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collected, I’d have to say that the rift reacted in some manner to our warp engines. If Rideout hadn’t ejected the antimatter containment bottles when she did . . . well, I’d rather not dwell on that, if you don’t mind.”
    “You’re kidding, right?” Hebert asked, making no effort to hide her surprise. “Even with all the backup and safety systems?”
    Boma leaned back in his chair. “When the disruption hit the engines, everything was out of whack for a period of about ten seconds. Backups were trying to kick in, but they were lagging, and that was with a fluctuation in the magnetic fields surrounding the containment bottles. Any delay in a system kicking in could be critical, even fatal. Rideout did the right thing by punting the antimatter.”
    As if on cue, the ship’s intercom buzzed to life, followed by the voice of the Huang Zhong ’s chief engineer, Christine Rideout. “ Engineering to bridge. Everybody okay up there? ”
    Moving to his command chair, Arens tapped the control on the chair’s right arm to open the intercom channel. “Everybody’s fine, Chief. What’s the story with the engines?”
    “ It’s a sad, sad tale of woe, sir ,” the engineer replied, “ and the ending stinks. Whatever we ran into, it torqued the warp drive pretty good. Even if I hadn’t ejected the antimatter, I’d still have half a dozen burnouts in the warp coils. Hell, one of the things damn near melted, if you can believe that. ”
    Though Arens already had a decent enough idearegarding the answer to his next question, he asked it anyway. “Give me the short version, Chief. How much time to make repairs?”
    “ Out here, by ourselves? ” Rideout asked. “ About a century, give or take a week or two. Even if we had replacement antimatter and a containment system to go with it, we’d still need a tow to a proper maintenance facility, sir. Other than the warp drive, we can probably take care of everything else in a couple of days or so. Less, if we get some help .”
    Behind him, Zihl said, “Though I do not know what we might do to help, we are certainly willing to offer any possible assistance, Captain.”
    “I appreciate that, Advisor,” Arens replied, knowing there was little if anything the Dolysians could do to help with his ship’s present situation. Still, there was no mistaking in Zihl’s words and eyes the genuine desire to render whatever aid might be feasible. “I truly do.” Returning his attention to the intercom panel and imagining the beleaguered expression on the face of his engineer, he said, “All right, Chief. Thanks for the update. Is there anything we can do to make your life easier?”
    “ You could send me to Wrigley’s Pleasure Planet for a month ,” the engineer replied. “ We’re going to need to access some systems and components from the outside, sir. If you could set us down, that’d be a huge help. ”
    “Consider it done,” Arens replied, happy not for the first time that the Huang Zhong ’s design allowed the vessel to make planetfall, rather than being forced to remain in orbit. “Keep me posted, and I’ll see about getting you some more help.”
    Through the speaker, Rideout said, “ Much obliged, Skipper. I’ll have plenty for folks to do. Rideout . . . riding out .”
    Despite the current situation, Arens could not help but smile at the chief’s signature sign-off as the communication ended. With a quick wit and a sense of humor sharp enough to cut diamonds, Christine Rideout often shouldered the burden not only of keeping the Huang Zhong in top running order, but also of seeing to the morale of the ship’s crew. As fast as her mind might be when coming up with a clever riposte whenever someone made the ill-fated decision to challenge her in a verbal sparring match, the chief’s fingers also seemed to move at warp speed and as though possessed of their own will. Whatever repair obstacles she faced, Rideout would make short work of them, at least so