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plan. Why shouldn'tit work? All I've got to do is work my way down to a ghostship that's engaged in
attacking a shuttle while the reveredCaptain Apollo keeps still another ship that he's never flown before
steady enough for me to do my job without falling from the rope to the icy surface below. I can dothat,
can't I?
As I anchor the rope to an ice-ax which I've wedgedbetween the base of the copilot seat and another
juttingpiece of ship whose function I can't even guess, I notice that the belay's no worse than some I've
set up onmountainsides. I tell Apollo a few hand signals I'll beusing that'll let him know how to fly while
I'm operatingbelow. Then I grab three molecular-binding pitons, andusing my famous Scorpion slip knot
on each, I connectthem all with a length of rope. Attaching another piece ofrope to a second ice-ax, I coil
it and secure it on myshoulder. I check to verify that my laser pistol is still in myholster. Taking still more
rope, and with a few more applications of my famous Scorpion knot-work, I jerry-rig several loops at
the end of the climbing rope I'm goingto use. Some of the loops are small enough to slip a bootinto,
which is exactly what I intend to slip into them.Another two loops are big enough to fit me rather snugly,
albeit without much style, at chest and waist levels. Iweight down the main climbing rope with a lot of
junk I find around the interior of the Cylon ship. Apollo keeps looking over his shoulder, as if to say:
Aren't you evergoing to be ready?
"Good flying!" he shouts suddenly. Apparently thepilot of the shuttle has executed another great
maneuver!Swell!
After setting the rope to its stiffer cablelike tension andkicking open the side hatch of the Cylon fighter, I
throw the rope out the hatch. The weight at the rope end keepsthe rope from dragging directly behind the
ship, but theangle downward still looks less than favorable to me.
"Check with you later, Apollo," I scream, and don't wait for his answer. Grabbing the rope and gripping
ittightly, I hurl myself backward out of the open hatch of the ship.
As I descend I try not to notice the intense cold, thefierce wind, the memories of Leda clinging to the
rope inthe elevator shaft. The cold and wind are easy enough to ignore^-they're no worse than on some
mountains butthe memories of Leda are hard to dispel.
I reach the bottom weighted area of the rope and slipmy booted feet into two of the loops I'd knotted.
Looking down, I can see the ghost ship below me. It's headingtoward the shuttle again. Somehow
Apollo's keeping pace with it. Concentrating on the ghost ship itself, I'monly half aware of the evasion
maneuver of the shuttle.Waving my hand in the gesture telling Apollo to descend closer, I then watch the
ghost ship come toward me.Suddenly I'm right next to it. I have to act fast, since Idon't know when the
Cylon guidance pilot might pull theship away from me. Checking that the chest and waistloops are
secure, I quickly slip my body into them, thusfreeing my hands to work. I gesture to Apollo to edge me
closer to the ghost ship. He does. I jam the three pitons,set on metal penetration, into the side hatch of
the ship.Just in time. Before I can do any thing about attaching theice-ax to the rope linking the pitons, the
ship seems to drift away from me, the hatch now out of reach. That's okay; I figured on that. I take out
my pistol and quicklybut deliberately fire toward the hatch. Although I'm notup on the technology of the
superstructure of this bloodyghost ship, I place the shots where the locking mechanism and single hinge of
an ordinary Cylon spacecraft hatch should be. My shots seem to be accurate, at least theabstractly
designed scorch marks at each area look right.
Well, lucky so far. The wind tearing at my clothing makes me realize just how fast we're going, and for a
moment I am terrified. I'm putting my life on the line, just trusting Apollo's piloting skills. Well, he came
quite wellrecommended, I try to tell myself.
As the ghost ship makes another run at the shuttle, itpasses very close to where I'm hanging. I get a good
viewof the cockpit. The kid's in there, all right. He's enjoyinghimself! He's all wide-eyed and excited.
Apollo pulls up slightly and follows the ghost ship's run. Again the shuttle executes a smooth evasive
action.Following the path of the ghost ship, I signal Apollo tolower and move to the left, which he does
smoothly. Thistime the hatch is just out of reach. Okay. I slip the ice-ax inits coil of rope off my shoulder.
Feeding out just a bit of the rope, I then fling the ice-ax toward the pitons on thehatch. First time, it just
misses and I have to reel it back inlike a fishing line. Taking a deep breath first, I then throwthe ice-ax
again. This time its point catches hold of the rope linking the pitons, its long surface hooked snuglyonto
two of the connecting strands. Replacing the coil of rope on my shoulder and taking a firm hold on my
end ofthe section of the rope leading to the ice-ax, I signal to Apollo to slide rightward abruptly, away
from the ghost ship. The rope jerks tight and for a moment I don't knowif it's going to hold; then suddenly
there is a loud crackingsound and the hatch pulls away from the ship, and beginsto plunge downward. I
shake the coil of rope off myshoulder before the heavy weight of the hatch can breakoff any piece of my
anatomy, and don't even bother towatch it all hurtle to the ground.
The hole left behind in the ship is more jagged than I'dhave expected. Apparently the hatch pulled away
piecessurrounding it. Quickly I slip out of the chest and waistloops and grab onto the climbing rope. After
signalingApollo to head back toward the ghost ship, I grip the rope with both hands and release my
boots from the footholds.As Apollo executes the sweep toward the ghost ship, I kick back with my legs
as hard as I can under the circumstances, then forward. My aim has got to be justright. The side of the
ghost ship comes close to me muchtoo fast, and I don't have time to think. All I can do isswing my legs
outward, aiming for the hold in the side ofthe ship. Apollo holds the Cylon fighter steady. I almostmiss,
anyway. My leg scrapes a jagged edge of the hole asboth legs begin to go through. Letting the force of
theswing carry me, I let go the climbing rope and plunge through the unevenly shaped but wide opening. I
don'tknow why I don't break every bone in my body, as I hit theopposite wall and bounce back toward
the other side, justmissing going out again through the jagged hole which I'd so clumsily entered.
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