35

  How much time had passed? She didn’t know. It could have been two minutes, it could have been twenty-two minutes, and their countdown might have evaporated. Her feet had taken root, along with the host of plant life scattered around Galahad’s Domes, and her mind had refused to process any incoming data, like a satellite dish nudged a degree or two from its signal.

  Common sense told her that this was no time for an internal emotional conflict, but at the moment all rational thought was being overridden. And, for the second time since she’d walked out of the Agricultural office, a voice broke through the fog.

  “Tree, are you okay?”

  She snapped her head to the side and found Lita and Bon looking at her with concern. Before answering Lita, she checked her watch and did the mental arithmetic.

  Fifteen minutes.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. What’s the story?”

  “Well, I found Javier,” Bon said. “He’s the tech who made the service call on that recycling pump.”

  “And?”

  “And he did pick up the ball, or translator, I guess. Anyway, he took it down to the Dining Hall with him, and actually gave it to a group of guys who walked out as he walked in.”

  Triana sagged. “Oh, no. Any idea—”

  “Yes,” Lita broke in. “That’s what we’ve been running down for the last few minutes. The translator ended up with Elijah down in Engineering.” She offered Triana a much-needed smile. “You’ll be very happy to know that he’s on his way up here right now with the translator.”

  Triana exhaled, pushing the air out through pursed lips. She shook her head and put a hand on Lita’s shoulder. “We need a vacation.”

  The comment sank in for a moment before the two girls broke out in a fit of laughter. Another face-to-face appointment with death, the second in four months, had officially caught up with them, and the release felt good. They shook with their laughter while Bon stood by, the faint trace of a smile flickering across his face. For the time being Triana didn’t care whether he smiled or not. Something had finally clicked inside, something that seemed to open a door to her feelings. If they survived this latest crisis, she knew that in a fundamental way she would never be the same again, at least emotionally.

  If they survived . . .

  Out of nervous habit she glanced again at her watch. Thirteen minutes.

  Gap felt a curious sense of pride as he walked briskly into the Engineering section with Hannah. Pride at having a beautiful girl at his side, witnessed by the several crew members on duty at the time, each of whom followed the progression of the couple as they hurried across the room. And pride at escorting Hannah into his domain, the zone inside the ship where he ruled. Whenever Hannah had joined the Council for meetings, Triana had been in charge; here, it was his responsibility, and an odd sense of satisfaction swelled within him. In a way, he realized that it was his chance to show off.

  But maybe not for much longer.

  That thought had crowded in on him while the two descended in the lift. It figures, he thought, that he would finally make a proactive move with his social life just as the timer ran out. And yet, was it that looming sense of finality that had ultimately pushed him to action? No matter, he decided. Desperate circumstances often brought out the very best in people, or awakened a resolve they never knew they possessed. Why should he be any different?

  He also had felt a touch of impatience, for they never had the lift to themselves. Two other crew members had ridden with them as they left the Domes, and then, when those two had exited, another jumped on as the doors began to close. It seemed he was not destined to be alone with Hannah right now.

  The atmosphere in the room was charged with a nervous energy that made his skin tingle. A cloak of fear settled over the crew as the clock ticked, and he knew he had to set a positive example. As he approached the power grid near the ion drive, Gap was glad to see his top two assistants, Ramasha and Esteban, already on the scene. “Hey, guys,” he said with a smile. They both acknowledged him with a quick wave, their gaze flickering briefly on Hannah before returning to their work. Gap realized he would be the main topic of Gossip Central before the day was out.

  Which seemed a fair trade to him; it would mean that at least they were around to gossip about.

  “Roll your sleeves up,” he said to the assembled crew. “It could start to get a little crazy here pretty soon.” Anxious smiles greeted the comment, about the best he had hoped for.

  “Roc,” he called out. “I’ve been thinking.”

  “And I thought it couldn’t get any worse,” the computer said. Gap heard Hannah stifle a giggle beside him.

