Macao Station

Chapter Fifty

Si clambered up into the ISL and pushed Lina bodily aside, shoving her into the middle seat, shoulder to shoulder with Hobbes.

‘I’ll fly,’ he said, grinning at her. ‘I’m a better pilot than you.’

Lina laughed and shoved him back, which barely affected him at all. ‘Screw you, Davis!’ she retorted.

‘Never,’ said Si, reaching down to flick the manual injector safeties. ‘Not in your wildest dreams.’

‘Believe me, Si, that would be a nightmare,’ she replied, wriggling her backside into the thin cushion of the bench in an effort to get comfortable.

Si just laughed and turned around in his seat to look behind him into the crew compartment. The benches were filled with volunteers from Macao — as many as would fit in the ISL. ‘You ready, shift B?’ he called over his shoulder. There was a general noise of affirmation. ‘Then let’s fly!’

He flooded the jets, bringing the loader rumbling round in a wide arc, skirting the stricken dead-lifter. The hangar was conspicuously devoid of functioning Kays apart from the two that Lina and Ella had managed to bring in, which sat nestled beside each other like frightened pack animals. Those damaged by the ISL had been shunted into a far corner, where they would remain isolated until someone could inspect them.

The klaxon sounded and the ramp began to drop. The belt appeared before them, but this time the shuttle could be seen out there, off to the right, surrounded by a cloud of debris from its smashed manoeuvring jets. It was upside-down relative to Macao, slightly dented at the front, but essentially intact.

‘Wheee!’ cried Si childishly as the loader accelerated off the end of the ramp and curled away into space. He pinned the yoke, flying unnecessarily fast, clearly enjoying himself.

The shuttle grew quickly to almost fill the screen. Lina could hear the crew chattering behind her. It wasn’t a happy chatter, as such. But it was a cautiously excited one. There was much work to be done — shifts had toiled around the clock, the ISL ferrying a continuous stream of volunteers out to the damaged ship — but there was hope. Real hope. Fionne was leading a team of the more technically-able members of the crew in the re-fitting of the air scrubbers. They still had to fix the power, but there were only so many people who were actually of use in such endeavours. Time was very much against them still. But there was hope. And that was a good starting point.

‘So, I guess we’re looking for the gennie parts today?’ asked Hobbes.

‘Yeah,’ said Si, tugging at the collar of his space suit. ‘And we’ll take as much food as we can. But generator parts first.’

‘I can’t imagine when Fionne will manage to actually fit them,’ said Hobbes, a little darkly.

‘I know,’ said Si, bringing the loader swooping along the upturned belly of the great shuttle. ‘Busy, busy. We could use another nine or ten of her.’

‘How long do think it’ll be until we can. . .’ began Hobbes, trailing off, not wanting to say it.

‘Fly the shuttle?’ asked Lina, turning to look into his face. Hobbes nodded. She thought she saw a little glimmer in his eye. ‘Why? You coming with us now?’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I thought I might, actually.’

‘It’ll be a long ride, you know?’ said Si, peering into the screen, slowing the loader as it rolled over to fly along the top-side of the shuttle. ‘It looks like we’ll have to re-attach the loader and use its engines for propulsion. Might take ten years instead of five, sleeping shifts in sus-an.’

‘I don’t think many people will want to stay behind, Simon,’ said Hobbes, glancing back over his shoulder. The team back there were laughing now, and the sound was good to hear. It was kind-of infectious, actually. Lina felt herself beginning to grin too. ‘By the time we’ve made Macao safe in the short-term and checked the shuttle for flight-worthiness, I think we might have a full complement.’

Si laughed. ‘I hope so, Doctor.’

‘Me too,’ said Lina. Faces scrolled before her mind’s eye — the faces of the dead. She still could hardly believe that Si had killed Carver, survived himself, and he and Rocko had actually pushed the prisoners back into the now-destroyed asteroid. So many comrades had died. It would be a disservice to them to stay here. And she thought Hobbes was right: once the immediate danger was dealt with, everyone would come with them to Platini. ‘To hell with Macao,’ she said. ‘I’m glad you’re coming, Hobbes.’ Hobbes smiled back at her and pushed his little glasses further up the bridge of his nose. Lina shoved Si on his powerful shoulder again, making him glance over at her. ‘But I’ll fly the shuttle until it goes auto, Si,’ she said. ‘I am, after all, a better pilot than you.’

Si laughed — a deep, rumbling bass. ‘Screw you, McLough,’ he said.

‘Never,’ replied Lina, craning to see the shuttle’s docking point, which was coming into view beneath them now. ‘Not in your wildest dreams.’