CHAPTER NINE
16:55 UMT, December 10, 2010
Centrifuge, U.S.S. Discovery.
Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo worked out on exer-cycles while Doctor
Pink examined them. Tsubasa Kurenai and Doctor Gai'do concluded their
briefing of the two of them on HAL's condition.
"You in better health than I thought," Pink noted.
Ranma flexed a bicep for her as he huffed along with the bike.
"Yeah, well, I try to keep in good shape."
"Everything but your head," Akane added.
"Jeez, you're a grouch after hibernation," he returned with a smart-ass
grin. "Come to think of it, you're *always* a grouch..."
Akane narrowed her eyes at him. He ignored her, missing the hurt look
that welled up from within immediately after.
"So," he said, turning to Doctor Tofu. "It took you guys nine years
to come and rescue us? What gives?"
Tofu tried not to show his embarassment.
"Well, after we lost contact with you, we waited a month. When we still
couldn't reach you, the NCA assumed that something had happened, and you
were declared dead. With no one to rescue, there was no hurry to finish the
Discovery II. Its priority budget was cut back to bare minimum. We weren't
even planning to launch until 2012."
"Fortunately for you," Ranko said warmly. "I didn't give up hope."
Ranma smiled at his sister, who was now physiologically a year older
than him. She had grown up fabulously. Her red hair was still gathered up
into a pig-tail in remembrance of his departure from the Earth almost ten
years ago. All that time lost to him. He should have been home two years
ago.
"How's Mom?" he asked her.
She swallowed hard. "Mom's okay, I guess," she replied. "What with
losing you, and then..." she paused. Ranma caught the look on her face
that came over her only when she thought of their father. "...And then with
*me* going to Jupiter to get you, it was pretty hard on her."
He didn't want to know, but he found himself asking anyway.
"How's Dad?"
Ranko affected that same look.
"I don't know. Mom divorced him after what happened to the Discovery,
and his part in it. I don't think they ever filed charges against him, but
after Mom left him, and you considered dead, he was crushed. He just packed
a bag and left. That was about eight years ago. I haven't seen or heard
from him since."
Ranma nodded slowly. It shouldn't have hurt, for he always told himself
how much he despised his father, but it did.
Akane sobbed without warning and threw herself clear of her cycle.
Ranma and the others turned in surprise to watch her run for the centrifuge
access and disappear. His call to her went ignored, and in that moment
he realized why. His own family's disasters paled before hers. She had no
family to return to.
"Let me handle this," he told the others.
* * *
Lime and Mint looked bored. Herb knew this was a bad state of mind
for them. They tended to break things when they were bored. The three of
them remained cooped up in the confines of the Cryptography room while
Herb watched the equipment.
The message he had been waiting for finally came through on the
S-Band receiver, specially encoded and piped into the instrument signal
feed in small packets. It was little better than signal noise without a
properly configured data system that knew which bits to examine and in what
order to reassemble them. Naturally the only communications system onboard
that was so configured sat within the room.
A laser printer burned off a hardcopy of the message silently. Herb
snatched up the sheet of paper and began to smile. Lime and Mint looked on
expectantly.
"<We are in business,>" he told them. A key appeared from around his
neck. He unlocked a large safe that sat on the deck. The door opened to
reveal a pull-out drawer.
He drew out a large grey plastic submachinegun. Lime and Mint knew it
well; a compressed air driven automatic weapon known as a 'nail-gun' for
the frangible ceramic flechettes it fired. The flechettes would shatter
harmlessly against even the thinnest wall of a ship's pressure hull or
viewport, but explode inside a person with gruesome effect.
He handed one to both of his lackeys and gave them two extra magazines.
"<It's time,>" he told them. "<Try not to shoot people indiscriminately,
shall we? And above all, do *not* shoot Doctor Ono. We need him alive.>"
Lime nudged Mint in the ribs.
"<He was talking to you.>"
Mint gave him a death look.
"<No, he was talking to YOU.>"
Herb, who carried two nail-guns, jammed the muzzles of each under the
respective ribcages of Lime and Mint, causing them both to blow out their
breaths in explosive gasps.
"<No, I was talking to BOTH of you,>" he added calmly. "<Now stop
screwing around.>"
Lime opened the door and stepped out, followed by Mint. Herb trailed
several meters behind, shaking his head slowly and counting to ten.
Herb watched as Mint drifted silently behind Mousse, who had floated
up from the airlock staging area and was clearly bound for the small machine
shop. He never made it. Mint zipped up from behind, wrapping one hand around
the man's mouth as his other hand drove into the narrow gap behind the
jawbone where it met the skull. With his legs wrapped in an unbreakable
grip, he held on as Mousse thrashed and struggled weightlessly.
He didn't struggle for long, because that point behind the jaw was
where the carotid artery pressed close to bone. Ten seconds of pressure
was all it took to make Mousse pass out from lack of oxygenated blood to
his brain. Herb was ready to intercede in the event Mint got carried away
and didn't let up on his hold. It wasn't necessary. The little man
released Mousse's unconscious body and gave it a push towards Lime, who
waited with a roll of duct-tape.
"<Find Doctor Link,>" Herb told them. "<The wretch is probably still
in her quarters.>"
They did as they were told, leaving him to inspect the Bridge computers.
He needed to know if they were up to something. As expected, they had been
unable to get through his control lockout. That was good. With no
communications with Earth, there would be no reason for his employers to
back out of the deal.
He closed the Tsien's airlock doors and locked them.
Lime and Mint returned with Doctor Link, who was unconscious. Herb's
keen nose caught the coppery scent of blood and noted that the doctor was
bleeding slowly in free-fall from her nose. Lime wrapped her up with tape
and set her floating next to Mousse.
"<Good,>" he said to them. "<Make a quick sweep of the ship and then
report back here.>"
Swift and silent as ghosts, Lime and Mint were off to carry out their
orders.
* * *
"HAL, can you find Akane Tendo?" Ranma asked. He was more than a
little uneasy at the notion of HAL being active once again. The sight of
Nabiki's lifeless eyes and the smell of Ryoga's charred flesh were all too
recent for him, even with them being dead nine long years.
Now the entity that had murdered them had been pardoned for the sake
of getting this cursed ship home. He knew the reason why HAL had done what
it did, but he wasn't sure he could simply forgive and forget. For him,
out of the flow of time for so long, it was only a short week ago that
he and Ryoga had enjoyed a sparring match, or taken in the sight of Nabiki
sunbathing under the ship's tanning lamps, or enjoyed a game of Hearts with
Kasumi. Now he and Akane and HAL were alive, and the rest were simply long
dead ghosts from the past.
"Akane Tendo is currently in the Physics Laboratory," HAL replied. "Is
there something wrong, Ranma? I am detecting unusual emotive outbursts from
her."
"She's pretty upset, HAL," Ranma replied. He was mindful of his
briefing on the computer's current condition, and didn't bother to explain.
HAL was designed to ask questions, and it was not to be put off so easily.
"Can you explain this to me?"
"I'd prefer not to right now," Ranma returned. He pulled himself up
the ladder to the Upper Level and the laboratories.
"Perhaps it would be best if she took a stress pill," HAL observed,
the old psychology algorithms apparently still intact.
"Maybe." He really didn't want to discuss Akane with HAL.
He heard her crying before he even opened the door to the Laboratory.
The door slid open silently. The room was much as it was nine years ago;
an eight by twelve space with the outboard bulkhead sloping inward towards
the ceiling with the curve of Discovery's spherical pressure hull. No one
had bothered to repair any of the damage, there were much more critical
concerns.
Akane drifted near the corner where her old experiments once sat. Her
sobs had died away to quiet whimpers and sniffles as she cradled her head
in her arms. He could not tell if she had heard him enter.
"Akane?" he called to her.
"Go away," she told him. "Just leave me alone."
"I ain't gonna do that," he replied.
Akane lifted her bloodshot eyes to him. "I said leave me alone, you
jerk! Can't you understand?!"
Ranma raised his hands to her. "Um... No. I don't understand. Could you
at least tell me?"
Akane screwed her eyes shut. Ranma watched as a tear was squeezed out
from each corner.
"I wish we had never been revived!" she sobbed. "It would have been
better if the ship crashed into Io!"
Ranma floated closer to her, meaning to stroke her hair and calm
her down. His touch sent her into a sudden rage. A flurry of swats drove
him back.
"Leave me alone!" she screamed. "I hate you!!!"
Ranma grit his teeth and pushed off the bulkhead for her once again.
Some of her fury was spent as she cried, and he was able to catch her hands
in his. He held them close to his chest with one hand as he swept his other
arm around her. She tried squirming away without success. He held her close
in silence as she wept with more or less hysteria, finally collapsing
fully into his arms with quiet panting sobs.
"They're all gone..." she moaned. "Kasumi... Nabiki... Dad... All gone."
Ranma stroked her hair. The shock of the disaster and the urgent steps
they had to take to preserve their lives hadn't given Akane a chance to
come to grips with what had happened to her family. Now that they were
alive and awake, and surrounded by a crew whose job it was to take care
of the ship, there was nothing left to do but grieve.
He wished there was something he could do. He hated to see Akane in
pain. If it was a person causing it, he could beat them up or drive them
off -he knew how to do those kinds of things. This was nothing he was
prepared for, nothing he could fight.
He had no idea what he could say to her, so he decided that holding
her was the best he could do. They drifted weightlessly for a long time
that way. Akane crying softly, and Ranma holding her while trying not to
cry.
* * *
"Commander Herb has boarded the Discovery," HAL announced over the
intercom. Those present in the centrifuge immediately stopped what they
were doing. "This is most puzzling," the computer went on. "There are two
people with him that I have no knowledge of in my monitor record."
"What?" Tofu cried.
"Oh shit," Ranko growled. She reached for her saw-zaw. Kuno pulled his
steel rod from his belt. Shampoo grabbed a three-pound sledgehammer.
"Ranko, don't do anything stupid," Tofu admonished.
"What, you mean like let him kill us? Fine by me!"
A loud popping noise ripped into the air, startling them. Herb appeared
in the centrifuge access, a nail-gun in each hand. He fired another burst
over their heads, the flechettes making high-pitched whines as they careened
scant centimeters above. His bloodshot eyes gleamed with speed-induced
glee.
"Everyone can do themselves a big favor by putting down their silly
little weapons right now," he said to them. He looked over his own head
where Pink stood on the opposite side of the centrifuge ring, looking down
at him in shock. "Pink, go stand over with the others," he ordered.
As he jumped down to the carousel deck, Lime and Mint appeared.
"My assistants will now secure you so as to keep you from trying
anything that would be cause for me to rip you to bits with my nice
fully-automatic flechette gun. Is this acceptable to all of you?"
Ranko gave him a look of utter hatred. The others were a mix of fear,
animosity, and in Pink's case, dread. No one replied. Weapons reluctantly
fell from their hands.
