Part 11 (1/2)

'Coming up on one full revolution, Ace. No sign of slowing, either.'

'Right. You've got observation duty. Sing out every revolution. Yukio, alert Belial Base of our situation. Christine how much do you know about the Bridge? Can you estimate how many turns it could take before it snaps?'

As Yukio Nakaguchi murmured in the background, Christine said, 'Ace, I'm sorry, I don't know. Tech studies aren't my speciality. I'm a psychologist.'

'Fine. Is there anyone here from Technical?'

Kosiana Kistasami nodded inside her suit. A fringe of hair plaited with tiny Belial clay beads bobbed gently in the reduced gravity, obscuring her dark skin and brooding eyes. 'The problem is, Ace, that n.o.body really knows. We've spent years examining the Bridge systems, but for all the good it's done us we might have been blowing bubbles. We do know the Bridge is made from an extruded monofilament of trisilicate which has been woven into a tube, but as to its strength well, theoretically it shouldn't even exist. It should have collapsed under its own weight before it was even anch.o.r.ed.'

Ace frowned. 'So much for Technical.' She seemed to be lost in memories of her own for a moment.

'Second revolution starting now.'

The Lift shuddered.

'Helmets down.'

There were five clicks followed by the rising hum of internal systems powering up.

'Um... I think I may have a problem here,' Yukio said with a panicky laugh.

Jesus realized Yukio's problem straight away. Rebelling against the bland uniformity of the base, and to the amus.e.m.e.nt of many of his colleagues, Yukio had grown a bushy, spade*shaped beard in emulation of his cricketing hero, W.G. Grace. And he couldn't close his helmet over it.

Ace said without a pause, 'Christine, help Yukio get his helmet latched. Kosi, Lars, go round the Lift. Check the integrity. Take stress meters with you. Don't dawdle but I want a thorough check.'

'Third revolution starting now,' Jesus chipped in as the technicians moved to obey Ace's instruction. He felt his heart thumping inside his chest. How could Ace stay so calm? As far as he knew, she had received no training for this type of situation. Nonetheless, she seemed to be coping with it the best of all of them.

Fria como aqua de nieve: as cold as ice*water.

'Any sign of slowing yet?'

'Sorry, no.' Jesus could hear faint noises through his s.p.a.cesuit's external pickups. The structure of the Lift was creaking and the Bridge tw.a.n.ged like an overstretched wire.

'Ace! We have trouble now!' That was Lars, his accent thickening with the fear which now drove them all. Ace was already moving in his direction. Jesus blinked and recovered the target star. No it was... d.a.m.n. Where the h.e.l.l was it?

Lucifer's atmospheric corona was blotting out the stars again, and voices were babbling in his ears.

' this is really embarra.s.sing '

' just latch your helmet, Yukio. Everything'll be fine as long as you just '

' I'm getting a stress factor you wouldn't believe, here. The internal wall. The external wall. Everyd.a.m.nwhere '

' you check again, is good idea. Perhaps the meters, they lose calibration '

it's the d.a.m.n wall wall we're losing ' we're losing '

' I want everyone in the centre of the chamber '

' fiddling with my helmet! I'm sure sure if I just ' if I just '

' we're losing it, we're definitely '

' I think think I've got it. I I've got it. I think think I can ' I can '

Jesus didn't have time to blink. The wall tore open, rips spreading around the torus as the air rushed outwards. Yukio gave a choking scream as the pressure within his suit forced his helmet back up over the latches. The scream didn't last long in the newly formed vacuum. Christine gave a yell of surprise as a spray of blood erupted from Yukio's eyes, ears and mouth. Crystallizing in the sudden deadly cold, it engulfed her helmet in a spray of pink ice. She staggered backwards, straight into the whipsawing edge of the monofilament s.h.i.+eld, gasping with surprise and pain when the molecule*thin blade sliced through the toughened material of her s.p.a.cesuit, neatly removing the arm she had automatically put out to protect herself. The arm drifted free, trailing ribbons of freezing blood and sinew.

The sudden vacuum pulled Jesus towards the ragged*edged hole and expelled him along with a mess of loose trash, a hailstorm of frozen blood and Christine's arm. He was tumbling so fast that the stars became blurred circles of light around him.

A lump of frozen vapour and blood b.u.mped momentarily against his visor before drifting off into the darkness. He recognized the spade*shaped ma.s.s of black hair projecting from the lump and began to scream.

'Jesus, shut up! I know you're drifting. You'll be okay. I need to think.'

'Christ, what about Yukio? And Christine... Her arm 'Forget about Yukio. And don't worry about Christine. Just get yourself under control and get back here now.'

Jesus took a deep breath. He felt like he was going to be sick. He chinned a switch and felt the autodoc press a needle pad against his neck. His stomach settled immediately. 'On my way.'

'Wicked. See you in a minute.'

Jesus chinned in the onboard systems. 's.p.a.cesuit twelve: activate memory guidance. Return to source using minimum fuel trajectory.'

There was a momentary hesitation before the s.p.a.cesuit confirmed his instruction. A gentle pressure in the small of his back told him that the thruster pack had fired. The stars began to slow from their wild dervish dance to a stately waltz. Then he was facing the Bridge.

'Ace, are you reading me?'

'Loud and clear. Turn your gain down a bit or stop shouting.'

Jesus adjusted a control. 'I can see both ways along the Bridge.'

'What's the damage?'

'Difficult to tell. Both ends appear to be fixed, but it's vibrating like a violin string.'

'How bad?'

'Ace, I'm half a kilometre away. If I can see the movement, it's got to be bad, right?'

Ace swore.

'And that's not all,' he added. 'It looks from here like there are some frayed areas on the Bridge where fragments from the Lift sliced across it. They could rip at any time. The Bridge could unravel like an old pullover.'

Ace swore again. Jesus wondered where she'd learned words like that. 'Can you see the Lift?' she said eventually.

His gaze travelled along the length of the Bridge. The Lift was a small doughnut with the Bridge threading through the hole. A cloud of debris surrounded it. 'Looks okay. You're tilted slightly, and spinning, but you're still attached. How's everyone there? Is Christine ?'

'No. The suit sealed off her arm. She lost a fair bit of blood, but the autodoc is medicating her now. If we're lucky, she'll make it.'

'Yukio wasn't lucky, was he?'

'Yukio was a b.l.o.o.d.y idiot.'