  “Very funny,” he said. “Listen, how long would it take to rewrite the code that controls the ion drive reactor?”

  “The entire program?” Roc said. “You’re talking about one of the most complicated systems ever developed, you understand.”

  “Right. How long?”

  There was a pause as Galahad’s computer brain sorted through the data. “I’d say . . . about two days. That’s assuming I worked through lunch.”

  “Okay,” Gap said. “So, that’s out. What if we adjusted random parts of it?”

  “I think I see what you’re getting at,” Roc said, “but you realize that’s like stopping a flood with a paper towel, right?”

  Hannah touched Gap’s arm. “Could you tell me what you’re getting at?”

  Gap pointed to the power grid. “The Cassini has already done its homework on the ship’s power system. It learned everything it could about how the ion drive works. But it had to take a break while it was behind Saturn.”

  Ramasha was standing to one side and suddenly exclaimed, “Oh, I get it. When it makes contact again, the code will have changed. It will have to relearn the program before it can start adjusting things again.”

  Hannah looked skeptical. “But . . . but that won’t take it very long. Maybe a minute, if we’re lucky?”

  Gap shrugged. “Hey, right now I think we could use every break we get. If this buys us thirty seconds it might make all the difference in the world.”

  “Consider it done,” Roc said. “I’m starting work on it right now. I might even throw in a bogus line of code here and there to trip it up.”

  Gap said, “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to—”

  “Sshhh,” the computer hissed. “Quiet. I’m trying to work here.”

  Triana, Lita, Channy, and Bon waited nervously in Bon’s office. As the ten-minute mark came and went, Triana bit her lip and stared out the large window into Dome 1. Lita stepped up and put an arm around her shoulder.

  “You know what I miss the most about home?”

  Triana looked into her friend’s eyes. “No, tell me.”

  Lita pointed at the crops that gently swayed in the Dome’s circulated air. “I look at those rows of food and it makes me really miss my mother’s cooking.” She gave Triana an amused look. “Not that the food on this ship is bad, but I’d give anything to have one of my mother’s tortillas right now.”

  Triana smiled and leaned her head against Lita’s. “My dad used to make us lasagna every Sunday. It was my favorite.” Her eyes grew moist, and she blinked them quickly. “He used to tell me that I was going to get sick of it, but I never did.” She pulled back and looked at Lita. “I haven’t had lasagna once since the day he died.”

  Lita hugged Triana’s shoulder. “Tell you what. When this is over we’ll get together and cook. My mother’s tortillas, and your dad’s lasagna.”

  “Do we have the stuff on this ship to make those?”

  Lita shrugged. “Who cares? We’ll improvise. Or we’ll combine the two and make lasagna using the tortillas. A Mexican lasagna.”

  Triana laughed. “It’s a deal.”

  They heard the sound of running and saw two boys dashing down the path toward the office. All four Council members hurried to the door and met the boys as they drew close. Elijah, a popular fifteen-year-old from Poland, was red-faced from running. He stretched out his hand to Triana and dropped a small metal ball into her palm.

  “Sorry, we got here as fast as we could,” he said, catching his breath.

  “Thanks, Elijah,” she said. Then, turning to the others, she raised her eyebrows. “Uh . . . now what?”

  Lita took the ball from her and examined it. “This has to be it,” she said, eyeing the rounded spikes and vents. “It looks relatively new.”

  Channy said, “It better be it, because as a cat toy it stinks.”

  “And Bon just . . . what, holds it?” Triana said.

  “Well, that’s my best guess,” Lita said. “Here.” She handed the metallic ball to Bon, who shifted it back and forth between his hands.

  Triana checked her watch. “Six minutes.”

  Bon looked up at her. “I don’t want to sound stupid, but exactly how is this supposed to work? Am I supposed to think certain thoughts, or try to talk to them, or it, or whatever? I have no idea what I’m doing.”

  Triana managed a slight smile. “And we don’t know any more than you. But if Lita’s theory is right, then the Cassini will reconnect with you in just a few minutes and start sifting through your brain again. This little device will hopefully allow you to speak its language.”