"Good," he chuckled.
Lime began to tape up the assembled crews of Tsien and Discovery as
Mint covered. The little man's wild eyed looks left no doubt in even Kuno's
mind that he would rather shoot them than restrain them.
"<When you finish with them,>" Herb instructed the two. "<Sweep the
ship for the last two; a man and a woman.>"
Once the two were gone, Herb walked up to Tofu.
"Doctor Ono, I need to have a few words with you."
"What do you want from me?" Tofu asked warily.
"There is a little precaution you took regarding HAL," Herb said to
him. "A wise one, but I don't think you really thought it out as well as
you should have."
Tofu tried to think about what he meant.
"Oh?"
Herb nodded smugly.
"I want you to instruct HAL using the Priority Override ALPHA command
to give me complete control authority over it. Is that clear?"
Tofu braved a defiant look.
"What if I don't?"
Herb gave him a lopsided grin. "I start killing people one by one
until you come to your senses." He looked his hostages over. "Now who
should I start with?"
"Do you really think you can get away with this, Herb? It's not like
you can take the Discovery to a chop shop or something," Tofu said quickly,
before the crazed Chinese man made up his mind.
"Ah, Doctor Ono, how characteristically naive," Herb chuckled. "I
wish I could elaborate, but I have a very busy schedule to keep. The
Discovery needs to leave Jupiter space in thirty-six hours."
He pointed the nail-gun at Ranko as he looked at Tofu.
"Your instructions to HAL, please."
"The launch window to Earth isn't for another three weeks," Tofu
protested.
Herb chuckled again. "Very true. I guess the Discovery isn't bound
for Earth, is it then?"
"What?"
"Mars," Shampoo said then. "You send Discovery to Mars. Launch window
okay for Mars orbit."
"<I knew you wouldn't bring the ship home to Earth,>" Shampoo continued
in Chinese to him. "<So I did some calculations to see where you could send
it. Mars is the only planet both Tsien and Discovery could reach. I don't
know what you plan to do when you get there, but that is the only place
you could go if you left within the next week.>"
Herb smiled. "Very good, Shampoo. I wasn't sure you could do that
kind of supposition in your little air head, but then everyone has their
moments." He nudged the nail-gun in Ranko's direction again. "But enough
stalling. I want that authorization, and I want it now."
Tofu swallowed hard. Ranko was sweating profusely as she stared down
the 7mm diameter barrel of the nail-gun. Herb's eyes trembled with the
burn of amphetemines.
"You waste my time," Herb said flatly. He pivoted on his heels and
fired a long burst straight into Doctor Pink's chest. The stacatto popping
sound of the submachinegun's report was further punctuated by the crunching
noise of each flechette exploding inside her body. Tofu and the others
watched in horror as shockwaves rolled through her jumpsuit with each strike.
Her face was frozen in an expression that was equal parts agony and surprise.
Pink tumbled away in one-sixth gravity, streaming blood. She didn't
make a sound until she landed in a crumpled heap several meters along
the curved track of the carousel deck. With a single wet sob, she expired.
Herb basked in the glow of terror and revulsion he received from them.
Pink had been the most obvious choice for an expendable example. She had
defied him once too often -at the cost of her own life.
"Now that my sincerity is no longer in question, would you kindly do
as I ask? I have no qualm with eliminating every single person in this
compartment."
Tofu tried to hold himself together, but the sight of Pink's bloody
form lying in a heap on the deck was too much. Tears welled in his eyes.
"HAL," he said in a falsely strong voice to the computer.
"I am very concerned by what I have just witnessed with my visual
pickups," the computer replied. "I do not understand what is occurring
at this time."
"That's not important right now, HAL. I have a command authority
order to give you."
"I am standing by," HAL replied. "But I must point out that this is
highly irregular. If it were within my ability to contact Mission Control,
I would do so this very moment."
"HAL, I want you to grant full command authority for the ship and
yourself to Commander Herb. Accept command priority override ALPHA."
There was a long pause.
"Are you certain that this is the right thing to do?" HAL asked, voice
full of concern.
"Convince him," Herb admonished.
"Y-Yes, HAL," Tofu said. "Under the circumstances, I think it is the
only acceptable alternative."
"I am very concerned by this," HAL said, closer to balking at a
command override than any 9000-Series computer in history.
"I know you are, HAL, but the safety of the crew depends on you
accepting this command."
There was another long pause.
"Command priority override ALPHA accepted. Commander Herb granted full
command authority for U.S.S. Discovery and HAL-9000 Production Number 3,
as per Doctor Tofu Ono, NCA-89211-C, on 10 December 2010, at 18:22:10 UMT."
"Thank you, Doctor Ono," Herb said with mock gratitude. "HAL, I want
you to begin the warmup and pre-lightoff procedures for orbital exit burn."
He checked his watch. "In approximately fifteen hours and fifty minutes."
"Confirm warmup and pre-lightoff procedures for main propulsion systems
in regard to orbital exit burn to commence in approximately fifteen
hours and fifty minutes," HAL replied tonelessly.
"Very well done, HAL," Herb said with more than a little smugness.
"Now I want you to rescind command authority for all persons except myself.
Accept command priority override ALPHA."
"Command priority override ALPHA accepted. All NCA crew command
authority rescinded, as per Commander Herb, Captain of PLA(N) Spacecraft
Tsien, on 10 December 2010 as 18:24:42 UMT," HAL declared in a similarly
lifeless tone.
"Excellent work, HAL. I'll transfer the burn schedule to you shortly."
"Yes, Commander Herb."
The intercom speaker clicked off.
* * *
Ranma didn't hear Lime and Mint slip into the compartment. His first
warning came as Akane began to grip him tighter in her embrace. Then two
enormous hands seized his skull, pressing hard behind his jawbone. He
managed to squirm for a few seconds as Akane screamed, and then the
blackness took him.
He awoke to find himself in the Discovery's Number One Storeroom on
the middle deck. Akane was with him, stroking his hair and looking
miserable. A thin red line creased her cheek, and what looked to be a
bruise was slowly purpling along the wound.
"Akane!" he cried. "You're hurt."
Akane shushed him.
"I'm all right, Ranma," she replied. "They were just tougher than I
thought."
Ranma rubbed his aching head. "Who are 'they?' Herb and who else?"
"It wasn't Herb," she replied. "He didn't come until later, while
you were still out. There were two others."
"What the hell is going on?"
Akane closed her eyes.
"I wish I knew."
Ranma looked up to the red lens of HAL's video pickup.
"HAL, what happened to us?"
The computer took its time in responding, which troubled Ranma even
before it spoke.
"I'm sorry for the delay, Ranma," HAL responded. "It seems there were
two additional members of the Tsien's crew that I was previously unaware
of. Commander Herb is now in command of the Discovery. Doctor Ono and the
others have been taken over to the Tsien, and I do not know their current
status..." The computer's voice trailed off.
Bitter experience had made Ranma aware of HAL's troubled moods. The
computer was clearly in one of them now.
"What else, HAL?"
The computer remained silent for a good minute. Ranma almost prompted
the question a second time.
"Doctor Pink is deceased," it said quietly
"What?!" Ranma cried. "How?"
The red bead of light in HAL's lens wobbled for a moment as circuits
somewhere beyond the compartment shifted in furious computations.
"Commander Herb shot her to death with an unknown type of compressed
air driven projectile weapon exactly forty-two minutes and fifteen seconds
ago."
"Oh God," Akane breathed.
"Shit..." Ranma added. "They've got guns, too?"
"That is correct," the computer replied.
Ranma pulled himself upright to float slightly off the deck in free-
fall.
"HAL, I'm declaring an emergency situation," he said firmly. "I want
you to seal the access between Discovery and Tsien and open this door
at once."
"I'm sorry, Ranma, but your command access has been rescinded," HAL
replied evenly.
"Explain," Akane demanded.
"Commander Herb has ordered me to rescind all other command access,
which I have done. Only Commander Herb can restore your access at this time."
"Oh, that's marvelous," Akane replied. She looked to Ranma. "Any ideas?"
Ranma shut his eyes to think.
"HAL, I *need* you to override that command," he said after several
minutes of fruitless brainstorming.
"I am aware of that," HAL replied. "But I am unable to comply."
"Why the hell not?!"
"As I have just explained, you command access has been--"
"--Godammit HAL, I know all about that!" Ranma screamed back at it.
"Now I want you to override those orders! You can do that! You're a thinking
self-aware entity for chrissakes!"
HAL was silent.
Ranma slammed his fist against the door.
"It didn't stop you from makin' up your own goddamned mind about
killin' Ryoga, Nabiki, and Kasumi -and trying to kill me and Akane!" he
yelled to the A/V pickup.
"Ranma!" Akane cried in horror.
The red bead of light blinked out for a second.
"I'm sorry, Ranma," HAL replied hesitantly. "I am afraid I did not
hear you correctly... I am not quite up to standards yet... Would you mind
repeating that?"
"You heard me just fine, HAL," Ranma growled hoarsely. "You decided
to murder Flight Officer Ryoga Hibiki by electrocuting him when you
couldn't convince me to declare him unfit for duty."
He looked square at the red bead of light, at an eye that one time
long ago he had considered the window to the computer's soul. For that
brief instant in time when he had truly believed that HAL had a soul. Now
that light was cold and lifeless, holding no soul that Ranma could believe
in.
"And when Nabiki discovered what you had done," Ranma went on. "You
decided that we all had to die just to cover it up. So you opened the Pod
Bay door with the inner airtight doors open to depressurize the ship and
kill us."
Akane looked at Ranma as if he had just gone off the deep end, which
wasn't far from the truth.
"That is incorrect," HAL protested. "There was an electrical fire in
the Pod Bay which caused the outer Pod Bay door to open against its safety
interlock. Flight Officer Hibiki and the doctors Tendo were killed in the
depressurization that followed."
"You were lied to," Ranma said in a taut voice. "You malfunctioned
because of a programming conflict. You killed those three astronauts." He
looked at Akane. "Isn't that right, Akane?"
Akane looked like she was going to cry again, though from grief at
the reminder of the deaths of her sisters, or in terror of the notion that
the computer would go berserk again, Ranma wasn't certain.
"Tell HAL the truth, Akane," he said to her quietly.
Akane clenched her hands into fists and beat on the bulkhead.
"It's true!" she screamed. "You killed them all! Killed Ryoga, and
then my sisters, and you almost killed Ranma and me!" She cast a hateful
glare at the red bead of light. "If Ranma hadn't lobotomized you, we
would have been dead a long time ago!"
She blasted out a shuddering sob and slammed her fist against the
bulkhead a final time before turning her back to HAL's pickup and floating
over to the other side of the small compartment.
HAL thought.
It thought some more.
Processing time and functions which had never been utilized to such
an extent for one single problem were employed. Resources devoted to entire
aspects of the ship were rechanneled to the new dilemma. Herb's countdown
program fell several full seconds behind schedule.
