of alarms bleated in protest at a maneuver that appeared in no manual Michael had ever read. “Stand by,” the command pilot called. “This will be very rough.”
“Throttle down, Jakob,” Michael shouted. “Throttle down. Too much and you’ll lose her.”
“Roger,” Karroubi said; a moment later the vibration wracking the shuttle’s frame eased off a touch.
“Better,” Michael said even though it was still worryingly bad. But there was some good news: Karroubi was a natural on the sidestick controller. With a confident hand, he kept control of the stern’s tendency to slide away from the oncoming air, and the shuttle was decelerating hard, riding a pillar of flame down to earth.
“Looks good,” Karroubi said, “so stand by. It won’t be long before we can go.”
“Just say the word,” Michael replied. “I’m ready to-”
In one terrible instant, everything changed. Karroubi lost control. The stern whipped up and over with frightening speed, the airframe hammered by endless cracking bangs. “Shit!” Michael screamed as the status board told him the controls had been overwhelmed. Condemned, the shuttle tumbled to destruction; it was beyond anything Karroubi could do to reverse the situation.
“Sorry about that,” Karroubi shouted, his body a blur as the shuddering thrashed him from side to side.
“Don’t be,” Michael replied through clenched teeth, marveling that the pilot still was fighting against impossible odds to regain control.
“Go when I say … best I can … do.”
“Good luck, Jakob.”
Time ran out. The shuttle began to come apart. Damaged clamps failed, and the stern ramp sagged open far enough to let the slipstream grab it. The air tore the massive piece of foamalloy off and whipped it away.
“Now!” screamed Karroubi.
The ejection system took over. It blasted Michael out into the night and into a violence that overwhelmed his senses.
Michael awoke.
Rain hammered at the plasfiber capsule, the noise audible even over the insistent ringing in blast-damaged ears. It was light, a murky gray day thanks to the thick clouds that scudded overhead. He had been unconscious for … He tried to make his mind to do the math, but it refused. Since it had been early evening when the shuttle had picked him and Polk up, it was a long time. Commitment’s nights were prolonged affairs. He lay there for a long while, tired beyond belief. It was only with a huge effort that he summoned up the energy to get free of his safety harness and crawl out of the capsule, his shoulder and the rest of his body screeching in protest.
He tried to stand up. That was a mistake. He never made it past one knee before gravity reasserted itself and dragged him back down.
“Over here,” the voice said. It was a man’s voice, a Hammer voice. Michael’s heart pounded.
Every instinct urged Michael to get away, but he knew he could not. He lay there and stared up into the rain. A face appeared over his. “Here,” the man called out. He knelt down beside Michael. “You okay?”
“Don’t think so,” Michael whispered. “Who are you?”
“Corporal Singh, B Company, 2/284th, NRA.”
“Where am I?” Michael asked, overwhelmed by relief.
“Just outside of McNair.”
“McNair, that’s goo-”
At which point Michael passed out.
Arm in a sling and right shoulder buried beneath an impressive bandage, Michael sat atop a captured Aqaba main battle tank as it threaded its way through the milling throng, a mix of civilian and NRA, looks of dazed happiness and relief on every face. The tank slowed to a stop, and the commander stuck her head out of the hatch. “Central Station’s 500 meters that way, Colonel,” she said, pointing down a broad avenue. It was a sorry sight. Once blessed with a double row of imposing trees, most now reduced to shattered stumps, it was lined with bombed-out buildings and littered with the burned-out wreckage of Hammer fighting vehicles. “Sorry I can’t get you any closer.”
“That’s okay. This will do fine.”
“You look after yourself. We owe you big time.”
Michael’s face flushed with embarrassment “Not sure about that,” he said. He’d lost count of the times he’d been thanked for sending Jeremiah Polk into oblivion.
“Well, I am,” the woman said, a broad smile across her grease- and dust-smeared face, a face startlingly young, a face that radiated uninhibited happiness and faith in the future.
Michael looked at her; he felt a million years old. “Thanks for the lift,” he said.
“Need a hand?”
“No, I’m okay,” Michael replied. He eased himself down one-handed. It took a while. His body was still a long way from forgiving him for all it had been put through. He grabbed his pack and set off, trying to ignore the nervous twitching of his heart.
And there she was, sitting with her back against a wall, head back and eyes closed. “Anna!” Michael shouted as he forced his body into a reluctant trot. “Anna!”
Anna looked up, and then she was on her feet and running hard toward him, skidding to halt when she saw the sling. “Oh, Michael,” she said; she pulled him into an awkward one-armed embrace. “What have you done now?”
“Flesh wound,” he said; he buried his face in her shoulder. “It’s nothing. I’m fine … I’m sorry. I was so stup-”
Anna pushed him back. “Stop!” she said. “It’s over. Let’s leave it at that, okay?”
“Over?” Michael looked around at the shattered buildings flanking the debris-littered plaza. “I know it looks that way, but it’s not over, not yet. We still need to-”
“Michael!” Anna snapped. “Stop! It
“I have to make sure, Anna,” he said, eyes casting left and right. “I can’t just walk away, not now.”
Anna looked at him for a long time. Her green eyes dragged him back until nothing else existed but the two of them. “I’ve got something to tell you,” she said at last.
“What?”
“I’m pregnant.”
Michael heard the words, but they made no sense. He shook his head, confused. “Pregnant? What do you mean … Ah, you’re pregnant!”
“Ten points, Einstein,” Anna said with a smile.
“Oh,” Michael said. He choked. Unable to speak, he pulled her back into an embrace that lasted five lifetimes.
“Hey, spacer boy,” Anna murmured at last, “we have to go.”
“No, we don’t. I’m not moving. You’re pregnant … I don’t believe it.”
“You should, and yes, it’s yours in case you’re wondering.”