  “Yeah,” Channy added, “so start thinking ‘stop, stop, stop.’ Maybe it will get the message.”

  How’s it coming, Roc?” Gap said.

  “I think I’ve done about all the damage I can right now,” the computer answered. “I must say, I feel a bit like a hooligan, just randomly vandalizing the computer program that drives the ship.”

  “Yeah, you’re quite the delinquent. I just hope you remember how to put it back together again later.”

  “Oh,” Roc said, “so I’m supposed to put it back the way it was? You should have told me that.”

  Gap saw the horrified look that crossed Hannah’s face. “Don’t listen to him,” he whispered to her. “That’s just his sense of humor. You have to learn how to filter out about half of what he says.” He hoped that it sounded reassuring, but Hannah merely turned her gaze to the power grid and pressed her lips together tightly. Without giving himself a chance to second-guess things, Gap reached out and took her hand.

  36

  One minute,” Lita said.

  Channy paced around the office, a trickle of sweat dribbling down her forehead. Bon took another look at the translator, and inhaled a deep breath. He turned to Triana and said, “I want to be outside when I do this.” Then, without waiting for a reply, he marched out of the office door, into the lush vegetation of Dome 1.

  It didn’t surprise Triana. Bon felt the most comfortable here, the most at home. He had grown up immersed in the dirt of his father’s farm. After hesitating a moment, she followed him. Lita and Channy exchanged looks, then did the same.

  They caught up to the Swede as he stood under the twinkling stars of the dome, his face extended upward, his hands at his sides, and his eyes closed. Triana wanted to speak to him, to say something to allay his fears, to let him know that she was there for him. But he seemed to have fallen into a state of deep meditation, all focus now on the emergency at hand, and she couldn’t bring herself to reach out. Instead, she stood to his side, arms crossed, and waited. She wondered if she would know when—

  Bon shook with a tremor. His neck stiffened, and a sudden spasm of pain creased his face. The connection with Titan had been restored, almost violently. Apparently the Cassini wasted no time.

  A subtle groan slipped from Bon’s lips. His head turned to one side, his eyelids clenched tightly, and he ground his teeth. No doubt the intense pain he had suffered earlier was back. Triana felt a hand grasp her arm, and she looked around to find Channy clutching her. Channy’s face contorted with a look of sympathy, as if she felt the searing pain that Bon experienced. Tears welled in her eyes, and she peered at Triana with a look that suggested they do something. Triana placed a hand on Channy’s and shook her head.

  Another spasm racked Bon, and he almost stumbled. This time a small cry escaped from his mouth, and his head jerked back the other direction. Lita knelt in the dirt in front of him, watching his face, and now tears began to track down her cheeks as well.

  A third tremor shook him, and Bon sank to his knees, his head still back. But now his eyes popped open, and Lita stifled a shriek. His eyes had begun to glow with an orange tint again, and they stared off into space. His lips trembled.

  And then the voices returned. The chaotic jumble of languages spilled from his mouth, louder this time, almost as if they were demanding something. The words flowed out of him in a frenzy of sound, a chorus of terror that sent shivers through Triana. Her impulse to grab his shoulders became even stronger, and she fought the urge with all of the discipline she could muster. She glanced down to his right hand and saw him gripping the translator.

  She blinked. A dull red glow leaked from the tiny vents in the side.

  Here we go,” Gap said, letting go of Hannah’s hand and stepping up to the power grid. The lights had suddenly jumped, and an alarm began to sound, echoing through the entire Engineering section. With a quick gesture he signaled to Ramasha to cut it off.

  “I hope your tinkering works,” Gap said to Roc’s sensor. “I have a funny feeling that we have just really annoyed the Cassini.” He scanned the grid, watching the readouts spike, then drop, then peak again.

  “Is the power increasing yet?” Hannah said.

  “No. But something is going on.”

  “I don’t care how long the Cassini has been around,” Roc said. “It has no idea who it’s messing with here.”

