Tossing off the blanket, hejumped out of bed and sat at his desk, turning the console on. He had his ownallies, if he knew where to find them. His attempts were fruitless and heturned the console off in disgust. He would have to wait. That was somethinghe didn’t do easily.
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Chapter two
John spent the next day on thebridge. With his mind on work, he hoped to avoid dwelling on unansweredquestions. They circled the back of his mind, trying to force their way to thesurface.
Tricon drew nearer; the planet amisshapen ball of solid rock. As it grew bigger on the main screen, Johncouldn’t help wondering if its off-round shape was a result of all the materialtaken out of it or if it had naturally formed that way. It didn’t matter. Inanother century, it might have all been picked to dust.
Humphries set orbit and Johnrelaxed back in the captain’s chair.
“Bismarck to Captain Decker. We’re back, sir.”
“What did you find?”
“One of our ships met with anaccident,” John spoke carefully. “We picked up some survivors.”
“What ship?” Decker’s questionwas as guarded as John’s words.
“Magellan.”
The line was quiet for a moment. Background noise filtered through the intercom.
“Talk to me later, Commander.”
“Yes, sir.”
“For now, get me anotherengineering team down here. We’ve got equipment breakdowns and no apparentreason why.”
John opened the channel toengineering. “Rodgers, Crocker, Bricks. Get your gear organised. You’regoing down.”
“Blasted miners!” Decker grumbledmore to himself. “Bit of honesty wouldn’t go astray.”
John barely hid his smirk. Hisown opinion wasn’t much different. “They’ll be down in a minute. I’ve alsogot a junior engineer from Magellan who might be of some benefit, if you’reinterested.”
“Send him down. We’ll soon seeif he’s up to scratch.”
Not knowing where Kowalski mightbe, John switched to the engineer’s communicator. “Mister Kowalski, report tothe transporter room.”
“Sir?” came the puzzled answer.
“What do you know about mining?”
“Nothing.”
“Then it’s about time youlearnt.”
“Yes, sir.”
It didn’t take long for Kowalskito pick up the basics of the equipment they were using. He found he understoodit better than the miners did. His first suggestions were ignored because ofhis lack of knowledge, then he began to ask the same questions as the miners. Finding the solution, didn’t take long. Making it workable, dragged on intothe hours of the night.
Being so far beneath the surfaceof the planet had a claustrophobic effect on the crew and shifts were rotatedevery two hours.
John wanted to go down and help. Decker refused to allow him. Sitting on the bridge only made him restless. Itallowed his mind to wander when what he really wanted was something to occupyit.
Finally, the captain decided hehad had enough and was returning to the ship.
He was on the bridge within minutes,not looking at all the ideal of perfection he expected from his crew. Even so,it took him only seconds to find something wrong. “Humphries! Sit up, boy. You’re on duty.”
Humphries immediately correctedhimself. He didn’t dare comment, his eyes focused on his console.
“Can’t leave this place for fiveminutes and it starts falling apart,” Decker muttered to himself. “Madison!”
“Sir.”
“I want you and the Magellansenior officer in my office in fifteen minutes.”
“Yes, sir.”
As Decker turned to his office,he remembered something. “And tell your young engineer… what’s-his-name, topolish his boots.”
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, John andMcReidy entered the captain’s office. He had showered, shaved and was lookingresplendent in an immaculate uniform. He made them both feel untidy.
“Lieutenant Commander McReidyreporting as ordered, sir.”
“Tsh, tsh,” he brushed her speechaside. “Don’t worry about formalities, dear girl. I’m very pleased to meetyou.” He took her hand in both of his and shook it warmly. “Come in, sitdown.” He led her to a comfortable chair in front of his desk.
McReidy threw John an amusinglook as Decker sat her down like a child.
“I hope Madison has made you feelat home after that dreadful ordeal.” The tone could have been patronising ifit wasn’t for Decker’s genuine concern. “Have you had a tour of our ship yet? I know it’s not much, but we like it.”
Unable to get a word in, McReidyjust shook her head.
“You haven’t?” Decker continuedwithout stopping and glared at John. “You will personally give our lovelyguest a tour as soon as your shift is over.”
“Yes, sir,” John acknowledged,unsure if the captain was listening to him anyway. The man’s attention wascompletely focused on McReidy. After a minute, his glance returned to John asthough seeing him there for the first time.
“Are you still here?” Deckergrowled.
“You ordered both –” John began.
“Get back to the bridge. Someone’s got to look after things. Can’t leave Humphries on his own. Whoknows what he’ll run us into.”
“Yes, sir.”
As John turned to leave, he heardDecker ask: “Would you like some refreshments, dear girl? Some tea, perhaps? I prefer English Breakfast.”
John looked at his watch. It wasjust after midnight. He smiled to himself, mouthing the words the captainspoke aloud. “After all, somewhere in the galaxy it’s breakfast time.”
The door closed behind Johnbefore the captain finished his explanation. He headed back to his place. There was nothing unusual happening on the planet. To the miners undergroundthere was no distinction between day and night and the work continued onrelentlessly.
John wanted the job to be over. He didn’t like mines. To spend so much time burrowing the depths of planetsbarely known made him uneasy. The minerals they collected were invaluable,including the crystals that ran many of the known races’ starships, but therewere so many unknown hazards. The sooner they got away from there, the betterhe would feel.
It was a good half hour beforethe office door opened.
“Madison!” the captain blared.
“Sir.” John was out of his seatand halfway to the office as McReidy exited. He avoided her glance as sheheaded to the bridge door.
John stood a metre in front ofthe desk, the door closing behind him. Decker leaned back in his chair; allfriendliness had gone with McReidy.
“Magellan.”
The single word asked a hundredquestions.
“Anything you’d like to tell me?”
“I only know what the lieutenantcommander told me. And what’s in her report.”
John had no idea what McReidy hadtold Decker, but the
