The Gap Into Madness Chaos and - Stephen R Donaldson, ebook
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MINBattered, weary to the bone,and profoundly baffled, MinDonner joined Punisher shortly after Warden Dios returned toUMCPHQ from Holt Fasner's Home Office. She hadn't sleptsince the day before her visit to Sixten Vertigus, hadn't eatensince her ride back to UMCPHQ from Suka Bator. A headachelike a threat of concussion throbbed in her forehead. Occasionallyher hearing buzzed like neural feedback.She felt that her whole life was being rewritten around her;reinterpreted to mean something she hadn't chosen and couldn'tunderstand.Why was she here?In some sense, Warden had answered that question. The lasttime she'd spoken to him, he'd told her, to her utter astonishment,I have reason to think Morn Hyland may survive� Even thoughhe'd convinced her long ago that Morn was being abandoned, thathe'd sold her body and soul, he'd said, If she does, I want some-one to make sure she stays alive, someone I can trust. That meansyou. For that reason�apparently�he was sending Min away fromher duties at UMCPHQ.Nevertheless his reply explained nothing. All she really knewwas that she was here now because he'd lied to her earlier; lied toher systematically and incessantly for months.What in God's name was going on?His signal of farewell reached her as she rode her personalshuttle out toward the gap range where Punisher had alreadyturned and started preparations for an outbound acceleration; butshe didn't answer it. She had nothing more to say to him. Insteadof returning some vacant acknowledgment or salute, she repliedto the questions of her crew by shaking her head. Let WardenDios take her on faith, as she was required to take him. He'd lefther no other way to express her galling confusion�or her blind,baffled hope.With as much of her accustomed grim determination as shecould muster, she put kazes and assassinations, treachery and in-trigue behind her, and concentrated instead on the job ahead.Her orders were superficially simple. She was instructed totake command of the first available UMCP warship�in this case,Punisher�and go immediately to the Com-Mine asteroid belt.Under cover of the belt, she was supposed to "watch for andrespond to developments" from the direction of Thanatos Minor.In other words, to observe and presumably deal with the outcomeof Angus Thermopyle's covert attack on Billingate.That was plain enough. But why was it necessary? After all, atFasner's orders human space along the Amnion frontier�espe-cially in the broad vicinity of Com-Mine Station and the belt�was being webbed with the most intensive communications net-work ever deployed. Any decipherable information from the di-rection of Thanatos Minor would reach UMCPHQ in a matter ofhours, whether she was present in the belt or not.What kind of "developments" did Warden expect? AngusThermopyle�Joshua�would either succeed or not. If he suc-ceeded, Nick Succorso and the danger he represented would befinished. Min's suspicions of Milos Taverner would come to noth-ing. And Morn might�conceivably�survive. On the other hand,if Angus failed, everyone and everything would be lost. Mornwould be just one more casualty.Either way, there would be nothing for Min to do, exceptpossibly pick up survivors�or warn off an Amnion pursuit. Com-Mine Station could have done that. Punisher herself, despite herbattle-worn and depleted condition, could have done it. Min Don-ner-was the UMCP Enforcement Division director: she belongedelsewhere. Back at UMCPHQ, rooting out kazes and traitors. Oreven down on Suka Bator, helping Captain Vertigus prepare andpresent his Bill of Severance. She had no reason to be here.No reason, that is, apart from Warden's desire to get her outof the way�to dissociate her from the fatal game he played withor against Holt Fasner. And his unexpected assertion that Mornmight get away alive.If she does, I want someone to make sure she stays alive�Was that the truth? Or had Warden said it simply to ensurethat she obeyed him?She didn't know; couldn't know. But in the end, his orderswere enough. She obeyed because she had sworn that she would.Nevertheless she couldn't shake the dark feeling that she wasdoomed; that between them Warden Dios and Holt Fasner wereabout to cost her everything she had ever believed in or trusted.At last her shuttle thunked against the docking port in Pun-isher's side; grapples jerked home. Min nodded to her crew andstepped into the shuttle's airlock as if she didn't care whether sheever returned.The bosun commanding the honor guard which greeted herinside the ship's personnel bay looked as worn-out and abused asshe felt. Min winced inwardly at the sight: she hated seeing herpeople in such bad shape. However, she kept her chagrin andanger to herself while she returned the bosun's salute."Captain's apologies, Director Donner," he