What May Come

Please see chapter 1 for author's notes.

Italics denote speech from an alternate dimension..

Chapter 16: The Waiting Game

You know you ought to get those ribs looked at.

"Shut up," Suzee muttered under her breath at her best friend. Radu gave her an odd look out of the corner of his eye, but she just shook her head.

Suit yourself, but as soon as the adrenaline finishes wearing off, you're going to be in a lot of pain, Catalina informed her.

Suzee glared at her for a moment and then leaned back as best she could in the seat that had once belonged to the Spung engineer, trying to take some of the pressure off her ribs. She was pretty sure one of the cracked ones had finally broken in the little tumble she'd taken moving between the engineering and communications consoles and knew full well that she should be lying down, but she also knew that the second she was fully reclined she'd be asleep. The last thing she wanted was the others having to fly into a fight without an engineer around. The hour Goddard given them on the asteroid had almost passed—the story of meeting up with Aslinn and Jacie had taken a good portion of the time. None of the other four had moved from their positions as they waited, even in telling the story…Radu was alternately glancing between his console and the viewscreen, Catalina was focused mostly on Suzee although she took a couple glances out the window also, Commander Goddard was staring at his weapons systems, and Harlan was focused entirely on the screen in front of him. Not that the view had changed much…lots of dust, and not much else. They could barely see the outer edge of the crater in front of them.

"Alright, people, that's time," Goddard announced. "Suzee, bring the engines back online. Harlan, we need to move as slowly as possible. I think I've figured out how to boost the passive scanners to maximum, and if we detect any Spung ships I want to be back down to minimal systems immediately."

"We can try the traceless engines," Suzee offered. "They were designed to avoid detection." And she wanted a closer look at the schematics…it wasn't a design she'd seen before. Routing the power from the engines through some sort of dissipation screen…it might be worth implementing on the Christa. It would make them much harder to trace in situations where direct scans weren't viable.

"The Spung built them," Radu pointed out. "They probably know how to track them."

"Maybe, but they're smaller than the other engines…easier to make us look like drifting debris rather than propelled debris."

"All right, we'll try them. We'll maintain communications silence until we clear the cloud and can use our scanners to the fullest to confirm that the Spung aren't within range. Then we'll try and contact the Rockhopper."

"Do you think they made it?" Harlan asked.

"I think they've probably got a few tricks they didn't mention to us. After all, they're going in and out of Spung space regularly."

That's not an answer, Catalina pointed out.

Suzee agreed but didn't repeat the comment so the others could hear…it was obviously all he was going to give. "Ready, Commander."

"Let's do this, people. Mr. Radu, take communications. We're going to be navigating by sight for a bit, anyway."

"Yes, sir."

It was almost more nerve-wracking to be moving, Suzee thought as the ship slowly lifted off…almost worse that sitting on that rock and hoping no one noticed them. And they were moving so slowly…. It took slightly longer than Radu had estimated to get out of the debris field from the core of the planet, and even longer than that to get far enough out that they could use the sensors and put some faith in their reliability. She managed to distract herself somewhat with engine schematics—it really was an advanced design—but her ribs were hurting badly and her head didn't feel so great either. She hated to admit when Catalina was right. "See anything, Commander?"

"Nothing yet. Radu, open a communications channel. Short range only…I don't want to risk more until we're completely clear of the belt."

He tapped the console in front of him. "Nothing, Commander."

"Well, that's not really a surprise. It's a large asteroid belt and there's no guarantee they've even left it yet. We'll continue at our current pace, and when we're completely clear we'll boost communications and turn toward the rendezvous point."

"Shouldn't we stay in the belt until we reach the rendezvous, or as closely as possible?" Harlan asked.

"We might end up going back in, but I want a look at the area first. And if we stay in here, we definitely won't find the Rockhopper until we reach the deckship."

"Deckship?" Suzee asked curiously.

"It's going to take us into Spung space, hopefully somewhere near the Christa. Do you remember hearing anything when they were on board about where they were taking her? Seeing anything when you were in their minds?"

"I don't think so…they were speaking Spung except when they were ordering us around or threatening us so I don't really know. And none of the ones whose minds I was in knew anything…most of them didn't even know who we were. They were just guards."

"Damn. Maybe Jacie heard from the rest of his friends," Harlan offered.

"I hope so, Mr. Band." He glanced down at his sensors. "I'm boosting the scanners to full power. Mr. Radu, take navigation; Suzee switch back to communications."

