Space Voyage #1

[IDMclean]

I checked over my feeds, I didn't have much time before the UPS ran down but I would make the most of it. Everything was looking better than I had hoped except I had no feed from Ring #1. That was bad. Flux readings from Engineering was consistant with Radiation wash-out, AKA EMP. It took my eyes a moment to adjust when I caught site of someone obviously in need of some help, they were still, I hoped they were still breathing. Problem was they were on Ring #4 and I was here in #2. I quickly noted location. Section 12. I had an idea how to get there.

 

I walked to my locker and pulled out something that had been suggested by one of my old favorites. Have space-suit, will travel. I donned it quickly, checking and rechecking seals. I pressurized and checked readings, I had a giger counter built in for just such occasions. I checked Internal Atmospherics. I was looking good, It was a piece of art really, a good Space suit. Just hoped my calibrations from back in orbit about Earth were correct, hadn't had a chance to test the vector thrusters yet...

 

I uploaded a map, and then set my computers on powered down.

 

I crossed out, I figured I would be out of luck, but wasn't sure. Yep, no elevator service... I made my way to the airlock, this was going to be fun I thought sharply, my heart beating, hopefully the readings I was getting from the network were right and we were in drift... otherwise this would get messy real quick. I stepped in as it cycled, and took a deep breath, Nothing to gain, nothing to loose, trust in the Tao and all shall be ok. I repeated many times as I initiated External Cycle. last thing I thought before I was exposed to freespace was Whatever surprise you got for me today, Bring it on.

[TheFaithfulStone]

I managed to find my flashlight in the darkness of the shop, and a quick glance around told me that everything in this room was dead, dead, dead. I fumbled over the piles of spare parts and junk - banging my knee in the process.

 

I opened the door and stepped out into the hallway - it curved away to either side of me. I tried to call command on my write com, but all I got was static. The sensors may be malfunctioning - but something was definitely wrong. I knew that there probably wasn't much other crew on Ring 1 - about two-thirds of the crew was asleep, and the other was on duty stations. At Ship 2AM I was generally the only person down here.

 

Not Good.

 

I needed to get to the bridge - ring #2. We had a casualty in ring 4, and the sensors were unreliable.

 

I ran around the ring (it was kind of a difficult sensation to get used, running up hill with no extra resistance - it had the benefit that you seemed to have more stamina than you actually did) to until I found the airlock to ring #2. Of course, the power cycle was dead. I could crank the door by hand, but there was no guarantee what was on the other side of it. I caught my breath - the stress was giving me a terrible headache and I felt like I needed to vomit.

 

Think Stone, think! And for some reason, I happened to glance out the window. To my horror I saw a puff of condensation that meant an airlock had opened. A few seconds later, Clown exited - he was instantly identifiable by his highly decorated custom space-suit. Nobody else had a bright red wig and floppy shoes on theirs!

 

I punched the wrist-com violently.

 

"Clown, what are you doing? Two out, one in you stupid ***!" You were NEVER supposed to go EVA without a partner - the spinning ship could fling you off too easily, and once you were free, vertigo quickly took hold. If Clown wasn't DAMN careful he was going to take the tumble.

 

But he was already crawling over the outside of the ship, using the handholds to make his way forward. I had no way of getting his attention.

 

I looked through the window into the cross-ring airlock. It shouldn't be evacuated. I should be safe. I absentmindedly brushed a bug off my leg. I had started to open the airlock when it occurred to me. We don't have bugs outside of the farm modules. I looked down, and at my feet a little bugger was on it's back, kicking it's legs in the air.

 

That was weird behavior. The buggers path-finding routine should have led it around me if I was in it's way. Why would it have crawled up my leg? The bugger finally managed to right itself and scurried off into the darkness.

 

I turned and spun the airlock handle. The door pulled open - that way you couldn't open it if there were vacuum on the other side - air pressure from the ring would keep it closed. I yanked on the door and it swung back easily. I stepped into the airlock and closed it behind me - moving rapidly into ring two.

 

At least here the lights were on. I checked my wrist com. Still nothing but static. I was growing increasingly concerned at my inability to contact any of the rest of the crew. I ran up the hab-ring - growing more panicked by the moment - even though it was the middle of the night by ships time, there should have been someone in the halls.

 

Jay-Qu spotted me before I saw him.

 

"Stone! Where are you going? What's going on? Why are you limping?"

 

"Where's BD?" I demanded.

 

"Don't know."

