slowly, carefully, made her way to the larger docking area.
Although the buoy was nearly three times the size of the ship, the majority of the outpost was made up of sensors, shields, mirrors, cameras, and weapons. The area where Lawn went in was able to accommodate only one suited figure, and that was a tight fit in itself.
Reaching the outer hull door, she clipped herself to the buoy and checked the white umbilical riding along with her.
The length of light cables was as thick as a finger. At the end was a plug and patch.
The buoy door opened and slid back, and Lawn floated inside.
"I'm inside. Where do you want me to put this?"
116
"Go to the console," Deep said through her helmet. "There should be a set of plugs somewhere on the console. One red, one green, one yellow."
She raked her eyes over the dull gray expanse that was lit up like a Christmas tree with multicolored lights. "How big are these plugs?"
"About the same size as the one you're carrying."
"There they are. Found them. Now what?"
"Take off the cover to the red one. You should be able to pry it off."
"What's the red one for?" He was right. The seal popped right off into her hand. "Plug cover is off. Is this where I plug you in?"
"Yes. Plug in the umbilical. I'll let you know when to set and seal the patch. The red plug is for weapons, Lawn. The green is shields. The yellow is for all the other mechanical aspects of the buoy, like its camera and telescope."
It took her a few seconds to find the right way to set Deep's umbilical into the plug receptacle. "All right. You're in.
Now what?"
"Hold on. It'll take me a minute or two to confirm control,"
he said.
Lawn eyed the other two seals. He had wanted her to give him direct control over the weapons system in the buoy, not the shields.
"Are you sure you don't want me to bring another umbilical over for the shields?"
"The buoy will take care of the shields."
117
She turned slightly in the bulky suit and glanced out the open hatch where she could see the Vogt poised less than a hundred feet away. This close to the buoy, if the shields were deployed, the ship would be included within their parameters.
"Do you really think we're going to need the buoy's weapons? What about your armament?"
"I don't want to take any chances, Lawn. I want all the weapons I can have at my disposal. Okay. We're set. Peel off the umbilical and replace the cover."
Lawn quickly separated the umbilical from the plug patch, leaving the patch inside. The patch would give Deep direct control over the buoy itself, allowing him to decide when and where to fire the large array of guns and cannons.
She replaced the cover, giving it an extra couple of whacks to make sure it connected while Deep reeled the umbilical back to the Vogt. "Commencing full read-out," she said.
"How's it look out there? Any word back from base?"
"If we were back on Earth, I would say there's a massive storm brewing out in the open waters, and the mainland was about to be clobbered. No word yet from the GEB."
Lawn nodded and began to run the checklist. She was nervous, and no doubt Deep was aware of it. Which was why the simple, almost monotonous task was soothing. The familiarity allowed her to get her mind off the trouble intensifying a few short light years away.
Something started blinking off to the side. She caught it with her peripheral vision and turned to stare at it. "Deep?"
"Yeah, I read it," the ship replied almost simultaneously.
118
"What is it?" She glanced at the Lucite clipboard, searching for the designation number etched above the glowing orange pulse. Orange wasn't a good color. Green was the best. Blue needed your attention, but it wasn't for anything crucial. But orange was above yellow, and just below red. Orange was important.
"Shields have been brought online."
"Did you do that?"
"Maybe. Maybe me plugging into its weapons triggered it,"
he admitted. "Let me see if I can cancel them. Continue with
Although the buoy was nearly three times the size of the ship, the majority of the outpost was made up of sensors, shields, mirrors, cameras, and weapons. The area where Lawn went in was able to accommodate only one suited figure, and that was a tight fit in itself.
Reaching the outer hull door, she clipped herself to the buoy and checked the white umbilical riding along with her.
The length of light cables was as thick as a finger. At the end was a plug and patch.
The buoy door opened and slid back, and Lawn floated inside.
"I'm inside. Where do you want me to put this?"
116
"Go to the console," Deep said through her helmet. "There should be a set of plugs somewhere on the console. One red, one green, one yellow."
She raked her eyes over the dull gray expanse that was lit up like a Christmas tree with multicolored lights. "How big are these plugs?"
"About the same size as the one you're carrying."
"There they are. Found them. Now what?"
"Take off the cover to the red one. You should be able to pry it off."
"What's the red one for?" He was right. The seal popped right off into her hand. "Plug cover is off. Is this where I plug you in?"
"Yes. Plug in the umbilical. I'll let you know when to set and seal the patch. The red plug is for weapons, Lawn. The green is shields. The yellow is for all the other mechanical aspects of the buoy, like its camera and telescope."
It took her a few seconds to find the right way to set Deep's umbilical into the plug receptacle. "All right. You're in.
Now what?"
"Hold on. It'll take me a minute or two to confirm control,"
he said.
Lawn eyed the other two seals. He had wanted her to give him direct control over the weapons system in the buoy, not the shields.
"Are you sure you don't want me to bring another umbilical over for the shields?"
"The buoy will take care of the shields."
117
She turned slightly in the bulky suit and glanced out the open hatch where she could see the Vogt poised less than a hundred feet away. This close to the buoy, if the shields were deployed, the ship would be included within their parameters.
"Do you really think we're going to need the buoy's weapons? What about your armament?"
"I don't want to take any chances, Lawn. I want all the weapons I can have at my disposal. Okay. We're set. Peel off the umbilical and replace the cover."
Lawn quickly separated the umbilical from the plug patch, leaving the patch inside. The patch would give Deep direct control over the buoy itself, allowing him to decide when and where to fire the large array of guns and cannons.
She replaced the cover, giving it an extra couple of whacks to make sure it connected while Deep reeled the umbilical back to the Vogt. "Commencing full read-out," she said.
"How's it look out there? Any word back from base?"
"If we were back on Earth, I would say there's a massive storm brewing out in the open waters, and the mainland was about to be clobbered. No word yet from the GEB."
Lawn nodded and began to run the checklist. She was nervous, and no doubt Deep was aware of it. Which was why the simple, almost monotonous task was soothing. The familiarity allowed her to get her mind off the trouble intensifying a few short light years away.
Something started blinking off to the side. She caught it with her peripheral vision and turned to stare at it. "Deep?"
"Yeah, I read it," the ship replied almost simultaneously.
118
"What is it?" She glanced at the Lucite clipboard, searching for the designation number etched above the glowing orange pulse. Orange wasn't a good color. Green was the best. Blue needed your attention, but it wasn't for anything crucial. But orange was above yellow, and just below red. Orange was important.
"Shields have been brought online."
"Did you do that?"
"Maybe. Maybe me plugging into its weapons triggered it,"
he admitted. "Let me see if I can cancel them. Continue with
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