This Corner of the Universe Read Online Free PDF Page B

next to him. 
    “This
station taken, Captain?” the first officer asked.  Heskan waved toward the
machine.  “Go ahead, this way you won’t have far to run when I collapse and
need resuscitation.” 
    Riedel
finished stretching and moved onto the machine.  Heskan felt his stomach
tighten.  Oh, I hope this isn’t going to be awkward; I’ve never been good at
social situations but I really need to say something.  It’s going to be awful
if we just run next to each other in an uncomfortable silence. 
    Heskan
noticed Riedel had selected a series of sixty-meter hurdle races.  From the
corner of his eye, he watched him run the first race, jumping over the
holographic hurdles.  The finish was close but the display said he came in
second place.
    “Are
you a track man, Mike?” Heskan asked at the end of the race.
    “I
used to run in college some.  Ana’s last skipper ran too and occasionally we’d
race each other.”  Riedel shrugged as he finished walking his cool down
sequence and prepared for the next race.
    Heskan’s
legs were fully burning now.  He jogged slightly closer to the “water” and was
rewarded with the Form-U-Foam hardening some.  “How was Captain Hasting’s
relationship with Lieutenant Durmont?”
    Riedel
paused his machine and Heskan followed suit.  Heskan could tell by Riedel’s
expression that he was thinking his answer over carefully. 
    “Well,
I think they had some disagreements but both men wanted what was best for the
system,” Riedel stated tactfully.
    It’s
not proper to speak poorly about your superior officers, especially your
commanding officer, but if I’m not honest with Mike right now, we’ll never
develop a real and trusting relationship, Heskan thought.  I might as well just be
brutally honest since that’s what I’ll expect from him.  “I understand that
he’s my commander by virtue of his position and we’re certainly going to follow
any orders from our superiors but I think Durmont is an ass, personally.”
    Riedel’s
guarded expression immediately melted into a big smile.  “I’m so glad to hear
you say that, Captain!  Captain Hasting hated him and judging by the few
meetings I’ve had with the man, I always thought he was a jerk as well.”  Riedel
quickly looked around the gym to ensure it was still empty.  “Durmont actually
told me that I should come to him directly if I thought Hasting was ever
acting” —he made air quotes with his fingers—“contrary to Narvi’s proper
authority.”  He shook his head in disgust.
    Heskan
smiled.  “Hopefully if I‘m doing that, you’ll just give me a swift kick in the
butt first.”
    Riedel
laughed and nodded, “We’re gonna get along great, Captain.”
    “I
think so too, Mike.  I knew if I had a good first officer, everything else
would be easy.  I’m lucky to have you.”
    Both men resumed their exercise
programs and the gym filled with the hum of the two machines and the friendly
banter of their operators.
    *  *  *
    Two
days later, Renard Tug 17 dove from the tunnel point into the dim red light of
Skathi’s M5V star.  Less than half the mass of Terra’s sun with half the heat,
Skathi’s star was typical bordering on pedestrian.  The solar system consisted
of only three terrestrial planets.  Closest to the red dwarf star, Skathi-1 was
a molten mass of heavy metals orbiting the star every seventy-one Terran days. 
Skathi-2 and -3 were further distant but equally barren.  None had a breathable
atmosphere so they would forever be known to humanity by only the sequential
order in which they appeared from their star.
    What
made Skathi noteworthy was not her planets but what resided between them.  Unimaginatively
designated by Brevic stellar exploration as the “Alpha Field,” a dense asteroid
field rich in promethium was the system’s main attraction.  Notable for being
the only exclusively radioactive element besides technetium that is followed by
chemical elements with