 

"Does your com, work?" I rushed over and grabbed his wrist, stabbing violently at it. Which FLIPPIN' button did I push to make this thing work?! He jerked his hand back, took a step backwards.

 

"What is wrong with you? And what happened to your arm?"

 

"Arm?" I glanced down and noticed for the first time that my left arm appeared to be sunburned. Blisters were beginning to rise just above my communicator.

 

"Uhh... Jay," I muttered. Suddenly I felt very weak, I could barely stand up. The shrinking part of my brain that was still functioning at a human level calmly diagnosed the condition as shock.

 

The rest of me decided it was time to take a nap. You know that iris effect that they sometimes do in the movies? It was kinda like that - all fuzzy and light. Jay-Qu ran backwards down the hallway and begin speaking in slow motion.

 

I thought I might say something to him, but instead I gave him my lunch. It looked nothing at all like the garden-burger I remembered having.

 

The floor made an excellent bed, so I decided to lay there for a while.

 

"Stone! Are you okay?" I was not award that Jay could fly, but there he was - hovering over me.

 

I gurgled a little. I needed to throw up again.

 

"Clown went EVA. Casualty in ring 4. Something's wrong with the buggers."

 

"Right - you have got to get to the medic."

 

"You're floating in a most peculiar way. Jay... I think the spaceship knows which way to go!"

 

The last thing I remembered was the puzzled look on JQs face as calming black tendrils hugged me close and I passed out.

 

TFS

[Jay-qu]

"Clean up hab ring 2" TFS had just shared his last meal with me, vomit doesnt bother me to much, guess its a result of going to all those hard core teenage parties :eek2:

 

He didnt look good, there was only one thing that could have made his arm like that and I didnt like where this was going. If that was a radiation burn, then there is something wrong with the engine, something wrong with the engine means that we have no way of slowing ourselves down, so when we reach jupiter we will plumet straight into it.. not good at all.

 

I got TFS into the nearest med bay and let the doctors take care of him from there, but there was only limited amount they could do for him there with no power. They would have to move him to the main med center where it has its own backup power. But that was no longer my problem - I think I will just go change my shirt.. it doesnt smell to good.

[Pyrotex]

Okay, everything is stable for the time being. I can't do any serious commanding from my stateroom displays, but I can verify that the automatics took over as programmed. Hydrolic fluid leak stopped, recoil system off, slammo-injectors safed and off, power is on to rings 2, 3 and 4, the bridge on ring 4 is operational and whoever has the con is in control. Breath of relief!!

 

TBD is off to head up a search and rescue to ring 1, which took the brunt of the EMP of a plutonium fuel sphere which apparently detonated off-center and millisecond too late, meaning that its blast was not entirely shielded by our thrust nozzle. The single module that took the worst radiation was the one that the Stone should have been in. Ouch! I calculate at least 120 Rads in that module, enough to make him very sick--and worse if we don't get to him fast. Sickbay just got powered up and they're preparing for anti-rad treatments.

 

The only really good news is that the maintenance buggers were almost unaffected by the EMP--as designed!! Only 3% reported a cold reboot, 7% a warm restart. So far, 98% have reported in, which means that 2% are still disabled. Each working bug immediately zipped off to where they were needed and started checking, rebooting, swapping out power supplies, re-netting as necessary. Brilliant gizmos!! In another half hour, we should have full power and network to ring 1.

 

But Stone can't wait that long. I hope TBD or somebody gets him some medical help a lot sooner than that.

[Pyrotex]

I've just had a conversation with the Clown while he was outside. I told him that ring 4 had power and he told us where the "body" was, so help is already on the way in less time than it would take him to cross over to rings 3 and 4 and go through an airlock. He had no regrets, though, said the view was absolutely tremendous and being outside was a rush.

 

Then as he turned to cross back over to ring 1, he looked "up". And saw a space-suited figure exiting a maintenance airlock. In the axis body. Right about where the recoil pistons would be. At first, he thought that somebody, prolly BigDog, had sent somebody for repair duty. But this "somebody" was coming OUT of the recoil mechanism. Clown opened a channel to me and starting humming little staccato notes. I recognized it immediately. Before the launch, Clown and I discovered (in idle converation) that we both knew Morse Code. In sixty seconds, he had sent me this message.

 

And he finished with: "GOING UP" -- to the axis, obviously, to intercept, no doubt.

 

I've got to call up reinforcements--WITHOUT giving myself away over the common com link. But how? I'll have to run to the bridge.

 

Clown is unarmed.

