John Ringo - East of the Sun, West of the Moon

“I won’t,” Evan said with a grin.

“You,” Linda said, bitterly, when she saw who was at her door. “Come on in,” she added, waving at the sparse quarters.

“Let’s head down to the rec room instead,” Herzer said, grinning faintly. “Not only is it more comfortable but it’s less likely to cause comment.”

The rec room in the transient quarters was almost identical to the one where she’d awaited her interview, with the exception of its being devoid of reading material. There was a sink with hot and cold water, some stuffed chairs grouped around a coffee table and a pool table.

“To clear the air,” Herzer said, sitting down by the coffee table. “I didn’t know you were one of the techs until this evening. So I didn’t drag you into this intentionally.”

“I’d half wondered,” Linda admitted. “But I couldn’t figure out what was in it for you except simple malice, and you’re not the malicious type. Now, Megan…”

“What happened wasn’t a blip on her horizon,” Herzer said. “Especially with all of this going on. She hadn’t known, either. And we both would have been completely surprised if June hadn’t brought you up. So. And so. But what’s this with you and Geo Keating? Evan, who’s the chief engineering officer, went into spasms when he heard he was here. And apparently you want to be his assistant. Why?”

Linda paused and thought about that and then shrugged.

“Did you have any heroes, you know, Before?”

“Sure,” Herzer admitted. “The guy I work for, now. I’ve discovered he puts his pants on one leg at a time. And they’re ugly legs.”

“It’s like that,” Linda admitted with a chuckle. “I’d thought about contacting him, Before, you know? But I just felt like a… a…”

“The term is ‘fan girl’ or ‘groupie,’ ” Herzer interjected. “I actually knew Edmund’s daughter. I was getting ready to meet him when the Fall hit.”

“My parents were the kind that made me study,” Linda said, shrugging. “It’s why I can read and write, but they pushed me more than just that. Mom had me do a presentation on particles when I was about… oh, nine or so. So I found this primer by a guy named Keating to study. And it was just… amazing. The enormously complex made clear and simple. I fell in love with the way particles work and focused after that on that , particle physics and field interactions. Hell, your girlfriend can make a portal, I know how one works and I bet she doesn’t!”

“You might be surprised,” Herzer said. “She’s more than just a pretty face. And so, apparently, are you. Go on.”

“So about half the modern studies on field interaction are by Keating. I was a hopeless fan girl of his work. And now, I’ve got a chance to work with him. That’s it, really.” She paused and thought about it and shrugged. “The chance to work with him is worth the chance of getting my ass blown up or decompressed or whatever. And he’s physically fine, he’s been working as a laborer if that’s not stupid enough! But he’s sort of absentminded. I think I can help. Help him . I don’t care if we get the ship or not, frankly.”

“Well, that’s silly of you, but I won’t get into a debate,” Herzer said, frowning. “However, if that’s your cost, you’re in. As his assistant. I don’t suppose the fact that he’s going to be independently wealthy from this mission has anything to do with it?”

“Not a bit,” Linda said, firmly. “I’ll admit that now that I know he’s still alive, and around, means I may just attach myself to him like a limpet. But that’s because of who he is. I’d gladly support him rather than the other way around. But I’m damned well going to do my best to make sure he doesn’t fade into obscurity again. A laborer !” she added in a bitter tone.

“I understand your point,” Herzer said, smiling. “I’ll get you moved to permanent quarters. Which are, frankly, just as bad as these. Training starts day after tomorrow. Tomorrow you’ll be processed for your positions, meet some of the rest of the team, things like that. We’ll be training hard; we don’t have much time.”

“Welcome to Icarus Base, I’m Commander Herzer Herrick,” Herzer said, looking out at the group. Everyone had been issued coveralls in the color of their field — red for pilots, green for computer techs and blue for engineering — and had almost automatically gathered into their specialties. He noticed that Linda was snugged right up against Geo Keating and the two, with Evan listening, had been engaged in a low-voiced conversation right up until he mounted the dais.

“I’d do the whole ‘thank you’ thing,” Herzer continued. “But each of you is here for your own reasons, some of you for the money, some for the good of mankind as you see it, and some for… odder reasons,” he finished, looking at Joie and Linda. Fitting Joie, who was a seven-foot-tall woman with fully functional wings, had been a challenge. He could just imagine what it was going to be like getting her into a space suit. “But you’ve all agreed to the mission so let’s talk about that for a minute.”

He flipped up the cover on the easel to a simple map of the ship.

“When I got this mission dumped in my lap, I had a hard time figuring out what the attack point should be,” he admitted. “The obvious balance point seems to be the control room. However, shuttles can be overridden and manually piloted. So you can’t ensure control of the fuel supply from the control room. The ship, itself, however, is unimportant. What is important is the fuel. Who controls the flow of the fuel, wins. The mission, therefore, will be twofold. The shuttles can be demobilized by removal of critical components, notably the helium injectors for their fusion plants. Spare injectors are located in Maintenance,” he added, pointing to a point on the upper third ring. “Initial action will be to secure one or more shuttles, depending upon who lands where, then to secure Maintenance. Once Maintenance, and the injectors, are secure, we will begin taking and sabotaging the rest of the shuttles. Up to five shuttles will be maintained to supply the Coalition plants with fuel and bring up reinforcements and remove wounded. In addition, if personnel permit, the engine room will be secured and control room systems will be destabilized by control of secondary nodes,” he finished, pointing first to engine room and then to points on the ship.

“I anticipate that New Destiny will attempt to retake the shuttles when they determine our plan,” he said, shrugging. “We’ll work to cluster the shuttles near Maintenance and hold them. However, if we have control of one functional shuttle, and New Destiny has none, I’ll be happy. We can resupply and reinforce indefinitely; they’ll be stuck.”

“What about teleport?” one of the female pilots asked.

“One of the first questions I asked,” Herzer said with a grin. “The ship never comes inside lunar orbit and porting out that far is unstable. As to porting within the ship, Councilwoman Travante will be accompanying us and will enforce a teleport block. It will only hold for us, but we anticipate a New Destiny Key-holder being on their side and so we’ll probably be blocked as well.

“I’d like to talk a bit about mission concept,” Herzer continued. “Each of the techs will be assigned to a strike team. You will be present to give engineering and computer support while on the ship. Strike team members will be minimally trained in shipboard systems but they’re primarily going to be training in space combat, which is going to occupy their time and more. Each of the team commanders will be responsible for attainment of a specific goal and will call for your support when necessary. You’ll begin training with your teams in the latter part of the program. A ‘good fit’ will probably be essential but the bottom line is that the team leader, who will be a Blood Lord officer or NCO, will be in command. That chain runs up to me and then, in very rare cases, to Councilwoman Travante. If there are differences at the team level, try to keep them at the team level. If you cannot handle your team commander in training, we’ll try to find a better fit. But you need to try to fit, first. I’ve had much the same conversation with the team commanders, by the way.