Free Starship Alexander by Jake Elwood Page B

thinking, and left another smear of grease beneath her lower lip. "Actually, Sir, I could use three or four more cadets to move this bird." She reached over and tapped the casing of the nuke.
    "I'll see what I can do," Hammett said, and squeezed his way out through the hatch.
     

Chapter 15 – Janice
    Janice Ling stood in an alcove in a corridor, her back pressed against a snarl of pipes and conduits, trying to stay out of the way. From time to time a cadet would gallop past, and sometimes a crewman or officer. None of them paid the slightest attention to her.
    She'd been in the engine room, listening to a lecture from Lieutenant Rani, when all hell had broken loose. She had quickly realized she was in the way. Now she stood in a corridor, wondering what was happening, wondering what she should do.
    Another cadet rushed past, then paused and backtracked. It was a girl, twenty at the oldest, with brown skin and straight dark hair. She looked the way Janice felt, as if she was barely holding panic at bay. "Do you know where the laser batteries are?"
    Janice thought about it. "I'm pretty sure I do. Follow me." She felt a huge sense of relief at having something to do. She headed down the corridor at a trot, then climbed a ladder to the next deck. "They gave me a tour yesterday," she said. "If I remember correctly …" She moved down another corridor, then stopped at a bright red line on the deck plates, marked "Authorized Personnel Only".
    On the other side of the line a small hatch opened like the mouth of a tunnel. Above the hatch was stenciled "Battery Five". The cadet leaned over and stuck her head and shoulders through the hatch.
    A man's voice said, "Hey, Lanny."
    "Is there a battery that isn't manned yet?"
    "I don't think so," the man said. "They want someone on the maneuvering thrusters, though."
    "Where's that?" said Lanny.
    "No idea."
    Lanny straightened up and turned to Janice. "I don't suppose you know where …"
    "I think so," Janice said. "Come with me."
    They returned to the ladder, descended three decks, and took a lateral corridor, heading for the port-side hull. A harried-looking lieutenant came around a corner in front of them and stopped short. "Cadet. I need you on the controls for Thruster Four. Figure out the manual controls, and then wait. The thruster is that way." He pointed, and she hurried away.
    The lieutenant looked at Janice. "Come with me." He hurried down the corridor, and she followed.
    "Where are we going?"
    "Thruster Five."
    She trotted along in silence for several more steps. Finally she said, "Why?"
    "Same as Lanny," he said. "I need you to man the controls."
    "What?" She stopped. He didn't, so she ran to catch up. "But I'm not trained!"
    He glanced back over his shoulder, giving her a wry grin. "Lady, there isn't one person on this entire ship who's been trained in manual thruster control. It isn't something we do. We have computers for that sort of thing, after all. You know just as much about it as I do."
    She wanted to protest, but it was clear the lieutenant wouldn't listen. And besides, did she really want to return to her alcove in the corridor?
    "Here you are," said the lieutenant. "Good luck." He stepped through a hatch and vanished.
    "Wait!"
    It was too late. He was gone.
    Janice sighed and turned in a slow circle. She was close to the starboard hull. Two corridors stretched away, one leading to port, one leading aft. The forward bulkhead was a mix of unadorned aluminum and plastic pipes. The starboard bulkhead, though, held a number of gauges, several dials, and a large handle marked "Do Not Touch". Janice stared at it for a long moment, then sighed. "I suppose I better pull on that and see what it does."
     
     

Chapter 16 – West
    Mathew West sat alone on the stage of the Stardust Ballroom, a glorified lounge on Freedom Station. According to the clock he was supposed to be in the middle of his first set, but the room stood empty. Towering stacks of chairs marked the spots