The two of them had just gotten up to move when a small asteroid struck the ship. It didn't cause much more than a shudder—Radu probably didn't even notice—but Suzee felt herself start to fall and clipped the side of her ribcage on the console.

Suzee!

"Hey, I think she's waking up." Something sharp jabbed her in the side, and she made an effort to roll away from the pain.

"Radu, hold her. Stay still, Suzee, I think I found some local anesthetic."

That was Commander Goddard, and she did her best to obey…although she seriously wanted to get away from whatever was causing that pain. A few moments later a comforting numbness set in and she managed to open her eyes. "What happened?"

"You should have told us that you re-injured your ribs," Goddard scolded lightly. "You collapsed on the command post."

You scared the heck out of me! What were you thinking? If you just told them you were hurting so much, they wouldn't have asked you to move around!

"I was doing fine!" Suzee protested. "I would have told you once we got to safety. Where am I, anyway?" The room was tiny…she was lying on some kind of bunk staring up at the bottom of another, but there didn't seem to be much else there.

"This is the bunkroom on the scout…we brought you here so you could lay down for awhile."

She blinked, tilting her head back slightly, and found herself looking up at an Radu. Who currently had both her shoulders pinned to the bunk…no wonder she hadn't been able to get away from the commander. "Oh."

"It looks like two of your ribs are now broken," Goddard reported. "And you're lucky you didn't hit your head when you fell…the last thing you need is to aggravate that concussion. We don't have much here that I can treat you with—Aslinn sent us a couple first aid kits but no bone-setters or anything like that—so until we get back to the Rockhopper you're going to have to stay here."

"Commander, I'll be fine, honest. I can't feel anything now…if you just tape them tighter so they can't move around I can still work."

"We only have one more dose of local anesthetic—even if we had others, drugging you to keep the pain away just so you can sit on command would be dangerous. And pointless; all we're doing right now is scouting along the asteroid belt."

"But—"

"No 'buts'," he interrupted. "Unless there is an emergency, I don't want you getting up off this bunk. Broken ribs can be dangerous. Try and nap…one of us will be in every hour or two to make sure you're all right."

"Every hour?" Radu asked curiously. "Shouldn't we just let her sleep until we find the Rockhopper?"

"Field medicine, Mr. Radu. I don't know Yensiddian physiology, but it's common practice in people with concussions."

I can do it, Catalina offered.

"I'm fine, Commander. I know who I am, who you are, what the year is…besides, Cat says she can do it."

"Concussion symptoms are sometimes delayed in both humans and Rigellians…I don't know about Yensidians, but better safe than sorry. Not that I don't trust Catalina, but if something goes wrong she won't be able to alert us. Rest now."

Suzee rolled her eyes as the two of them stood, marking which doorway they exited through on their way to command. "Rest. Like I'm going to just lay here and nap while the three of them are out there working."

Suzee, for once just do what he says. I mean, you should be exhausted right now.

"Relax, Cat, I'm fine. I'm not going to do anything crazy. I just want to look around." She waited a few moments, until she was sure the commander wasn't going to come back through with last minute instructions, before carefully swinging her feet over the edge of the bed and standing. She might not be able to go to command, but she could do a little snooping. See if she could find anything else out about this ship. Her first stop was the cabinets in the little room…looked like someone else had already gone through the contents. Probably Harlan. Anyway, there wasn't anything of use there, just a few Spung uniforms and what looked like personal items. The bathroom and shower were on opposite sides of the room…nothing really interesting there either. She wandered back into the bunkroom. There had to be something she could do….

Who builds a hatch in the ceiling, anyway?

"A what? Hey, that must be the engine room!"

Stupid, stupid…of all the times not to keep my mouth shut, Catalina mumbled, moving beside Suzee as she stared up at the entrance. It wasn't particularly well-concealed, but…who looks for a hatch directly above them? Come on, Suzee, climbing around definitely isn't good for your ribs. What if the wrap comes loose and you don't notice? With the anesthetic you know you wouldn't. You could get hurt really bad!

"Look, just help me get the door open. I won't go up there, I promise. You can check it out for me, and tell me if there's anything useful."

Well…

"Catalina, please…I can't just lay here and do nothing! Besides, you're always saying that you hate having to stand by and watch while we're in danger…this way you can do something to help."

All right, all right, but you have to sit down while I'm exploring up there. What if Harlan has to dodge missiles again?

