in and out of view.

  Jordan nodded but focused on the Road ahead ... watching ... waiting.

  Annie knew he was ready to shoot the bugs if they came any closer.

  Do we have enough time? she wondered as a cold tingle reached deep into her gut.

  But time wasn’t the only thing she had to worry about.

  She glanced at the engine levels on the console. The heat and pressure building up fast in the core.

  And if the core dumps...

  “I’ve gotta slow down some more ... blow some of the heat off!”

  Jordan didn’t look at her, just grunted his agreement.

  And up ahead, the dark cloud of the ion storm, dancing with energy, was rolling steadily toward them.

  A lull in the storm ... it’s going to get bad again.

  She hit the commlink button.

  “McGowan. There’s more bad weather coming. Big time.”

  Her eyes flicked back to the screen showing McGowan at work. His mining suit now looked like it had caught fire. Thousands of sparks streamed off it and spun away in the darkness behind them.

  And the Road Bugs loomed closer.

  ~ * ~

  McGowan heard the words.

  But he kept his focus on what he was doing. No distractions. He could feel the presence of the Road Bugs closing in all around him.

  Waiting to pounce as soon as the SRV stopped.

  The ionized particles slashed like metallic rain against the hull. The heavy barrage from earlier had coated the deflector with an inch-thick crust that filled the shaft connecting directly to the engine.

  Like liquid metal that had dried into a flaky, hard casing.

  He hadn’t studied the mechanics of an SRV in any detail, but he knew enough to know this was bad.

  He activated a drilling implement in his right glove and started to dig directly into that hard surface. It chipped away a little at a time.

  The hardened flakes flew off to either side of him. Like a shower of flame.

  Not too bad though, he thought.

  He looked at the arms of his suit.

  Holding up just fine.

  Get this one done, then the other, and get the hell back on—

  He looked up.

  The raging cloud closed in on the front of the vehicle. A nimbus of light surrounded the nose cone.

  Then it slid over the SRV ... like some kind of monster engulfing it in a fiery storm.

  McGowan focused on cutting into the buildup with his drill.

  So hard to see through the glaring light. But at least this deflector was nearly cleared.

  And then the storm surrounded him.

  All he could do was watch what it was doing to his mining suit and pray the suit was tough enough.

  ~ * ~

  Sinjira let out a shriek when the Road Bug suddenly appeared out of the darkness and scuttled close to the side of the ship.

  It was covered with pinpoints of bright, blinking lights. A huge gap opened up in its center and seemed about to engulf the miner, but then it veered away and disappeared behind the SRV.

  Had someone—Jordan—shot it?

  Even if that one “thing” was gone, the miner was still in trouble. The storm was wreaking havoc with his chip transmission.

  But she’d seen enough.

  She didn’t have to be a scientist to know that if he didn’t get back inside the SRV soon, he would die, his suit ripped to pieces.

  It might already be too late.

  His suit shredded away—especially the right arm and shoulder, which took the brunt of the storm’s force.

  Sinjira—connected to McGowan—started breathing in short, sharp gulps that burned in her lungs.

  Then a tug on her shoulder and a voice sounded in her ear.

  “Are you all right?”

  Looking up, she saw the Seeker leaning over her, staring at her with wide eyes.

  “Can you see what’s going on?”

  The other passe
ngers—Nahara and Rodriguez—stared out their window, too.

  “He’s doing what he has to,” was all Sinjira could think to say.

  The Seeker stared at her for several seconds.

  Then lowered her gaze. Shoulders slumped, she walked back to her seat at the rear of the vehicle and sat down. She belted herself in and folded her hands in her lap.

  Yes. She’s preparing herself. She knows we’re all going to die.

  ~ * ~

  The red lines on the console kept creeping up.

  Annie glanced at Jordan.

  Stone-faced. Waiting.

  Not panicking ... but feeling desperate, confused.

  Why isn’t the heat going down?

  McGowan had the starboard vent clear.

  Maybe not entirely, but enough so the engines automatically recalibrated.

  Unless the ionization dumped particles even deeper... already in the core.

  In which case ...

  “How’s it going out there, McGowan?” She tried to keep her voice calm.

  Don’t let a shred of panic show.

  “Best I can ... not as ... as I’m used to ...”

  The commlink was breaking up. The static was painful in Annie’s ears, making her wince.

  “That one’s good enough. Best get to the port side fast and see what you can do.”

  “More bugs are showing up by the minute,” Jordan said, his voice calm. “Should I waste a couple? Keep them busy with something to clean up?”

  Annie shook her head tightly. She focused on the gauges ... wishing they would start moving down—or at least stop rising. At least the starboard one was holding steady.

  She watched, barely breathing, as McGowan tread slowly up the side of the vehicle, grabbing the service handholds and walking along narrow platforms along the way.

