Loyalty to the Cause (TCOTU, Book 4) (This Corner of the Universe) by Britt Ringel

Author:Britt Ringel [Ringel, Britt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

The four days tunneling to Syrinx were a paradox for Heskan. As his crew celebrated their successful escape from the Brevic Republic, he personally held no such appetite. Heskan merely felt an empty hollowness to it all. What he had hoped would be a triumphant dive from Republic space, instead, became tarnished in a bittersweet moment that culminated in the knowledge that he could never go home again. Worse, he realized that he had not only subjugated himself to exile but also his entire Brevic crew. There will come a time, Heskan thought grimly, when they realize that I haven’t saved them so much as damned them.

His dourness was augmented by Hussy’s food shortage and increasing environmental problems. Their food now came out of squeeze tubes from the emergency locker. Müller’s rigged electrolysis system had only kept up with demand in tunnel space with the assistance of the now exhausted supply of oxygen candles. Hussy had, at most, another twelve hours of life left inside her. The additional four days required to tunnel from Syrinx to the Syntyche system would be a death sentence. As it was, the entire crew had been deprived of sleep for the last twenty-four hours. Doctor Timoleon recommended against letting crewmembers sleep in such a toxic atmosphere. Further, no crewmember was to be alone at any time.

Sitting ahead of Heskan on the bridge, Lieutenant Selvaggio prepared the ship for dive. Heskan vaguely heard the announcement before the ship activated her tunnel drive to reintegrate into normal space. The transition seemed gentle compared to the pounding headaches the crew already suffered due to carbon dioxide poisoning. Heskan sat still for some time before finally reacting to their dive. The wall screen displayed the uninhabitable M4III star system. Only two beacons shared the system with Hussy, one emanating from a science station orbiting the innermost gas giant and the other, a Federation patrol ship docked to it.

A full minute passed as Heskan interpreted the data. With a thick weariness, he ordered, “Give me an intercept course to the orbital, Diane. ETA?” He sat back in his chair and rubbed his temples to ease the pain. He had given up monitoring the environmental status display long ago.

After a long pause, Selvaggio answered, “A little less than three hours, Captain.”

Heskan nodded lethargically. He looked over to Truesworth who was holding his head in his hands. “Jack, open a comm channel to that orbital.” After Truesworth signaled he was ready, Heskan recorded his message. “Federation orbital, this is CSV Hussy, a tramp freighter en route to the Syntyche system. We have suffered a catastrophic life support systems failure. Our carbon dioxide concentration is eight percent and rising. We burned our last oxygen candle hours ago. Can you assist us?” Heskan motioned at Truesworth.

“Message sent,” Truesworth said simply.

Damn, Heskan cursed as he realized, I forgot to tell them my name.

Fifty minutes later, Truesworth’s communications console beeped loudly at him. He listlessly played the message without announcement.

On screen, a man wearing

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