Free The Venusian Gambit by Michael J. Martinez Page A

Remember, full pressure suits until we’re damn sure that ship’s decontaminated. Get a move on, skipper.”
    “Roger that. Armstrong out.”
    Shaila’s face winked out, and Diaz leaned back in her chair a bit. They’d chatted on and off during the Armstrong ’s trip home; Shaila had refused all comms with anyone remotely attached to psych or medical, but Diaz had been able to get through to her on and off—with the help of psych off-camera, of course. It wasn’t in her portfolio, per se, but Shaila was as much a friend as a subordinate, and they had shared something utterly amazing and historic on Mars. Few people could really relate to each other as they could.
    “CIC to Diaz, two minutes to BlueNet range,” Coogan reported over the intercom.
    Diaz unbuckled from her chair and floated back out, around the corner and into the CIC. “All right then,” she said. “Let’s get this party started. Gerald, ramp it up.”
    “Yes, General,” Ayim replied. “Initializing energy transfer sequence. I—”
    Coogan interrupted loudly. “ Tienlong ’s changing course! Heading now 180 mark 6, pulling away—and into Armstrong ’s path!”
    Diaz vaulted across the room to Coogan’s holodisplay. “Shit. Open a comm to Armstrong .”
    “She’s already calling, ma’am,” Coogan replied. “Go ahead, Armstrong .”
    “ Tienlong is now 17 minutes from us, Hadfield ,” Shaila reported. “Permission to proceed with boarding, over.”
    “Hold on, Armstrong ,” Diaz said, turning toward the Hadfield ’s cockpit. “Baines, intercept course, now, and burn hard. Gimme an ETA.”
    Everyone aboard Hadfield felt the slight pull of gravity as the engines fired once more. “Looks like…22 minutes now, General. Best we got if we’re going to ease up on her,” Baines reported.
    “Gerald?”
    “Recalculating,” the scientist said. “Now coming into BlueNet range in….25 minutes.”
    “What?” Diaz thundered. “How the fuck is that possible?”
    Ayim looked at Diaz, petrified at the outburst. “I’m sorry, General! There is one satellite in the array that has been malfunctioning for weeks. They seemed to know exactly where to go. Now I have to maneuver to compensate.”
    Diaz wheeled around to Coogan. “Jimmy?”
    The young officer grokked her meaning instantly. “We’re not detecting sensors from them, ma’am. There’s a fair amount of transmissions out here, so we’ll need to check their comm logs to see if they somehow got warning.”
    That was, of course, the biggest fear Diaz and her DAEDALUS team had. It appeared the Chinese were infected—or possessed, depending—while still on Earth. Did Tienlong have any Earthbound allies left? Would they try to help? And how? Guiding the ship away from BlueNet was a good start.
    “Are they still on a course for Earth?”
    Coogan’s eyes darted over his holographic data again. “Barely. And I don’t think they have any more fuel. This was their last play, I think, ma’am.”
    “All right. Armstrong , you still there?” Diaz asked.
    “Roger, Hadfield .”
    “Jain, you’re docking first. I want you to secure your docking port, but do not go further until we arrive and send a fire team to you. Are we clear?” Tell me we’re fucking clear, kid.
    “Yes, General,” Jain replied. “We’ll secure our port and await your arrival.”
    Diaz looked into the holomonitor, watching the beads of light representing Armstrong, Tienlong and Hadfield converge. “Roger. Keep the line open.”
    All she could do now was pray that those aboard Tienlong— whomever they were now, and whatever their plans were, didn’t have too many more surprises in store.
    May 3, 1809
    There were a scant few souls walking along Broad Street, despite the delightful spring weather and the late-afternoon hour, when there were few courses scheduled among Oxford’s scattered colleges. The march of philosophical inquiry and the education of young men were of paramount importance, of course,