Page 44 of Tattle Tail
“Singing the song of her people,” he said.
“Wuaps do not sing. Her vocalization indicated distress,” Peaceable said.
“I can tell she’s unhappy. That was sarcasm…you know, it doesn’t matter. I’m with you, Nettle. This sucks. Solidarity.” He bumped his fist lightly against the carrier. That earned him a moment’s silence as Nettle and Peaceable blinked in confusion. “All right, ladies. It’s gonna get bumpy.”
His ladies. He liked the sound of that.
With the tap of a few buttons, he slowed the ship. Yes, decreasing speed wasted fuel, but he had more than enough fuel to burn. Dashing through an asteroid field at full speed was beyond reckless.
The shields were at full power and holding. The field enveloping the ship, much like the field generated by the suit he wore, repelled small debris. Larger objects would damage the ship, so they were best avoided. A collision with an asteroid would really ruin his day.
With one eye on the scanner and the other on the external camera feed, he nudged the ship gently to avoid the worst of the debris. The asteroids were fairly spaced apart now, but the scanners indicated dense clusters near the planet’s orbit. Tricky but manageable. While he usually stuck to common shipping lanes, sometimes he had to take the scenic route to avoid bandits or shave some time off a journey. Mari, he knew, went well out of her way to avoid tricky spots, but honestly, he liked the challenge. He saw little point in setting a flight plan so dull the ship could fly itself.
Peaceable shifted, her eyes fixed on the screen. Her tail lashed against the seat and she clutched Nettle’s carrier to her chest.
Giant clumps of ice and rock drifted across the screen.
“They’re moving slow and we’re moving slow. Speed, or the lack of speed, matters,” he said in a soothing voice.
“The speed is not zero.”
Okay. What he needed was a distraction.
“This is a classic situation of knowing too much for your own good,” he said. “Instead of focusing on all the things that can go wrong, think about all the ways I’m amazing.”
She tore her eyes away from the screen and glared at him. Success.
“Super amazing,” he added.
“I am considering the staggering weight of your arrogance,” she said. “Truly, you must possess great strength, considering the ego you carry.”
“Just another one of my amazing qualities.”
She huffed, but relaxed ever so slightly and leaned back into the chair.
For the next thirty minutes, they sat in tense silence. The proximity alert sounded constantly. The computer counted down the distance until collision. He nudged the ship gently up and down, left and right.
“Warning. Entering a dense asteroid field. Suggesting a route to avoid,” the computer said. A new path flashed across the screen, one that turned the ship around and avoided the planet altogether.
“Negative. Hold the course,” he said.
The computer broke the silence. “Incoming. Impact in three…two…one…”
The lights flickered as power diverted to the shields. The ship groaned from the impact.
“Damage assessment,” he ordered.
The computer chirped and announced an error.
“Real helpful,” he grumbled.
Peaceable peered at the screens. Warnings flashed and a list of damage scrolled by. “The hull has been breached. Sealing the cargo hold,” she said. “I thought you said humans were lucky. This is not lucky.”
“Sure it is. We’re still breathing, aren’t we?”
She laughed, not her normal bright laugh of amusement but something sharper, edged with fear. Not good. Instinctively he knew that reassurances that everything would be okay would only make the situation worse.
“So…tell me about Nettle,” he said.
