Ring Around the Sky - Allyn Gibson [2]
Tev staggered against the g-forces toward one of the computer readouts. The electromagnets that slowed the passenger car showed a reversed polarity—instead of breaking the car against the shaft’s sheathing they were accelerating. “I think,” said Tev, “if we restart the computer system, we might be able to restore the electromagnetic polarity.” He reached over to the next console and began a shutdown sequence. The console went dark.
The cabin rocked again as the passenger car bounced off guide rails. Tev fell to the floor. He felt a stabbing pain in the right side of his chest. One of his ribs might have cracked. He tried to push himself up, but his right arm felt weak. He looked across the dim cabin and saw the conductor leaning heavily on one of the consoles.
“Can you restart that console?” Tev’s voice was muffled as he felt his mouth fill with blood. The broken rib must have punctured one of his lungs.
“I don’t know how,” a voice said.
“What?” said Tev, uncomprehending. The conductor had been male, yet this was a female’s voice he had just heard.
“Tev? Tev, I don’t want to die,” said the conductor, and she turned.
Tev’s eyes widened as they lost their focus. Tev couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Mother?” he said as he reached out across the cabin with his left hand. His mother had slumped to the cabin floor and rested her back against the base of one of the control consoles.
“Tev?” she said again. “We’re not going to stop, are we?”
Tev’s mind felt dizzy and disoriented. “We will,” he said, his voice hollow and weak.
Everything stopped as the passenger car plowed into the base of the elevator shaft at seven thousand kilometers an hour.
Tev sat up, his eyes open wide. “Fvirhiehs!”
The covers of his bunk were drenched with sweat. He felt his heart hammering in his chest. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath.
He had had the nightmare again.
“Computer,” he said as he rubbed his eyes, “how long since I doused the lights?”
“Thirty-four minutes.”
Tev frowned. He sighed and lay back on his bunk.
He first had the nightmare five years before, while he served aboard the Madison. It resurfaced from time to time, especially in times of great stress, but he hadn’t had the nightmare for over a year, and he thought himself past it. But this mission, to return to Kharzh’ulla, to return to that very place where his mother died, Tev had been expecting the nightmare.
What he hadn’t expected was for it to be quite so vivid.
Lying on his bunk, Tev stared at the ceiling. He had thought he might be able to squeeze in an hour-long nap after his bridge shift before presenting the Kharzh’ullan mission briefing. Re-experiencing the nightmare, though, removed that option. He needed to put his mind on other things, alleviate the emotional pressure.
He turned his head and looked at the clock on his desk. The mess hall would be empty this time of morning. He could prepare the briefing there in relative peace.
Sonya Gomez stopped by the mess hall to get herself some tea, and found Tev sitting alone at one of the corner tables. Something that looked like a plate of twigs sat untouched on a plate next to him as he riffled through several padds at once.
“Mind if I join you?” she asked.
He looked up from the padds and flared his nostrils. Placing all but one of them on the table, he said, “I am endeavoring to complete my mission briefing, Commander. Is there something you want?”
Gomez sat down across from him. “How’s the briefing coming along?”
Tev snorted. “It will be ready in time for this afternoon’s meeting.”
She reached across the table and began to pick up one of his padds until he snatched it away from her. “I just wanted to take a look at your progress,” she said as she pulled her hand back.
“My presentation,” Tev said, his voice heavy, “will be ready.”
“Is there a problem, Tev?”
Tev fell quiet and said nothing. Gomez