Chaos Zone by Kate Sheeran Swed

Author:Kate Sheeran Swed [Swed, Kate Sheeran]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kate Sheeran Swed
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

When Sloane got too restless to stay in the infirmary—which happened very shortly after Fortune’s visit but was not in any way related—she busted out of her nursing cuffs, ignoring the way they scolded her. Her head was only throbbing lightly, and her neck was hardly sore, so she snagged the ship’s manual out of her cabin before thumping her way down to cargo to spend some time reading it.

And in cargo she’d stayed, sitting cross-legged against the sealed gangplank with the manual spread across her lap. With Brighton in the crate to her right and Bellow still chilling on the left, she felt like a jailer.

“Okay,” she said, “why would someone leave a note in the margin suggesting three keys on the main engine compartment rather than four? More is better, right?”

“You probably shouldn’t be asking your prisoners for assistance with your engine.” Bellow’s voice was a half-whine, half-growl, like a wolf having a bad day. Or a puppy, practicing ways to sound tough. He was lying on the floor in the middle of his crate-cell, his figure just a lump of a shadow.

Sloane had to refrain from throwing the book at his crate. She’d only have to go pick it up. “I wasn’t asking you; I was asking Brighton.”

She could see Brighton more clearly, as he was leaning against the side of the crate and peering out at her. He had to stoop, just slightly, to keep from bumping his head on the ceiling. “He’s not wrong, you know,” he said. “About asking your prisoners for advice.”

“But you know the answer.”

“He should!” BRO chimed in. “His official record shows jobs as a ship’s mechanic, information officer, mechanic again, bruiser—what’s a bruiser?—and freelancer. What’s a freelancer?”

“I gave you access to the public feeds for a reason,” Sloane said. “Look it up.”

BRO seemed to have no trouble looking up obscure knowledge about jungle planets or checking the thesaurus. But for some things, it appeared to need permission. Or, better programming. Maybe it was just making conversation. She couldn’t tell.

At the moment, BRO was still marginally more helpful than it was annoying. As long as it stayed that way, she wouldn’t complain. Much.

Brighton said, “Three keys is better because it’s the minimum you can have for safety. Four’s better, but three gets you in faster in a pinch. Some captains find themselves in a pinch more than others.”

Sloane flipped the page. “Isn’t that the truth? So, is it fair to assume that most of these margin notes are along the same lines?”

“Maybe. Hard to say without a good look around the engine.”

Bellow snorted.

“Don’t you have a nice, self-righteous Fleet Commander on your ship who could answer these questions for you?” Brighton asked. “I’d be willing to bet he’d help you out.”

Bellow snorted again. “Oh, he’d help her. He’d help her right out of her—”

“Finish that sentence,” Brighton interrupted, “and I’ll bust out of here so I can shut you up myself.”

“You’re her prisoner, too,” Bellow said sulkily.

Sloane shook her head.

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.