Ringing Deeps Chap 5

CHAPTER 5

"Phaeton," Parker said after they'd dumped the latest load to a mining ship. At least they weren't having to go all the way back to the Troy. "Human beings require occasional rest periods. I can keep going but Angel's sort of on his last legs. And we need to perform some maintenance."

"Acknowledged, Lieutenant," Phaeton said. "I recently realized I had not calculated human rest periods, nor necessary maintenance, into the rescue plan. It is a complication, but this was never a fully solvable puzzle. The problem in the case of your crew is: where? I currently occupy the cubic your bunks are supposed to occupy. And lifespace on ships is currently at a premium in the system. Troy?"

"Too far," Dana said. "I'm going to land on Therm. There's a fairly short route through the door to the main bay. And I checked. Our quarters still aren't in use."

"Request sent to Leonidas and he's set a landing point," Phaeton said. "You'll need to leave the power on. I rather need it."

"Roger," Dana said, wearily. "Gimme a vector…"

#

"Oh my fracking God," Dana said as she approached the canted main door of the battlestation. The screens had constantly been pinging with shrapnel as she approached. The globe was surrounded by a constellation of nickel-iron dust and bit and pieces of… everything. Her systems were picking up the entire periodic table. Given the ratio of carbon… She didn't want to think why there was so much carbon in the dust. It wasn't a major component of Rangora or human missiles. It was a major component of Rangora and humans.