Free The Last Hour of Gann by R. Lee Smith Page A

Amber Bierce.”
    “Amber.” His brows furrowed slightly. “Jonah Lamarc, Lieutenant Junior-Grade.”
    T hat was a lot further down the authority ladder than she’d been hoping to hear, and by the look on his face, he knew it. But he struck her as a thoughtful man and definitely not prone to panic. She put out her hand impulsively.
    H e shook it while Crewman Scott watched.
    “It’s going t o be a process?” Amber prompted.
    “But I believe it can be done, once the fire burns itself out,” he finished, and then gave his head a grim shake. “Miss Bierce, I don’t think I’d say this to anyone else out there, but you seem to have a level head and I want to be honest with you.”
    “Go on then. I’m braced.”
    “I’m not sure we can launch a beacon from this location—planet-side, I mean—but assuming that it is possible, we first have to get guidance repaired, online and talking to the beacon so that it can orient itself to Earth. After that…” He paused again, looking down at Nicci, who had drawn up her knees and was now resting her head atop them and lightly rocking. He looked back at Amber, his expression drawn and greyed with strain. “I haven’t talked around much yet, but I served my second shift before the incident, so I know it’s been at least two years, plus however long the ship was flying blind to get to this planet after it was hit. But even if we magically crashed the instant after I went back in Sleep, we’d still have been Tunneling for two years before that. We can’t be less than five hundred light-years from Earth,” Lamarc said softly, slowly. His eyes communicated far more than his careful words. “And that is way more than we have mapped out along our pre-arranged route. Even if we were only knocked a little bit off-course, which I’m guessing—” He looked pointedly around, taking in the whole planet at a glance. “—may be overly optimistic, our guidance system might not be able to find Earth.”
    Nicci moaned and began to sob again.
    “Okay,” said Amber. “Now what’s the real problem?”
    He shared her lackluster smile. “Believe it or not, there is a real problem.”
    “Oh for God’s sake. Okay. What is it?”’
    “The beacon doesn’t have tunnel-drive. It was never meant to travel at anything close to that speed, not even at light-speed. So even if we are only five hundred light-years away, and even if we can reach the beacon, repair it, program it, and launch it tomorrow through this planet’s atmosphere and onward straight to Earth, it will take more than six thousand years for the damned thing to get there.”
    “So there’s no point in looking for it,” said Amber. After a moment, she hammered the reality home with a nod. “All right. So we’re here.”
    He frowned at Nicci, then at her. “I didn’t say that and I wouldn’t, if I were you. For a while, that hope of rescue is all that is going to keep some of these people alive.”
    “ So what are you planning?”
    “We haven’t decided,” said Scott.
    Lamarc glanced at him, still frowning. “We’re discussing our options.”
    “What have you come up with so far?”
    “I believe our best hope of survival lies with the ship,” said Lamarc, and did not react when Scott heaved a short, hard sigh at him. “It was built to be a ready-made city. It provides shelter and security against the elements here and, most importantly, familiarity. We have food, moisture evaporators and purifiers, medical facilities, and general supplies to last easily a hundred years. Comfort is going to be our most precious resource for the immediate future and it should not be underestimated.”
    Amber looked at the ship and said nothing. She could hear the logic in his words, but she could also see the smoke funneling out of dozens, if not hundreds, of wounds. And where there was smoke…
    At last, just to demonstrate that she wasn’t a complete bitch and he shouldn’t feel the need to be a complete bastard,