Worldship Files: Morrigan by Erik Schubach

Author:Erik Schubach [Schubach, Erik]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Erik Schubach
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12 – Easy as Pie

Before we could fill Mac in on the new twist, pun intended, to our mission, we all sat back and relaxed for a bit to gather our wits around us in the kitchen area where we could get some calories into the magic users while Graz and I ate a light lunch.

Rory had shaken off a look of panic and wonder at me when they met us down by the airlock, then proceeded to chastise me about my reckless behavior. “Mother could have guided me to bring him back to the airlock.”

“Well, how was I supposed to know that? I saw the man tumbling through space and I acted on instinct.” I pouted.

She warmed at that and caressed my cheek, that slight bit of wonder back in her eyes as she said, “And without any hesitation at all.” Then she got a little cross. “You could have been hurt. I'm just glad you are ok.”

Graz buzzed her wings. “Umm... hello? What about me? I was there too.”

Rory rolled her eyes and lifted her on her palm to kiss the top of her head. “Of course brave Sprite.”

I cocked an eyebrow and reached over and mimed zipping Graz's lips. She gave me a glare and just crossed her arm over her chest.

Mac was moving sluggishly. “Can we continue this in the mess? Staving off the effects of vacuum on my person burns a lot of calories, and recovery is slow without replenishment.”

So that's how we wound up eating our mid-day meal in relative silence as Beta projected the now wobbling asteroid on the wall. After each bite, the smartass Sprite would unzip her lips for the next bite before re-zipping them. Fine, she was pretty damn funny.

I was keeping one eye on Mac's hands, which had looked severely burned when we first got him back on board. His healing had been progressing slowly, almost immeasurably a first, but the more food he ate the faster the healing progressed. And by the time we were done eating, he looked unharmed but just a little more tired than I was used to seeing.

Taking in the dampened mood, I decided that it was counterproductive so pointed out on the readouts beside the floating three-dimensional projection. “The asteroid mass was reduced by three percent by that attempt. So we have less mass to bisect from the main body now.”

Beta squashed my attempt to inject a little positivity into the room. “The probability of controlled bisection success is now at seventy-two percent. Less than optimal. There is always Engineer Hangzhou's Plan Epsilon. If we run out of time and don't wish to settle for targets Beta and Gamma.”

We all blurted out, Graz unzipping her lips to join in, “No!”

I took a deep breath to center myself and then explained in a calm, collected voice. “It isn't a plan, never is 'Nuke the Fairy humper!' a plan. Sane and rational people do not detonate nuclear engine cores on an astral body that contains fissionable materials.

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