Challenger (Destiny's Timemage Book 4) by Timothy Ellis

Author:Timothy Ellis [Ellis, Timothy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-05-13T16:00:00+00:00

Twenty Five

A message board appeared in the hand of one of them.

He glanced at it.

“Message from the local admiral, sir. He says there’ve been reports of an explosion at our location, and asks if we’re alright.”

“Tell him there was a minor incident over the change of command, but we’re fine, and will be leaving momentarily.”

He concentrated on the board for a moment, and it vanished.

“Who’s the navigator?”

A woman put her hand up.

“Me. First shift.”

“Does the ship know the way home?”

There were a few chuckles.

“It does, sir.”

“Then point it in the right direction. Who’s the officer of the watch?”

“Me,” said a man not much older than I was. “Third officer. The fourth is currently on the bridge while I’m here.”

“Three shifts or four?”

“Three,” said Myrytle. “First shift takes over in six hours,” which reminded me it was the middle of the night now, “but third will take the rest of this shift, and fourth will take first shift, allowing the first officer a full night’s sleep, and time to learn the job. Most of us had an easy day today, where the both of you didn’t.”

She didn’t say that they knew their jobs, while we didn’t but it hung there in the air anyway. But it didn’t need saying. They looked like giving new people time to use the learning crystals was normal for them.

“Good. Third?”

“Sir?”

“Make it go.”

He looked at me strangely for a minute, and then nodded. There were a few grins hidden behind hands, which I ignored.

“Aye, sir.”

“Who’s the engineering second?”

“Me, sir,” said an older looking man. “I was beaten in the competition by my second, but was able to stay on the ship in her position.”

“Well, you’re the chief again, Chief. Get your insignia changed, however that’s done, and get us moving at the maximum speed we can manage.”

“Aye, sir!” His whole manor changed, and some enthusiasm came back into his voice. “Now, sir?”

“Now, Chief. I want this ship back home in plenty of time to prepare for next week’s competition.”

“Ah, sir, we’ll get there in time, but not with enough for preparations. It’s a solid two day trip for us.”

Which implied it wasn’t for other ships. I looked around at all of them.

“Let’s get moving then, people. Someone who’s off shift show the first officer to the captain’s quarters. I’ll catch up with you all in the next day or so. For now, dismissed. Chief, let’s talk in your office. Lead on.”

Most of them left pretty quickly. The chief turned, and I followed him to a set of doors, we went in, he touched his wand, and muttered “engineering”. The travel car started moving down the length of the ship. A short ride later, we stepped out into a large room, filled with crystals of all sizes, and a lot of monitors. Crewmen were watching the monitors, and sometimes swishing their clear or rose wands around.

“This way, sir,” he said, and led me into another smaller room, where he indicated the chair in front of the desk.

I remained standing while he sat, which made him suddenly look uncomfortable.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.