Читать книгу Fantastic Stories Presents: Science Fiction Super Pack #1 - Edmond Hamilton - Страница 25

DON’T JUMP

by Warren Lapine

Hurtling off the asteroid with only a rope between himself and the endless void of space changed Tim’s perspective on everything. The importance of his job, his relationship with Samantha, it all looked very different from this vantage point. How could I have been so stupid, he wondered. I was just going to let Sam walk out of my life and for what, a crater, a God damn crater. I’m such an ass.

*

Tim Ross woke to the insistent rings of his vid-phone. He glanced at his alarm clock. Four thirty AM. Who the hell would call me at this hour. It’s not Sam, she’s here with me. Tim untangled himself from her, rolled over to the phone, and hit the audio-only button. “Ross here, this had better be good.”

“‘Morning, Ross,” it was Simmons’ voice, “sorry to wake you.”

“What’s the deal?”

“A cruise ship, on route to Titan, ran into some trouble. They’ll be stopping here for repairs.”

“So?”

“While they’re waiting, they’ll be using our facility. You know Toshiba, they weren’t about to let a chance at some extra profits get away.”

“Simmons, it’s four thirty in the morning, I really don’t care about this.”

“Toshiba has put us all back on the duty roster.”

“Sucks being you but how does that affect me?”

“They want to climb down into the crater.”

“And I’m the only qualified guide,” Tim stated.

“You got it, pal.”

“I just finished a climb.”

“Sorry, bud, but you’re on the duty roster.”

“Not according to the employee hand book.”

“All right, you’ve twisted my arm. I’m authorized to offer you triple time.”

“Triple time?”

“The owners of that ship paid a very large sum of money to Toshiba. They expect full use, and I do mean full use, of these facilities.”

“All right, all right, I’ll do it. How long do I have to get ready for them?”

“They’ll touch down at five, they’d like to leave for the crater by six.”

“No way.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look, I just got back from a climb. The batteries in my communicator are dead. The fuel for my jet packs is spent. What the hell am I supposed to do if there’s an emergency?”

“Come on, you never call for back up.”

“I don’t usually work with tourists.”

“These guys’ll know what they’re doing, they were on their way to climb the mountains of Titan.”

“So, they’re experienced climbers, so what? This isn’t Earth, these guys are used to gravity. You know how dangerous tourists are out here.”

“What’s the worst thing they could do? Fall? Big deal. The crater isn’t that deep, with the gravity we have they’d be in more danger of dying from boredom than anything else.”

“Just the same, I’d feel a lot better about this if I was properly equipped. Right now the only things I’ve got enough of are rope, pitons, and propellent charges for the p-gun. If something goes wrong I’m screwed.”

“What do you need?”

“The minimum that regs’ll lets me get away with is a functioning communicator and one jet pack.”

“Let me check my computer. I’ll see what I’ve got.” Tim waited for a moment. “I can get you a battery for your communicator and a jet pack.”

“Simmons, if you weren’t offering me triple time, I’d tell you to stuff it. Can you have supply load up the tram for me?”

“Sure, you need anything else?”

“No, I think that’ll do it.”

“Thanks, Ross, I owe you one.” Simmons broke the connection before Tim could reply.

“I guess that means you’ll be leaving,” Sam’s delicate voice said from the other side of the bed.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Just one of the hazards of dating a space jock.”

“I’ll be back before noon. Sleep in and when I’m back we can grab lunch together.”

“Only if you promise to think about coming home with me next month.”

Tim bit back his quick reply. Sam knew how he felt about going back to earth. She could earn a good living planet-side as a massage therapist, but what was Tim supposed to do, mountain climbers weren’t exactly in demand down there. “I’ll think about it. See you in a few hours.”

Tim leaned over and kissed Sam. She pulled him close and said, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Tim whispered. Then he got out of bed, dressed quickly, and let himself out of the room.

Dragging a comb through his hair, Tim made his way down to the mess for a cup of coffee and a quick breakfast. His mind drifted back to Sam. Why did she have to be so set on going back to Earth? God, the argument had gotten bitter last night. Tim tried to push the memory of it away, but it refused to go.

“Tim, I have to go home. I haven’t seen my family in five years, I was only supposed to be out here for six months, then I met you . . . . ”

“So it’s my fault.”

“Of course not. I stayed out here longer than I’d planned to because I love you, it was my decision and I don’t regret it. If I had it to do over again, I would. But now it’s time for me to go home. I’d really like for you to come with me.”

“Sam, I never fit in on Earth. All that corporate shit is just too much for me. I wouldn’t be happy.”

“I am going.”

“Don’t, please.”

“Tim, I need to go home. I need to feel real sunshine on my skin again.”

“You said you liked it out here.”

“And I do. But I want to be with my family. Do you realize we’ve never met each other’s families. Never.”

