Metafire

Chapter 39 Inches

On board the FBI Bluebird mini-colony, Scooter, Jim, Erisa, Jack, and Randy had had a much worse time of it. The entire living area for five was no larger than twelve by forty feet. Erisa and Jack had fixed themselves up what Scooter called 'a nesting area.' The 'boys,' as Erisa called them, lived in with the bomb and the corpse of Steven. It had taken almost a week before the NSP had come up with a plan that kept the group busy.

The plan originated when Scooter played with the attitude thrusters. In a conversation with Erisa, he mentioned, "You know I got fifty feet yesterday."

"What do you mean?"

"I moved us fifty feet further from New Boston. It takes some playing. What I do is thrust a bit away just as an attitude thruster goes off. Simultaneously, in the computer, I change the distance we hold to the hub. It seems to work. We haven't blown up yet!"

Erisa had the idea to contact the NSP about this. She had been back on active duty since her release and had worked logistics issues from her terminal on Bluebird. Her boss, John Adamson, had been cleared and was appraised of the situation on Bluebird. He was happy to give Erisa work.