Canticle Blue

62. Collision

Near the outer reaches of the solar system, the Castel once again assumed the role of a ply-ship, moving well ahead of the Crisopa, negotiating paths through potentially hazardous regions. But it had no means to clear them.  After the comet mission, it had been equipped with the most advanced array of sensors available. With them, it could not only detect distant concentrations of normal matter in space, but clouds of exotic matter as well. So it was, that when the Castel's instruments began to detect increasing numbers of large and small cometary bodies along its intended route, the ship's computers advised deceleration for both ships as soon as possible.

Shortly after receiving that instruction, a forward observer on the Crisopa noticed the Castel running lights swinging wildly away from their current track and quickly realized that it had nothing to do with reducing speed. When the lights disappeared and reappeared again shortly afterward, he realized that the ship was spinning, a fact quickly confirmed when the Crisopa radio room reported the loss of all ship-to-ship radio signals. As the Crisopa crew began to gather in the bridge area to watch, the Castel's main-drive lights went out. Then, after several tense minutes, a communication link was somehow restored.

It was Estmere. "Our cargo module has sustained damage from a collision. We think it was an oblique impact from a small cometary fragment. The Castel is nearly in two pieces. Pa'Keh has stopped our spin with the collar drives. He has also used them to decelerate slightly and turn the bow of the ship to face you. We will keep you advised of our position so that you may reach us. The holes in the cargo module are very large. Much of the cargo has been lost to space. Our liana was destroyed, but the pilots are with us. We have no injuries and are currently keeping each other company. The main drives are shut down now. They are apparently still functional, but we cannot control them."

Cian responded immediately, expressing relief and assuring the Castel crew that they were making the best speed possible to get to them. Since the collision did not substantially reduce the velocity of the ply-ship, but threw it off course, and the shuttle had been decelerating when the accident occurred, attempts to close the distance between them would take considerable time. Lianas were sent to overtake the stricken ship but would be only slightly faster.

By the time the first lianas reached the Castel, only a few twisted bands of n-type and a single bundle of wires connected the drive sections. But their first priority was to rescue the ship's liana pilots by transferring them to their own craft. After that, they immediately set about moving all remaining supplies from the cargo module to available areas in the Castel. As they were doing this, the Crisopa arrived and drew near enough to help with transfers. The lianas then began to strip away the remains of the cargo module from the drive sections of the ship.

Pa'Keh contacted Cian. "We will be trying to reconnect the bow and stern components of the ship. The main-drive symmetry is slightly compromised. Docking clamps and seals there are also damaged, and our spare parts were lost in the collision. So the lianas will have to weld the sections together. This will take time. The wiring between them will then be repaired."

"Thank you for the update Pa'Keh," Cian replied. "Take all the time you need, and please let us know if you or Estmere want to leave the ship." She shuddered to think of what it would be like to lose a Middi, especially under these circumstances, possibly drifting alone in space and still conscious. At this point she realized that everyone had been so caught up in the rescue that they had not considered what to do about the mission.

Then, as the ships continued to drift through space, the mysterious beacon stopped transmitting.