An Accidental Alliance (27 page)

     
While Park fretted, however, Velvet’s repair team was practicing around the clock. For the first time since the trip to Ghelati, Marisea stayed away from Park’s and Iris’s home for more than two days in a row. In the last half a year, in fact, the teen had completely moved into their home, but in the days leading up to the repair mission, Marisea was spending every moment working the simulator and learning every part of the satellite and how it all fit together.

     
On the third evening Iris got concerned and went looking for Marisea only to find her fast asleep on a beat-up couch in the mission control building. She reached out to wake the young Mer up, but someone reached from behind to hold Iris’s arm back. She turned to see who it was.

     
“Shh!” Velvet whispered and gestured down the hall. “Poor thing,” she remarked once they were in the model room where a mock-up of the satellite was still being worked with by some of the rescue team. They looked silly with mock-ups of spacesuit arms on, but working bare-handed would not have been as good for practice. “She’s been working harder than any two of us.”

     
“Hard to believe she’s a teenager, huh?” Iris remarked.

     
“Not really,” Velvet shook her head, “I just wish I still had her stamina. But she’s killing herself, you know.”

     
“I was worried she might be trying to do more than she could,” Iris admitted.

     
“Oh, she’s capable of doing everything she tries,” Velvet laughed, ”but she’s got to realize that sometimes you can work faster if you slow down.”

     
“Have you tried ordering her to take time off?” Iris asked.

     
“I’ve tried hinting,” Velvet replied.

     
“Marisea is a clever and intelligent girl,” Iris smiled, “but if she doesn’t want to hear something, a hint is not going to get her attention. You need to order her to get a full night’s sleep.”

     
“You could do it,” Velvet remarked. “You’re the closest thing she has to a mother.”

     
“I could, but I suspect she would sneak out the window as soon as she thought she could and come right back here,” Iris chuckled tiredly.

     
“She would at that,” Velvet nodded. “And you think I could order her home?”

     
“I think so,” Iris nodded. “Tell her she must take off a minimum of ten hours a day for the next two days before the launch. She’ll complain that’s too much but remind her that leaves her fourteen hours of work, six more than most do.”

     
“We’ve all be working overtime in prep for the mission,” Velvet pointed out.

     
“By now I’m sure you all know that satellite inside and out,” Iris remarked. “Maybe everyone should have enforced time off. You aren’t likely to learn any more about it by now.”

     
“Gaining a bit of muscle memory could make all the difference,” Velvet replied tiredly.

     
“Maybe so, but working in your sleep is generally ill-advised,” Iris retorted.

     
“You have a good point there,” Velvet laughed. “I think that’s what we’re doing right now.”

     
“Learning to push through the fatigue is not a bad idea, but we ought to be as refreshed as possible when we get there, don’t you think?” Iris asked.

     
“Sounds good to me,” Velvet nodded. “Look, why don’t you wait outside while I wake Marisea up?
 
I think it will go better if she thinks it’s my idea.”

     
“Isn’t it?” Iris smirked.

     
“Only in the sense that I have accepted it,” Velvet told her. “However, as far as Marisea will know, I called you here to pick her up.”

     
“That will work,” Iris nodded.

     
“Good,” Velvet agreed. “Then once she’s on her way, I’ll work up a rotating schedule for the rest of us. I’m glad you came by, Iris. We’ve been killing ourselves through over-dedication.”

     
“Yes,” Iris nodded. “Don’t do that. We might need you all again later.”

     
“Heh!” Velvet laughed. “You might need us when we reach orbit.”

     
Park was always disappointed by the feel of the
Hendrick Hudson
as it launched. He had been brought up on the knowledge that going into space involved experiencing an acceleration of several gees as one’s ship roared its way upward from the surface of the earth. In the
Hudson
, however, he felt no more acceleration than he had in the jet that had delivered him to Cleveland Hopkins International.

     
The craft rolled down the long runway and lifted gently from the tarmac and climbed swiftly into the sky. Where the flight differed from that of a commercial jet was that instead of leveling off after a few minutes, the
Hudson
continued upward for the next hour until the sky had turned from blue to night black and they were in orbit. Then, Tina swung the nose of the craft to face a point somewhere away from the Earth and they accelerated again.

     
Mer craft did not need to coast for anything short of interplanetary distances and what in their own day might have been a two day journey, took only eight hours on this trip. “We could have been here sooner,” Tina explained to Park as she brought them to rest relative to the satellite, “but I followed the optimal fuel use guidelines the Mer provided us with.”

     
“I’ve no problem with that,” Park grinned. “I’ve been enjoying the scenery. Velvet,” he called into the ship’s intercom, “time your boys and girls to earn their keep.”

     
“Just suiting up now, Skipper,” Velvet called back.

     
“Skipper?” Park wondered aloud.

     
“Well, you are in charge of this mission, dear,” Iris told him, from the navigator’s seat.

   
  
“Tina’s the ship’s captain,” Park replied.

     
“I am?” Tina asked. “I thought I was the pilot.”

     
“No dear,” Iris corrected him. “You’re captain. Did you think you were just along for the ride?”

     
“I guess I didn’t think it out,” Park admitted. “I don’t have Arn’s sense of military organization.”

     
“Suits most of us just fine, Park,” Tina told him. “I’ve been in your exploratory teams from the start, you know, and I know I prefer your greatest-of-equals management style to Arn’s autocratic one. Most of us feel that way. Besides didn’t you just order Velvet’s team to work?”

     
“I was letting her know we were here,” Park admitted.

     
“Same thing,” Tina nodded. “You know this really is disappointing. Here were are in orbit and the ship still has gravity. I keep wanting to float around the cabin.”

