Outcasts of Gideon

The Counterpane : Part 3

Lieutenant Royintan positioned the FBXL5 alongside The Aion, matching speed and trajectory. The shuttle dwarfed their vessel. From its main airlock hung a docking bridge.

"What does that tell us?" asked Lieutenant Ulkos.

"We weren't the first to find them."

She positioned the ship to line their airlock up with the open end of the attached docking bridge. They both rose from their seats to suit up. In the cabin below, Lieutenant Ulkos handed the pilot a sidearm. The two donned vacuum suits. Opening the airlock, they entered.

Cycling the air out, Lieutenant Ulkos opened the hatch. One end of the docking bridge floated a meter out. He grabbed one of the holds and reached for it. Pulling it closer, he attached it to the FBXL5. Since they were already suited up, they didn't bother to flood the bridge with atmosphere.

Lieutenant Ulkos propelled himself across the docking bridge. Reaching the Aion, he activated its outer hatch and entered the vessel. Lieutenant Royintan followed close behind. When she was inside, Lieutenant Ulkos activated the airlock, cycling in atmosphere.

Drawing his weapon, Lieutenant Ulkos opened the inner hatch. He raised the visor on his helmet, smelling the air. There was no reason to expect an odor, but there was no reason to expect a short range shuttle here either. He activated his helmet light, casting long shadows in the dark vessel.

No one greeted them in the darkness. They floated through the entryway. In the shuttle's passenger cabin they found a lone person suited up against the cold. Lieutenant Ulkos raised his weapon. "Place your hands on your head."

The person unstrapped themselves and floated free of their seat, raising their arms.

"Where are the others?"

"What others?"

"We have a report of as many as five on this vessel."

The man shook his head. "They take my ship."

"And you are?"

"My name is Doran. Doran Cheyvyne."

"From Odyssey Omega?"

"Something like that."

"And what's the name of your ship?"

"It's rental."

"Does it have a name?"

"The Amittai's Wake."

"Do you have any idea where they took it?"

"They keep talking about Earth."

Lieutenant Royintan brushed past her partner and crowded Cheyvyne. "They didn't hijack a short-range shuttle to go to Earth. Where were they going?"

"Have no idea. Don't even know who they were. Was hired to pilot the Wake."

"Who hired you? What were you after?" asked Lieutenant Ulkos.

"Answered ad on job site. Didn't get a name. Just needed a pilot."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Look, if you're gonna arrest, then do it."

"I'm sure you'd prefer that to a few weeks in the cold. Does that suit have oxygen?"

"Recycler."

"You'll need it to cross. Lieutenant Royintan, please escort our friend to the five. I'll pilot this shuttle back."

Lieutenant Royintan directed Cheyvyne into the shuttle's corridor. They disappeared from sight, leaving Lieutenant Ulkos alone. He swung around, taking in the passenger cabin. As his eyes swept along the front bulkhead, he stopped. There floated the arm of one of the passenger seats. He pushed himself over and grabbed it. He was inspecting it when Lieutenant Royintan returned.

"Not what you expected?"

"Not at all."

"At least now you can have quiet on the trip back."

It took them an hour to transfer fuel and batteries to The Aion. When they finished, Lieutenant Ulkos was left to himself. He turned toward the pilot's cabin.

In the pilot's seat, he watched Lieutenant Royintan on the vid. Once outside, she detached the docking bridge from the shuttle. She traveled to her vessel, and detached it there as well. Holding fast to the FBXL5, she pushed the bridge off. It floated away beneath the two vessels.

He switched the vid to system monitor. There was still no activity in their area. He didn't expect any, but it was the terminus. They had already risked enough floating where they were. Traffic from other systems was unpredictable.

It took him several minutes to identify the main engine controls. That was because they were placed well above his head. He extended his arms, adjusted the rate for a one G burn, and engaged. This pressed him back into the seat, startling him. He cursed as he pulled himself up again, this time holding firm to the handles.

He scanned the panel before him. The system monitor alerted him that the FBXL5 had also triggered main engines. Lieutenant Royintan wasted no time pushing the small ship along.

He ramped the engines up to 2.5 G's, holding tight to the handles. The shuttle began to rattle around him. Backing the thrust down to two G's, he found that the tremor remained. It took several adjustments to discover a tolerable burn. At just over one G, he was in for a long night.