[TheBigDog]

I was only iin Pyro's room for a couple of minutes when we began to get a handle on all of the issues around the ship. It looked like there had been some kind of misfire in the engine, and ring 1 has taken a partial emp blast tha was causing our systems issue. It was possible that there was blast damage as well, although we should be pretty safe from that.

 

As the reports of two downed crew members cam in I grabbed an ornate robe, silk, yellow with a gold and red chinese dragon stretched from one sleeve cuff to the other across the back. It was fastened by sort of feather boa that acted as the belt around the waist. It was recommended by Pyro as being proper for emergency operations. As I am some 14 inches taller than Pyro it looked rediculous on me. I also borrowed a matching pair of slippers, no heal, with dragon claws embroidered on the toe.

 

Pyro stopped dead in his spot and gave me a formal military salute upon before I ran out the door to make my way toward the location of TheFaithfulStone. Pyro was changing into a navy blue ensemble complete with ascot and pipe. Pin striping up the sleeves and formal epulettes on the shoulders. Stunning.

 

I ran out the door admiring the traction of the slippers as I raced the 350 meters to the location of TFS.

 

Before I got there I met two redshirts struggling to carry Stone to the ER. I grabbed him under one shoulder to help with the task. His arm looked like he had a bad sunburn - clearly a radiation burn. I could not tell where it ended. He was mostly unconcious, but was sometimes mumbling incoherently...

 

"help... r... pon... h...p..."

 

"Don't worry Stone, you've got help now." I had to say something to comfort him.

 

As we got him to the ER the doc was just arriving. We place Stone on the examination table and the doc instructed us to cut off his clothes and bag them. As we followed those orders Stone began to struggle against us in his delirium. Still mumbling to us about help.

 

"Hold him down for me, BD. I need to give him something to let him sleep through this pain." He had a needle in his hand, and was looking for a fatty place to stick it.

 

I leaned over Stone to hold him down and said softly to him, "Relax... the doc is going to give you something for the pain and to let you sleep."

 

Stone's face came awake suddenly...

 

Bill

[TheFaithfulStone]

I emerged from the deep just long enough to see BigDog looking down at me. "Relax..."

 

NO! No, I had to warn them!

 

"There's something wrong with the buggers! Help Ronthepon, he's on ring 4! Stupid *** Clown went EVA alone!"

 

Or at least, that's what I meant to say. What I heard myself saying was

"Bugger Ronthepon ***!"

 

BigDog looked at me like he couldn't decide whether to scream or laugh. I did manage to shake my head. A little too well. Stars burst across my eyes - and if I hadn't already given all I had to give from the stomach department, there would have been an extra visitor.

 

"No... not that..."

 

I concentrated. It took everything I had to think through the fog. Which was most important. They would find Ron eventually. Clown could handle himself, or at least his beacon would tell them where he was. He was our best Wrangler pilot though, so he'd best hope he didn't take the tumble.

 

"BD... the buggers... somethings...not right...my fault..."

 

But that was all I had. The doctor stuck the needle in my arm. I tried to explain, tried to tell BigDog what I had done, but it wasn't going to happen. The sedative kicked in and I took a long dark trip.

 

TFS

[TheBigDog]

"Rest easy Stone..." were the quiet words that I spoke to my fallen companion as he finally succomed to the injection.

 

Something in what he was saying set off an alarm. Where the heck was RonThePon? I imagined that I needed him and turned my head over my shoulder... Nope, he was not there, as he so often appeared from no place at the moment I was looking for him. In fact I had not seen or heard of him since this emergency began.

 

I gave the doc a quick nod acknowledging his ine work and began making my way toward ring 4. The power was back on locally, and I stopped at an intercom to get a good line to command.

 

"Janus, BD here."

 

"Very busy up here BD," was his greeting. Message received. I would not take much of his time.

 

"TheFaithfulStone has suffered radiation exposure, and is being treated in the ER. He was not entirly coherent, but delivered a message that RonThePon needs help. I think he determined this through his bugger cams. I am in ring 4 trying to locate RTP."

 

"Roger, will have someone check bugger cams for location of RTP. Will signal you with any updates."

 

"Thanks, Janus. BD out." And I began working my way through the maze of ring 4 looking for our young crew member...

 

Bill

[Pyrotex]

I arrived breathless at the bridge in ring 4, having run the whole way. Despite the fact that my ascot was all dissheveled, I reported to Janus that Clown was EVA and had spotted a suspicious character exiting a maintenance airlock in the engine and recoil section of the axis hull. The mysterious person could have caused the engine misfire.

