Jeff Carlson - The Frozen Sky

“We don’t want to cause problems for you back on Earth,” Vonnie said, “but your team needs to stop the bombing.”

“We have no bombs,” the Brazilian woman said.

“That’s a lie. We know you’re blasting in the ice.”

“Our mecha have been tunneling, yes. Sometimes there are cave-ins. We have no bombs.”

“Are you killing sunfish?”

The Brazilian woman frowned, then looked to her left. Vonnie wished they were standing face-to-face instead of talking on a showphone. Vonnie couldn’t know if someone else was standing off-camera, and, in truth, Vonnie might have acted differently herself if she was alone.

Hiding teammates off-camera was only part of the deception allowed by electronic communications. Seated beside Vonnie in Command Module 01, out of sight, Ash was both recording and hacking the FNEE transmission while Koebsch stood ready to upload any of eight different sims.

Twenty-two days had passed since they’d stopped the Brazilians’ incursion into the ice. All four Earth agencies had begun to send their own mecha beneath the surface, including the ESA, but there were seismic shocks radiating from the terrain explored by the FNEE.

The job of approaching the Brazilians belonged to Koebsch. Vonnie had convinced him to try another way, allowing Ash to open a comm link in the Brazilians’ main hab module when she thought their only female crew member was alone.

“I’ll ask again,” Vonnie said. “Are you killing sunfish?”

“Why have you called me?” the woman asked. “You are not the European commander, and I am not in charge of our base.”

“My name is Alexis Vonderach.”

“I know who you are. Everyone has seen your mem files.” The woman frowned again, then said, “I am Sergeant Claudia Tavares.” “Claudia. Call me Von.”

“My name is Sergeant Tavares,” the woman said. She was barely older than Ash, and yet she seemed a hundred times more prim. Was that due to FNEE training, a difference in national character, or her concern that Ribeiro would catch her talking to the enemy?

The ESA and NASA were civilian operations, although the Americans often seeded their teams with Space Force officers. The Chinese and Brazilian crews were exclusively military. China’s fleet and the FNEE were offshoots of their countries’ armies. That meant Sergeant Tavares was taking a substantial risk. If Vonnie failed in her effort to communicate, she could try again, whereas if Tavares was deemed disloyal, she might lose rank or find herself sent to a courts martial. Vonnie approved of her willingness to stay online.

It’s got to be difficult being the only woman in their crew , Vonnie thought. Especially in a macho culture. Especially because she’s pretty .

Even with her black hair woven into tight, cornrow braids and the collar of her uniform buttoned high on her neck, Tavares couldn’t hide her femininity. Her cheekbones were like sculpted bronze, and she had warm brown eyes.

What was the sexual dynamic in the FNEE camp? Were they celibate or promiscuous?

Fraternization was discouraged among the ESA but not enforced because they were under enough strain without forbidding Homo sapiens ’ most basic drive — to procreate. In the past, the ESA had tried all male and all female crews, chemically neutered crews, and mecha-only ships, too often with subpar results. Sexually active, mixed gender groups brought the highest versatility to any non-combat mission. It was messy, which the bureaucrats hated, and often heated, which the crew leaders didn’t like — but in mixed groups, there was a deep-seated urge to excel, outperform any rivals, and win a mate.

Harnessed correctly, that motivation led the group to attain its greatest potential. It heightened their stamina. It helped preserve them. The men and the woman struggled to protect each other physically and emotionally.

Last week, Vonnie had finally begun to date again herself, stealing three hours with Pärnits and then another with Metzler, playing holo games and chess, talking, and watching comedy shows. After preparing two plates of fruit, cheese, and crackers, she’d even held Metzler’s hand across the table as they ate, quietly rubbing her thumb on his knuckles.

But if the Brazilians were promiscuous, when the hell did Tavares get any sleep?

Vonnie grinned, which appeared to startle the younger woman. Tavares leaned back from her camera as Vonnie said, “I’d like to send you two sims.”

“No unauthorized files.”

Vonnie shrugged. “I’m offering the sims to you as a courtesy. We haven’t shared this data with Earth yet. We don’t want to, but the bombing needs to stop.”

“I told you—”

“If you don’t know what your guys are doing, it’s because they’ve hidden it from you or because you don’t want to know,” Vonnie said. “I’m sorry.”

Six men and one woman was a bad imbalance. Brazil had hurried its mission to Europa. Maybe they’d experienced a last-minute complication that caused them to switch the seventh man for Tavares.

She must feel restless, always waiting behind while the men go into the ice , Vonnie thought . She wants a friend. I can see it in her face, but she’ll never admit it .

I wouldn’t, either . That’s why I have the best chance of reaching her. If the personnel records we filched are accurate, Tavares is a lot like me and Ash, too nosy for her own good, hyper-educated, and committed to doing the right thing . Otherwise she wouldn’t have answered my call, and she hasn’t kept talking to me to practice her English.

“Please,” Vonnie said. “Just let me send two sims.”

“I… I will have an AI screen your files first,” Tavares warned her.

“Understood. I’m transmitting now.”

“My people are not killing sunfish,” Tavares said. “You will not have proof of it.”

“We have exact numbers and coordinates of the blasts. If your guys aren’t trapping or fighting the sunfish, what are they doing? Why do they isolate you when they’re programming your mecha?”

“I do not like you watching us.”

Vonnie shrugged again. “You’re watching us, too, you know. It’s part of the job.”

After a moment, Tavares nodded. “Do not leave,” she said. Then she blanked her screen, and Vonnie questioned Ash and Koebsch with one hand.

“We’re mute,” Ash said. “She can’t hear us.”

“I think she already suspected what her guys are doing. She resents not being included.”

“You don’t know how she feels,” Koebsch said.

“I think I do. It doesn’t help that they put her at the bottom of their totem pole — a woman sergeant with all those captains and colonels.”

“Ribeiro is the only colonel, Von.”

“You know what I mean. They have two captains, three lieutenants, and one noncommissioned officer. Guess who it is? The woman.”

“She’s a support tech, not a FNEE specialist like the rest of them,” Koebsch said. “You’re reading too much into the situation. I hate to tell you, but you always read too much into it.”

“If I didn’t, you’d never—”

“Tavares looks like she’s back online,” Ash said, stopping Vonnie from bristling at Koebsch.

The two of them had made their peace, but it was an uneasy truce. Partly that was because Koebsch wasn’t old enough to be Vonnie’s father, yet struck a paternal tone with her. Mostly it was because he constantly gave her more leeway than she expected, then second-guessed her. Why?

Vonnie thought he was attracted to her. Koebsch took his job seriously and wouldn’t compromise his own authority by wooing a subordinate, but they were a long way from home, and there were only four women including Vonnie among the eleven members of the ESA crew. Adding fuel to the fire, she was a celebrity. Koebsch had been compelled to give her too much of his attention, first in overseeing her recovery, then in debriefing her and fielding endless media requests for interviews and sims.