Infinity (First Colony Book 13) by Ken Lozito

Author:Ken Lozito [Lozito, Ken]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Acoustical Books LLC
Published: 2022-04-01T16:00:00+00:00

16

Kara had moved the Infinity to a location halfway between the alpha moon and Zeta-Alpha-5. Since they couldn’t use subspace comms, she needed a location to maximize the comlink window with both the Pathfinder shuttles and the Ark II.

She’d never liked sitting for long stretches of time, so she stood in front of the commander’s chair on the bridge. She had three holoscreens active, with one of them blank in case she needed it. Noah had left a few hours ago and the last update they’d received confirmed their arrival on the planet. Dr. Carter Lachlan, who was working at one of the auxiliary workstations on the other side of the bridge, was very excited by the data and video recordings they’d already sent back. He couldn’t wait to go down there.

Chief Markovich stood up from his workstation nearby and peered at the data on Kara’s screen.

“What do you think, Jeremy?” she asked.

He pressed his lips together and shook his head. “It doesn’t work.”

Kara smiled a little and rolled her eyes. One of the data windows showed her most recent attempt to bypass the Ark II’s security systems. “That’s a huge help. I guess we’ll just leave it at that.”

Jeremy grinned. “I didn’t say that, but you’re much better at secure systems than I am. I’m good at this ship, making sure she’s maintained and ready to fly. Bypassing security systems isn’t a skillset I currently possess.”

“I should kick you off my bridge,” she replied and grinned. “I appreciate your honesty, as always.”

He smiled. “I really wish there was something I could do. All the ships I’ve worked on could communicate with each other. If it weren’t for that point-defense system, I’d say we should send someone over there. There must be a manual override for a hatch somewhere.”

“There is, but as you’ve said, we can’t get to it.”

The door to the bridge opened and Peter Blood walked in. Blood was trained in salvage and repair operations. He was a bit on the shorter side but had an athletic build. Kara waved him over.

He joined them and looked at the holoscreen. “Still can’t get the Ark II’s computer system to play nice?”

She shook her head. “No, I think we’ve hit a dead end trying to access the ship systems remotely.”

Blood crossed his muscular arms and rubbed his chin in thought. “Then we’re going to have to go there. Is there any way we can beat the point-defense system? Use some drones for decoys and sneak past it?”

Kara shook her head. She’d had a long career in the CDF designing weapons, ships, outposts, and space stations. “Not with anything we have aboard. There’s no way we can make a frontal assault and hope for the best. Your family would never forgive me if you died on my watch. Whatever we sent would get picked off no matter how small it was.”

Blood nodded. “They’d miss me terribly. Regardless, I didn’t like the thought of holding onto a comms drone while it ferried me onto the Ark II’s hull.

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