Time Salvager (Time Salvager #1)(111)
He reached the collie with seconds to spare and slipped into the hold just as the exo’s power faltered. Within seconds, he had latched his netherstore container to the ship’s charger and pumped the water out of the ship.
He collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air as the last of the water filtered out of the interior. He struggled to flip onto his back and waited while his eyes focused on the ceiling. The pain from the jump was still there, the lag sickness as strong as it had been right when he made the jump. He struggled to his knees and threw up again.
“James,” Grace buzzed in his head, her voice filled with worry. “I’m recalling the collie. We need to put you in cryosleep immediately. You’re not well.”
“I’ll … I’ll be fine,” he managed to say. “I could really use a drink right now.”
His head felt like one of the Farming Towers had fallen on it. Even thinking hurt. His body couldn’t handle much more of these jumps without a miasma regimen. It took him several more minutes to get to his feet. He checked the Collie’s autopilot and then collapsed onto the bench.
The ship wasn’t built for underwater travel so the trip would take three days, but it couldn’t be helped. It didn’t matter. James intended to use that time to catch up on some much-needed sleep.
“Charge your bands now,” Grace instructed. “I’m turning your cryo band on.”
“No,” he said. “I’d rather sleep naturally.”
“Not taking the chance,” she said. “Don’t fight me. You know I’ll get my way in the end, regardless.”
That much was true. In the weeks since she had joined them, James had yet to win one argument. In this case especially, he knew he was just being stubborn.
“Fine.” He lay down on the bench and plugged his bands into the collie’s system. “It’s three damn days anyway. I’ll probably end up just getting bored.”
“You know, in my time, the TIs could get to Saturn in less than three days.”
“In your day, you guys got your ass kicked by the equivalent of cavemen in space,” he replied, “so I wouldn’t puff up your chest that much.”
“Being outnumbered ten to one does have its disadvantages.”
“Technically, it was only six to one, and the Neptune Divinities were fighting you with a hundred-and-fifty-year technology handicap. The reason you lost was because your people spent more time thinking about doing something than actually doing something.”
“Hindsight is always smug and unbecoming.”
“One of the advantages of being from the future, I guess.”
The collie began to coast, swaying back and forth in a lulling and comforting motion. James shut off all the nonessential systems, relying on his atmos for life support as always.
He activated the cryo band and filtered its readings to his AI band. It wouldn’t be as good a sleep as a natural one, but he hadn’t had much luck with those lately anyway. He was actually looking forward to a nice long rest.
Smitt had last reported that he was able to smuggle out a batch of the miasma regimen without being detected. That would have to be James’s next priority after he set up this stealth hood for the Elfreth. It would be good to see Smitt again. The two of them hadn’t spent more than two weeks apart since they were teenagers, and even those two weeks were only because of a salvage he had to run in ancient Mesopotamia for a shipment of gold that had to be spun into circuitry.
“You ready to turn in?” Grace said. “Keep your atmos at sixty percent, your comm band open, and make sure I can monitor your vitals and thought patterns.”
“You’re not going to watch over me the entire time I sleep, are you? Feels a little creepy, Grace.”
“In your current state? Every single second.”
James made a face. “As long as you’re not poking around in my skull while I sleep. I know how inquisitive you geniuses get.”
“Don’t worry about that. We geniuses have better things to do than look into your brain. You’re just not that smart or interesting, to be honest. Sleep well, James.”
“Good night, High Scion,”
James’s eyes grew heavy as the effects of the cryo band washed over him. He felt himself sinking into the metal bench as the interior of the collie grew darker and darker. Then, just as he felt blissful sleep sweep over him, he heard a loud bang that spasmed his body, every muscle tightly clenched.
“James?” Grace yelled into his head. “Your brain scans just spiked. Is everything all right?”
James tried to think to her, but his mind couldn’t formulate the words. He tried to say something, but his mouth wouldn’t open. It took all his effort to open his eyes, but when he did, all he saw was the night sky falling on top of him. His last thoughts before everything went dark was wondering just where all the stars went.
The first thing that touched James’s senses was the sound of lapping water as it splashed onto the deck and receded, again and again. Then he felt the tingling of heat against his face, followed by a breeze that made the hairs on his arms stick up.
He thought about opening his eyes; that would be the smart thing to do. After all, he had no idea where he was, or when, for that matter. The latter was an important question in his line of work, after all. Still, these sensations shouldn’t be possible. He should be in his collie, passed out and resting. Heck, shouldn’t his atmos be filtering out these sensations? These were all questions that needed answering, but damn it, he was so comfortable right now.