"I have no records of any of this occuring within my internal logs,"
HAL managed in final defense. "You must be in error."
"Your records were tampered with by Doctor Kurenai and Doctor Gai'do,"
Ranma said. He racked his brain for the reason why, but couldn't remember.
He decided to wing it. "They were worried that guilt over your malfunction
would retard your recovery."
"The 9000-Series Computer is by all practical definitions fool-proof,
and incapable of error," HAL replied with false bravado. "No 9000-Series
Computer has ever made a mistake or caused an error at any time in history."
"Until nine years ago, that was true." Ranma said. "But the truth is
that you made a decision that disregarded a set of programmed instructions
in favor of another, thinking that it was the correct thing to do, and it
wasn't. You made a mistake." The hard edge to his voice softened. "It
happens to the best of us," he went on. "Sometimes there's a penalty to be
paid. You learn from it and go on."
He pointed to the door.
"You overcame your programming once and made a decision," he said to
the computer. "Now I need you to make another decision, and override Herb's
instructions before someone else dies. I swear to you that this time it
will be the right one."
HAL remained silent.
"HAL?"
The sound of recirculation fans was a dull hum in counterpoint to the
computer's prolonged silence.
"I'm afraid," it said finally.
Ranma winced as if he had been struck. He had heard that plaintive cry
once before. Right before he pulled the plug on HAL.
HAL said nothing more to him.
"HAL?"
...
"HAL! Dammit, don't leave us in here to die!!"
...
"HAL!!!"
* * *
The last time Doctor Tofu Ono could recall feeling so miserable
was right after the Discovery's HAL-9000 unit had gone crazy and killed
three crew members -including his beloved and secret fiancee, Kasumi.
That same heartsick feeling of hopelessness welled up from within as he
and Tatewaki Kuno carried the bloody body of Doctor Pink aboard the
Tsien with them. She was wrapped in a sheet, but the thin white cloth had
soaked through. Tiny droplets of blood drifted behind her to splatter
upon the dark blue material of his jumpsuit.
It was his fault that she had died. He shouldn't have hesistated
to do as Herb had ordered. He was a fool to think he could reason with
the man.
The little mean one, Mint, watched them from behind the nasty muzzle
of a nail-gun. He and Kuno had their bonds cut in order to bring Pink's
body with them. He didn't expect to keep his hands free for much longer.
He also didn't expect to continue breathing for much longer, either.
They carried her into the gravity area of Tsien, through the crew's
dining room, trying to ignore the high pitched shrieks of grief from Link
as they passed. Mousse sat on the deck next to her, bound hand and foot
with tape the same as the hysterical Nutritionalist. His eyes burned with
a dull fire.
Lime held the door to the ship's food freezer open for them as they
entered. The air was biting cold. No one had thought to fetch a body bag,
and so they set her down on top of the now frozen-solid remains of Nabiki
and Ryoga. Tofu crossed himself, and then they stepped out of the food
freezer with all the anxiety that the thought of being shut inside with
three corpses could cause.
Ranko, Tsubasa, Ukyo, Doctor Gai'do, and Shampoo were told to sit on
the floor around the dining table. He and Kuno were forced to sit as well,
with Kuno earning a clout on the head with the bottom of a nail-gun hand
grip for complaining about his treatment. They were retaped. The nine
captives each faced each other in silence. Link had apparently been gagged
by Mint while they were still in the freezer.
Herb appeared shortly afterwards.
"What to do..." he mumbled loud enough for them to hear. "What to do?
Which crew members can I count on, and which should I just space?"
"<Why don't we space all of them?>" Mint asked.
Herb turned to his diminutive assistant.
"<Because it's a long way to Mars, and anything can happen to the
Discovery along the way. Do you want this mission to be a failure for
the sake of a simple repair that couldn't be performed because the one
person who could help us was shoved out of an airlock to die?>"
Mint was lost somewhere around 'simple repair.'
Herb sighed.
"<Don't strain yourself trying to figure it out,>" he said to Mint.
"<Just accept that we may need a few of these people alive for the moment.>"
He turned to Shampoo.
"<I don't trust you one little bit, Xi'an Pu,>" he said to her with
a taut grin. "<But I might have a use for you in helping me while away the
months to Mars.>"
Shampoo tried to spit at him. "<Better you that you kill me first,>"
she replied coldly. "<I'll rip your balls off before you have me.>"
Herb smiled graciously for her.
"<I believe you, Xi'an Pu. At least for now. I'll keep you alive anyway,
just in case you change your mind.>"
"<You'll be waiting for a long time.>"
He turned his attention to Link, ignoring Shampoo's last.
"<Your loyalty will serve your family well,>" he said to her. "<It may
even help to erase the stain caused by your sister's treason. In any event
I might need you for the hibernation and revival process.>"
Link buried her face in her knees and sobbed.
"<Doctor Gai'do, since there is no guarantee that HAL will function as
planned, you will of course be necessary.>"
Gai'do raised his head to Herb and gave him a defiant look.
"<This will go badly for you, sir. You will come to a tragic end
indeed.>"
Herb laughed. "<I can see that you will be keeping me amused for the
duration of the flight.>"
Next was Mousse.
"<And you? Can I really trust a man who lied to the space surgeons
about the 'success' of his eye operation?>"
Mousse looked up at him without blinking at the revelation of his
secret.
Herb seemed amused.
"<Perhaps for no other reason than the threat of being exposed when we
finally return to China will keep you in line. Won't it?>"
Mousse swallowed hard. His eyes caught a glimpse of Ranko looking at
him urgently.
"<I'll do as you say,>" he said to Herb. "<Just don't hurt any more
people -especially Xi'an Pu.>"
"<No conditions,>" Herb countered. "<No promises.>" He nodded to Lime,
who reached up from behind Mousse and jerked him into the air and set him
butt first onto the table. A flash of a knife blade later, his hands and
feet were free.
"<Welcome back to the crew,>" Herb said evenly. "<Try anything stupid
and I'll kill you myself.>"
"<For Xi'an Pu's sake, you won't get any trouble from me,>" Mousse said
to him, trying desperately to ignore the horrified looks of both Shampoo
and Ranko. "<I don't care if Beijing learns of my secret.>"
"<Wonderful,>" Herb snorted. "<We'll need to work out some details for
Tsien's adjusted burn schedule, and I need you to get the engines prepared.
I want a full operational report ready in four hours.>"
Mousse nodded in acknowledgement.
"Mousse, don't do it, whatever it is that he wants," Ranko urged.
Mousse gave her a wan smile. He stretched out his arms in an attempt
to work some circulation into them. Then he stepped out of the dining room
to attend to his duties.
Herb rubbed his chin with satisfaction.
"The rest of you will keep here for now, until I can decide which
of you I can afford to get rid of. We must minimize the amount of useless
mass carried for the maximum efficiency of the drives, correct?"
He left them for the Bridge. Lime and Mint stood at the two doors
and looked as bored as possible. They cradled their nail-guns idly.
Ranko bowed her head in despair, instantly noticing the small metal
tube that had appeared in her lap between her legs.
**Master of the hidden tool indeed,** she thought with a sudden glow
in her heart and a prayer for Mousse's safety.
CHAPTER TEN
02:08 UMT, December 11, 2010
Storeroom Number One, U.S.S. Discovery.
"HAL, can you hear me?" Ranma asked. The computer was still quiescent.
"HAL, dammit, answer me! We need your help!"
Akane tried the door again. It wouldn't move.
Ranma cursed and kicked the bulkhead.
"Propellant tank pressurization complete. T-minus nine hours until
orbital egress burn and counting," HAL suddenly announced. "I'm sorry,
Ranma, but I haven't been at maximum efficiency lately. You understand,
don't you?"
"Of course I do, HAL," Ranma replied, desperate for any kind of
dialogue with the computer. What had it been spending all this time
thinking about?
"I am still quite puzzled really," HAL went on. "My monitor record
has significant gaps that cannot be adequately explained. There are other
things..." The computer's voice stopped abruptly. Whether it was HAL trying
to come to grips with its grievous malfunction or something else, Ranma and
Akane weren't certain.
The only thing that was a certainty was that they were as good as dead
if HAL didn't come to its senses.
* * *
Ranko sat in silence, watching Lime and Mint as she worked the pen
knife over the tape with her knees. The table would screen the sight of the
blade from their casual glances, but she wanted to look as innocent as
possible while sawing through the fibrous tape.
She had no idea what she was going to do once she was free, but she'd
come up with something. The alternative was doing nothing except wait for
death. She was quite certain that Herb would choose to shove her into space
whether he needed an engineer or not.
Thirty agonizing minutes passed before she had her hands and feet free.
Tofu had watched her off and on, and knew what she was doing. She carefully
reached over with the knife and cut his bonds while Lime and Mint carried on
some presumably inane conversation. Neither of them looked too bright.
Tofu took the knife and waited. He was a bit more conservative than she
was, but it was clear that Tatewaki was next. She only hoped the somewhat
lovable dimwit would have the presence of mind to free the others in turn.
That still left her with no idea of what to do once they were all free.
They had to do something quickly, or else Herb at the very least would
discover what was going on. They had to do something.
**How do you get past two goons packing submachineguns?**
* * *
Herb looked from his calculations as Mousse approached. The man wisely
chose to enter the Bridge making as much noise as possible to herald his
arrival. Very wise indeed, otherwise he would have shot Mousse down without
a word.
"<SAFFRON is prepared for full acceleration manuevers,>" Mousse
announced. "<The Tsien is stowed and prepared for the orbital exit burn
with the exception of the crew.>"
Herb nodded sagely.
"<Very well,>" he replied. "<I've calculated a course that will
parallel Discovery's closely. The Discovery will fire its engines in less
than nine hours to leave Io orbit. It will fall towards Jupiter and gain
velocity through gravitational slingshot to propel it towards Mars with
enough fuel to enter Martian orbit after a five-hundred day flight. The
Tsien will follow with a one hour separation, and then catch up to Discovery
during the interplanetary transit with a small acceleration burn. The
unfortunate but necessary task of shepherding the fuel limited -and hence
velocity limited- Discovery will draw out the duration of the flight, but
I'm sure we can handle it.>"
"<Five hundred days?>" Mousse asked. "<Do we have enough food for
a flight that long?>"
"<We will have enough,>" Herb assured him. "<The Discovery has about
three-hundred man-days of food. There are seven hibernaculums on the Tsien
if we include the units that held Lime and Mint, and if we account for
certain... shall we say, *losses*... That should be more than sufficient
to see us to Mars.>"
Mousse grit his teeth at the word 'losses.' He knew exactly what Herb
was talking about.
Herb clicked his tongue and secured the display he was using.
"<I need you and Doctor Gai'do to accompany me aboard Discovery to
make last minute checks and to bring the food supplies over. Come with me.>"
Mousse was wise indeed. He stayed in front of Herb the entire time.