"I promise I'll stay still. Let's just get the door open."

I'm going to regret this, I just know it.

There was a panel by the door to command…Suzee had noticed it before and assumed it was for the lights, or locks, or something. And it probably did that too, but maybe… "Got it!"

The hatch swung open, and a ladder fell with it, reaching just to the floor. Now, you stay here and don't even think about following me, Catalina reminded her.

"I know, I promise, just go see what's up there." With a last glance at her friend, the Saturnian girl headed up the ladder. Suzee shook her head…she'd spent a lot of time trying to figure out the physical laws of crossing dimensions when she and Cat had first linked—it had been her primary school thesis—and discovered that there really weren't any. But Cat insisted on following the standard laws of physics when she came to visit…walking when she could float, dodging people in the corridors, climbing ladders…. As long as there were no more than 10 or 15 meters or any major metal obstacles between her consciousness and Suzee's to disrupt the link—hence the fact that they had to open the hatch before she could go investigate—she could pretty much do as she pleased, but Cat never took advantage of it. Or at least she didn't realize she did…she wasn't really climbing, after all, her consciousness was simply giving her the illusion that her feet were resting on rungs as she floated up. Still a waste of mental energy. "Well, do you see anything?"

Give me a minute! And don't yell, Radu will hear you even if he isn't trying to!

"Fine, just hurry." Suzee sat down carefully, leaning against the bottom of the ladder and staring up into the semi-darkness. She couldn't see much…something up there was glowing and giving some illumination, but all that was visible from her position was the ceiling. "Cat?"

I'm looking!

"Suzee, what are you doing out of bed?" Radu asked, coming through the door. "The commander said you were supposed to sleep!" He glanced up at the ladder. "Did you fall? Are you hurt? I'll get—"

"Radu, slow down. I'm fine, I didn't fall…I didn't even try and climb the ladder. Cat and I saw the entrance and it opened from that panel. She's checking it out now; we think it's the engine room."

"The engine room? Well, I guess there had to be one somewhere…did she find anything interesting?"

Would you people give me a minute? This place is huge…I'm still trying to figure out which consoles do what. And it's really hard since I can't activate the translation program.

"She says she's working on it," Suzee relayed. "It would probably help if you went up and changed the language on the consoles."

"Okay, but we'd better tell the commander what we found first."

"I can use a comm system. Go help Cat before she has a fit."

He helped her to her feet and then started up the ladder as she opened a channel to command. "Catalina and I found the engine room. She and Radu are checking it out now."

"Suzee, you're supposed to be rest—"

"What engine room?" Harlan demanded, interrupting him. "We searched the whole ship!"

"You forgot to look up. And no, Commander, I didn't climb anything. Cat wouldn't let me."

"Good."

Suzee, tell Radu to get over here! I found some locked cabinets…it looks like whatever is in them is pretty important.

"Well, stick your head in and find out!" Suzee shot back.

"What?" two voices chorused.

"Not you, Commander, or you Radu. I was talking to Cat."

I tried that, Catalina replied. No light.

"Radu, can you go over and help Cat get the cabinets open?"

"Sure. Um, where is she?"

I'm right he—ah, tell him I'm about three meters to his left, just behind the shield generator.

Suzee relayed the directions. "Well, what's in them?"

Hardcopy, Cat reported, astonishment clear in her voice. It's too dark up here, Radu is bringing some of them down now.

"They look like the books Miss Davenport showed us," Radu reported on the heels of Catalina's announcement. "I can't read them right now, though."

Radu appeared at the top of the stairs with a box tucked under one arm. "If there's anything useful in it, I'll get the others. It looked like there were three total."

"What's in them?"

Commander Goddard came through the door as he set the box down on the ground and lifted the lid off. "I thought I told you to stay in bed."

"We were just looking around, Commander. Nothing stressful—Cat was doing all the exploring."

He didn't look convinced, but turned his attention to the pages Radu was rifling through. "What's in there?"

"A lot of star charts, mostly. I don't know why they would keep them locked up."

Here's one with some notations, Catalina offered from over his shoulder.

"What's the one with the writing say?"

Radu glanced down at where she pointed. "Coordinates…it says it's a possible In'Tssai rendezvous point. That's…"

"The resistance group Aslinn and Jacie belong to," Goddard completed. "Good eye, Suzee. Radu, I think you'd better get the rest of those boxes down here."