Page 269 of Every Almost

"Estimates vary. Days, most likely. Possibly less."

"And the tremors?"

"Constant, Captain. The shelf has been slipping in increments since yesterday and every increment goes through the crust. The colony logged four hundred and six tremors in the last nine hours." Torvax scrolled. "No pattern."

"Nineteen kilometers of margin against a shelf collapse."

"Yes."

"And no margin at all against the shaking?"

"No, Captain. There is nowhere on that planet that isn't moving."

"Who else is in range?"

Torvax tapped some buttons on his console, and within seconds, it chirped with answers. He read them. Then he read them again before he said anything.

"Nobody rated, Captain. There are, in fact, five vessels closer than us. But none of them are properly rated. TheCorvanehas the tonnage but no floor for the Palu. The rest won't even be able to open a door that wide." He set the datapad down. "We have the shuttle. We have the bay. Essentially, the Emberkind is the only ship in this sector that has the ability to collect."

Because they had done it before.

Reyna had been standing right there, a first mate who was certain her captain had lost her mind, when Elena Voss said they were going to need a bigger floor.

"Understood," Reyna said.

"Then it is a task for engineering." Reyna turned to the room. "Twice that mass, at a gravity differential, up a ramp rated for a colony that no longer exists? I am not solving that from a chair. Engineering runs this one on the ground."

"All of Engineering, Captain?"

"All leadership. Breck, Laith, and my Chief Engineer. Two lifts, no margin, and a ramp nobody has certified since the colony emptied. I want three people down there who can each solve it alone, in case the other two are occupied." Reyna kept going. "Borran will go for the animals with Selowen's advisement from here. He's the only one on this ship they will walk toward."

"Yes, Captain," Torvax said, tapping his datapad.

"Kess will manage the field kit but monitor from up here. I want the deck as clear as possible."

"Understood, Captain."

Hours ago, the Admiral had told her that job title did not belong to Charlie. That a committee three sectors from here had decided the woman who held it was a filing problem.

My Chief Engineer.

Let them come and take it out of her mouth.

"Parameters, Captain?" Torvax said.

"The shelf is well south of the enclosure. Stay as far from it as possible. This is just a simple lift and carry." Reyna sat down in her chair. "Nobody goes near that shelf."

Reyna watched the shuttle bay cycle on the display and allowed herself a moment to step out of Captain mode. Instead, she thought about what she was going to say when Charlie got back.

She had about two hours, and she was going to use them. She was to go down to Engineering once the rescue was complete, and she wasn't going to be careful, but she was going to finish her damn sentence.

Charlie, I?—

Two hours.

"Shuttle is clear, Captain. Engineering is on board with Borran accompanying," Torvax said. "Mission is underway."

CHARLIE