“What can I say. I don’t want to lose you, but I hate it down there. Pollution, crowds, bad weather, who needs it?”

“I do.”

“Sam—”

“No, Tim, I’m not staying. I’ve booked passage for next month.”

“You did what?”

“I booked passage home. The agency is holding a second ticket for me in case you change your mind, but I’m leaving.”

“How could you do this to me?”

“I’ve given you ample warning, you just haven’t been listening.”

From there things had gotten ugly and Tim regretted it now. Sam was everything he’d ever hoped for, thoughtful, charming, loving, passionate, the list could go on and on. Tim thought back wistfully to their first year together. “So many people out here are motivated by the money,” Sam had said. “I love it that you’re here to climb. Money doesn’t make your world go round, do you know how rare that is and how much I admire you for it?”

Then why the hell do you want to leave me? Why can’t we have it like it used to be, like before you thought about going back home to earth? On their first anniversary Sam had given Tim a single red rose imported from earth. It was in full bloom, Tim knew the cost had to have been extraordinary. Even now the thought of those early days could bring a smile to his face. Why did they have to end? Why can’t she be happy staying out here with me?

Tim finished his breakfast and pushed thoughts of Sam from his mind. It was time to go and meet his climbers. He got to the reception area just after the climbers. They already had their climbing gear on over their space suits. Tim approached them.

“Hi, and welcome to Toshiba Recreational Facility. I’m Tim Ross, I’ll be taking you out on your climb.” Tim handed them each a list of climb rules. “These are the climb rules. The two most important rules are follow my instructions, and, don’t, under any circumstances, jump. You can familiarize yourself with the rest of the rules on the ride out.”

The climbers each introduced themselves to Tim. With the skill of a longtime tour guide, he memorized their names. They were Jeff, Hank, Erica, and Luke. After shaking their hands, Tim directed them to the tram and they started the trip to the crater.

He pointed out land marks as they passed them. “One thing you’ll want to keep in mind, this asteroid is only ten kilometers in diameter. That means it has a very low escape velocity; it doesn’t take much to get off this rock.”

As the tram moved along its track, Tim listened to his climbers conversing among themselves. They were from the Lunar colony and were on their way to climb the mountains of Titan. Their leader Jeff had done some rescue climbing on Earth and came across as very cocky. The other three all seemed content to let Jeff handle the bulk of the conversation.

Finally, they reached their destination and everyone got out of the tram.

Since the entire group consisted of experienced climbers, Tim decided to forgo his usual safety speech. He did remind them that this wasn’t the moon and that they’d have to deal with less gravity than they were used to. Then he put the group through some practice drills on a small incline. After twenty minutes, Jeff was satisfied with their ability and started the actual climb.

“Okay, everyone, we’re ready to climb.” Tim anchored a section of rope and snapped it into the clasp of his harness. Everyone else followed suit. “We’ll need to keep twenty meters distance between each other. About half way down there’s a series of ledges. You’ll be able to tether there and take a break. Now follow my lead, and be careful.”

Magic Time.

Tim started down into the crater. Even though he’d made this descent more than a hundred times his heart was racing. Nothing compared with climbing, nothing. On this part of the crater holds were easy to come by and the descent proceeded quickly. About two hundred meters into the descent Tim didn’t like the feel of one of the course’s pitons and decided to replace it. He checked the piton gun to make sure that the barrel’s sleeve was locked open. It was, and he fired a piton into the rock wall. Tim felt the impact of the piton, and watched the propellent gas pour out of the holes in the gun barrel. If not for the escape holes in the barrel of the gun, the recoil would have pushed Tim off the crater’s wall. In a higher gravity the holes would have been unnecessary. On the way back up, Tim would have to move the sleeve down to cover the holes when he fired the grappling hook extension. Without the sleeve, he simply didn’t have enough range to get past any of the tricky parts of the course.

It took the group about an hour to reach the ledges. Tim was impressed: it took most groups two hours to get this far. He considered pushing on, but decided against it. “Time for a break, folks. Jeff and Hank, you’re on the lower ledge with me. Erica and Luke, you’ve got the upper ledge.”

Tim disconnected himself from the rope, set his jet pack aside, clipped onto a tether set into the crater’s wall, and sat down. Inside of his suit he could feel sweat trickling down his body.

Hank sat down beside him. “What a great place to climb,” Hank said.

Tim smiled. “I’ve been everywhere, and I've never seen anything to compare with this crater. There’s something about being able to see a million stars and the sun at the same time that does it for me.”

“This is incredible. I feel like I could climb here for years and not get enough.”

“You could never get enough of this place.”

“I can’t believe you get paid for this. What a great job.”

Erica’s frantic voice broke in on their conversation.

“Tim, Luke slipped before he could fasten onto the tether. He’s coming your way. What should I do?”

