Captain Stirling arrived back in the rec room with a cupsule of hot coffee. Iolo and Captain Taylor had spent some time assessing the problem of moving the Wagner and come to the conclusion that it was going to be just too dangerous to attempt to tow her to Callisto station.
Attaching cables would not be too difficult but she was considerably heavier than the winch mounts were designed to deal with. Accelerating up to velocity for the voyage back to Callisto would probably work but turning the whole caravan of vessels around safely and then decelerating them together would be an extremely tricky task. If the cables or their mounts broke, the Icarus would effectively be catapulting the Wagner in the direction of Callisto station, the busiest port beyond Mars orbit. He did not want to be remembered as the man who fired seventy tonnes of wrecked spacecraft at Callisto station.
Captain Taylor had refused to be responsible for risking a major collision to salvage a damaged vessel with no crew. At the very least he would lose his licence and there was every probability that criminal charges would follow. No, the Wagner would have to be left to maintain its current course until a proper salvage vessel arrived to recover it. They had already notified the relevant authorities via radio.
Captain Stirling dropped his feet onto the control room floor, letting the embedded magnets clamp them to the metal surface. The Icarus was accelerating, giving the effect that there was a firm force pushing everyone on board towards the stern. By leaning against the force and being extra careful to ensure his boots were locking securely against the texture of the floor, he could walk against the force.
He clunked the few metres from the floor hatch to the starboard-side windows. It was a shame that they tinted everything towards green, but they still gave a far more impressive view of the starfield outside than any of the small viewports on the Wagner. There were still a very great number of asteroids within view, although all were at least hundreds of kilometres away now and receding fast.
"We've had confirmation back from Callisto Station," announced Captain Taylor, still standing next to the centre console.
"They're sending out a salvage vessel?" replied Captain Stirling.
"I sent them the course details of the Wagner. They should intercept it in about ten days. Then they'll tow it back to Callisto."
"If we could still fly it, I'd be back on Earth in less time than that," he laughed before taking another suck of his coffee.
"Will Earth send out another ship for you?" asked Captain Taylor.
"I doubt it, but we'll find out when we reach Callisto. The way this mission went, we'll probably be hitch-hiking home on the next freighter."
"Good luck with that!" laughed Captain Taylor.
A couple of minutes of awkward silence were broken by Warrant-Officer Scott clunking into the control room from the main corridor.
"Captain!" he announced as he stepped over the threshold.
Both Captains looked around at him.
"Captain Stirling, I mean," he smiled. "I have a... a bit of a surprise for you."
They both looked puzzled, but before they said anything else, Warrant-Officer Scott, called over his shoulder. "Come on out, guys!"
Captain Stirling was taking another suck of his coffee but what he saw next almost made him choke on it, as the Oppenheimer's First Officer, John Hill, appeared in the corridor behind Warrant-Officer Scott. He was quickly accompanied by Donald Moore, Maria Martinez and George Roberts.
Both Captains looked on incredulously as the entire party clunked their way into the control room.
"How is that possible?!" gasped Captain Taylor.
"It's not," replied Captain Stirling. "That bunk room was completely evacuated. You can't open the door without draining the rest of this deck."
Warrant-Officer Scott felt quite smug as he explained to them how he had achieved the impossible.
"Don't report this to anyone," said Captain Stirling to Captain Taylor. "Until we can protect them, this has to remain a secret. I don't want another team being sent out to assassinate them."
"I don't think anyone would believe it anyway!" replied Captain Taylor, "And until we arrive at back Callisto, no-one need know."
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