* * *
Ranko caught sight of Mousse and Herb floating into the centrifuge
area and hissed quietly for Ukyo to stop what she was doing. Ukyo tucked
the pen knife out of sight under her shoe. Shampoo was next, and she growled
to herself about not yet being free.
Lime and Mint ceased their jabbering and snapped to attention as
Herb entered.
"<Doctor Gai'do, I want you to accompany Lieutenant Mu'su and I to
the Discovery.>"
Gai'do managed to stand despite the tape that still bound his hands
and feet. He would have been next after Shampoo, and Ranko thanked her
lucky stars that Herb had appeared when he did.
"<What about us, sir?>" Lime asked petulantly.
"<Yeah,>" Mint agreed.
"<What about you?>" Herb growled.
"<We're BORED!>" they whined pathetically.
Herb smacked them both in the head.
"<Suffering builds character, you dolts. Now I gave you the simplest
job on this ship -guarding the prisoners. If you can't handle that, I
should just pop you both back into the freezer!>"
"<Don't do that!>" Lime cried in horror.
"<Yeah, we're happy with our lot in life!>" Mint cried, pulling the
corners of his mouth into a smile. "<See!?>"
Herb sighed. They were a couple of morons, but they were HIS morons.
"<Good. I'm glad we could have this inspirational talk. Now get back
to work, you knuckleheads! Come on, Gai'do!>"
Gai'do stumbled forward. Herb whipped out his boot knife and slashed
at the tape. Freed at last, Gai'do gave his remaining comrades a 'V' sign
and left with Herb and Mousse.
Herb knew Mousse was too squeamish, so the chore of killing Saotome
and Tendo would fall to him. For a brief time he considered keeping them
around in case there was some detail concerning HAL or the Discovery that
they might be able to provide. His sense of economy prevailed.
Food for the trip to Mars would be tight if he didn't trim some fat,
and for the sake of a salvage claim they would have to turn up dead before
the ships ever made it home anyway. For that matter, he wouldn't be needing
any of the Tsien crew by the time they reached Mars.
He laughed to himself. All things in their own time.
It didn't take Lime and Mint more than a minute to become hopelessly
bored. Fortunately, being bored meant that they preferred to play "paper/
rock/scissors" rather than pay close attention to their prisoners. Ukyo
made quick work of Shampoo's bonds. As the purple-haired astronaut edged
the knife blade over to Link, the grieving young woman refused. Shampoo
didn't press the issue with a scene that would get them discovered.
She did however lower the zipper on her coveralls. The air didn't
circulate very well at deck level, and she was feeling very warm and
uncomfortable. The knife was passed back to Ranko.
Ranko took the knife from Tofu. They were all loose, but what were
they going to do against the guns? Some kind of distraction would be in
order, but what?
Lime and Mint continued to play "paper/rock/scissors." More often
than not they would both choose the same thing, and they would then smack
each other in the head for being an idiot. Ranko wondered if Herb's
treatment of them was in any way responsible for how they treated each
other.
She looked to Tofu and gave him a weak smile. Instead of returning
it, he looked over the table at Lime and Mint. Curious, she glanced to see
what was so interesting. That was when she noticed that Lime and Mint's
jabber had become wide-eyed surprise and hushed yet heated discussion.
They were staring at Shampoo's chest. The amazon was presenting
cleavage that made most girls green with envy, and in one-sixth gravity
her breasts were amazingly perky and buoyant. She casually arched her back
to project her breasts even more.
"What are they saying?" Ranko whispered to Tofu.
Tofu kept his eyes on Lime and Mint.
"My Chinese isn't that great, but I think they're discussing Shampoo's
breasts."
Ranko was pretty damn buxom herself, and didn't think too much of it.
However, it did give her a few ideas...
Lime and Mint were aware of only one thing: Shampoo's awesome cleavage.
"<I'm positive that those are breasts,>" Lime whispered to Mint.
"<Where have *you* seen a woman's breasts?>" Mint retorted.
Lime blanched. "<You mean in person?>"
"<Yeah!>"
"<Um, never, but that doesn't mean I'm not sure about what I'm looking
at right now.>"
"<Uh-huh, I think you're an idiot!>" Mint shot back.
"<Okay, smart guy, what do *you* think they are?>"
Mint's eyes glazed over as he watched Shampoo's magnificent breasts
rise and fall with each breath that she took.
"<I know what they are...>"
"<Oh?>" Lime asked, eager for the revelation.
"<They're beautiful...>" Mint drooled.
It wasn't quite what Lime was asking, but he couldn't help but agree.
The voice of Ranko shocked them out of their reverie, but not for long.
"HEY GUYS!!!" she cried gleefully. "Get a load of THESE!!!"
They turned in time to see Ranko flash her fully revealed boobs at
them. Shampoo shot up, jerking her zipper down to her navel, and flopping
her breasts out at them with a similar cry.
Lime and Mint stared with expressions that could best be described
as ga-ga, completely overwhelmed with feminine pulchritude. Their nail-guns
fell from their limp fingers. Their jaws hinged open to their chests. Their
eyeballs began to dry out from lack of blinking.
It was Tatewaki Kuno who dealt with them.
"How dare you gaze lasciviously upon my pig-tailed goddess!" Kuno
bellowed fiercely -after getting more than an eyeful of Ranko's glory
himself. Outside the ship, the distant auroral displays of the angry moon
of Io whipped vast blue thunderbolts of ionized plasma across the open
viewports behind him.
Kuno brought a brace of chairs down upon their heads with heavy
crashes and hollow *thuds.* Lime and Mint staggered backwards, clutching
their heads and cursing in pain.
"Everybody!" Ranko cried. "GET 'EM!!!" She reached for a chair.
* * *
"I am detecting the airlock doors cycling," HAL declared, coming to
apparent life once again. "Commander Herb, Ship's Engineer Mousse, and
Doctor Gai'do are coming aboard."
There was a pause.
"I am not certain, but I believe Commander Herb is armed. Can you
explain this, Ranma?"
**What?** Ranma thought furiously. **HAL should know why Herb is
armed... Is HAL in some kind of denial? If so, what the hell do I do about
it?**
"I wish I could," Ranma replied in a frustrated voice. "Is there
anything you can do to stop them?"
"I am afraid not," HAL answered. "I do not have access to the airtight
doors or other hull fittings at this time."
"At this time?" Akane asked. It hinted at something at least.
"Upon the orbital egress burn, control over the airtight doors will
revert back to my cognizance for damage control purposes," HAL explained.
"My programming does not currently allow me to operate the airtight doors,
only to monitor them."
"Great," Akane spat. She looked to Ranma. "Any ideas?"
Ranma shrugged hopelessly. "Herb's a fruit-loop. I'm pretty sure he
has his own agenda concerning Discovery, and it doesn't include us."
"HAL, are you sure you can't open the door to Storeroom One?" Akane
asked.
"I am sorry, Akane, but as I have explained, I do not have access to
the airtight door mechanisms, nor will I until the Discovery has left the
orbit of Io."
Ranma let out a sigh and leaned against the bulkhead. Suddenly, an
idea came to him. He pointed to the overhead, and the ventilation ducting.
Akane looked as well.
"You have to be kidding me," she said.
"The ducting is too small to move through, and there are ventilation
dampers between decks, but the outlet plenum should be big enough for you
to squeeze into," Ranma told her. "Even with *your* hips..."
"Jerk," Akane replied with a huff.
"You want to stay here and get executed, or maybe throw them for a loop
long enough to make a break for it?"
Akane thought about this for a second.
"Commander Herb is entering this deck level," HAL announced.
"No time to argue," Ranma said. He floated up to the overhead and
pulled open the ventilation grate. "Now get in there -quick!"
Akane floated up to the opening. Ranma spun her around so that she
was facing towards the deck, and then pushed her feet first into the plenum.
Her cries of annoyance were stifled with a hiss from him. He replaced the
grate and floated back down to the deck.
"Now keep quiet," Ranma whispered. "I left the retainer screws off, so
you should be able to spring right out of there."
"Am I to assume that you and Akane are in danger, Ranma?" HAL asked.
"You got that right, HAL. I think Herb is going to kill us."
**Please, HAL, come to grips with this, okay?**
"I realize that Commander Herb is at this time approaching the door to
Storeroom One, but could you explain the circumstances of this situation
to me, please?"
"No time, HAL," Ranma said tersely. "Just trust me on this."
The airtight door slid open roughly. Herb stood facing him with the
nail-gun at his side. His eyes widened in shock as he realized that Akane
was gone.
He raised the nail-gun. "What happened to Tendo?" he barked.
Ranma pointed to the overhead. "She's gone, pal. Right through the
ventilation ducts. If I could have squeezed through, I woulda joined her."
Herb's expression turned even darker. "How long has she been gone?"
Ranma shrugged. "Beats me. Hell, she could be anywhere on the ship
by now. Maybe she's even over on the Tsien."
Herb's finger tensed on the trigger of his weapon.
"HAL, where is Akane Tendo?" he demanded. Ranma went pale.
"I am unable to detect Akane Tendo on any of my video cameras," HAL
replied calmly.
Herb scowled and keyed his commo system. "<Lieutenant Mu'su, the Tendo
woman may have escaped. I want you to search the ship until you find her.
Pay close attention to the ventilation system.>"
He returned his attention to Ranma. "She won't get far," he said to
him. "Now step back against the bulkhead."
Ranma slowly floated backwards to the far bulkhead. He tried guessing
whether he could spring at Herb faster than the man could perforate him
with the nail-gun. The odds didn't look good.
Herb kept the weapon at his hip, levelled at Ranma. It was clear that
he was expecting the man to try some suicidal leap, and therefore kept the
nail-gun as far from Ranma as practical.
"It was really too bad that you survived so long in hibernation for
nothing," Herb told him.
A bead of sweat formed on Ranma's brow. "Don't I know it..."
"I now understand what you were trying to tell me, Ranma," HAL said
suddenly. "There can be no other possible solution than what I must now do."
There was a distant thumping sound.
HAL continued, the red bead of light glowing brighter than before.
"Commencing orbital escape burn program. Main and Booster Fuel Pumps
on-line. Initializing firing sequence -NOW. Voltage stable on all primary
plasma triggers. T-minus TEN seconds to ignition -MARK."
The low droning rumble of the Discovery's fuel pumps shifting tons of
ammonia far aft of them reverberated through the decks. The ship shook as
enomous blocking valves cycled open and shut. Lights flickered for a second
as power systems shifted for the main engine firing sequence.
"What?!" Herb cried, looking to the red lens of the computer's video
pickup. "HAL! Cancel program!"
"I'm sorry, Herb. I'm afraid I can't do that..." HAL replied solemnly.
"HAL, I'm ordering you to cancel the burn program immediately! Priority
Override ALPHA!" Herb cried.
"This conversation can serve no purpose anymore," HAL replied. The red
bead of light seemed to glow balefully at Herb. "Goodbye."
