Free The Great Symmetry by James R Wells Page B

here,” Mira said. “Don’t do anything. I’ll be on the station for about ninety minutes. I’ll deliver my package and get lunch. Then−”
    Evan was dumbfounded. “You need to get lunch. While I wait here?”
    “Because it’s what any normal person would do with the time until the next flight window with decent fuel use. And I am a normal person, especially today. Nothing dumb, nothing hasty. Nobody in their right mind would stuff themselves into this can for an extra hour that they didn’t have to.”
    Evan looked out at the steadily growing form of the station. Once upon a time, it had been an elegant spinning wheel, and that shape could still be seen, just barely. After the installation of the generated gravity system had rendered the spin unimportant, modules had been bolted on ad-hoc over the course of decades. Any concept of a unified design, or coherent aesthetic, had been lost.
    “I guess it’s what we need to do,” he conceded.
    “Right you are. Now check this out. Here comes a shuttle from one of the Affirmatix warships, bound for Top Station . Looks like they will arrive about 5 minutes before we do.”
    Evan groaned. “Could things get worse?”
    “Sure!” Mira replied cheerfully. “Lots of ways! The warships could start firing on everything in sight. This boat would shred like a beer can. Or, I could turn you in to the highest bidder. Or−”
    “Okay, okay! It’s good to be breathing anyway. I just have a touch of, let’s just say, anxiety right about now.”
    “I’ve got just the ticket. Let’ s play a game while we approach – it’s called ‘count the warships!’ There’s one over there, that one’s two. There’s three.” Mira pointed at the locations where the ships stood off Top Station.
    It was impossible to miss the unsubtle reminders of all she was doing for him. “I know I have endangered you,” he said. “The message − at that moment, it was all I could think of. I had just a few minutes to try something, anything, to not die.”
    “Evan! If you are apologizing for this, then you don’t know me. Since our last expedition together, I’ve been running freight insystem, observing safe ship spacing . Speed limits! It’s soul-destroying.”
    The other shuttle was preparing to dock with Top Station. Evan wondered who was on board.
    Top Station had never been Evan’s favorite place. Mostly it had been an annoyance, a place where he had to stop on the way to the dig on Foray, or back to Kelter. Where he had to explain to ignorant inspectors why his research tools were not a threat to anyone. It had been such a relief when he had been able to afford the direct shuttle runs with a hired charter, due to Kate, and the funding provided by her family fortune. Still, at that moment the station was tantalizingly close. How great it would be to roam freely there. To get out of this bucket.
    Evan turned to Mira. “That’s another thing that we haven’t got to talk about yet. This last expedition, they insisted on supplying the crew, all of them. I couldn’t turn it down. A blank check to work on the most promising Versari site, any supplies I needed. I even asked the sponsors about making an exception for you, but it was no dice.”
    “I understand.” Mira was concentrating on the controls.
    “You say that now, but I know−”
    “It’s okay,” she dismissed. “Not the first time I’ve been cut from a crew.”
    The station was steadily growing, taking up most of the view directly in front of them. Evan could see more and more features. Hatches, antennae, piping. The Affirmatix shuttle was going into a bay directly in front of them.
    Suddenly Evan hit himself on the side of his head. “Stop! We need to dash for the ground right this minute!”
    “Come on, we talked about this. I have a good cover.”
    “Known associates. Think about it. If these ships all came to Kelter on my account, who will they be looking for? Known associates of Evan McElroy. And I even asked