Castaway Resolution by Eric Flint & Ryk E Spoor

Author:Eric Flint & Ryk E Spoor [Flint, Eric & Spoor, Ryk E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, science fiction, Space Opera, Action & Adventure, General
ISBN: 9781982124410
Google: CWejxgEACAAJ
Amazon: 1982124415
Publisher: Baen
Published: 2020-03-03T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 31

“No, it’s just not going to work,” Tavana said, reluctance clear in his voice, as Hitomi and Francisco hauled the line back in after the who-knew-how-many-th attempts to get a good secure attachment to the column shard that was stuck in Emerald Maui’s drive jet. “The currents, the angles, they just are not going to work.”

“We’re going to have to go in the water and tie the rope,” Hitomi said. She was trying to sound matter-of-fact about it, but she heard her own voice waver uncertainly. Try as she might, she couldn’t force away the memory of the raylamps, dozens of them, oozing their way up a hillside to consume Mommy and Caroline and Whips.

“No way around it. I don’t think any of us like it, but we’ve spent the last three hours trying to do it from above the waterline.”

“How about the rebreathers? Those working?” Campbell asked.

“They work,” Hitomi said, “but we have to hold them on our faces and even then they leak.”

Tavana grimaced in the VR-projected image of the raft he and the sergeant were on, piled high with all the food, weapons, and other equipment they’d salvaged from their homes. “As Hitomi says, the rebreathers, they are not made to fit children. To figure out adaptors for them, that will take quite a while. I do not think we want to take more days for that.”

“Damn. No, they’re drifting farther away every day, and Whips isn’t getting any better. But working underwater just by holding your breath and diving, that’s tough and dangerous stuff even for adults, you know.”

“We only have to tie on one rope, Sergeant Campbell,” Francisco said. “It’s scary to go into the ocean, but that shouldn’t be hard to do.”

“If you’re lucky, son, yes. You could get everything to go right, and do it all in one quick shot. Hold on!”

Campbell pulled out his sidearm and fired once; Hitomi thought she had seen an underwater shadow in the image, a shadow that had fled as soon as Campbell fired. “Damn thing was trying to sneak up on the wading party. Where was I? Oh, yeah. If everything’s perfect, no problem, but if your rope snags or tangles, and you have to keep straightening it, and the currents move stuff as you try to put it on, and all that? You’ll find out the sea ain’t always helpful.” He put the steering oar over a bit. “Show me the best projection you have on that blockage.”

The VR-view split as Tavana displayed the model he had built from their images, showing the three-meter-long fragment projecting from the jet housing.

“Hm. Yeah, no wonder you’re having trouble. Currents will be pretty chaotic around that thing, where it’s sitting. How about the block and tackle? How’re you getting the straight pull?”

“Here,” Tavana said, highlighting the outrigger. “Reshaped the material to provide a good clamp mount on the lower edge, then secured one of the pulleys there. Still a small angle on the pull but it’s about as straight as we can manage.

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