“You don’t have to do anything, Erica. I can handle it on this end. Luke’s not in any real danger.”

“Are you sure I’m going to be okay?” came Luke’s terse voice.

“You're fine.” Tim told him. “This ledge is wider than the one you’re on. We’ll be able to pull you in.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Tim saw Jeff scoop up the jet pack. “I’ll help him,” Jeff said as he squatted down.

“No. Don’t jump!” Tim shouted, as he grabbed for Jeff. He was too late. Jeff had already straightened his legs and was shooting upwards. Jeff held the jet pack in one hand and reached for Luke with the other. He missed by inches.

“Jeff, listen to me,” Tim ordered.

“Oh my God, I’m not slowing down. What do I do?” Jeff yelled, flailing his arms about.

“Calm down, damn it, calm down! All you need to do is put the jet pack on.”

Jeff tried to do this, but the jet pack went spinning away as he cleared the lip of the crater.

“How long until he lands?” Hank asked.

“Never,” was Tim’s reply. “This asteroid doesn’t have enough gravity.” Tim quickly subvocalized the order for his helmet transceiver to switch to his long range channel. “Toshiba Base, This is Ross. Come in please.”

“Ross, this is Base. What can I do for you?”

“One of my climbers just jumped. I need help.”

“How bad was he hurt in the fall?”

“He didn’t jump down, he jumped up!”

“Oh my God. How long ago?”

“Less than a minute.”

“Let me see if I can get him on radar. Got him. He’s not very far from the crater. At his present speed and vector, he’ll be off our radar screen in about three minutes. If you don’t get to him, no one ever will. I can direct you.”

“The jumper lost my jet pack when he jumped.”

“Was he trying to kill himself?”

“No. I’ve got to talk with the rest of my climbers, I’ll be right back, Ross out.” Tim quickly switched back to his short range channel. Hank was just pulling Luke in.

“What do we do now?” Luke asked as he tethered himself to the line.

Tim looked around quickly, picked up the piton gun and drove a piton into the ground, then he tied off one end of the unused climbing rope to it and clipped the other end into his harness’ clasp. “When the rope becomes taut, pull me in.”

Hank and Luke nodded.

Tim clicked the piton gun’s sleeve into place, over the holes in the barrel, and jumped. He went quickly forward, praying that his idea would work. Tim put the piton gun between his legs facing down and fired. The piton flew out, and he sped up. “Thank you, God,” he whispered, firing off three more pitons.

This is crazy, Tim thought, as he sped into space. I should be in bed with Sam right now, not jumping off after some stupid tourist. What if the piton doesn’t hold when I reach the end of the rope? I might never see Sam again. Sam . . .

*

Tim tore himself away from his introspection and contacted Toshiba Base. “How is my vector compared to the jumper’s?”

“He’s off to your right and behind you.”

Tim fired another piton. “How am I doing now?”

“You’ve matched his upwards trajectory, but he’s still behind you.”

It took three more adjustments before Tim got it. Once he had the trajectory right there was nothing to do but wait.

“Tim, this is Base, you’ve passed out of radar range. We can’t do anything else for you.”

Tim looked up. He could just make out what he prayed was Jeff. “Base, I think I can see him now. As long as my rope holds out everything should be okay. I’m going to switch channels now.”

“Sure thing, and, Tim, good luck.”

“Thanks.”

When Tim switched channels, Jeff’s voice, screaming unintelligibly, accosted him. “Jeff, can you hear me? This is Tim Ross, I’m right under you and gaining.”

Jeff stopped screaming and moaned.

“Jeff, I need your help, buddy. I’m going to try to catch you as I pass. If you can reach out for me, that would help a lot.” Jeff didn’t reply. Must be in shock, Tim decided. I’m not going to get any help from him.

Tim reached for Jeff and tried to pull him in. It didn’t work, Jeff and Tim went off in different directions. Oh shit, now what? Just in time, Tim remembered the grappling hook. He fitted it into the piton gun and fired. Tim was a good shot and he’d made much harder shots than this one, but none of them had been this important. The force of the shot sent him backwards; he did a full revolution before he saw that the hook had hit home. He said a silent prayer of thanks and reeled Jeff in.

Clipping Jeff onto the harness Tim said, “You’re going to be okay, buddy. We’re going to make it.”

Jeff wasn’t capable of answering.

Suddenly, Tim felt the rope become taut. He held his breath for a moment and didn’t let it out until he and Jeff started back towards the asteroid. The rope had held, everything was all right.

Tim switched channels. “Toshiba Base, this is Ross.”

“Ross, how are you doing?”

“I’ve got the jumper and we’re being reeled in now. I’m going to need a medical team. The jumper’s in shock.”

“There’s already one on the way. Sam’s here and would like to talk with you.”

“Put her on.”

“Tim, are you okay?”

“Sam, I’m better than okay, I’m ready to go home.”