Free Regan's Reach 2: Orbital Envy by Mark G Brewer

it to a stop. Otherwise inside there, well, it doesn't bear thinking about." Rod leant back, arms crossed, quietly pleased with himself.
    Regan smiled and shook her head. "Well Ham, sounds good to me. I love the ADF's but we can build more, as long as the ghost is all right."
    "Ghost?" Leah asked.
    "That's Ham," Regan replied, in concentrated business mode, "I'll tell you about it one day."
    "Good enough for me." So I'll still be around one day! Leah settled back into her chair.
    Already, from their dizzying vantage point they could see the ADF gently approaching the tumbling vessel.
    It was a dance. The ADF smoothly approached the Russian shuttle adjusting its own spin so exactly; frankly there was nothing to see. This didn't stop Ham describing in painful detail every action until Regan intervened.
    "For god's sake Ham just do it will you!"
    This seemed to speed up the proceedings leaving both Rod and Leah wondering whether Ham could have completed it in half the time without an audience. Regan certainly thought so.
    Soon the ADF was exactly synchronized and gently touched the Shuttle wing. For a moment they spun together in close embrace. Then they could see with each burst of the shuttle maneuvering thruster, the spin seemed less and less. What the ADF was doing they didn't know and didn't ask. Their eyes were fixed on the shuttle, wondering.
    When finally the two were suspended, locked as if magnetized together, there was a collective intake of breathe in the control room. Suspension of belief had sustained them to this point. Now reality set in.
    Regan spoke first. "What are we going to find."
    "My moneys on chunky bits." Ham wasted no time with his opinion.
    Regan ignored him. "Well, let's get this show on the road. I guess we drift in there now, what, rearward? And see if we can link up with their airlock. How exactly are we going to do that Ham?" For the first time she sounded doubtful.
    "I still have a few tricks up my sleeve oh you of little faith. We'll be on our way just as soon as I have the cameras in place."
    "Camera's!" All three spoke at once.
    "Well of course, this is fantastic PR. I've been live feeding everything from the beginning, with an expert commentary. Get with the program people; we're rescuing Russians, in space!"
    "I'm not sure that was a good idea Ham. They wanted to keep this under wraps."
    "Under wraps? What bullshit. This is great viewing, and there may be chunky bits! This is going live around the world. Numbers are picking up even as we speak. There are over seven million in Russia alone watching. Hold on, I've got the drone in place, have a look at this!"
    Suddenly their view was of the opposite side of the shuttle with only the wide starscape visible beyond. The little ADF could be seen propping up the near wing, and then suddenly the shape of the interceptor appeared from the other side rising majestically, serenely, THE STEIN TRAVELLER emblazoned on the side. The interceptor began a slow turn to face the camera and Regan laughed out loud. It had a front screen through which could be clearly seen, herself and Major's Harmon and Morgan.
    She dropped her face into her hands and muttered, "Oh . . . my . . . god!"
    "Don't worry," said Ham, "I can edit that bit."
    The shuttle drew nearer in the viewer and Regan realized their guests would have little idea of what was happening. "Guy's, it's not obvious from here because the view hasn't changed for you but we're actually coming in backwards, am I right Ham?"
    "Correct." He subbed again [I'm going to extend a field bubble between us. It won't be quite as stable in a tube form but it should hold up fine . . . almost certainly. Regan, do you want them to know about this?]
    [Shit Ham, even I didn't know about this. I guess we could almost certainly disguise it . . . knowing your incredible ability!]
    [Good idea . . . I'll make it black so they can't see the stars. But remember, you'll still have to float across. No Grav plates, sorry]
    [Float!