Tendrils to the Moon by Joseph Dooley

Author:Joseph Dooley [Dooley, Joseph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Tendrils to the Moon
Publisher: Joseph Dooley
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

***

Everyone except Yuen was waiting for them outside the ship. Rosco had the foresight to bring along two full oxygen cylinders, one of which Ames installed on his rebreather rig while the others began hoisting Ashwin’s limp body into the ship.

To Ames’s dismay, the increase in manpower proved to be little help to the situation. The ladders were only wide enough to allow one person at a time. The best they could do was have one person push up on Ashwin’s legs from below while another lifted under his arms from above. Ashwin was not a heavy man, but he was a cumbersome load under the circumstances.

The younger, stronger Cho subbed out Remy, and he and Liam found a rhythm moving Ashwin up the lower ladder. Shaun and Rosco spotted them while the rest watched from the crater floor.

How much time had passed since the accident? Ten minutes? Fifteen minutes? Ames’s eyes followed Cho’s and Liam’s slow progress in disgust. Fairly or unfairly, he already blamed Sheridan for his role, or lack thereof, in Ashwin’s accident. For starters, why was he on the flight deck running a maintenance operation with Shaun? He should have been at the building site, supervising the work being done. Why were Shaun and Liam the only ones close to the scene when the backhoe fell? And where was Yuen? Ames intended to put all these questions to his boss when things settled down.

Cho and Liam pulled Ashwin over the lip of the cargo bay. Winded, Liam let Rosco take over for him. The two men struggled up the second ladder, lugging Ashwin between them. There were 15 meters left to reach the airlock.

“There has to be a better way to do this,” Liam said, echoing Ames’s thoughts. “If we had the Mage, we could have gotten Ash inside already.”

“If we had the Corsica, we could treat him in my infirmary,” Remy said remorsefully.

Ames couldn’t disagree. This was the downside of colonizing the Moon on a shoestring budget. It created unforeseen bottlenecks that cost resources, time, and possibly lives. He wanted to blame Sheridan for that, too, but had a hard time justifying it in his heart of hearts.

“You’re talking like Ashwin is already dead,” Sheridan said. “Come on, people. Let’s stay positive.”

“I could stay positive if I had something to do,” Remy grumbled.

“Offloading the LVE without the crane would have been easier than this,” Therese said.

Ames looked up at the loading crane, folded up in the top of the cargo bay. That gave him an idea. He climbed into the cargo bay.

“Shaun, do you have more rope in your bag?” he asked.

Shaun looked at him. “I forgot I had it!” he exclaimed. He went digging through the gear bag and produced a coil of climbing rope.

Ames looped the rope coil on his shoulder and started up the other side of the second ladder. He moved his hands and feet to the outside of the beams to avoid stepping on Rosco’s and Cho’s feet and hands.

“What are you doing?” Sheridan demanded.

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