Sergei Lukyanenko - The Genome

To turn inside a hyper-tunnel was impossible. Once you were in, it took you where it took you… Right into the little fists of those small but warlike creatures, who would be thrilled to find a couple of Zzygou in their space.

They’d probably let the humans go, though….

There was still a bit of leeway in their speed, and Alex used it all up. The tanker seemed to freeze in space… Right… why in the world would it ram a yacht?

And then the tanker’s graviray engine turned on. The space around it distorted violently, as the full impulse started pushing the tanker’s cylindrical bulk on a collision course with Mirror .

Towards the exact point that would make the collision unavoidable and throw the yacht off into Cepheidean space.

“Morons!” shouted Morrison. He, too, understood that a collision was imminent, though he probably wasn’t aware of all the consequences. Suddenly, the tanker replied:

“ Mirror , we have a problem—our engine has misfired. All systems blocked, no maneuvering possible at this time. Please clear the way. Over!”

“Not possible.” Morrison’s voice turned very calm. “Our speed reserves are up. The ship will be destroyed upon entry into the channel.”

“Increase your force fields,” came the advice of the tanker’s invisible voice. “It’s our fault. We’ll pay full compensation.”

What did compensation have to do with this? The pilot must really have thought that what was about to happen would be just an accident, lamentable but not tragic. Or perhaps he was simply lying.

Although such a lie would require him to know about Mirror ’s passengers and also to have a monstrously keen eye for spatial calculations.

“ Mirror to channel guard.” His own voice sounded unfamiliar to Alex. “We need help.”

Twenty-four seconds to collision impact. Subjective time in virtual reality flowed much more slowly, but that had no bearing on the laws of physics. The tanker could no longer slow down, and Mirror had no way of maneuvering.

“Channel guard to Mirror . The situation is under control. What sort of help do you require?”

Alex glanced again at the other ship. A three-people crew, max. More likely, just a pilot and a navigator…

“Annihilate tanker MT-28.”

The tanker’s pilot shouted something unintelligible. The guard stations—or, rather, their officer on duty—hesitated for a second.

Space was ruthless. A ship that was about to cause a collision could very well be destroyed. Especially if it were a tanker endangering the lives aboard a passenger vessel.

“ Mirror , are you nuts?!” The guard officer had lost his official tone of voice. “The situation isn’t critical—your shields will hold!”

“Guard station, we require protection. A collision will cause us to enter the channel at an uncharted angle.”

“Protection denied. Your course is not life-threatening.”

But of course. The guard station officers were speshes as well trained as Alex. They could see all the potentialities.

“Here are some recommendations,” the officer added. And once again, a map of possible routes fanned open in front of Alex. “Reduce your speed by eight percent, maximize shield power, prepare for emergency jump to Gatané-4…”

“We can’t enter Cepheidean space!” Alex yelled. “Destroy the tanker!”

“The Empire has friendly relations with the Cepheideans,” replied the officer bluntly.

On the other communication channel, the tanker’s pilot regained his gift of speech and shouted a few choice words at Alex. Yes. If he really were innocent, Alex’s demands must seem monstrously cruel.

“Alex…”

The dark-red clot of flame. Janet. The weapons blister, his fist…

“Permission to act, Captain.” She understood there was no time to persuade the guard officer. She knew all the intricacies of the Others’ relations with each other better than any of those officers growing fat in their guard stations. Even though she had no trace of warm feelings for the Zzygou, she had no intention of pleasing the Cepheideans, either. But what could she do? To destroy the tanker would be unthinkable for her—there were humans aboard!

“Permission granted,” said Alex.

At the same moment, the reactor power jumped way up. Maybe Paul had guessed what was required, or maybe Janet had contacted him.

“ Mirror to guard stations, we are addressing the problem on our own….”

Before he had time to finish his sentence, the battle station fired a ray at the hapless tanker. The ray wasn’t powerful enough to destroy the tanker about to ram them. Janet had taken aim at the cargo hold. For almost three seconds, nothing happened. Then a scorched chunk of plating fell off. And a powerful stream of boiling mercury burst out of the tanker’s innards.

It was an enchanting sight. The tanker, shot through and boiling over, was still on a collision course with Mirror —except that the jet stream of mercury was slowing it down and reducing the tanker’s mass with every passing millisecond. It seemed as though the tanker had been transformed into a comet with a fiery tail of boiling mercury.

“What are you, nuts?!” shouted the tanker’s pilot. He had already realized that no one was going to destroy him, but losing all of his cargo was also a terrifying prospect. “We’ll take this to the tribunal!”

Alex didn’t bother answering. A joint commission of the union of pilots, Quicksilver Pit’s administration, and military detectives would investigate the incident. Alex didn’t doubt that his crew would be cleared of all charges. When everyone figured out what their entry into Cepheidean space would have led to, all the responsibility would be dumped on the tanker’s crew. And there would be nothing but praise for Janet.

“ Mirror , hold your fire!” The guard officer was really aggravated. “Your next ray burst will be considered an act of aggression against the Empire!”

Well, yes. Theoretically the guard stations, as well as the hyper-channel, were Imperial property. But in reality they were eating out of the hands of the local officials, who would be very upset with the damage to the tanker and the loss of its cargo.

“The following is an order—”

But he had no chance to finish his phrase. Through a cloud of cooling mercury, brightly flashing against its protective force field, Mirror entered the hyper-channel.

Exactly on course to take the ship to Gamma Snakebearer.

The gray tube of the hyper-tunnel seemed endless. They could all feel the ship’s movement, though it wasn’t very fast by planetary standards—about one hundred and eight miles an hour. It felt as though the yacht had turned into a land vehicle speeding along a dark tunnel.

All this had nothing to do with the ship’s actual speed, of course. These were purely subjective impressions.

“Fellow crewmembers, congratulations on a successful entry into the channel.” Alex paused for a moment. “Janet Ruello, doctor-spesh, I thank you, on behalf of the company, for your timely and decisive actions in an emergency situation.”

By saying this, he took all responsibility upon himself. If for any reason Janet’s shot at the tanker were to be reprimanded, Alex alone would bear the consequences.

“Thank you, Captain,” replied Janet.

Alex paused again.

“Janet, was that your own idea?”

“No, Captain. Pilot training on Edem included some nontraditional ways of affecting enemy vessels. Bronin spaceship reactors run on mercury… it was a lucky coincidence.”

“I wish I could thank your teachers personally, Janet.”