  “Go get ’em, Roc,” Gap said, forcing a smile.

  The voices coming out of Bon’s mouth slowed, and his head now tilted forward. The glowing eyes rolled back and forth, seeing nothing, or seeing something that Triana could never imagine. What he must be going through, she thought.

  The hand grasping the translator continued to flex, but now there wasn’t any doubt that the device had come alive. A flickering red light burned inside, increasing in brightness temporarily before fading back to a dull gleam, then becoming vivid once again. Triana wondered if it tracked an exchange between Bon and the mystical force blanketing Titan. She hoped that was the case. She felt Channy’s grip on her arm tighten.

  Lita shifted her gaze to Triana. “Should I try to give him a shot for the pain?”

  Triana considered the idea, then rejected it. “Right now he needs to have full concentration on this.” She gave a sigh of despair. “I know the pain has to be almost more than he can stand, but we can’t take a chance right now with any medication. Who knows how it would affect him?”

  Lita nodded, then wiped away a tear that had lingered on her face.

  The alarm in Engineering sounded again before Ramasha turned it off. Gap watched the power grid light up like a fireworks display, with every gauge dancing back and forth.

  “Did you feel that?” Hannah said quietly. “I mean, am I—”

  Gap nodded. He had indeed felt a delicate shudder ripple through the ship. He turned to Hannah and murmured, “We’ll be okay.”

  But he wasn’t sure himself. The grid told him exactly what he didn’t want to see. Power was increasing again. After almost a minute and a half of puzzling through Roc’s code scramble, the Cassini had apparently worked things out and resumed its inevitable improvement in Galahad’s engines.

  And if ten percent was the magic number, Gap had a sinking feeling that the end had arrived.

  The grid showed power surging past the seven-percent mark and accelerating.

  Just try to get them here,” Alexa said into the intercom before snapping it off and sitting down at Lita’s desk in Sick House. The connection with Titan had obviously been reestablished, and now desperate calls from around the ship had poured in. The original patients from the first encounter were once again doubled over in pain, and in some cases it appeared to be even more intense. It was enough to keep them from walking on their own to Sick House, leaving frightened friends and roommates to call and ask what they should do. Scattered as they were throughout Galahad, it was up to these friends to get them in somehow, even if it meant carrying them.

  Alexa had barely had time to breathe when the first patient staggered through the door, supported by a grim-faced friend.

  In an instant, the voices pouring from Bon’s mouth stopped, as if a power switch had been thrown. His eyes flickered, then clamped shut as another cry erupted from his mouth, this one louder and more agonizing. Still on his knees, he seemed to lose his balance and appeared ready to topple. Triana dropped down beside Bon and grabbed his shoulders, steadying him. She felt tremors running through his muscles, a shudder that seemed to come from deep inside him.

  “It’s okay,” she said softly into his ear. “It’s going to be all right.” She had no idea if her voice registered with him or not.

  How much time had elapsed since Titan had unleashed its power again? She had lost all perception of time. Were Galahad’s engines beginning their overload march again? Had Gap or Roc found a way to buy them some time before the inevitable explosion? All of these thoughts fought their way into her mind as she knelt in the dirt, her arms encircling Bon, propping him up, feeling the shivers of pain that coursed through his body. It took a moment for her to realize that she was crying.

  Nine percent. Nine point five. Gap watched the meters and once again marveled at the power that the Cassini was able to command at this distance. Yet he himself was, at the moment, completely powerless. I’m just standing here, he thought, watching. Watching and waiting. Waiting for the end.

  He felt Hannah’s grip on his hand intensify. She looked into his face, her eyes shifting back and forth between his. Strong eyes, he realized. There was fear in there, sure. But strength, too, an inner strength that mesmerized him. The ends of her mouth curled up into a faint smile and, once again acting on impulse, he lowered his face and brushed her lips with a light kiss. When he pulled away, her eyes were closed, and she tilted her head to rest on his shoulder.

 

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