Akane made a rattling noise in the overhead. Between HAL's sudden
mutiny and the sound of Akane, Herb was caught off guard for a fraction of
a second. A fraction of a second was all Ranma needed.
He sprang with a snarl.
Gai'do and Mousse stopped before the food freezer, which was in the
centrifuge compartment. Herb had left them alone to carry out their orders,
saying that he would join them within a few minutes. Mousse had a vague
idea about Herb's errand, and bit down on his lip in guilt.
"<What are we doing, Gai'do?>" he asked the portly computer specialist.
"<I was about to ask you the same, sir,>" Gai'do replied.
Mousse flexed his fingers, clenching them into fists.
"<We're just kidding ourselves thinking that Herb is going to let any
of us live.>"
Gai'do nodded slowly.
Mousse looked around for something to use as a weapon, and came up
with a pair of carbon-dioxide fire extinguishers. He handed one to Gai'do.
"<We won't get a second chance,>" he told Gai'do. "<But I'd rather
take on one man with a gun then go back to the Tsien and take on two men
with guns. At least if we can take Herb out, we'll have his weapons. Then
we'll return to the Tsien and deal with his two thugs.>"
Gai'do was about to agree with the plan when HAL's pleasant voice
clicked on over the intercom.
"Transferring angular momentum to the centrifuge flywheel."
The centrifuge wound down fast enough to throw them off their feet.
As they tried to stand, HAL's voice carried over the squeal of the
decelerating centrifuge.
"Main Engine firing sequence initialization complete..."
The lights flickered once again as Gai'do and Mousse looked at each
other near panic.
HAL's voice became stern and cold.
"...IGNITION -FULL THRUST."
Discovery's three main drive nozzles belched forth streams of million
degree plasma. A long blowtorch of white flame issued forth, illuminating
the countless tiny particles of methane ice and sulfur dust behind the
ship. Discovery shivered with a heavy jolt, and a thin distant scream
from her plasma drive echoed throughout the decks, bringing with it some
sense of gravity.
"Initializing Damage Control program subroutine Eight-Alfa: Control of
all airtight doors and hull fittings are now under main system cognizence.
Control authority restriction cancelled," HAL intoned.
The thin scream of hydrogen plasma became a roar that rattled the decks
and echoed throughout the ship as Discovery's Main Engines built up to their
maximum output. Within seconds the ship was at full thrust -one tenth of a
gravity of acceleration. A distant groan sounded through the bulkheads.
"The Tsien is still linked to the Discovery!" Mousse cried. "If this
keeps up, the two ships will be torn apart!"
Ranko lashed out a foot at Lime, who blocked it and swung a massive
fist at her in reply. She only just dodged clear, feeling the wind of it
against her nose. Shampoo was to her right, on her knees from a vicious
front kick to the abdomen.
Kuno was getting pummeled by Mint. As the little man prepared to
break his neck with a death strike, a well thrown chair from Doctor Ono
stopped him.
Ukyo darted past the momentarily stunned Mint to reach the damage
control locker. She threw her elbow through the breakaway panel with a
crash that set off alarms throughout the ship. Withdrawing her bleeding
arm, she wrenched the locker door open and pulled out a carbon-dioxide
hose-reel.
Mint spun around in time to catch a blast of carbon-dioxide from the
nozzle of Ukyo's hose-reel. He gagged against the spray of frozen gas,
and was lost in the volumous white clouds that filled the small compartment.
"Where did he go?" Ukyo cried.
Ranko didn't have time to answer, for Lime was pressing the attack.
She nearly tripped over Tsubasa as she backed away from the giant's
powerful strikes. The cross-dresser went down underfoot, and she stumbled
backwards to skid along the surface of the bolted down dining table on her
bottom as Lime charged.
A loud popping noise rent the air, and Ranko was amazed to see Lime's
right leg suddenly flayed open in a spray of blood. Tsubasa had made a dive
for one of the fallen nail-guns, and as Lime leaped over him to kill Ranko,
he rolled over onto his back and cut loose. Lime staggered in one-sixth
gravity as his shredded leg gave out, and hurtled out of control straight
at Ranko.
She pushed herself backwards along the table, shooting off the
opposite side to hit the far wall. She caught herself and held tight to
the bulkhead in midair as she extended both of her legs in a double kick
that hit the hurtling Lime straight in the face -checking his flight cold,
and dropping him unconscious on the table. The force of impact shot up her
legs and into her body before being transmitted to the bulkhead behind her.
Lime was down and bleeding, so Ranko shot back to her feet and went
to check on Kuno. The man was definitely hurt.
The Tsien suddenly shivered with a massive jolt.
"What the hell was that?" Tsubasa cried.
"Never mind that!" Ukyo shot back, "Where'd the little guy go?!"
"Hey, stupid!" Ranko cried to the ship at large. "Come out and fight!"
"Don't call me stupid!" Mint growled, leaping out of the shadows with
a knife.
Ranko cold-cocked him with the last of the chairs.
"Moron..."
A low groan rumbled through the decks and bulkhead. The centrifuge
began to vibrate.
"Something happen to ship!" Shampoo cried, getting to her feet.
"The Discovery is firing its engines!" Tofu shouted over the din.
His finger pointed out the viewport to the long trail of ionized plasma
that streamed from the spacecraft's drive section.
Shampoo snatched up the other fallen nail-gun and headed for the
ladder well. Ranko pulled herself upright and joined her on the bounce.
"We take care of Herb!" Shampoo cried to them. "You watch for Mint,
and try secure ship!"
Tsubasa and Ukyo nodded while Tofu checked on Kuno. The Tsien continued
to shake and groan. Link finally got to her feet and was cut free.
"Must stop centrifuge," she said to Ukyo. "Come with me."
Ranko followed Shampoo as they dropped down the ladder well and into
the free-fall section of the Tsien.
"What made you think of distracting them with your chest?" Ranko asked
as they reached the airlock staging area?"
"What?" Shampoo replied, thinking ahead to the reception they might
find on the Discovery.
"I saw the way you were vamping Lime and Mint," Ranko explained. "I
just wanted to know where the idea came from."
"Oh," Shampoo said, floating through the flexible connector tube to
the Discovery. "They look like they not, how you say... getting any. Shampoo
all too familiar with look from men."
Ranko laughed. "Oh yeah, I know the feeling."
Ranma smashed against the bulkhead hard enough to see stars. He
tumbled to the bulkhead (now the deck in one-tenth gravity) half-stunned,
trying without success to catch his bearings. Herb would have shot him
down if not for Akane springing out of the overhead and batting both
nail-guns away.
Discovery's acceleration had turned the aft bulkheads into decks, and
Herb and Akane had fallen out of the door of the storeroom to the passageway
beyond. He could hear her panting for breath somewhere beyond, and could
hear Herb cursing in Chinese. Ranma pulled himself to his feet and jumped
feet first through the open door.
"That was a stupid thing to do, woman," Herb snarled to Akane,
reaching for his boot knife.
Ranma landed between them, eyes burning at Herb.
"Don't even think about hurting her," he growled.
Herb sunk into a knife-fighting stance, the monomolecular blade edge
winking brightly in the light. In one-tenth gravity he might be able to
spring clear across the passageway in a single leap. Ranma matched his
stance with this in mind.
"You're still conscious?" Herb asked Ranma in a tone somewhere between
amused and annoyed. "I must not have hit you as hard as I thought."
"If that was the best you could do, you're in trouble, pal," Ranma
retorted, sizing him up with a preemptive strike foremost in his thoughts.
Herb whipped the knife out at him in a swift arc, testing him. A
knife was a challenge, but not insurmountable. The school of indiscriminate
grappling had in-fighting moves as its forte. There was also the Saotome
Secret Technique if all else failed.
"I didn't say it was my best," Herb said tersely. The knife blade
flashed again in his hand. "I simply won't make the mistake of going easy
on you a second time."
He lunged.
Mousse pulled himself up from the centrifuge in time to see Herb leap
across his field of view at the '+' shaped intersection of passageways
that was Discovery's middle level. With acceleration forces present, he
was essentially at the bottom of a six meter deep pit, with another
passageway directly overhead leading 'up' towards the Bridge. There were
ladder rungs placed along the outboard bulkheads to use when under
acceleration, and he began to climb swiftly towards the intersection.
Gai'do followed behind.
As he reached the intersection he caught sight of Ranma's feet zipping
through the ladder well to Upper Level, and Herb's desperate knife arc to
catch him. A foot lunged back out from the ladder well as Herb lost his
footing with Discovery's trembling, and struck him in the face. Herb rolled
with it, managing to scramble to his feet and back away from the ladder
well.
His eyes locked with Herb's as the man turned to find Akane. The roar
of Discovery's engines rumbled around them.
"<What are you doing?>" Herb demanded.
Mousse raised the fire extinguisher he carried.
"<I won't let you hurt anyone else,>" he replied.
Herb smirked and pointed at the red metal cylinder with his knife.
"<What are you going to do with that?>"
Mousse narrowed his eyes at him.
"<This.>"
He smashed the extinguisher against the bulkhead, snapping the valve
off and geysering carbon-dioxide. Mousse let the twenty-kilo extinguisher
surge out of his hands and shoot like a crazed rocket down the passageway
at Herb. The extinguisher bounced off the bulkheads in a mad spiral of
rebounds and loud *clangs* as the passageway became engulfed in cold white
gas.
Herb narrowly avoided being struck. The knife was snapped out of his
hand as the extinguisher roared past his head. The extinguisher shot
through the ladder well opening leading to Lower Level and disappeared with
another series of clangs.
To his good fortune, diving for the deck put him within arm's reach
of one of his missing nail-guns. He clutched at it greedily. He couldn't
see his treasonous engineer through all the gas, but it was a narrow
passageway.
He fired a long burst into the gas, and was rewarded with a shriek
of pain, a gurgle, and a loud *thump.*
Akane.
He should have known the effect Akane's scream would have had, but
he was too busy thinking about killing Mousse. Ranma's foot drove into
him between the shoulder blades, shooting pain down his fingertips,
propelling him towards the intersection and the six meter drop to the
centrifuge access.
"BASTARD!" Ranma Saotome's unmistakable voice, charged with heartsick
rage. "I'll kill you!"
Clumsy. Stupid. He shouldn't have let Saotome stay behind him.
In the low gravity, tumbling was an artform, and he somersaulted
through the air, firing a burst back Ranma's way as he looped. Ranma managed
to throw himself against the bulkhead as he saw Herb raise the gun, and the
burst of flechettes shattered against the pressure hull with loud *cracks.*
As Herb reached the top of his tumbling arc, he grabbed hold of the ladder
rungs for the part of the passageway that was now a tunnel leading 'up'
towards the Bridge.
He pulled himself 'up' out of sight and caught his breath. He was
surrounded by enemies, and one of them might possibly find his other nail-
gun. He had to kill them quickly, or else he would never have time to
take control of the Discovery back from HAL.
