He Who Dares: Book Three Read Online Free Page B

come to a standstill and dicker like the rest?”
    “Hell no! We go straight in, Gramps.”
    “You’d better think about that, Mike. I’m not sure the Old Lady can take that kind of pressure.”
    “She’ll take it, Gramps. We don’t have to go all the way down, just far enough to get a tractor beam on her.” Mike expected his grandfather’s support, hearing silence instead. He looked at the screen, seeing the worried look on Gramps’ face. “You think we shouldn’t?”
    “I’m not saying that, but it’s a hell of a risk.”
    “We can do it, Gramps, honest. We drop down, get a line on her, and haul her butt back up.”
    “Hmm, that’s going to strain the old girl to the limit.”
    “Come on, Gramps, you know we can do it.” Excitement got the better of him, and he steamrolled over every objection Gramps came up with. In the end, the old man reluctantly agreed, but he didn’t sound happy about it.
    “YES!” Mike yelled at last, immediately backing off on the breaking thrust, hearing Gramps chuckle in the background.
    “Thought you’d like that.”
    “Rad, and meteor shield to max, Gramps. Here we go!”
     
    *  *  *  *  *  *
    Captain Jenkins sat on the Bridge couch of the Titan sipping coffee, a frown on his face; his eyes were locked on his Doppler radar. What it told him he didn’t like. The Queen Ann was now so deep into the atmosphere it was questionable whether he could get down to her. He knew the limitations of his tug better than anyone, and risking her down that deep made him break out in a sweat just thinking about it. The liner had stabilized her downward drift so she wasn’t sinking any deeper, at least for the moment. How long she could maintain her altitude was anyone’s guess if they didn’t get their fusion reactor back online. The Titan’ s fuel was another concern, and extracting pure hydrogen out of that soup down there was questionable. He listened to the Lady Penelope haggling with the shipping agent and getting nowhere. It was clear she was in contact with the captain of the Queen Ann on a private company channel, encrypted of course. He would have loved to be able to listen in on that conversation, but he didn’t have the equipment to do it. His best guess was that the Penny wouldn’t take a standard towing contract, nor would the Sammy , that left him, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to take it either.
    “Captain!” The helmsman Rock Hanson called.
    “What?” He asked, looking up.
    “We’ve got a ship coming in awfully fast here.” Charlie Jenkins stood up, walked over to the console, studying it for a while.
    “Who the hell would be coming in that fast…” He stopped. “Shit! I bet that’s the Prometheus .”
    “The Prometheus ! What’s that pile of rust doing here?”
    “Damn it! She’s not slowing for a zero/zero either!” Charlie Jenkins muttered.
    “Then what the hell is she doing?” Jenkins grabbed the portable mike and keyed the contact.
    “ Prometheus , this is the Titan , do you copy?”
    “We copy you, Titan . How’s the weather down there?” Mike’s voice came back.
    “Warm and sunny with a chance of rain! What the hell do you think it's like, boy!”
    “Just the sort of weather I enjoy.”
    “Mike, I know what you are going to do, but don’t do it! The Annie is in too deep; the pressure will crush you like an egg!”
    “Is that what the stupid kid’s going to do?” Rock asked in surprise.
    “Shut up, Rock! That kid, as you call him, is a better man at the helm on his worst day, than you ever will be on your best day!” Rock snapped his jaw shut, face red with anger. It wasn’t often Jenkins snapped at him, and it wasn’t something he liked. “Mike, you know me. I’m not bullshitting you here just to stop you. Let me talk to Andy.”
    “He’s listening.”
    “Andy, tell me you’re not going down there?”
    “Someone has to or we lose everything, the ship, the passengers and crew.”
    “Don’t you think I know