ATLAS 01 by Isaac Hooke

Author:Isaac Hooke
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2013-12-27T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Sirius A was damn bright, and caused the photochromic glass portals on the starboard side to become opaque, completely blocking all direct eye viewing of the space on that side. As for Sirius B, well, the star map said it was there, and I guess I'd just have to believe it. I'd been taught all about binary systems in the astrophysics classes I took. Perhaps the most interesting fact, and about the only thing I could remember from that course, was that as binary stars orbited one another, the habitable zone in the system fluctuated. That meant Sirius I, "Albuquerque," the only terraformed planet in the system, had its seasons run the gamut from spring, summer, fall, winter, and back again over a period of weeks.

The Leaping Matilda secured two of the civilian ships at the spaceport above Albuquerque, where they would queue up for the next military escort. The third civilian ship stayed with us, and we also took on another vessel, a massive colony ship filled with seventy-thousand pioneers.

Thirty-five days later saw us reach Sirius Gate II. We queued and took the jump to Gliese 581, a neutral system controlled by the Franco-Italians.

Gliese 581 was kind of a transport crossroads, and was unique in that it had six Slipstreams passing through it. Gates had been built upon all six. It was too bad the Franco-Italians had control of the area—it was a very strategically important system. That said, the Franco-Italians had signed treaty agreements that basically handed over two of the Gates to the UC, and two others to the SKs, keeping both sides happy. FI space was considered neutral, so merchants from all three sides could trade here without violating extra-solar sanctions.

SK Privateers weren't allowed to operate here, so we cut the two civilian ships loose.

A few weeks later our battlecruiser reached a secret base just within the Gliese 581 comet belt. Once there our team shuttled over to a massive, boxlike bulk carrier. My teammates and I gathered around the portal and watched the approach to her docking bays.

The rough-hewn shape of SK design was evident throughout that metallic hull, and the dragon-head logo of the SK manufacturer was stamped in red on one side. I saw the ship's name, written in Sino-Korean characters: Fàn Shāngrén. That meant Rice Merchant, according to the translator built into my Implant.

The shuttle passed right by the docking bay.

"Hey, I think the pilot missed a turn," Manic commented.

The shuttle continued onward, heading for the cargo hatch on top of the bulk carrier instead.

"Holy madre—" Alejandro said.

I leaned forward, following his gaze.

An entire ship was moored inside that cargo hold. The triangular hull barely fit within the confines, and though it was about the size of a frigate, the ship didn't have the sleek design of a military vessel—its boxy aft section bore more of a resemblance to a merchant craft than anything else. SK make too, I'd venture.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Lieutenant Commander Braggs announced. "Meet the Royal Fortune, your home for the next few months.

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