Free The Many Deaths of Joe Buckley by Assorted Baen authors, Barflies Page B

Broadside on, the Nebula Storm smashed irresistibly into the immovable bulwark of steel-hard ice, sending a blast of steam, ice dust, and boulders of crystalline water spurting into the black sky of Europa. The cloud settled, unnaturally fast with no atmosphere to keep the dust suspended, and all was still. For a few seconds, no one said anything as Horst gave his full attention to bringing Munin to ground as close as possible to the crashed Nebula Storm . Only when he felt the huge lander settle with crushing solidity onto the ice did he speak. “ Nebula Storm ! Jackie, Helen, A.J.—are you all right?”
    For a moment there was no answer, and he thought his heart might just stop. But then the voice of Madeline Fathom answered, as calm and collected as though she were sitting back on Earth. “ Munin , this is Nebula Storm . That probably looked worse than it was. We got a bit shaken up, but we are all fine. Joe’s got a slight bruise on his forehead and Jackie got whacked across the shin by something that got loose in that last jolt, but her suit kept that from being anything serious. No leaks, all major systems still operating, and the hab unit we lost had the stuff in it we could most afford to lose. You can see that one of the others extended a little on impact, just over the top of this ridge, and it’s twisted some, but Jackie doesn’t think it’s beyond repair.” Her image appeared on the screen, and they could all see the entire crew of Nebula Storm behind her. “It’s a good landing, because we’re all going to walk away from it. And one day, we’ll all be walking back into this ship and going home.”

Portal
    ERIC FLINT AND RYK E. SPOOR
    “Holy shit!” A.J. did not apologize for the curse.
    At nearly the same instant, Joe Buckley said, “God damn it!” followed by “Ow ow OW!”
    “I see yellow and red on your telltales, Joe!” Petra said, having obviously switched in her medical monitors. “Talk to me!”
    “Goddamn . . . stupid . . . universe . . .” they heard Joe mutter. “Got a hole punched through the suit.”
    “Through the carbonan ?” A.J. said incredulously, jamming his way into his suit as fast as he could.
    “Yeah, right through. My guess, something like one of the support fasteners on the rig snapped . . . god damn that hurts . . . shot out like a bullet . . .”
    “Joe!” Maddie’s voice did not have its professional calm, and A.J. was struck again by the sheer intensity of her attachment to his old friend. Not that Joe doesn’t deserve her, or her him, but she’s usually so controlled . “How’s the air?”
    “Leaking like a sonofa . . . but it’s through the leg, not chest. My other leg, so I guess I’ll have matching scars.” Joe was referring to the lovely scars he had from the one leg being severely fractured to the point of bone poking through the skin after his crash on Mars. “Got a . . . temp patch in my pouch. Think I can get that on, and I’m heading into Munin right now.”
    “Dr. Masters?”
    “Mr. Buckley’s going into mild shock but still functional,” the Kentish voice replied calmly, “and I’m seeing no indications yet that a major artery has been severed. I am on my way over, but I think that Mr. Buckley has once more, shall we say, dodged the bullet.”
    * * *
    Maddie bounced over to the jury-rigged lightbar which served as the communication interface and hooked in fresh power packs. “Joe?”
    “ Maddie! ”
    The instant response made her feel suddenly ten years younger. “You’re both all right?”
    “For now.”
    Tension returned. Joe wouldn’t say that if . . . “What’s the bad news?”
    “Well, the good news is that we’ve got some spectacular footage and evidence of a really advanced ecosystem here on Europa,” Joe said in his usual overly-casual description of disaster. “The bad news is that the local wildlife got very frisky with Zarathustra and the lock’s gone to amber alert.”
    Oh dear God. “Are you