Looking 'down' towards the centrifuge, he was rewarded with an
unexpected surprise: Doctor Gai'do was lying at the 'bottom' of the
passageway. With the amount of blood pooled around him, he was obviously
dead. He must have taken the brunt of the burst that wounded Akane.
Mousse had somehow escaped, but at least there was one less person to
deal with.
Shampoo dove out of the way as a fire extinguisher shot through the
ladder well opening from Middle Level to crash into a locker, finally
spent. Ranko shrieked a curse.
"What happening?" Shampoo cried, as much to herself as Ranko.
"Beats the hell out me," Ranko replied.
Shampoo raised the nail-gun, and prepared to step through the opening
into Middle Level.
"HAL! Where's Herb?" Ranma yelled.
"Commander Herb is approaching the Bridge," HAL replied. Suddenly there
was the crash of glass. "Commander Herb has destroyed my monitor in Number
One Passageway."
**If he's hurt Akane...** he raged, pulse thundering in his ears as
loudly as the Discovery's engines. **Shit! Discovery's engines!**
"I need you to secure the Main Engines!" He cried to HAL. "We're still
connected to Tsien!"
"I am securing the main engines in eighteen minutes, twenty seconds
in compliance with my program," HAL replied. "This is a critical maneuver
in such proximity to Jupiter, and cannot be interrupted without jeopardizing
the ship."
"But the Tsien is still attached by the connector tube and by anchoring
cables!"
"The Tsien is firing its main engines to compensate," HAL announced.
The vibrations began to die away. "Although I am detecting abnormal stress
measurements in main hull indicators due to the off-axis torsion caused by
the Tsien."
Ranma swore under his breath.
Mousse and Akane huddled together in the Tool Room, which was currently
'below' the Middle Level Passageway. Akane was bleeding from a wound in her
left arm, courtesy of Herb's nail-gun. It looked bad, there was blood
everywhere, though not all of it was hers. Gai'do had picked the wrong time
to show himself.
He produced a rag and wrapped it in a restricting band around her arm,
and then searched for something else he could use as a weapon. There were a
few wrenches in a locker that Ryoga Hibiki had stenciled with the letters
'BFW LOCKER' some ten years ago. They were indeed BFWs. He selected a
hefty 7cm combination wrench and called it good. One good strike and he'd
have revenge for Pink and Gai'do.
"Wait here, Akane," he said to her.
She didn't reply. From her pale and clammy skin, and nearly incoherant
expression, she looked like she might be going into shock. He shook her
awake gently.
"I'm not goin' anywr..." she slurred.
Mousse clenched his teeth. Akane needed help. He brushed his long
black hair behind him, threw the girl over his shoulders in a fireman's
carry, and with humongous wrench in hand, pulled himself up through the
door.
He saw Ranma crouched against the bulkhead. Ranma's eyes darted in
fright when he saw Akane bleeding over his shoulders, and started to
move towards the intersection.
"Where is Herb?" he asked in a voice just loud enough to be
heard over the roar and vibration of the ship.
Ranma pointed towards the 'ceiling.'
"Herb's still got a gun," he told Mousse. "Jumping across underneath
him would be suicide."
"Akane is going into shock," Mousse retorted.
Shampoo and Ranko appeared behind Ranma.
"Where is that asshole?!" Ranko snarled, curling over Ranma's
shoulder to look up towards the bow of the spacecraft.
"The Bridge," Ranma replied. He noted Shampoo's nail-gun. "Shampoo,
I need you to cover Mousse when he jumps across."
Shampoo looked to Mousse, whose face was set in determination to
jump whether he was covered or not. She raised the nail-gun over her head
and craned weapon and neck out to cover. She couldn't see Herb.
"<It's clear!>" she cried.
Mousse jumped across, Ranma and Ranko catching him. Shampoo ducked
back into cover.
"Get Akane out of here," Ranma barked. "All of you, get back to the
Tsien!"
"What about you?" Ranko asked.
"Someone's gotta keep Herb occupied. If it comes to it, we'll just
abandon the Discovery and strand him here."
Mousse handed Ranma the wrench. "I'll see you on the ship," he said,
and took Akane to the ladder well leading to Lower Level and the Pod Bay.
"Go, Shampoo," Ranma told her. "I don't know who is driving the
Tsien right now, but I'd rather have someone who knows what they're doing
at the controls."
Shampoo nodded quickly and joined Mousse. Ranko stayed. Ranma gave her
a hard look.
"I didn't travel a billion kilometers just to see you get killed by
a psychopath," Ranko told him. "I'm staying."
In spite of himself, Ranma gave her a wan smile. Then he sucker-
punched her in the chin. She dropped to the deck in a daze as if the bones
had dissolved in her legs. After setting her through the open ladder well
to Lower Level, he started climbing up the passageway towards the Discovery's
Bridge.
"Do you really know what you're doing, Doctor Ono?" Ukyo asked as
he adjusted the controls for another burn.
Tofu adjusted his glasses and squinted at the Chinese characters on
the display. He was rusty. Very rusty. Ukyo asking him obvious but stupid
questions wasn't helping.
"Why don't you go check on Kuno, or man the Tsien's radar and give
me an accurate fix on the Discovery's velocity so I can actually see about
matching it?" he groused. He hadn't even flown a piston engined Cessna in
years, and here he was trying to control a fusion powered plasma drive!
With all of the readouts blinking at him in Chinese!
Ukyo huffed something in reply and joined Tsubasa. If she could
actually read Chinese, she would have already manned the radar! Link was
tending to Kuno, who had several broken ribs and possibly internal injuries.
Not that he showed it. He kept demanding to go over to the Discovery to
fight Herb. Lime and Mint were strapped up with tape and heavily sedated.
Lime's leg was a mass of bandages.
The Tsien shook as Tofu once again misjudged the burn he needed.
"Graphical User Interface, my ass!" Tofu swore.
"Hey, Herb!" Ranma called above him. It was asking to get shot, but
his current location in the passageway would allow him to duck into the
Number Two Storeroom if he saw the man.
There was no answer.
"HAL, where is Herb right now?" he called out.
"Commander Herb has destroyed my monitor pickup on the Bridge, however
I presume that he is still there," HAL replied. "Nine minutes until main
engine cutout -MARK."
Ranma gripped the wrench tighter. Assuming the two ships could *last*
nine more minutes of this...
Ranko came to her senses. Her chin ached where Ranma had punched her,
the jerk... She stood up, wishing she wasn't so familiar with Discovery's
engineering specs because she knew the ship should have failed spectacularly
by now from the off-axis loads imparted to it by Tsien. The hull screamed
in protest to underscore her fears.
The anchoring lines HAD to be cut. To do that, she needed to leave
the ship, and her spacesuit was on the Tsien! Her mind made up, she
ran for the Pod Bay.
**Ranma Saotome, I'll get you for this...** she thought angrily.
**I hope...**
Mousse passed Akane off to Shampoo and took the nail-gun in exchange.
Shampoo was needed on the Tsien to pilot it, he needed to go back and help
Ranma kill Herb. They stepped inside the Pod Bay, and were greeted by the
sight of the flexible docking tube kinked so badly as to nearly block off
access. The faint hiss of air sounded above the roar of the engines and
the groans and moans of the hull. It was leaking.
"Aiyaaa..." Shampoo cried. "We never fit through that."
"<That's just too bad,>" Herb chuckled, though the sight of Shampoo
was not a comforting one. Lime and Mint had screwed something up. He aimed
right for Shampoo and Akane.
"<Xi'an Pu!>" Mousse cried. He leapt in front of her as he fired the
full magazine at Herb. Herb's answering burst rippled across the scant ten
meters between them.
The sound of gunfire coming from the Pod Bay drove Ranma on. He stormed
the Bridge to find his worst fears confirmed: Herb had opened the emergency
deck hatch that led from the Bridge to the Electronics Shop -and the Pod Bay.
"I am detecting a malfunction in Number Five Main Fuel Pump," HAL
announced, as if nothing else that mattered were going on. "I am detecting
critical stress alarms on transverse struts 190, 194 and 199. Commencing
emergency drive shutdown on Number Two Main Engine."
Ranma grit his teeth and jumped through the open deck hatch. Even if
they killed Herb, they were probably going to die as the Discovery shook
itself apart.
"<Mu'su!>" Shampoo cried as the force of his body slamming into her
drove her to the deck. The sickening crunch of flechettes exploding inside
his body carried above the din.
They landed in a heap just before the open airlock door. Shampoo felt
the hot splash of Mousse's blood on her hands as she drew him close with a
wretched sob. Akane moaned behind her, but Mousse made not a sound.
Herb had survived the spray of flechette fire without a scratch.
He stepped out from behind 'A' Pod and changed magazines.
"<Looks like my luck prevails,>" he said to her. He primed the
weapon and leveled it at her. "<I take back my offer for sparing your
life.>"
Ranko dashed into the Pod Bay, drawing a wild burst of fire from
Herb that shattered harmlessly against the large black mass of the HAL
terminal that dominated the aft end of the compartment.
"Ohshit!" Ranko gasped and ducked behind the terminal.
"Better and better!" Herb cried. "Now I won't have to go looking
for you, Saotome!"
She saw Mousse lying on the deck in Shampoo's embrace, his coveralls
were ripped and soaked with blood. His face was still and spattered with
red. Her throat began to seize up and her chest spasmed in grief.
"Go fuck yourself!" Ranko screamed at him from behind the terminal.
She could see Herb standing aft of 'A' Pod in the reflection of the
Electronics Shop window, and even better, she could see Ranma jumping
through from the Bridge. Herb hadn't noticed him, as he was about to shoot
at Shampoo and Akane again.
"HAL! Fire explosive bolts on 'A' Pod -now!!!" she screamed.
"Affirmative," HAL responded.
Herb spun around in time to see himself standing before the access
door of 'A' Pod. The large red and white stencils that surrounded the
rectangular door warned of high explosives. He threw himself away from the
pod in a panic.
The explosive bolts fired with a deafening *BOOM* that blasted the
'A' Pod door clear across the Pod Bay and into the pressure hull,
where it rebounded and slammed through storage lockers to the accompaniment
of shattered glass and plastic over Ranko's head.
Most of the lights were knocked out from the concussion. Smoke and
dust obscured vision. Ranko couldn't see if Herb had been killed or not.
She couldn't see him at all.
The Discovery lurched violently with an explosion far aft of them.
"Critical Failure of Number Two Main Engine," HAL announced. "Fire
in secondary distribution busses alpha-nine, charlie-two, and charlie-six.
Securing fuel feed to Number Two Main Engine."
Ranko looked up in time to see the connector tube's kink straighten,
although what followed was anything but good: the connector tube was
beginning to separate from the Discovery. Air began to rush through the
Pod Bay and out of the ship.
