Clouds of Venus: Free Space Trilogy, Book 1 by Jeff Tanyard

Author:Jeff Tanyard [Tanyard, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B075SRFYV8
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19 – Mistakes

Later that evening, Hoyser paid him a visit in his quarters. “I've been digging into the nozzle incident,” he said. “It wasn't Carl. Or anyone else from the maintenance crew, for that matter.”

Dale stared. “That's impossible. It had to be. Those things can't just open by themselves, can they?”

“No, they can't. They're tied into Flight Control. The ship's computer keeps us on a smooth course by constantly making adjustments in the nozzle array's geometry. Reactors that are down for maintenance, though, like the one you were in, are locked out from Flight Control.”

“What does that all mean?”

“It means it was either a computer glitch or something a lot more insidious.”

Dale frowned. “Insidious? You don't mean...”

“Dr. Aeneas?” Hoyser shrugged. “I can't say for sure it was him. In fact, it doesn't make much sense to me for him to target something like that. But the good doctor is the only explanation I can think of at the moment.”

Dale's heart sank. “I guess that means I owe Carl an apology.”

“You do, but I doubt it'll do any good. You're an Earther, and he already didn't like Earthers. Throw in a false accusation, and, well...”

“Yeah.” He lowered his head. “Thanks, Hoyser.”

“Sure thing, kid. Just thought you'd want to know. Good luck tomorrow.” Hoyser left.

Dale sat and thought for a while. After a few minutes, he made a call on his goggles.

Carl's face appeared in his vision. “What do you want?”

“I wanted to apologize,” Dale said, trying to sound humble. “I know it wasn't you who tried to kill me. I was scared and angry, and I went off half-cocked, and I'm sorry. You didn't deserve the way I treated you.”

“You think we're all a bunch of cave men,” Carl said. “That's it, right? Spoiled sinker from Earth thinks he's better than all of us Hesperans who actually work for a living.”

“That's not it at all. I just—”

“Take a dive, Earther.” His face disappeared.

Dale closed his eyes. He had really screwed up, and now he didn't know what else to do. There was nothing else to do, really, other than go to work and hope time healed all wounds.

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