Daniel hammered keys, adding the ships’ projected courses to the display. “Oh,” said Adele in sudden understanding. “Oh!”
The Yorck was sailing into the junction of not only the RCN missiles but those from Der Grosser Karl’s capacious magazines. Commodore Pettin had maneuvered the Alliance heavy cruiser into an inferno of friendly fire.
The Princess Cecile’s hull rang, a sound as sharp as that of the riggers’ mauls but much louder. Moments later a second blow made the frames clang.
“Bridge, that’s Tube Alpha clear!” Betts’s breathless voice announced. The low-frequency grumble of missiles moving started again. “She’ll be reloaded in a minute thirty, and by the Lord we’ll have Beta ready in five minutes more! Missiles out!”
Daniel’s jubilant face suddenly shed all expression. He began again to type with grim determination.
“Captain!” Lt. Mon reported from the Battle Direction Center. “The battleship just launched a round at us. Over.”
Adele frowned. What does one missile matter against the scores they’ve already fired?
She looked at the display and found it suddenly clear. The geometry was simple enough that even she could see the relationships.
The Princess Cecile was heading directly away from the battleship it had slashed at point-blank range. By now the distance was very great due to the velocity the corvette had built up in the Matrix, but the two ships’ proper motion was nearly zero. The computed track of the missile and the corvette’s projected course were identical.
And, with the damage to her High Drive, there was virtually nothing the Princess Cecile could do to change that relationship.
* * *
Pasternak was topside. Many chief engineers would have denied that it was their duty to clamber about the hull of a ship while it was under weigh; they weren’t riggers. If the thrusters or High Drive nozzles needed looking after, why then there were technicians to take the risk of drifting toward infinity while the ship accelerated away from them.
If Pasternak had felt that way, he’d have been looking for a different berth at the end of this voyage, and he wouldn’t much like the character Daniel offered when discussing him with other captains.
Daniel looked again at his course calculations. Mind, the Princess Cecile’s present voyage might end very abruptly and under such conditions that none of her crew need worry about the future. Still, there was hope.
“Mister Pasternak?” Daniel said. Had the Chief Engineer thought to fit his suit with a radio before he went topside? Pray God he had, though needs must Daniel would use Hogg or a rigger to relay his message. “What’s the status of the damaged nozzles? Captain over.”
“Sir, we’re just finishing Number Five,” Pasternak came back instantly. “The sheathing—” the electromagnetic tape that kept the stream of antimatter centered until it reached the nozzle to interact with the spray of normal matter “—burned through but the tube and nozzle were all right. The feeds to Ten and Twelve are fine, but they shouldn’t be run till the nozzles’re replaced. Fifteen minutes apiece if we’re lucky, but if the ion stream welded the fittings we’ll have to cut them loose. I can’t promise much then. Over.”
Daniel looked at his calculations. With three more nozzles on line, just possibly . . .
Aloud he said, “Pasternak, finish up on Five soonest and bring your crew aboard. Break. Woetjans, we’ll be increasing thrust to one point six gee as soon as engineering has Nozzle Five ready. Nozzles Ten and Twelve may fail at any moment, so watch yourself around Frame Sixty.”
Daniel stared at his display for a moment, then added, “Woetjans? I recommend you bring your crews aboard now, unless you’re convinced their work over the next five minutes is crucial. It’s possible that we’ll be maneuvering violently. Over.”
“Roger,” Woetjans said. There was physical strain in her voice. Daniel suspected the bosun was bracing herself with the grip of one hand and using the other to put as much force on the end of a come-along as three ordinary crewmen could’ve managed. “You handle the bloody course, we’ll handle the bloody rig. Out!”
“Task accomplished, coming aboard,” Pasternak said crisply. “Engineering out.”
Daniel cut in the additional High Drive nozzles. The icons for Ten and Twelve went solid green under dint of Daniel’s overriding command, but they pulsed to show the computer’s displeasure.