said. He soundedeven worse than he looked�a young officer who had been undertoo much pressure for far too long. "He can't leave the bridge.We weren't expecting to head out�he hasn't had time to getready�" The bosun caught himself, flushed like a boy. "Youalready know that. I'm sorry."Captain will see you whenever you want. I can take you toyour quarters first."Min had scanned Punisher's reports before leaving UM-CPHQ. The cruiser had just come home from a bitter strugglewith fifteen or twenty illegal ships which had turned Valdor In-dustrial's distant binary solar system into a virtual war zone.Because of the kind of mining, processing, and heavy manu-facturing carried on by the station, Valdor and the traffic it ser-viced were rich with prizes. And like most binary systems thisone was a maze of orbits�masses of rock revolving around eachother in patterns so complex that they defied mapping by anythingless than a megaCPU. The pirates were entrenched among thealmost innumerable planets, planetoids, and moons cyclingaround the twinned stars called Greater and Lesser Massif-5.Over a period of six months, the Scalpel-class cruiser hadengaged in dozens of pitched battles, weeks of pursuit. And all tolittle avail. Two pirates had been destroyed, one captured. The resthad fought back with such concerted ferocity, or had fled withsuch intimate knowledge of the system's hiding places, that nomere cruiser could have hoped to deal with them all.No wonder the bosun was exhausted. No wonder the faces ofthe honor guard ached with despair at the prospect of anothermission. Punisher needed rest, deserved rest. The UMCP werespread too thin; would always be spread too thin, simply becausethe gap drive made available more space than any police forcecould control. Not for the first time, Min thought that as long asthe threat of the Amnion endured�as long as forbidden spaceoffered wealth in exchange for stolen resources�her people weredoomed to fail.As usual, she kept that idea to herself. Instead she told thebosun, "I'll go to the bridge." Then, before he could give anyorders himself, she dismissed the honor guard. In general shedisliked the formalities of her position; and in this particular caseshe actively hated wasting the energy of these weary men andwomen on ceremonial duties.Momentarily flustered, the bosun began, "Director, Captainordered�" But an instant later he swallowed his discomfiture.With a salute, he let the guard go. "This way, Director."Min knew the way. On any ship the UMCP had commis-sioned, she could have found the bridge blindfolded. She let thebosun guide her, however. She'd already undercut him enough bydismissing his honor guard.By the time she left the first lift and headed forward throughthe ship's core, she knew Punisher was in trouble. Because of therecent damage to her eardrums, she still couldn't hear clearlyenough to pick up the cruiser's characteristic hums and whines.But she could feel centrifugal g through the soles of her boots;she could sense vibrations with the nerves of her skin. Subtlestresses reached her like undamped harmonics."You've got internal spin displacement," she commented tothe bosun. "Bearings are grinding somewhere."He gaped at her sidelong. "How�?" She was the ED direc-tor, however: he wasn't supposed to question her. With an effort,he mastered himself. "Forward," he answered. "We took a hitthat knocked the whole core off true. But that's not all. We've gotmicro-leaks in some of the hydraulic systems. Several doors stickuntil the pressure rectifies. Half a dozen bulkheads don't quiteseal. And we've been holed twice. We've kept integrity, but welost the conduit to one of the sensor banks. Captain has menoutside right now, trying to jury-rig leads before we go into tach.For the rest�"Director, we haven't had time to trace those leaks or patchthose holes. We've been at battle-stations for most of the past sixmonths. And only a shipyard can fix internal spin."The young officer sounded so raw that Min frowned to herself."No criticism intended, bosun," she told him quietly. "It wasjust an observation."He swallowed hard. "Thank you, Director." Until he blinkedthem clear, his eyes were perilously moist.Punisher was desperate for rest.Full of outraged protectiveness toward her people, Minthought harshly, Fuck you, Warden Dios, and the horse you rodein on. You had goddamn better know what you're doing.The ship was a swarm of activity. Men and women hurried inall directions, rushing to and from the hundreds of duties requiredby a new mission. The few who recognized Min Donner paused tosalute; but most of them were concentrating too hard�focused byfatigue and urgency�to notice her. Scalpel-class cruisers carrieda crew of sixty-plus, but Punisher didn't have that many to workwith. Her reports had cited four dead and eleven confined to th...
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