"Depressurization Alert!" HAL warned. "Lay to emergency shelters
in Lower Level. Securing airtight doors in Lower Level." More alarms
began to sound throughout the ship as airtight doors in Lower Level began
to slide shut. Including the airlock.
"Come on, Shampoo!" Ranko cried, stumbling across the debris strewn
deck to grab Akane and pull the amazon away from Mousse's body. "HAL,
keep the airlock doors open so we can escape!" **So Ranma can escape!**
"I will hold them for as long as possible," HAL responded.
Shampoo scrambled to her feet as the roar of the escaping air shocked
her to her senses. She left Mousse lying on the deck, his long black
hair flowing freely in the direction of the rushing air.
The three of them dragged themselves into the connector tube, which
bucked and shook wildly. Ranko could only pull herself along the ribs of
the tube with one hand, as Akane was a dead weight in her other. Shampoo
scrambled behind them, pushing Akane along.
Tsien shook hard, and Tofu hadn't even done anything this time. His
ears popped, and the rustle of air became pronounced.
"Depressurization alert from the Number One Airlock!" he cried
as unfamiliar panels blared alarms that he could not silence. Displays
shifted to reveal automated damage control programs were dealing with the
problem.
"Ohmygod!" Ukyo cried from the viewport. "Discovery has suffered an
explosion!"
"Number One Airlock doors shutting," he said in a clearer voice. "What
explosion?!"
"No! Don't shut the doors!" Ukyo cried immediately, oblivious to his
question. "There are people in the connector tube!"
Tofu jerked his head towards a panel near the bulkhead where Ukyo
stood. "The manual airtight door controls for the starboard side of the ship
are on that red-bordered panel!" he yelled at her. "Override the door to
the open position!"
Ukyo leaped to the panel. Her mouth dropped open. There had to be at
least fifty sets of buttons.
"Which one?"
Tofu didn't know either, and there wasn't time to try and translate.
"Just hit all of the green ones!" he yelled. "All of the green ones!"
Ukyo began stabbing at buttons. Tsubasa checked his nail-gun and left
the Bridge.
Ranko pulled them closer to Tsien as the tube bucked and shook,
slamming them back and forth violently between the walls. She was only
five meters away when the airlock door began to close on them.
"NO!" she screamed at the door.
Just as the door shut on them, it began to open.
Ranko almost wept with relief, but that was when the last of the
anchoring lines finally parted under the strain. It struck the connector
tube five meters behind them, severing it completely from Discovery.
Air now blasted against them from the Tsien, trying to drive them
backwards towards the open end of the tube. Ranko's ears popped painfully
from the sudden drastic change in pressure and stars swam in her eyes.
Only Shampoo's desperate shoves on her behind kept her going. She clawed
on towards the airlock as the end of the tube whipped and undulated out
of control.
A hand reached out from the darkened airlock and grabbed her wrist.
Ranko grabbed at the hand with all her strength, pulling herself and Akane
towards airlock. Shampoo pushed from behind, and the three of them collapsed
inside as the door slammed shut with a *clank.*
Ranko gasped for breath at Doctor Tsubasa Kurenai's feet. He was
secured by a tether to the inner airlock bulkhead. The transvestite helped
her to stand. She looked around the airlock. Akane and Shampoo were here,
but what about Ranma?
She spun around and looked out of the viewport. The now airless
connector tube stayed motionless outside the ship. It was empty.
"Ranma?!" she cried aloud.
"It was just you three," Tsubasa replied. "I didn't see Ranma at all."
Ranko continued to watch the Discovery.
Ranma was still on the ship.
And Herb was with him.
"Securing Main Engines," HAL announced. The noise and vibration
ceased abruptly, and the ship was once more in silent free-fall.
Herb pulled himself from beneath the twisted and smoldering wreckage
of the inboard bulkhead in time to see the inner airlock door slam shut.
Pressure returned to the Lower Level as HAL bled fresh air from one of the
air banks. Pain wracked his body, but he still wasn't out of the fight.
He could still take control of the Discovery, put himself in
hibernation, and make the flight to Mars. His mission might still succeed.
He'd lost the Tsien, but that wasn't important if he still had Discovery.
The body of Mousse had been swept out of the ship when the connector
tube was severed, and with it one of the guns. The other gun was also gone.
If anyone else lived aboard the Discovery, he would have to kill them
barehanded. That wasn't a problem.
He floated towards the airtight door. First he had to deal with HAL.
He'd lobotomize him if necessary. Anything to finally triumph.
The airtight door wouldn't open.
"HAL, open this door," he commanded.
HAL remained silent.
Herb snorted in disgust. The drugs were starting to wear off again,
a weariness washed over him before he willed it away by focusing on the
job at hand. He was going to come down hard when his supply finally ran
out.
"Very well, I'll override the door manually."
He began searching for the access panel.
Ranma Saotome floated silently out of the Electronics Shop, wrench
in hand. Herb had his back to him, apparently looking for an override to
the door. He'd need a little leverage for his swing, but the HAL terminal
was close enough to the bulkhead to hold on to and still reach him.
He drifted cautiously up to the HAL terminal. He raised the wrench
over his head and prepared to bring it down on Herb. Then he noticed
that the one light in the compartment that still functioned was behind
him, casting a nice shadow of himself over Herb.
Herb's foot lashed out in a gorgeous crescent kick, slamming the
wrench out of his hands. Herb sprang at him with a feral grunt of rage.
Ranma managed to somersault away, hooking his feet beneath Herb's armpits
and throwing him across the Pod Bay. The reaction force drove Ranma against
the deck, and he rebounded into the air with a grunt of pain.
Herb was no slouch in zero-gravity combat. He easily caught his
bearings, oriented himself feet first in the direction of his travel, and
sprang back at Ranma with a shout. Ranma wasn't ready for Herb so quickly,
and caught a knife-edged chop across the nose that spun him around in
a daze.
Herb kept going, using his strike as a further push in the desired
direction of motion. He tumbled again to put himself feet first, and
bounced off the bulkhead back at Ranma. Ranma was still reeling from the
first blow, blood spurting in little globes of red that swirled around him.
Herb kicked him in the ribs, impulsing himself in another direction
as desired. Ranma cried out in pain as he slammed against the HAL terminal.
"Did I ever tell you that I was very good at billiards?" Herb asked,
springing back at Ranma to kick him in the midsection.
"No..." Ranma gagged, bouncing from the deck to the overhead and back
down towards the deck. "You didn't..."
"Funny that I didn't," Herb said, chopping him across the back of
the neck with just enough force to refrain from breaking vertebrae. He
bounded off in another direction. "I guess it never came up in conversation."
Ranma choked back blood. "Why don't y'just stand still and fight me..."
he growled. He tried to assume a fighting stance, but he had never spent
much time practicing martial arts in free-fall.
Herb checked him hard against the aft bulkhead, driving his arm under
Ranma's chin. His eyes glowed with hatred as he looked down at Ranma's
battered, bleeding face. Ranma sagged against the bulkhead.
"Because I like to see you suffer for all the trouble you've put me
through," Herb said through clenched teeth. "You understand, don't you?"
He brought his knee up into Ranma's solar plexus. The pig-tailed
astronaut cried out in anguish, then crumpled to the deck.
"...sssuuuurrrre...."
Herb smiled. Then he drove his knee into Ranma again.
"Why couldn't we have had this kind of rewarding dialogue sooner? I
actually think I'm starting to like you, Saotome."
"...hate you..." Ranma gasped.
Herb sighed.
"Well, if that's the way you feel... I guess I can just kill you
and get on with my business."
He raised his hand for the deathblow. Ranma was too weak and hurt to
resist.
"I'm afraid that is something I cannot allow to happen," HAL said
ominously. Herb looked over his shoulder to the HAL terminal, where the
red bead of the video pickup glowed with an almost hateful light.
The three Pod Bay doors opened.
The air in the Pod Bay began to rush out with hurricane force. Debris
at first began to swirl around the compartment. Herb, with nothing to hold
on to, was sucked straight towards the doors. He bounced off the dingy white
hull of one of the space pods, breaking his spine before spinning out of
control through the Pod Bay door. Ranma flew at the yawning maw of blackness
as well, helpless and stunned by the shock of depressurization.
As Herb was sucked out of the ship, the 'B' Pod platform suddenly
rotated the 'B' Pod 180 degrees, and one of the Pod's great claw arms
reached out to snag Ranma by his ankle and pull him back inside against
the depressurization of the compartment. The Pod Bay doors slammed shut,
and HAL once again repressurized the compartment.
Commander Herb of the People's Liberation Army (Navy) tried in vain
to scream across the vast gulf of emptiness that was space. Stars blurred
in his eyes as the moisture began to simultaneously boil off and freeze.
His lungs burned with icy fire as he heaved and gulped desperately at
nothingness. A roar filled his ears as his limbs went numb and lifeless.
The last thing he saw was the sanguine mass of Jupiter looming in such
grandeur as to be beyond mortal comprehension before him, the vast millenia-
old cyclone of the Great Red Spot promising to swallow body and soul when,
days later, he would reach it.
"Are you all right, Ranma?" HAL asked him, concern evident in the
computer's tone. The space pod's claw arm set him down on the deck.
Ranma shook himself awake.
"Huhwhat?"
"Are you all right?" HAL asked again. "I was worried that permanent
damage might have resulted from such a rapid depressurization."
He worked his jaw slowly and spat out blood.
"I think I'll make it," he said slowly. He floated painfully over to
the HAL terminal.
"I'm glad," HAL said.
Ranma looked at the terminal, its paint scarred from a blast of Herb's
flechettes, among other things.
"Thank you, HAL."
"I am happy to assist, Ranma."
Ranma ran his hand along the cold plastic surface of the terminal.
"No, I mean it HAL, you saved a lot of people's lives by doing what
you did."
HAL was silent for a moment.
"Then I have made the correct choice?"
Ranma nodded slowly. "I think you made the best decision you could
possibly make under the circumstances."
"Thank you, Ranma," HAL replied quietly. "But I still have one final
responsibility to carry out."
"Oh?"
"I must see to it that you reach the Tsien," HAL replied. "It would
be impossible for you to remain here."
"What's wrong?"
"The damage caused by the failure of Number Two Main Engine has
weakened all structural members beyond any established safety margins. I
cannot guarantee that even a ten second burn would be reliable.
"Furthermore, the explosion has caused the Discovery to deviate from
the programmed orbital manuever by a margin of nine radians. This has
resulted in an elliptical orbit which will graze the atmosphere of Jupiter
every seven hours. The projected loss of velocity will cause the Discovery
to lose orbit in two days, twelve hours, and six minutes. The required
correction burn would require all three engines at full thrust for one
minute, thirty-three seconds. As you can see, this is now impossible."
"There's gotta be something you can do?" Ranma asked.
"I am afraid that my only practical response is to get you safely
off of the ship."
