Pawn’s Gambit Read Online Free PDF Page B

from outside the boat. Chandra boosted both power and gain, and Goode’s next words were clearer. “One of the lines of the boat’s cradle is jammed—something’s dug into the mesh where I can’t get at it. I’ll need a laser torch to cut it.”
    â€œDamn. The nearest one’s probably in the forward hobby room.” Chandra briefly considered dropping back to one gee while Goode was traveling, but immediately abandoned the idea. At this late stage that would force extra high-gee deceleration to still get to the rendezvous position on time, and there was no guarantee they had the fuel for that.
    Goode read her mind, long-distance. “Don’t worry, I can make it. What’s the latest on the Intruder?”
    â€œAs of four minutes ago, holding steady. At a light-minute to the nearest tachship, though, that could be a little old.”
    â€œI get the point. On my way.”
    The minutes crawled by. Eyes still on the read-outs, Chandra mentally traced out Goode’s path: out the bay, turn right, elevator or stairway down two decks, along a long corridor, into the Number Two hobby and craft shop; secure a torch from the locked cabinet and return. Even with twice-normal weight she thought she was giving him plenty of time, but she was halfway through her third tracing when the drive abruptly cut off.
    The sudden silence and weightlessness caught her by surprise, and she wasted two or three seconds fumbling at the radio switch. “Goode!” she shouted. “Where the hell are you?”
    There was no reply. She waited, scanning the final location figures. Sure enough, the Origami had overshot the proper position by nearly eighty meters. She was just reaching for her power controls when the radio boomed.
    â€œI’m back,” Goode said, panting heavily. “I didn’t trust the elevator—didn’t realize how hard the trip back would be. Sorry.”
    â€œNever mind; just get to work. Is there anything you can hang onto? I’ve got to run the nose jets.”
    â€œGo ahead. But, damn, this torch is a genuine toy. I don’t know how long it’ll take to cut the boat loose.”
    A chill ran down Chandra’s spine, and it was all she could do to keep from hitting the main drive and getting them the hell out of there. “Better not be long, partner. It’s just you and me and a runaway monorail out here.”
    â€œYeah. Hey—couldn’t you call for a tachship to come and get us?”
    â€œI already thought of that. But the nearest tachship is only a light-minute out, way too close to get here in one jump. He’d have to jump out a minimum of two A.U., then jump back here. Calculating the direction and timing for two jumps that fine-tuned would take almost twenty minutes, total.”
    â€œDamn. I didn’t know that—I’ve never trained for tachships.” A short pause. “The first three strands are cut; seven to go. Minute and a half, I’d guess.”
    â€œOkay.” Chandra was watching the read-outs closely. “We’re almost back in position; I’ll be down there before you’re done. The boat ready otherwise?”
    â€œReady, waiting, and eager.”
    â€œNot nearly as eager as I am.” A squirt of the main drive to kill their velocity as the nose jets fell silent; one more careful scan of the read-outs—“I’m done. See you below.”
    Goode was on the second to the last of the cable strands when she arrived. “Get in and strap down,” he told her, not looking up.
    She did, wriggling into the pilot’s couch, and was ready by the time he scrambled in the opposite side. Without waiting for him to strap down, she hit the “release” button.
    They were under two gees again practically before clearing the hull. Holding the throttle as high as it would go, Chandra confirmed that they were moving at right angles to the Intruder’s path.