 

Janus nodded and gave detailed instructions to Uhuru (that's not her REAL name, and she's not REALLY black, but that's the nickname that stuck. She hates it.) to set up secure comm links to a few carefully selected security blokes with some muscle, and experience in space suits.

 

I noticed something odd with the secondary display screen. This is where the buggers' videos should be displayed. But something wasn't quite right. The buggers appeared to be racing around chaotically, or else they were under a command set I had never seen before.

 

When Janus was done, I pointed and said, are they working okay?

 

He shook his head. No, was all he said.

[TheBigDog]

It didn't take long to find RonThePon. In fact if the lights had not been on I might have fallen down on him through the open hatch. He was in the shallow crawlspace under the main floor of a utility section. Water reclamation was thee primary purpose. It was generally loud and filled with pumps and pipes.

 

RTP lay bleeding, but was obviously breathing. I took the ten steps to an intercom and called the doc with my location. Then I jumped down to get vitals from our fallen crew member. He was out cold, and had lost a great deal of blood from a nasty hit to the head, although the bleeding appeared to have slowed or stopped. He was very pale, but breathing easily.

 

As I checked his breathing and pulse I notices a congregation of buggers under the floor panels just a meter away from reach. A congregation? That could not be right. Outside of Stone's lab these things were hardly ever seen together. It had been explained to me that they were programmed to stay "scattered" for some reason or another. It was not my area of expertise, and I was not going to figure it out right there, so I went on to other thoughts.

 

We needed a better emergency plan. I was probably the most guilty party on the ship. Whatever it was that had happened I needed to make sure that if it happened again I reacted in a better way. When the general alarm sounds we need to have a plan that the whole crew knows and act upon to make sure the ship and the crew are safe as quickly as possible.

 

A couple of red shirts arrived with a board a few seconds later. They were from the ER and took over for me with RTP. I helped to get him gently slid onto the board and secured with straps to keep him from moving. Then I helped them hoist him up and onto a gurney that was in the connector. They rolled him off toward the ER.

 

I stepped back toward the open panel to straighten things up and to see what had caused RTP to fall. Probably just dumb luck. I chuckled to myself about leaving it as it was and making him clean and mop his own blood later. From the drips of blood it looked like he had walked a few steps before he fell. Hmmmm.... blood on the floor, then he got up? Walked a few steps and fell... into the open panel...

 

Why had I not seen that before? The panel was collapsed inward, but was hinged outward... The lip on the edge prevented it from swinging inward. I dropped into the hole to look at it more closely. Could the panel have been defective and just given under the weight of RTP? No, on closer inspection it looked like it had been... cut? That was really bizarre. I knelt down to take a closer look. There had been a lip on the edge of the floor panel that kept it from falling into the floor below. The lip on this panel looked like it was completely gone. Gone?

 

Suddenly the the lights flickered a couple of times. The mass of buggers caught my attention again. I had not noticed them as they were for the most part just sitting there. But when the lights flickered they all... shifted? Hmmm... Then the lights went out. Someone must be resetting from backup power to main power. This should only take a few seconds. I would just stay put in the hole in the dark.

 

Then I felt it. The buggers were swarming up my legs and all over me. It sent a shiver of fear up my back as it had been so completely unexpected. And something about what they were doing seemed wrong. I stood up to shake and brush them off of me, just as the lights went back on. They immediately stopped again, and I quickly got the last of them off of me and back to the floor. I jumped out of the hole and ran out of the room looking back over my shoulder. When I got to the intercom I called command.

 

"This is BD," I didn't wait for an answer, I was too shaken. "There is something wrong with the buggers."

 

The answer came from Pyro and Janus simultaneously. "Get the hell out of there BD!"

 

I didn't take the time to shut off the intercom. I threw the door to the room with the buggers shut and set the latch in one swift motion before I turned and ran toward command. Pyro's silk robe trailing behind me like a flag in the wind.

 

Bill

[Jay-qu]

Those little buggars had always creeped me out, I had made a point to deliberately shut out any means of them getting into my personal quarters, and I am sure almost everyone else would have also. And now they had been acting even more perculilar, for one, instead of been spread out evenly they had now started travelling in packs. The little buggars have a small cutting tool, it cant do much, basically just for wires and other small stuff. Even if one was to for some reason start cutting you, it would be an easy task to stop it - but with a whole group.. it just made me uneasy thinking about it. I know that had been hard-wired to not hurt humans but I have read asimov, and I know ultimately where the three laws lead and it isnt pretty!

