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"Respond without screen. Explain you're doing last minute maintenance. Ask
to feed back in three to five." "Affirmative. Will do."
Gerswin checked the read-outs. Minus ten until full power-up sequence was
complete. He hoped the Sindelar's boat was clear by then. He jabbed the
engineering stud. "Interrogative drive status." "Minus nine until green."
"Report when ready." "Yes, ser." "Navigation, interrogative status." "Minus
seven until course feed complete." Gerswin sat watching the screens, looking
at the flow of ò information on the status of the ship, watching the green
panels light, watching the red shift to amber, and then to green.
Another thought crossed his mind, and he tapped the tight beam back to the
Sindelar.
"Landspout, this is Captain Black. Interrogative status of messengers."
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"Captain Black, messengers ready to depart within one plus of your
completion."
"Affirm one plus."
"Stet."
He turned back to the unfamiliar bridge board.
"Captain." This time the voice did not come from a distant channel, but
from the suited figure to his right, from the opening portal where Lostwin
stood.
"Crew totally secured and unconscious. Ship will be flushed and clean
within twenty."
Gerswin nodded, part of the tightness in his gut subsiding.
Lostwin settled himself into the O.D.'s swivel, trying to match what he'd
studied and the board of the freighter against the smaller ships he had
piloted.
"Captain, red team leader. Estimate thirty plus for unsuit time. Nav
indicates after first jump point."
"Stet."
"Navigation to bridge. All systems green. Course feed complete."
"Stet."
"Engineering to bridge. All systems green."
"Stet."
"Hangar deck to bridge. Transfer complete, and visitors clear."
"Screens dropped for departure?"
"That's affirmative."
"Guns to Captain Black, diversion complete and green."
"Stet."
Gerswin took a deep breath within the confines of the suit, exhaled, and
began to move his gauntleted fingers across the board.
At last, he touched the pulsing green stud that would mesh the inputs and
boost the Sanducar from orbit to the first jump point.
"Landspout, this is Captain Black. We are green and departing. Green and
departing."
"Stet. See you later."
Gerswin watched the screens, the course line display that represented where
the Sanducar was headed, and the real-time monitor that showed the blackness
outside, punctuated with unwinking stars. He watched the screens, the familiar
displays in unfamiliar positions, his face blank, expressionless behind the
suitshield.
As the outward velocity of the Sanducar mounted, he saw a spark break from
the small circle captioned "New Glascow" on the representational screen.
"Comm, any interrogatories?"
"Standard inquiries from planetary ops and from the geosynch high ops, but
we're farside. Not much they can do. We're maintaining full-band silence."
"What's the breakway?"
"Breakway is high speed shuttle. Has the Sanducar's C.O. Guess he's afraid
of being left."
"Any combat ships?"
"No other energy concentrations."
"Navigation, interrogative closest approach of shuttle."
"He's already past CPA. We're clear to jump point."
"Stet."
Clear to jump point meant clear to Old Earth, and clear to unload nearly
two cohorts of dozers and get them operating before they could be easily
reclaimed. But Old Earth would be exactly where his real troubles began,
Gerswin reflected.
Lerwin had protested being excluded, but there had to be someone officially
innocent should things go wrong, someone who could pick up the pieces.
Gerswin shook his head, still watching the screens, still waiting to insure
that no untoward Impie combatant appeared from nowhere, waiting until the real
battles began.
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Chapter LXXI
"Commander Gerswin to the Ops center. Commander Gerswin to the Ops center."
The senior commander under summons swung his feet off the narrow bunk and
sat upright, pulling his boots onto his feet.
Buzzz! Buzzzz!
He ignored the harsh noise from his console. He had no doubt about the
reason for the summons, none whatsoever.
He smiled and took a deep breath. After all the years, the room-and he had
never put in for a suite, which he rated- still smelled like a mixture of
wilted trilia and machine oil. It always would, he supposed, not that it was
likely he would be the one worrying about it for much longer.
As he finished fastening the undress black tunic, he was through the portal
and into the main corridor. It was empty, unsurprisingly, since it was just
before dawn local Old Earth time. Then, the Imperial Interstellar Survey
Service had never operated on anything other than New Augustan Imperial
District time, and by that clock, it was mid-moming.
Lerwin, wearing his new linked diamonds of commander, met him at the
Operations portal.
"They're here, Captain. Upset, too."
"Did they announce it?" asked Gerswin with the same disinterested smile.
"In their own way. Arrived with five corvettes, two destroyers, and a [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]