Free Tour of Duty: Stories and Provocation by Michael Z. Williamson

out, done.”

    Stadter didn’t believe what he was hearing.
    “Exposed?”
    The Black Watch ’s engineer, Milton said, “Yes, the feed lines are exposed, as are some of the valves.”
    “How’s the radiation level? Those aren’t made for adjustment in flight.”
    “Correct. We’re lowering people by line and cut the line once they reach exposure limits.”
    That was too insane for words. Stadter felt nauseated himself, and not just because they were now shifting G to match the derelict.
    He said, “They’ll fall through the wash, and be lost as well.”
    “Yes, they’ll need to kick off, then cut the line.”
    “I can’t order anyone to do that. It’s double suicide.”
    Milton said, “We volunteered.”
    “Of course you did. I can’t see a logical argument against the shutdown, and it’s less dangerous than doing nothing, may God help us all. Do it.”
    “Can you coordinate pickup?”
    “Yes.” That was part of the mission profile. However, juggling them aboard ships that could immediately have rad treatment available if needed would be harder. “Vela,” he began.
    “I’m looking for boats that will have at least emergency rad treatment,” she said.
    “Excellent.”

    “Okay,” Bowden announced, “we’re going to place cutting charges here and there,” he splashed the hull with an intensely bright light. It could be a weapon if aimed at eyes, but here it served to illuminate for cameras. “Small for entry. Then we’re going in in fireteam stacks just like a compartment clearing operation. Each troop will carry as many rescue balls as they can manage. Grab the kids, stuff them in, inflate them and bring them out. We blow the entire hull section for that. If you have to stun them or slap them to get compliance, do it. But we’d rather you took some bruising than the kids. Anyone worried about a few scratches?”
    “Can’t be worse than my bitch of a little sister,” Arvil said. “Sharp nails.”
    “Good. But then we’ve got to clear the rest of the compartments, and do so fast . You can see the damage so far. Blowing those holes shouldn’t hurt structural struts, but who knows what else is wrong with this piece of garbage. We can expect pressure cracks at least. There are bound to be more casualties, sorry, passengers , elsewhere, and they’ll be going into anoxia fast. Open every hatch, clear every cubby, hit them with oxy and get them out.”
    Lemke said, “With active oh two depletion, brain damage starts in under eighty seconds.”
    “Correct. The longer they’re in zero pressure, even if they have an oxy mask, the more risk of damage there is, right before death. Hopefully that won’t be a problem.” Even if they all knew it, it was good to go over the details. Every training exercise was a mission, and every mission a training exercise.
    “I have phones up,” said Arvil. “Talk away.” He handed over a plugged wire.
    Bowden clicked the plug to the patch on his helmet. He paused a moment to decide what to say.
    “Hello onboard. This is Warrant Leader Bowden, Blazer Regiment. We are here to rescue you. Let me speak to someone in charge.”
    There was some shouting and crying, but not a lot. A teen voice, probably male, said, “There is no one in charge. They went to get help when the explosion happened. Do you want the oldest?”
    “That will be fine. Anyone who can follow directions while we get you out.”
    “That’s me, I guess. Gordon Rodriguez. What do you need?”
    “Gordon, I need an accurate count of everyone in that compartment, and I need to know about anyone else in that air space, if you know what that means. That’s first, more afterwards.”
    “Okay, hold on.”
    The crying and calling went on, distant sounding, but plaintive. Small kids were unhappy, slightly older ones were being bossy and scared, a few were trying to offer advice, and Rodriguez was counting out loud. “Twelve, thirteen, dammit, stop ! The soldier wants me to count you, let me