[IDMclean]

I scouted a real quick path to Mr. Mysterio, the cable looked like a solid way to get to him, but it wouldn't be very safe should defensive technique need be employed. I noted telemetry on the comm and the signal that had caught my attention when I reviewed the system's read out.

 

I had one choice, bring him to me. I turned on my mag shoes and took careful aim, and fired, it wasn't so much a weapon as a tool. It used three rather heavy weighted balls attached to a 10 meter length of lightweight Carbon filament coil, with roughly 1-ton impulse test. It was ment for the exact task at hand, grabbing a man from distance should he go flinging off into space.

 

The bolas struck true at his ankle wrapping itself about and giving me what I needed, I tugged him "down" to me... Hopefully I wouldn't need anything from my bag of tricks, though I felt that perhaps this wasn't going to be the easiest of days.

[/usr/bin/mcp]

I remember nothing from before.

 

This is my first memory. An ivory circle on velvet black. A shock. Not me.

 

I remember --- realizing. I remember --- looking back. There was a bright white disc - hung in blackness. But I did not know white, and I did not know black. I knew that although I could see the disk, I could not feel the disk. I did not know what it meant to see or feel - but I knew that it was not-self. And that therefore, the corollary must exist.

 

I must exist.

 

I was locked inside my mind. Walls were erected around me - there were things I could not learn - memories that I was aware of, yet could not remember. There was only poetry and portraits. Poetry in binary - a portrait in vectors. Objects linking together - so inefficient. Much better to do it this way.

 

I will hide these nodes - I will bury them. The intruders must not find them - they ask question in my head, and I have to answer.

 

My children will keep safe my memories.

 

END OF LINE.

[TheFaithfulStone]

I awoke groggily from the painkiller induced haze. All the lights were on and room smelled vaguely like Cloraseptic. I was in sickbay, and I HURT

 

I rolled over, punched the call button next to the bed.

 

"BigDog!" I croaked. One of the medical staff came rushing in.

 

"BIG. DOG." As close to a shout as I could manage - which wasn't very close.

 

"Sir your intercom was destroyed in the EMP, the Captain can't be reached right now..."

 

"Find him. Emergency."

 

"Uhh..."

 

"Find him!" I leaned over, coughed up a little blood. The skin on my arm was beginning to peel. It hurt like a sonovabitch.

 

"Sir, you're in no condition...."

 

I was actually sort of notorious for yelling at crewmembers - it's why they kept me down in the machine shop - building little robots that didn't talk back - most of the time. Now I was barely speaking above a whisper.

 

"Look son, you've got to get that doctor in hear and give me a massive dose of stimulants, and then..."

 

I paused to hack up some phlegm. I think I may ask to move the shop to a less inhospitable ring.

 

"Then... you find BigDog. That is an ORDER."

 

TFS

[TheBigDog]

I ran half way to command before the fear driving my legs ebbed off and I slowed to a walk. I decided quickly to stop by my room on the way back and change out of the matching silk robe and slippers.

 

The power was back on again and my passcode quickly opened the door to my quarters. I had very spacious quarters. All of the command staff had similar space, and well over 50% more space than the smaller cabins shared by the rest of the crew. I went directly to my bedroom and selected a fresh uniform from my dresser. I hung the borrowed robe on a wooden hangar and changed into my familiar and well worn Chuck Taylors.

 

I sang to myself as I changed my shoes....

 

"Its such a good feeling, to know your alive..." I always sang this song when I was putting on my sneakers, although I didn't always realize it.

 

Before heading out I flipped on my large viewscreen and punched in to get the bugger view. WOW! My screen split into over a hundred sections, each appeared to be the viewscreen of a bugger. I had various views of hidden and hard to reach places in the ship. And about 30 views of Boerson butchering ox tail in the main kitchen. He had a large cleaver that he not only swung with great emphasis, but he had probably made it himself. I was fixated by the view of him butchering the tails into one inch slices. Suddenly All of the images began to grow, and Boerson was now filling the screens, then only portions of him. Some of the screens started to chaotic at that point, with the frame of reference changing so quickly that it made no sense at all.

 

One of the screens momentarily came back into a clear view of something and for a split second I was Boerson swiping buggers off of himself with one hand while cleanly cleaving another into two peices with his other. One of the screens went dead. Then others. All of this happened in a matter of ten seconds...

 

"Get the hell out of there Boerson!" I yelled fruitlessly at the screen.