  His movements were so excruciatingly slow. Sparks and streamers of energy flew off of him, surrounding him in a cone of fire.

  How long can even a mining suit take that kind of beating?

  “If you could move a little fas—”

  “Damn it! I’m going as fast as I can! This is ... disorienting I’m used to solid ground.”

  McGowan’s voice turned sharp and loud in the headset.

  Annie leaned back in her seat. She wanted to ask him how his suit was holding up, but—

  What if it isn’t?

  It sure as hell didn’t look it.

  “We can’t wait much longer. I’m going have to punch it to shake these Road Bugs.”

  “Gimme two minutes!” McGowan said.

  On the port monitor, she watched as the miner knelt down in front of the vent and started to work. His left shoulder now led into the blast of the storm and it glowed as brightly as an arc torch.

  White-hot.

  And then something much larger than a chunk of ionized metal flew away, skimming off the hull of the SRV.

  ~ * ~

  Ivan sat in the gun turret, his hands on the controls as he watched McGowan through the transparent Plexisteel.

  He had to give the man credit.

  He had cojones.

  Of course, McGowan might not be able to see what Ivan—and, no doubt, Jordan—could see.

  Scores of Road Bugs ... everywhere.

  Now coming from every direction.

  Swarming.

  All shapes and sizes.

  These mechanized monsters—designed to resemble horrific creatures— converged on the slow-moving SRV, pacing along beside it. Through the swirling glow of trailing embers that engulfed the ship, their faces with glowing eyes and gaping jaws closed in with slow, mechanical purposefulness.

  Ivan’s trigger finger began to twitch.

  Just a little.

  The sense of impending action sharpened his senses ... He felt: alive.

  He watched McGowan work on the port-side vent. He experienced no tension. No emotion. Just an intense ... interest in what was going on.

  The thought that they might all be dead soon was not sticking.

  There were other things to think about.

  Things he’d have to face if—not if—when they came.

  ~ * ~

  McGowan drilled into the port vent and then a warning beep sounded inside his helmet, piercing.

  He focused on the HUD inside his helmet and saw the problem the same instant the speaker inside his helmet said: “Joint rupture imminent. Zero atmospheres. Prepare for extreme life support.”

  His stomach tightened.

  The words flat. Their meaning ... dire.

  He looked down and saw that the mining suit sleeve between his wrist and elbow started ... disappearing.

  A steady stream of glowing particles tore at it, leaving the suit—his impenetrable mining suit—in tatters.

  “Christ,” he whispered. Then: “I’m so close.”

  “Say again?” Annie’s voice was sharp over the commlink.

  “We have a problem.”

  “What kind of problem?”

  “Let me rephrase that. I have a problem.”

  He winced as he said this. All he could do now was wait for the inevitable.

  “Is the vent damaged? What is it?” Annie asked. Her voice calm... steady, but it rang hollow in his ears.

  McGowan narrowed his eyes.

  Get ready for it.

  “Executing extreme life support measures.” The mechanical female voice inside his helmet didn’t betray an ounce of pity.

  And then it came.

  In a sudden hiss that changed the pressure in his suit so suddenly it made his ears pop, a jolt of ice-cold pain encircled his arm a few inches above the elbow.

  The suit automatically injected a high dose of painkiller into his system, but it didn’t take effect fast enough.

  How do you get ready for something like this?

  The pain came in a sudden white flash that made his skull ache as if it was hit with a hammer.

  Tears filled his eyes, but there was no way he could wipe them away. The suit’s ventilation system would dry them soon enough.

  But his vision remained just clear enough to see the jet of blood that shot out from the now-shortened sleeve of his left arm. It froze instantly in the vacuum of space and the crystals blew away in a bright-red icy shower.

  McGowan watched with vague detachment as his left arm—what had been his left arm—clattered against the deck of the SHV and rolled away, dropping into the Road below the ship.

  Either shock or the meds finally kicked in, and then he didn’t feel the slightest bit of pain.

  “McGowan. What’s happening out there?” Annie shouted in his ear, as if she were right there inside the helmet with him.

  “Cauterizing wound,” the mechanical female voice inside his helmet said.

  The captain must be able to hear that as well. Did she know what it meant?

  Doubtful... she probably hadn’t had much experience with mining suits.

  “Suit’s not holding up,” he said. “I thought it would, but—”

  “How’s the work coming?”

  “It’s a bit more difficult now—”

  Without my goddamned left arm.

  “I have to pick up some speed if we’re going to shake those bugs,” Annie said.

  He listened as she paused.

  “I need that other deflector online now.”

  “I’ve got to head back inside,” McGowan said. He felt disoriented. Without immediate medical attention, the pain would eventually cut through the meds.

  “How are the vents?”

  “I’ve done what I could do.”