Freezer Burn: A Military Sci-fi Series (Waymaker Wars Book 2) by Rachel Aukes

Author:Rachel Aukes [Aukes, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2022-06-13T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 24

NEW LIBERTY

“Jack!” Burn’s shout came from Cabrón’s engine room.

Jack shot Heddi a droll look, and the pair made their way down the hallway to the engine room, where Burn was holding a large wrench as though to fend off a member from the retrofitting team.

When Burn saw Jack, he said, “Shoot this guy, will ya?”

Heddi smothered a giggle.

Jack sighed. “I’m not going to do that.”

“But he’s annoying me,” Burn said.

“I need access to the engine mounts to place these new sensors,” the tech said.

“And I said no one comes near the engines except me,” Burn said.

Three weeks into Cabrón’s upgrades and both Burn and Kana were going crazy with monitoring the retrofitting team, and Jack was going crazy with having to deal with their frustrations. The retrofitting team was focused on getting things done fast at the expense of quality. They didn’t care if wires were pinched or screens cracked in their haste to adhere the multi-layered polymer shielding to Cabrón’s hull. Kana and Burn worked every day with the team to ensure things were done properly while, at the end of each day, Jack inspected the work done.

Burn, Jack, and Veda had all been hardware engineers, just like Nalla, but their skill sets had diversified through the years through necessity. A ship needs a captain, which Jack had been voted in, while Veda handled the messier stuff to ensure the crew stayed safe. His job entailed getting black market supplies when needed and eliminating threats to the crew. Veda took his job a little too seriously at times. If Veda had been in Burn’s place during the retrofit project, he would’ve certainly killed someone, so Jack had put his crew member to work loading all the supplies he’d calculated they would need for their journey, which was roughly twice what Jenival Ngoma wanted to give them. Ngoma didn’t approve the increase, so Veda had been busy locating the extra supplies. Every day, another crate or two appeared in storage. Now, the cargo hold was nearly filled to the ceilings.

If only the retrofit was going as smoothly.

Jack pointed at Burn. “Can you install the sensors?”

Burn hmphed. “Of course.”

Jack turned to the tech. “If Burn says he can do it, he can do it.”

“But Addison said—”

“It doesn’t matter what your team lead says. This is my ship, and my crew has final say on anything that comes near the engines or systems,” Jack said.

“But—”

“No buts. Hand it off to Burn and move onto the next thing on your list. If your lead asks, you can always lie and say you installed it.”

The tech scowled before holding out a small flat device with several wires dangling from it. “Fine. But if your engine overheats, it’s on you.”

Once the tech stomped off the ship, Jack said, “What were you going to do with that wrench?”

Burn eyed the tool and then shrugged. “I was seriously considering bonking him over the head with it.”

That made Heddi laugh and Burn smile.

Jack rubbed his temple. “There will be no bonking anyone with wrenches.

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