ships in The Fleet were converted from the old
rectangular hatches to the new round ones. Even if we could lift the
pod, our hatches won't match! We can't dock with it!"
10 "Can you make adapters?" asked Morn.
11 "That would take weeks, sir," the Engineer answered.
12 Morn stood thinking for several moments. "If we turn on our
engineering life support," he asked, "along with the main units, how
long can we sustain that many extra bodies?"
13 "One to seven days," the Engineer told him,
"depending on the size of the children. If they're all pretty young, I
might be able to stretch it to eight or nine."
14 "Four days back to the nearest colony with up-to-date hospital
facilities. That doesn't leave us with much margin for error, does it,
Engineer?"
15 "No, sir, it does not," the Engineer confirmed.
16 "Then, we'll have to send the scout down," suggested Morn, "and as
fast as we can send the children up by beam tube, spin this old lady
around and run for home."
17 The Engineer's face fell. "I've already spoken to the Doctor," he
announced. "No transport beams. He estimates it would kill fifty to
seventy-five per cent of the children if we tried to beam tube them. As
weak as their systems
must be, it would simply finish them!"
18 "This isn't going to be easy," Morn said out loud. "Prepare a scout
and the bus. Hang cots in them somehow. We'll use them as shuttles.
We'll just have to get them up as fast as we can, that way. But it's
going to cut our safety margin. Hopefully some of the pod's emergency
equipment will still be charged, and we can grab the oxygen bottles and
nitrogen agent. They WILL be compatible, won't they?"
19 "Yes, sir!" the Engineer acknowledged. "We've used the same size
bottles and fittings for about two-