Hours passed. Were it not for the adrenaline still coursing through her
veins, Mac would have passed out from sheer exhaustion long before. She was
very glad that Aiax had programmed the ship to drop out of hyperspace near
Earth, rather than in the outskirts of the solar system. That would save
them a good two hours, and she was honestly concerned about Harm's health.
Extreme bloodloss combined with all the things that had happened to him
over the last few days could not be good.
Finally Mac felt the sickening lurch which signified the extreme deceleration from hyperdrive to sub-lightspeed engines. She caught her breath, waiting for something to go wrong. She released it in a huge sigh when they did not immediately collide with anything.
But her heart leapt straight back into her throat when a few seconds later, sounds emerged from the bridge which she could not understand but which were undoubtedly not representative of good fortune. Her suspicions were confirmed when Hammer once again put in an appearance.
"The abrupt deceleration messed something up. We have no idea what. But we're heading towards Earth's surface pretty damn fast. At our current trajectory, we're going to end up in the drink in the middle of the North Atlantic."
Mac stared at him, her mind completely empty of all words. Then she pulled herself together.
"Do we have any control at all?"
"Aiax is working on it. We have about fifteen minutes, maybe a little more. Why?"
"I was on the Patrick Henry for a case a couple of weeks ago. They were near the end of their cruise, they're probably in the middle of the North Atlantic right about now."
"The Patrick Henry?"
"An aircraft carrier. Harm used to fly off her."
"Landing an alien spaceship on an aircraft carrier wouldn't exactly go unnoticed."
"Call... Ingles..."
Mac looked down at Harm, now half conscious. "What?"
"Call Captain Ingles. Let me speak to him. He can get non-essential personnel off the deck, make sure no-one has any cameras around or anything. Man keeps a tight ship, he can handle it. Take me to the bridge, I'll talk to him."
"This is assuming Aiax can get us some sort of control in time."
"Think happy thoughts, okay? We'll be fine. We didn't get out of that explosion just to drown in the Atlantic."
"USS Patrick Henry, this is Captain Harmon Rabb Junior, US Navy. Do you copy?" Harm's voice was weak, but he managed to speak without hesitation.
"Rabb? Where the hell are you? We don't have anything on our radar."
"I'm a little too high for radar at the moment, skipper. I was wondering if I could use your deck?"
"What are you flying?"
"Nothing you've ever seen before. I don't need a wire, just a clear deck. And as few people watching as possible."
"So scuttlebuts' true? You're flying for the Company?"
"No sir! I'm Navy, like I said."
"I heard that. I wasn't invited to the wet-down."
"It was pretty low-key. The work I'm doing at the moment is military, but it's still really classified. Can I have your deck?"
"How long until you get here?"
"About ten minutes."
"You expect me to clear my deck in ten minutes?"
"Just of personnel. I should have enough room to land without getting aircraft out of the way, though if you can that would be good."
"I wouldn't do this for anyone else, Rabb."
"Thankyou sir. You have no idea how important this is. And like I said, try to let as few people see this as possible."
"See you in a few minutes. Patrick Henry out."
Finally Mac felt the sickening lurch which signified the extreme deceleration from hyperdrive to sub-lightspeed engines. She caught her breath, waiting for something to go wrong. She released it in a huge sigh when they did not immediately collide with anything.
But her heart leapt straight back into her throat when a few seconds later, sounds emerged from the bridge which she could not understand but which were undoubtedly not representative of good fortune. Her suspicions were confirmed when Hammer once again put in an appearance.
"The abrupt deceleration messed something up. We have no idea what. But we're heading towards Earth's surface pretty damn fast. At our current trajectory, we're going to end up in the drink in the middle of the North Atlantic."
Mac stared at him, her mind completely empty of all words. Then she pulled herself together.
"Do we have any control at all?"
"Aiax is working on it. We have about fifteen minutes, maybe a little more. Why?"
"I was on the Patrick Henry for a case a couple of weeks ago. They were near the end of their cruise, they're probably in the middle of the North Atlantic right about now."
"The Patrick Henry?"
"An aircraft carrier. Harm used to fly off her."
"Landing an alien spaceship on an aircraft carrier wouldn't exactly go unnoticed."
"Call... Ingles..."
Mac looked down at Harm, now half conscious. "What?"
"Call Captain Ingles. Let me speak to him. He can get non-essential personnel off the deck, make sure no-one has any cameras around or anything. Man keeps a tight ship, he can handle it. Take me to the bridge, I'll talk to him."
"This is assuming Aiax can get us some sort of control in time."
"Think happy thoughts, okay? We'll be fine. We didn't get out of that explosion just to drown in the Atlantic."
"USS Patrick Henry, this is Captain Harmon Rabb Junior, US Navy. Do you copy?" Harm's voice was weak, but he managed to speak without hesitation.
"Rabb? Where the hell are you? We don't have anything on our radar."
"I'm a little too high for radar at the moment, skipper. I was wondering if I could use your deck?"
"What are you flying?"
"Nothing you've ever seen before. I don't need a wire, just a clear deck. And as few people watching as possible."
"So scuttlebuts' true? You're flying for the Company?"
"No sir! I'm Navy, like I said."
"I heard that. I wasn't invited to the wet-down."
"It was pretty low-key. The work I'm doing at the moment is military, but it's still really classified. Can I have your deck?"
"How long until you get here?"
"About ten minutes."
"You expect me to clear my deck in ten minutes?"
"Just of personnel. I should have enough room to land without getting aircraft out of the way, though if you can that would be good."
"I wouldn't do this for anyone else, Rabb."
"Thankyou sir. You have no idea how important this is. And like I said, try to let as few people see this as possible."
"See you in a few minutes. Patrick Henry out."