Mercury Rising by R.W.W. Greene

Author:R.W.W. Greene
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: e9780857669735
Publisher: Watkins Media
Published: 2022-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

Brooklyn’s watch alarm woke him to the snores of his cabin mates, and he heaved himself off the cot to dress. There was a fairly recent Grateful Dead poster on the wall that he hadn’t noticed the night before.

The doc’s PT plan called for three laps of the ring every morning, at whatever pace got him through. Halfway through the first lap he was ready to crawl. His legs were on fire, and he bent over, hands on his knees to catch his breath.

A steady stream of morning runners pounded down the metal hallway past him.

“It’s better if you keep walking or at least stand up straight,” said a man coming to a stop beside him. He had lapped Brooklyn twice already and glowed with health. “Lets your lungs expand better.”

Brooklyn had no energy to comply with the advice. The man patted him on the back. “Come on. I’ll do a rest lap with you.”

“Crushin’ me like a fucking bug.”

“Bugs are better built to take it.” The man cracked his neck. “It’s going to be worse when we’re underway. Cap likes to spin us up to one-hundred, one-twenty sometimes. Says it keeps us in shape.”

The man slung a towel around his neck and started at a slow walk down the hallway. Brooklyn shuffled about a half step behind him.

“Terry Mehic, one of the pilots on this rig.” He held out his hand.

Brooklyn wiped his sweaty palm on the leg of his shorts before reaching for the shake. “Brooklyn Lamontagne. Computers.”

“Cap says you’re going to keep this boat flying another twenty years.”

“Don’t know about that. Got some things that will make navigation and acceleration more efficient. Probably help your targeting out, too.” He gestured limply at the metal walls. “Can’t do much about the rest of it.”

“You don’t need to do anything about the rest of it,” Terry said. “We like the Baron just fine the way he is. His namesake was Prussian nobility, hired by George Washington himself to whip the Continental Army into shape.”

Brooklyn stopped and leaned against the wall. “Newer ships have more room. More shit to do.”

“You ever been on one of them?”

“Just the Moon shuttle.”

Terry thumped one of the gray metal walls with the side of his fist. “There’s not much extra room in him, but he’s built strong. Real steel, not asteroid alloys and plastic. Rather be flying around in this tin can than anything they’ve launched in the past ten years.”

Brooklyn nodded, uncertain what to say.

“Besides, the Baron is home. Been up here with him nearly fifteen years. Don’t know what I’d do on a bigger ship.”

“You’d get used to it.”

“Maybe, but now I don’t have to. If he lasts another five years, I can fly him all the way to my retirement.”

The more he talks, the less I walk. “An’ after that? Back to Earth?”

“Mars, maybe. The colony will need pilots. Maybe out to the Belt. Get my own ship, do some prospecting. Get rich and buy myself a nice asteroid somewhere.” He looked at his watch and stuck his hand out to Brooklyn again.

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