David Brin - The Heart of the Comet

The platform lurched on its right side, biting into the ice, kicking up dust. Carl pressed his helmet against a big cross-bar of blue-gray prestressed steel. “Listen!”

Virginia had barely touched the metal when she heard a loud crump followed by a low, persistent ringing. “What is it? I.”

The entire platform shook. The next blow came only seconds later and this time she was looking to the side, and could see that there was no momentary blue flash illuminating the surrounding gray ice.

“So he’s thought of that,” Carl said angrily.

She guessed. “The launchers.”

“Yeah. He can’t spare the laser, so he’s aimed a few launchers at us. Flinging empty casings at low speed, to prevent an explosion. Firing around this chunk of stuff, hoping to pick us off if we show.”

A jolt shook the platform and the entire bulk lifted from the ice. Virginia felt a crump, crump, crump through her hands, three quick blows that pushed the platform a meter clear of the ice. She hung on, looking wildly at Carl. “He’s pushing us off!”

—Get a good grip,—Carl sent.

“But we can’t.”

—Just hold on. We’ll have to move fast when…—

Sergeov broke in, —I did not expect this, but is good.—

“You can’t.”

—Launcher is to keep you from getting inside. Even better if it gets rid, eh?—

The platform rang and shook now with a steady hammering. Once sighted in, the launcher could pour a steady rain of the soft hollow slugs at them.

Carl said, —The pellets just splatter like a marshmallow when they hit. They can’t get through this hard alloy. But they’re pushing us.—

Virginia looked down. Already they were high above the stained gray plain, and gathering speed. The impulses from the launcher had driven them tangentially off the surface and now they passed over the battle scene. Random flashes, rising puffs of gas. She heard a click and recognised it as a symptom of a near miss by a microwave beam; the waves actually resonated with small bones in the human ear. Whoever it was didn’t fire at them again.

Someone was running toward the shelter of a low line of fuel drums and she recognized the tabard of Joao Quiverian. A laser bolt caught the tall Arcist leader in midstride and a blue sun leaped in his chest. A small cloud rose from the body as it continued on its way, hugging the ground, arms flopping outward and spinning uselessly as it skimmed into a dust pit and disappeared.

Figures glanced up at them but no one tried to come to their aid. Those below could undoubtedly see the results as a steady hail of slugs struck the other side of the platform, and knew that any approach would run that gauntlet. She called, “Sergeov!”

—I gave you place to stay. You leave dome, you bring this on yourself.—

“Look, we’ll—”

—Too late for talk. I have battle to win, Arcists to kill. Goodbye.—

“Carl, what’ll we.”

—Don’t let go!—

I’m not about to, she thought. Even if the whole thing’s making me… dizzy. Halley seemed to tilt in the sky, the speckled and blotched gray sheets rolling and veering as they swept over them, lifting…

—Just what I was afraid of. We’re turning.—

Of course. The slugs don’t hit evenly, so the platform is picking up spin. Sergeov, knows that…

“Can’t we crawl around?”

—It’ll be tricky. Come on, go left.—

Carl moved with an easy grace she envied as she clumsily followed, not daring to let go of one strut before she had the next firmly in hand. The platform was to her a mountain of crossed metal strands, which she climbed hand over hand, a slight centrifugal pull tending to turn her outward and away from it. If the platform had been spherical, their maneuvering would have been simple—just keep on the side away from Halley. But as the slab turned, there was a short interval when it was edge on to Halley and the launcher slugs were passing by invisibly close. Virginia and Carl clung to the edge of the platform as this moment came, then scrambled to the new face, feeling slugs slam into the far side again. As she struggled for a secure grip she saw spalled and dimpled impact craters. And all this comes from empty casings, launched at a millionth the normal energy!

The slab seemed to be spinning faster. “Are they trying to spin us?” She asked, panting.

—Wouldn’t surprise me.—

“How’ll we—”

—Hustle!—

She followed Carl around to the next corner and waited. The metallic sheen of the cold steel reflected the dim gray glow of Halley as the flat face slowly revolved, the curve of the cometary head rising over a warped tangle of rods and rivets. From this distance there was no sign of a battle, no indication of humans and their petty lives at all… only the smeared dust-scape, like an accidental abstract work of art glimmering in the starlight. Then she saw the long dashed Mine of equatorial launcher pits and realized that the machine which was propelling them could “see” them, too. She scrambled after Carl, around the edge.

Virginia felt a clanging thump and saw a rod near her leg dissolve into nothing as a blur struck and sent it whirling away into space. She sucked in her breath and jerked herself around the lip of the platform.

“It… it’s too dangerous, doing this.”

—If we don’t keep this between us and the slugs, we’re dead.—Carl’s eyes were wide, and yet somehow calm, steady.

“Can’t we jump off? Without something big to target on.”

—Fine, only what about the slugs that miss the platform? And if Sergeov knows we’ve jumped, he’ll let the launcher wander around the target, to try to catch us.—

Carl’s voice was almost matter-of-fact, assessing possibilities. Virginia clung to a pipe, legs drawn outward, the steady thump-thump-thump coming through her hands. It was hard to think. “Look, let’s put our maneuver jets on impulse. That’ll get us clear fast .”

—Yeah, but it’ll take a lot of push. These jets haven’t been kept up well, either.—

“We haven’t any choice!”

—We’re safe here.—

Virginia didn’t like the distant, resigned look on Carl’s face. “And every minute we get further away from Halley!”

—Yeah, you got a point.—He frowned. Shaking his head. Trying to care.

Halley’s pale horizon began rising over the platform’s lip.

—Let’s go jump straight off the edge as it comes round. Sergeov can’t hear us, with all this metal blocking our comm.—

He looked at her with an unreadable, pensive expression. She struggled over to the lip of the platform and got her feet braced against a tangle of struts. “Say when.”

—Wait…got your jet activated? Put it on emer override for a twenty-second burst, see?—He flipped the switch for her. —Okay, throw ’er to full when I… say… now !—

Virginia jumped as she threw the switch. A fist slammed into her waist and sent her hurtling, struggling to keep her hands and feet aligned. The thrust seemed to last forever and she fought an impulse to double up, present the smallest target for the slugs that she could feel streaking out from Halley, searching for her…

Release. The savage thrust was cut off by the suit’s timer. She dipped her head and could see between her feet the platform, turning lazily. A silvery flange winked and tumbled away as she watched, liberated by a slug’s impact. If only Sergeov didn’t know what they’d done…

Carl. Where was he?

She looked around quickly, found nothing. If a slug hit you, would it just go straight through? Or would it give you enough push to drive you far away in only, a few moments, beyond view… ?