     
“Me too,” Park agreed, “but we don’t have time for games this trip anyway. Taodore, how are you doing? I haven’t heard a word out of you for an hour.”

     
“Uh, hmm?” Taodore replied drowsily. “Oh sorry, old boy. I must have fallen asleep. How much longer?”

     
“Until when?” Park countered. “We’re within spitting distance of the satellite and we should have the first shift of Velvet’s repair team on the job in no time. You know if it’s past your bedtime, you could go get some sleep.”

     
“That’s what I’ve been doing all the way here,” Taodore replied. “I think I’d like to watch the repairs as they go along, though.”

     
“There are monitors in the aft cabin,” Park explained. “We can go have a look so long as it doesn’t bother the repair team.”

     
When they arrived aft, three suited figures had just left the ship and were carefully jetting toward the satellite about thirty yards away. “Who drew the short straws?” Park asked interestedly. “Velvet insisted on the first shift, sir,” one of the men replied, “and with her are Planko and Marisea.”

     
Park looked at the monitor and saw two figures with tails rather than legs. The smaller of the two would be Marisea. Looking ahead of them he saw the satellite. “I see the solar panels never deployed.”

     
“Right, sir,” the man replied.

     
“Maybe it was just a bad servo then?” Park asked hopefully.

     
“We doubt that, sir. Each panel has its own servo motor. If that’s all it was, the other two panels would have been in place.”

     
“There is that,” Park admitted.

     
Park and Taodore sat down without another word and proceeded to let the repairs proceed. Velvet was reporting partial success three hours later when Iris called back to Park, “Park, we need you up on the bridge. We’ve got company coming.”

     
“Tell them ‘I vant to be alone,’” Park snapped.

     
“I doubt they’ll get the reference, dear,” Iris replied.

     
“I’m surprised I do,” Park admitted. “On my way. Tell Velvet to get everyone back in here,” he instructed the man at the monitor.

     
“Yes, sir,” he replied and was already relaying the order as Park ran toward the bridge.

     
“I don’t imagine our company has tails, do they?” Park asked as he and Taodore returned to the bridge.

     
“They may have,” Iris replied, “but not Mer tails. This ship is the
Vigilant
, one of the regular patrollers from around the Moon.”

     
“A little out of their usual stomping grounds aren’t they?” Park replied.

     
“We don’t really know that,” Iris reminded him. “So far they aren’t trying to hail us.”

     
“Well, I told Velvet to get back to the ship in any case,” Park replied.

     
“Then she isn’t following orders worth a darn,” Iris retorted.

     
“What? Patch me into her suit, please,” Park requested. Iris nodded and flipped a couple of switches. “Velvet, what’s going on out there?”

     
“Almost done, Skipper,” Velvet reported. “Just give us another half an hour.”

     
“We don’t have half an hour,” Park replied. “There’s a Galactic ship bearing down on us and I’ve decided you’ve been out in the sun too long. Get in here before you get a burn.”

     
“These suits are SPF one hundred and fifteen million, Skipper,” Velvet started to argue, but then abruptly changed her mind and reported, “We see the approaching ship, Skipper. Coming back in now.”

     
“Bloody well about time,” Park growled after the connection had been broken. “Anything from the
Vigilant
?”

     
“Not yet, Park,” Iris began, but she was abruptly cut off.

     
“This is the Galactic Federation Ship
Vigilant
,” came out over the speakers, “calling unknown Mer vessel. You are in violation of the Covenant. Return to Earth now or we are empowered to open fire.”

     
“My turn,” Park nodded toward Iris for a connection. He decided to ad lib a bit. “This is the Pangaean Alliance Ship
Hendrick Hudson
and we are not subject to your Covenant. We do not recognize it. Firing on us will be deemed an act of war. You really do not want to go there.” It was a bluff, he knew, but it was one he had rehearsed in his mind several times.

     
“Go where?” the returning voice wondered in confusion. “We do not care what you are calling yourself, Mer. All Earth ships are bound by the Covenant.”

     
“Negative,
Vigilant
,” Park replied. “This is a human ship, not Mer. We are not signatory to your precious Covenant, but we have read it chapter and verse. There is nothing within it that defines the altitude under which any Mer craft must stay, merely that it not leave Earth orbit. Any restriction on the part of you Galactics has been a grievous violation of the Covenant and a crime against our friends, the Mer. Furthermore, the Covenant is null and void by virtue of the fact that our species owns the Earth by right of seniority, and therefore you had no right to impose it in the first place.

     
“We are performing peaceful maintenance on a communications satellite, sir,” Park continued, “I suggest you back off and allow us to continue.”

     
“I repeat,
Hendrick Hudson
, this is the
Vigilant
and you will be shot down if you do not leave the vicinity immediately,” the reply came.

     
“You have not the right, sir,” Park replied, wondering if Velvet’s team was safely inside the airlock yet. “This is a human ship and speaking on behalf of the entire human species, I must inform you that you are trespassing on human space. Your base on Luna is illegal and must be abandoned forthwith and reparations are to be paid. We do not tolerate squatters on our real estate.”

     
“Everyone’s on board, Skipper,” Tina reported quietly even as Iris got up from her chair and waved one of the Mer crewmen to take her place.

     
Iris moved across the bridge to a chair where no one had been sitting until now and activated several switches there. Three small monitors lit up. One, Park knew, was the same view of the ship’s exterior he had been watching in the aft cabin and another looking like a radar screen. Technically, he supposed, that was what it was. The third was new and Park hadn’t noticed it before, but it seemed to have a series of concentric circles. If he hadn’t been so busy debating with the
Vigilant
he would have asked about it.