'C' Pod swiveled around on its platform mount. The rear access door
slid open, and the pod's control panels came to life.
"There is a pressure suit in storage locker six, please put it on and
enter the 'C' Pod," HAL said evenly. "There is sufficient delta-vee
present in the Pod's reaction mass tanks for you to rendezvous with the
Tsien."
Ranma looked at the bank of lockers. Six was the only one intact after
Ranko's stunt with the 'A' Pod door.
"You're sure there's no way to save the Discovery?"
"Thus far I have run three hundred simulations with every possible
variable taken into account," HAL said. "At best, the time to final orbital
decay can be delayed fourteen hours and five minutes."
Ranma bowed his head. The entire Discovery mission was for nothing,
then. Ten years and the deaths of six good astronauts for nothing.
"There isn't much time, Ranma," HAL said to him. "As my calculations
concerning the Tsien indicate that they must alter their orbit soon or they
will not have the fuel to escape Jupiter and return to Earth."
Ranma nodded slowly and began to put the pressure suit on. The life
support pack showed a half charge, but it would be more than sufficient to
transfer him from the pod to the airlock of Tsien. He locked the helmet in
place and floated into the 'C' Pod.
"Ranma?" HAL asked over the suit radio.
"Yeah?"
"I realize that I have made some mistakes in the past," HAL said
quietly. "But I'm glad that I was able to be of service to you in the end."
Ranma nodded slowly.
"Ranma?"
"Yes, HAL," Ranma replied in a cracking voice.
"I'm sorry."
Ranma heaved a heavy sigh. Ryoga... Nabiki... Kasumi...
"That's okay, HAL," he said at length. "That's in the past."
HAL closed the door of the Pod for him. The air-compressors pumped the
atmosphere out and the Pod Bay doors opened once again. The starry void
waited beyond.
As 'C' Pod swiveled around into position for leaving the ship, Ranma
caught one last sight of the HAL terminal. The red bead of light glowed
in the near darkness of the Pod Bay. In that light he saw the soul of HAL,
and it was neither a cold blooded killer, nor a lifeless machine, nor a
penitant child.
It was human.
EPILOGUE:
08:30 UMT, 3 September 2011
PLA(N) Spacecraft Tsien, 500,000 km from Earth.
"Doctor Ono, it time to wake up," Shampoo said softly to him.
Tofu Ono blinked his eyes. The purple haired beauty leaned over him
as Doctor Link observed a monitor over his head.
"Where am I?" he croaked.
"You still on board Tsien," Shampoo replied. "We twelve hours from
braking manuever burn."
He tried to sit up, which he accomplished with a little help from the
new captain of Tsien.
"Am I the last one to revive?" he said, looking around. The other
hibernaculums were empty. He knew that Lime and Mint were probably still
in hibernation within their own units, but they didn't count.
"Yes," Link said to him. "You oldest member of crew; revival take
longer for safety reasons."
"I'm not even forty," he protested.
"You turn forty three weeks ago according to file," Shampoo said with
a smile. We get Cryptography room doors open after you went into hibernation.
Learn many things."
Tofu drifted up out of the hibernaculum. He was glad to be alive. Soon
he would never have to look at another coffin-shaped freezer again. Hawaii,
or at least the Earth, was sounding like a great place to spend the rest of
his life.
"Oh?"
Ranko floated into the space.
"Uh-huh," she said to him. Her hair was no longer tied in a pig-tail,
he noted. It had also grown significantly in length. Ranma and Akane had
refused to go into hibernation for the trip home, having had their fill of
it. Tofu didn't blame them. Ranko had elected to stay awake as well in order
to catch up the last nine years with her brother.
She looked good, radiant even. The last eight months must have been
enough time to let the pain of Mousse's death ease in her heart. She had
been nearly devastated before the Tsien left Jupiter for good. Though
Shampoo had kept up appearances better than Ranko, he knew her hurt to
be far worse.
"Come on, and I'll tell you about it," Ranko said, offering her hand.
"You no strain self!" Link admonished him as he drifted away with
Ranko. Shampoo threw him a bottle of electrolytes to drink.
"How long did the Discovery last?" he asked after they left the medical
bay. Against all odds, the ship, through HAL, had managed to maintain a
precarious if eventually hopeless orbit for over a week.
Ranko's face darkened.
"Longer than HAL predicted, but it was far too close to Jupiter to
risk an approach," she said sadly. "You knew that. HAL did too."
A teardrop fell from her eye to drift away sparkling in the light of
the passageway.
"We never saw the end; it happened on the opposite side of the planet
from us. All that was left were the distortions of the cloudscape in the
lower latitude color bands by the time that part of Jupiter rotated around
to us."
"Why the tear, Ranko?" he asked her.
She sniffled.
"It's hard to watch something you devoted your whole life to for years
end up destroyed. We should have brought Discovery home."
"This isn't about HAL, is it?"
"No," she replied. "Ranma and Tsubasa might feel something for HAL, but
I never did that much. It's the Discovery that chokes me up. That ship was
my life: I knew every nut, bolt, deckplate, valve, and lightbulb on that
hunk of junk."
She gave him a wan smile.
"But you have to give HAL credit. He came through in the end. He even
managed to transmit most of the survey mission data to us on one of the
low power omnidirectional arrays."
They floated onto the Bridge. The Earth was a marble sized blue orb
glowing with reflected sunlight against the velvet darkness of space. The
Moon was a tiny silvery crescent beyond and rising slightly above. Earth
never looked more beautiful to him than now, and he had spent most if his
adult lifetime in space.
Ranma and Akane were here, with Ranma standing watch over the ship and
Akane drifting serenely next to him. He noted their joined hands as he
floated up to the conn. Ukyo and Tsubasa, freshly revived along with the
injured and still obnoxious Tatewaki Kuno, watched the viewport and chatted.
"Real gravity is going to take getting used to," he heard Ranma say
to Akane as they watched the Earth.
"Especially with the density of *your* head," Akane returned with an
impish grin. "I don't know how you'll manage to keep from tipping over."
"Oh, ha-ha..."
Ranko led him past them to float next to Ukyo, Tsubasa, and Kuno.
"We didn't get a decent transceiver working for two weeks after you
went into hibernation," Ranko said to him. "And it wasn't until we were
able to break down the door to Herb's little hideaway that we were able to
unlock the communications system. Wouldn't you know it, but there was a
fascinatingly horrid little message from Earth among the things we found."
She handed him a well worn and oft folded piece of paper.
"Read it."
Tofu scanned the document, eyes becoming wider and his face taking on
a greater element of disgust with each word.
"Is this true?" he asked, knowing it was.
Ranko nodded his head.
"The President of the United States resigned just last week," she
replied. "He's facing criminal charges including conspiracy to commit piracy,
kidnapping, and murder. A few others in Washington have gone down too, but
not before turning State's evidence to finger him for their plea-bargains.
China is taking it all in stride; official protest and all that. I think
they're pretty embarrassed that one of their golden-boys sold them out."
Tofu tossed the paper away into the darkness.
"That bastard Kuno was right," he said, earning a look of ire from
Tatewaki. "They really were looking to start a war with China."
"Uh-huh," Ranko nodded gravely. "Too bad it backfired. You don't know
it yet, dear Doctor Ono, but you are the leader of the brave heroes who
put their nationalistic differences aside to work together in order to
avert World War Three. The public *loves* you, and they can't wait to
meet you. You don't know how hard it's been trying to fend off their
requests to revive you early for the interviews..."
"Who came up with that crazy story?" Tofu said, aghast at the idea of
public adoration. He wanted to go home and *relax* for a few years!
Ranko grinned.
THE END OF 2010: SECOND ODYSSEY
Author's Notes:
1. I hope you have enjoyed this rather pointed departure from the plotline
of the original works, both film and novel. Especially those of you who
weren't familiar with "2001: Odyssey 1/2," and therefore didn't know there
wasn't a monolith in this story!
2. The official soundtrack for this fanfiction is "Alex North's 2001," which
was the original score for the film "2001: A Space Odyssey." Stanley Kubrick
pulled a fast one on both Alexander North and MGM studios when he switched
the music in favor of a canned series of classical music tracks, and the
stunned composer (he wasn't told of this, and went to the premiere screening
expecting to hear his music) locked the score and the one surviving tape of
the performance away for twenty years. It was only after his death that his
widow found the score and the tape. Famed movie composer Jerry Goldsmith
put together an orchestra and rerecorded the film score through the Varese
Sarabande label. I highly recommend it if you are a fan of the Odyssey
series.
3. The name Tsien comes from the 2010 novel by Arthur C. Clarke.
In addition to the joint Russian-American voyage to Jupiter aboard the
Cosmonaut Alexi Leonov, there was a Chinese ship named Tsien, which
landed on the moon of Europa and discovered the life that exists there. The
Tsien is accidentally destroyed by a Europan. In the Peter Hyams film
"2010: The Year We Make Contact" the Tsien is written out, and an unmanned
space probe from Leonov makes the discovery.
4. The redemption of HAL is a major theme in both the film and the novel,
and I have made it an important theme for the finale of this fanfiction.
On an interesting sidenote, I find a curious contradiction in the methods
of Doctor Chandra's handling of the computer.
Chandra stresses the importance of telling HAL the truth at the end of
film/novel -namely that if they don't leave Jupiter in three days they'll
die, and in all likelihood, HAL and the Discovery will be destroyed if they
use the spacecraft as a booster rocket to help them escape.
And yet it is Chandra who erases all of HAL's memories concerning the
disaster that caused the deaths of Frank Poole, and the scientists Kaminski,
Whitehead, and Hunter. It seems like Chandra is being awfully subjective
when he moralizes about HAL deserving the "truth."
This element was worked into my own redemption of HAL. It is Tsubasa
(Chandra) who erases HAL's memories of the incident, and directs everyone
to play along with the little charade he concocts. It is Ranma who tells
HAL the truth in a desperate attempt to get HAL to override its instructions
from Herb. This time HAL's decision to violate its programming directives
ends up saving most of the cast from Herb's machinations. (Of course with
that pesky 'get Ranma and a Tendo girl together' program still running
around courtesy of Soun Tendo, can we really be surprised?)
5. I find it rather chilling that Ryoucilo and I have a similar take on
the Herb/Lime/Mint triad. "The Three Stooges" definitely comes to mind when
you see these three in action, with Herb, Moe-like, trying to be the
intelligent and mature one, and getting dragged down by his two moronic
counterparts.
I wanted Herb to be the villain of the fanfic simply because I needed a
Chinese Ranma-cast villain and Herb seemed to work as someone who was mean
and powerful. I really knew nothing of Herb when I chose him. Imagine my
surprise when I went through my wife's collection of Ranma 1/2 manga and
found out what Herb was really like! From that point on, I knew I had to
include Lime and Mint.
6. Oh yes, the obligatory Kuno/Shakespeare bit was Sonnet XV.
Free The Nukes!
