Poseidon's Wake

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126

‘Kanu?’ Eunice said. ‘Things aren’t good. Nissa’s gone into a hypothermic coma. It must have come on in the last few minutes — her suit’s incredibly cold, and she was down to a few gasps of oxygen on the needle.’

Kanu knelt down next to them. He had yet to accept supplementary oxygen or power, even though the exterior indicators on his own suit were already feeble or completely dimmed.

‘How bad?’

‘Hopefully we got here in time to avoid brain damage, but whatever the case, she needs better medical care than we can offer her here.’

‘What are you thinking?’ Goma asked.

‘Waiting for the wheel to carry us back into space isn’t going to be an option for Nissa. We have to get her up there much faster than that. The winch is the only way.’

‘Fine,’ Goma said. ‘Hook her on, reel the line back in as fast as it’ll go — if you think the winch is strong enough?’

‘The winch will be fine — it’s the grapple that concerns me. But Nissa’s already on the verge of death. She’ll need someone to guide her up. We can zip her into the supply bag — she won’t weigh any more than those bottles and power cells.’

‘I’ll do it,’ Kanu said instantly. ‘Show me how the winch system works and I will take her back to your ship.’

‘You’re barely any better off than Nissa,’ Eunice said. ‘That parasite in your skull is probably doing more to hold you on the right side of consciousness than you realise. One slip, though, and it’s all over. It’ll have to be one of us. We’re still pretty sharp, and we’ve already crossed the terrain once before.’

Goma nodded. The answer seemed obvious to her — not even worth discussing. ‘Can you do it?’

‘I could,’ Eunice answered, ‘were I not staying down here with Ru and Hector.’

‘No.’

‘I will not leave the Risen, Goma. That’s non-negotiable. Besides, if Ru has problems, I know a damn sight more about spacesuit functions than you do.’

‘If Ru’s suit’s damaged, then Ru should be the one who goes up.’

‘She may or may not have concussion, and under an increased life-support burden, her suit may or may not last until she reaches the top of the tether. She’s better off here with me, where I can finesse her suit to keep her alive. You’re the strongest of us, anyway. You’ve got me to thank for that — all those good genes I had the decency to pass on to you.’

‘You’re not going to budge, are you?’

‘I’ve made a life out of not budging. Bit late in the day to change old habits.’

‘You don’t even know Hector.’

‘Reason enough to spend some time with him.’

Goma went over to Ru and Kanu. They were working on the seals of the supply bag, opening it in readiness for Nissa.

‘She wants me to handle the ascent,’ Goma said, looking at Ru. ‘You can’t do it, not after what happened. I’d like to argue with that but she’s got a point. And if you run into trouble with that suit, you’re much better in her company than in mine. Can you put up with her until we’re back on the lander?’

‘I’m still willing to take Nissa up myself,’ Kanu said.

Goma shook her head. ‘You’re in no shape for that. If I had more confidence in the winch, I’d say we stuff you into the same bag. But there isn’t really room, and I’d worry about the line slipping again.’

‘I’ll stay, then,’ Kanu said, his tone indicating that he accepted the logic of the decision even if it displeased him.

Nissa was still unresponsive, although her suit was now back on partial power and her oxygen partial pressure had climbed back to a low but tolerable level. They eased her into the bag, checked her life signs one more time, then sealed it around her like a cocoon. The bag was toughened with layers of impact padding and self-healing membranes, sufficient to protect Nissa against tears, bumps and micrometeorite impacts. They had done what they could for her.

‘Can Goma handle all that on her own?’ Kanu asked.

‘The load will be on her suit, not on Goma,’ Eunice said. ‘In the meantime you get to spend some quality time with Ru, Hector and me.’

‘Aren’t you worried I’ll kill the Tantor?’ Ru asked.

‘No,’ Eunice said sharply, ‘because that would make me an idiot. You were the weapon, but you were not culpable.’ Her tone softened. ‘And I overreacted, for which I’m sorry. How many times do I have to say that?’

‘Once is a start,’ Ru said.

