Outcasts of Gideon

The Counterpane : Part 2

Traffic around Titan was high. It was that time of day. There would be several ships queuing up to use the system McAfee. Even without that, the Titan Terminus was an area of almost constant activity. None of this would interfere with their mission, but it was worth noting.

Lieutenant Royintan piloted their small vessel around a few cargo ships. Clearing them, she settled back in her pilot's chair. She gave Lieutenant Ulkos a quick glance, then triggered the ship's engine. They jumped to three G's. The force pressed him hard into his seat. He wished she had warned him. It wouldn't have changed anything, but he could have been better prepared.

"I'm assuming this shuttle is a ways off," she said when she finally looked over at him. "If we don't push it, we'll be out here for days."

His tolerance for long stretches under high G was not what it once had been. "We have to live long enough to bring them in."

"You're the lead." She dropped their thrust.

"No, you're right. It's a long haul. The sooner the better." He shifted to a more comfortable position.

"It's more than regulations allow." She was giving him an out.

He smiled. "How long will we need to push it?"

"Not long. 300K will save us a couple of hours. Still take about seven if it's a simple out and back."

"Okay, let's shoot for 300. Do what you have to do."

The engine roared to life, pinning him to his seat. He closed his eyes. Three fifteen minute bursts would each seem much longer than that, but he had endured it before. To distract him, he switched his view screen to seek out Saturn.

By the time the first hour was up, they'd reached their desired speed. Another hour later and they seemed hardly nudged from Saturn. Lieutenant Royintan released herself from her seat. She floated toward the rear of the cabin. Grabbing hold of the first step, she propelled herself downward. When she returned, she held two trays of ready-made food. They began eating in silence.

"How much longer are you going to keep doing this?" she asked.

"Well, at least a few more hours."

"Nobody flies a short range shuttle out here."

He started to wonder if she needed him for the other side of the conversation. "What's your point?"

"These are yahoos at best. No idea what they're doing. And here we are wasting a perfectly good day chasing them."

"I'm counting maybe five total on the ship." He said it as though she'd asked.

"So you're just going to ignore the question?"

"I'm going to do my job, same as always."

"And when we find your five – or ten, what then? Wait for the next call?"

"You are a good pilot. We work well together. Given the choice, I wouldn't have a pilot. I can do this myself." He gave her a moment to respond. She didn't. "I suffer pilots because I must. I do not have to suffer conversation."

She smiled. "We've probably spoken no more than a few dozen words over the hundreds of hours we've shared out here."

"Another reason to like your piloting skills."

"But don't you ever think about it? Retiring? Leaving the next white whale for someone else? Hour after hour out here in nothingness, racing nowhere. Hour after hour with your own thoughts, and you never think about making this the last time?"

He offered half a smile. "We humans require purpose. This is mine. When I'm no longer able to fill my purpose, there won't be a reason for me to continue. Isn't that what the Bhavatists want us to believe in, a purpose greater than ourselves?"

"I didn't take you for a believer."

"There's truth in it. I may not be devout, but I see why they preach the way they do."

"I see them leading the lambs to slaughter."

"The lambs, as you call them, have need for a higher power, that's all. I may not need it. You may not. But they do."

"And the white whale is your higher power?"

"More purpose than higher power."

She turned toward the monitors before her. He'd flown with her enough to know that she was letting it drop there. That was fine with him.

The FBXL5 hurtled into the darkness. After another hour of silence, she began their braking burn, starting the cycle of high G again. Fifteen minutes on, five minutes off.

When the last burn had finished, Lieutenant Royintan activated forward scanners. An object matching the relative size of The Aion registered on the sensor. She adjusted their course, using thrusters to approach the derelict shuttle.