20 Million Leagues Over the Sea by K. T. Hunter

be feeling it, but he didn't seem to be shy about the
situation at all. Pulling away from him would only nestle her
closer to Pugh, whose own shrinking reticence matched her own. She
growled inwardly. Moreau was far too jolly about the situation for
it to be anything than what he had planned. Silently, she hoped her
mission included a swift kick in the nether regions for this cad.
At the very least, she hoped her orders didn't rule it out.
    The Irishman and the Russian were fussing at
each other about poking, and Pugh kept telling them to shut it.
Every time the captain spoke, she caught a noseful of spearmint, as
if he had spent the morning gargling with Doctor Norton's
Men-T-Fresh Tonic. Its strength made her eyes water, but it did
tend to mask the understink of fear and sweat in the teeming
chamber. It was getting hot, and there was little fresh air blowing
in through a vent in the corner above them. She felt a little
faint. She wished she had a fan with her, and she grunted.
    He must have felt her rumble, as she sensed a
subsequent chuckle in the man. "Have no fear, Miss Llewellyn. I've
done this before."
    It was Pugh's turn to grunt. "Unfortunately,
he has," he said. At that moment, Shaw and Stanislav squawked
again, and he grumbled. "Good Lord! I'd almost rather be stuck in
the broom closet with a gaggle of Martians! At least they have the
virtue of silence."
    "We normally don't have so many crewmembers
in this part of the Oberth deck at once," the captain said with a
hearty laugh that vibrated through her rib cage. "Perhaps we'll
rethink the closet size on the next refit. Or include one for the
ladies down here."
    " If we have a refit." Pugh fidgeted
behind her as he spoke. "In case Mr. Wallace asks, Llewellyn, I
don't normally include the head in the Oberth tour."
    Gemma finally found her voice. "Why are we in
here, of all places?"
    "Flares, child," Alfieri responded. "Every
once in a while the solar disk reaches out with steaming tendrils
and sends powerful energies hurtling through the skies. We are
usually protected by Earth's atmosphere and magnetic fields--"
    Shaw interrupted, "Well, except for that time
in '59! Remember the big one that Carrington saw, and all those
telegraph fires--"
    "Yes, yes, but that was rather an extreme
one," replied the astronomer, "with aurorae you could read by! But
on Earth, we are protected from such things. Mostly. In space, we
surrender those protections. Like our fuel, we have to bring it
along with us. We humans need extra shelter during those
times."
    "Well, that makes sense enough," she replied,
"but why not just shield the entire ship?"
    "That is exactly what the Martians did," the
captain replied. "But they used simple cylinders. I don't know much
about Martian economics, but I'm certain that the cost of lining
those buckets is much less dear than lining a ship like ours."
    "Please note that the Fury is a far
cry from a simple cylinder," said Pugh. "Being lobbed about like
tinned beef might be good enough for them, but to me that manner of
travel is just plain silly."
    "And in the TIA, we don't do silly," the
captain muttered under his breath, so low that only Gemma could
hear. She could feel the vibrations of his words. "We copied their
means of space travel--"
    " Stole , you mean," Pugh
interjected.
    "I prefer improved upon ," Moreau shot
back. "But you must admit that we did invent the state-of-the-art
water closet."
    "Hrumph," Pugh retorted. "If the Martians had
actually had bladders, we'd have stolen their privies, too!"
    "It's just as well," cried someone in the
back. "Can you imagine trying to take a wee with equipment designed
for a bundle of limbs when you've only got the two!"
    "Lady present!" barked the captain.
    Commentary in the back of the room
ceased.
    Gemma craned her neck up to look at the young
man's face; she knew when she was being distracted. She had gotten
the idea that solar flares were nothing to trifle with; how long
would this one last, and how long