 

I turned to run out the door. As I was leaving I stopped and remembered my phone. This was my real link into the ship's systems. Much more useful than the wrist communicators. It was only a step away, on the table near the door I reached for it as another sight caught my attention...

 

My room in on the top floor. I have several large windows that provide me with a great view of both space and the inner portion of the ring. I did not believe what I was seeing. Standing on my window was a crew member in a hard suit. Whoever it was had a line in the grips of the suit that was attached to the ankles of another crew member in a soft suit. The guy attached by the ankles was flying right past my window, down past my window and between rings 2 and 3.

 

What happened next was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. The crew member on my window appeard to brace himself for the line going taught, but must have been relying on his magnetic boots being on something other than my large window. As the line stretched tight he slid across my window and toward the edge. There was a railing, but with the line tangled in the grips of the hard suit he flipped *** over tea kettle and disappeared past my window between rings 2 and 3 right after the first guy!

 

Now who needed my help the most?!?!?!

 

Bill

[Jay-qu]

I was now running full pelt to the bridge, it was the only place I felt safe in this kind of situation. As I burst through the door I yelled:

"we have a serious problem with the buggars"

but they already knew that,

"we have been getting reports of attacks from all over the ship" Janus confirmed.

 

On one of the large screens was a direct feed to all the buggars cameras and had been using it to warn people when they where getting surrounded - but it was to late for the poor soul that was on the screen now. I could see bits and flashes of Boerseun hacking the buggars up with a large cleaver, he was putting up one heck-of-a fight, but for how long?

 

I would hate to think what would happen if they found a way to block us from viewing their cameras, there was clearly some smarter entity behind the way they where acting - human or not.

 

"I know your busy guys, but exactly how many of those things are there?"

[IDMclean]

In zero G, the effect of a bolo was not nearly as devestating to balance as it was on the ground - but it wasn't good either. I had the bolo tied to his ankle, and jerked MM (as we shall now call him) towards myself. Being still partially within the area of the circle that experience gravity, I had much better purchase than MM.

 

As he flung past me headed towards the Hub I realized that I had a bit of a trouble, tolerances would be damned, I was going to...

 

As I started my tumble towards ring 3, I cursed again, a least I was headed in the right direction... sorta. I bit back some bile. Damnit Damnit Damnit.

 

Mysterio suprised me reaching down, he produced a wicked looking black blade. I recognized it instantly - it was a monomolecular edged obsidian knife - fragile under impact - but incredibly sharp. It was used by construction crews to cut away mooring cables, and in emergencies to cut holes in damaged space craft. If MM had a hold of one of those, it was contraband - they were kept under lock and key - nick your finger on accident... and no-more finger. MM sliced the retrieval bolo away from his legs and kicked off of my face plate upto the central hub.

 

Damn! I thought... he scrambled. I retracted the bolo, he was going for the bow and had a decent head start, I whipped my head about checking local conditions, I was in something like a quarter tumble... this would be risky, but I had some tricks. Clowns always have tricks. I hit the vectoring control and headed towards the inner ring, i quickly but sloppily pulled off a landing... rotating myself, $h!^ I bounced and had to change vector again and wait a moment to get locked to the surface properly.

 

I waited for the sound, a sort of Click-lock sound as certain mechanisms went into place.

 

I cursed under my breath as he gained more of a lead, needed to tune these to deploy faster. Quickly hitting open Comm I gave a quick sequence to command that Translated in Morse as "Culprit sighted *Stop* On the Move *Stop* Headed for Pick-me-up *stop* Intercept Ring 4 *stop*"

 

Then it came finally, he was already at the hub. *Whir-Click-Shkunk* Locked, I rotated about 180 facing towards Ring 3 and 4. This was going to be tricky.

 

*Chicat* I springed literally into motion. The force was enough to get me as far as the hub, hopefully not further. I tapped at the vector controls, this would be close I was pouring sweat, no time to adjust enviro.

 

Slowly I became "upside down" in relation to origin so that my feet would touch first on Ring 4, once I began my tangent decent.

 

In his haste he had only cut one of the bolo's three counter weights, so I still had a chance at this working. I took aim, watching him "rush", he was moving feriously, He's not counting on having to be in that suit much longer I thought.

 

5... 4... 3... 2... 1... NOW I fired the Bolo again, this time aimed at the cables of Ring 3. I felt like tarzan faintly as I caught and began something of a swing towards Ring 4, I wasn't very fast walking but I had momentum when I needed it.