They were ready for the ascent. Goma tugged down on the power winch and coupled it to the front of her suit, making sure the latch was secure. She tested her own weight on the line — if the grapple failed now, there was no hope of it holding once she started hauling Nissa up.

‘Will you manage down here?’

‘We’ll start a campfire sing-song,’ Eunice said. ‘The time’ll fly past. And you need to be on your way. Once you’re moving, I’ll give Captain Vasin a heads-up as to what’s happening. If she can drop Mposi back down between you and the grapple — that will save a lot of time.’

‘Ru — I’ll see you in a few hours. Kanu… Hector — the same. Eunice — take good care of them all.’

‘I shall.’

‘And while you’re at it, take care of yourself. I still haven’t got to the bottom of what you are.’

‘There’s no mystery, Goma — just me, alive, as simple as that.’

‘Nothing about you is simple.’

She applied increasing power to the winch, drawing herself up from the floor of the groove before taking Nissa’s weight. The winch was powerful and showed no hesitation as the burden increased. Perhaps they were going to make it after all.

She paused for one moment to make eye contact with Eunice, Kanu and Ru, giving them each a nod. She would have envied them their time with Hector, but the evidence suggested Hector was long past the point of conversation. They would do well to keep him alive as the wheel carried them up to space.

Goma managed an average ascent rate of ten kilometres an hour, running and leaping, doing her best to kick out as she passed the grooves, letting her payload pendulum beneath her. She could never have kept it up without the suit’s amplification-assist, but even with it the concentration was taxing. She was all too aware of the damage she could do to herself through a single lapse of attention — never mind her cocooned, helpless passenger.

An hour of that, then another.

The one blessing was that in the time since their departure from Mposi, ten hours had passed. The wheel had continued to turn — thereby raising the grapple higher and allowing Mposi to come back in about eight kilometres beneath their initial starting position. Goma did not have to ascend the same distance they had descended, and Vasin was going to risk holding station until she arrived with Nissa.

The grapple held, and so did the tether. She was beginning to stumble, though, mistiming her kicks, when a bright light turned her shadow hard-edged. She looked up, squinting against the exhaust of the lander as it settled back onto the wheel. Five kilometres above her — Vasin cutting it fine this time. But Goma sensed she was nearly home, and that gave her a renewed burst of energy and focus.

Suited figures were waiting for her when she reached the underside of the lander. Andisa and Grave helped her up the last few metres. Then they disconnected the line and moved the survival bag into the lock.

Goma waited on the tilted ledge. She felt cored out, drained of something vital. But she would not allow herself to linger before resuming the journey back down to Ru. They argued with her about it, but her mind was set.

She was the last into the body of the ship, and they had her out of the spacesuit almost before she could blink. Andisa gave her a cursory but efficient examination — satisfying herself that Goma was exhausted but had otherwise suffered no ill-effects.

Goma gulped down fluids, putting back some of the litres she had sweated out on the wheel. ‘Give me ten minutes to get my head together. Then I’m going back down.’

‘No,’ Andisa said. ‘We can’t stay here, and Vasin won’t let you take that risk. They’ll just have to wait until the wheel brings them around.’

‘She told you to tell me that?’

‘You’re a wreck, Goma Akinya. You’ve been up and down the wheel without a break and we almost lost all of you when that grapple gave way. Gandhari won’t risk that happening again.’

Goma reached for the anger and frustration she knew she ought to be feeling, but found only exhaustion and the sense that this was an argument she could never win.

‘Did you tell her about Ru?’

‘Yes, and I’ve been talking to Ru since you left her. She’s lucid and her life signs look stable. If there’d been bleeding or a skull fracture, I would know by now.’

‘I hope you’re right about that.’

‘It’s my job to be right. Believe me, if there was a way to spirit all of them back up here right now, I’d jump on it. But the point of that dangerous rescue operation was to deliver the supplies Kanu and the others needed, and you succeeded. More than that — you got Nissa back up here.’

Goma tried to see beyond her own concerns, if only for a moment.

‘How is she?’

‘You did your best, and I’ll do mine. Now think about yourself for a few minutes. You did a magnificent thing, Goma — you saved a human life.’

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

3

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