Alex Benedict 07 - Coming Home Read Online Free PDF Page B

tangled, it should come back into linear space within a few hours—”
    “
Our
time,” JoAnn said.
    “And it’ll stay up, we think,” Shara continued, “for about four hours.”
    “And that process will continue?” I asked.
    “Yes.”
    “How far will it travel between appearances?”
    “We can’t be certain yet, Chase. But we’re estimating about one hundred twenty thousand kilometers. The problem develops due to an interface between the drive unit and the warp. When we get to it, it will already have been through the process a couple of times. What we hope to do is adjust the drive feed so that it is not responsive to the change in the continuum.”
    I was having trouble following. “What does that mean exactly?”
    JoAnn obviously thought it was a dumb question. Her eyebrows rose, and her gaze went momentarily toward the overhead. But she managed an understanding smile. “Change the energy feed,” she said. “The power level of the drive unit has to be within certain parameters for the ship to stay contained by the warp field. If we adjust the feed, we should be able to stop the process.”
    “That sounds easy enough.”
    “If we can get the right setting, yes. It is—”
    “And if you get the wrong one—?”
    “Probably nothing will happen. If we get it seriously wrong, we might lose the ship. The problem is that we’re still learning about the settings. The
Capella
did its transdimensional jump in an area of space that had been damaged a quarter of a million years ago by a superdense object. Probably a black hole but not necessarily. A section of it literally wrapped itself around the ship. The drive unit dragged the vehicle and the section of warp forward. Time is effectively frozen on board. Fortunately, it surfaces at regular intervals for a few hours, before the interaction between the star drive and the warp drags it back under.”
    *   *   *
     
    The pilot was waiting in the passenger cabin. He said hello, welcomed us on board, and told us his name was Nick Kraus. “Are you related to John?” I asked. John Kraus was the director of the SRF.
    “Yeah. He’s my brother.”
    Shara grinned. “Nick usually pilots the big passenger cruisers.”
    “Like the
Capella
?”
    “I’ve been working the
Morning Star
these last few years,” he said. Nick looked good. Brown eyes, amiable smile. A bit taller than you’d normally find in a pilot.
    “So you’re here as the in-house expert?”
    “Something like that,” he said. “I’m on loan from Orion Transport. And I’m glad to be here. It’s much more interesting work than hauling around a couple of thousand sightseers.”
    Nick obviously knew Shara and JoAnn. “Chase,” he said, “have you been up here before? On Skydeck?”
    “On occasion.”
    Shara smiled. “She’s Alex Benedict’s pilot.”
    “The antique dealer?” He showed surprise.
    “Yes.”
    Nick was clearly impressed. “That must be interesting work. Have you gotten a chance to land on ancient space stations?”
    “One or two.”
    “Beautiful. I envy you.” He checked the time. “Okay, guys, good luck. You have the course directions?”
    “They’ve already been inserted, Nick.”
    “Okay. We’ll be leaving as soon as we get clearance. Should only be a few minutes. There’ll be about forty minutes of acceleration once we get started. I’ll let you know before we head out. Meantime, you might get belted down.” He disappeared onto the bridge.
    We settled into our harnesses. I was happy about getting to ride as a passenger for a change. I could hear Nick talking with the ops people. Then the engines started. “Okay, everybody,” he said. “On our way.” He had a quiet voice and an easy manner. “Everybody relax and enjoy the flight.” So I did. I eased back and looked out the window at the dock as it began to retreat.
    “Good luck to us,” Shara said to JoAnn. “You pull this off, and they’ll be giving you the Presidential Citation.”
    We passed