Lyssa's Call_A Hard Science Fiction AI Adventure by M. D. Cooper & James S. Aaron

Author:M. D. Cooper & James S. Aaron [Cooper, M. D. & Aaron, James S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Wooden Pen Press
Published: 2018-04-04T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

STELLAR DATE: 11.07.2981 (Adjusted Years)

LOCATION: TSS Furious Leap

REGION: Near Cruithne Station, Terran Hegemony

Kraft slumped in a metal chair with his arms and legs restrained. His chin nearly touched his chest. Small twitches cascading periodically through his body, reminded Brit he was awake but hadn’t reached full consciousness yet. She debated how long he should be allowed to either recover or pretend he was recovering.

The chair was maglocked to the deck of a small storage room off the crew section of the TSS Furious Leap, the light frigate Colonel Yarnes and Jirl Galagher had brought from High Terra. The room had a series of plas windows where people outside could watch Kraft shudder and seize, an activity that ultimately bored Petral.

The ship had a small crew of five, a weapons complement of missiles, point defense cannons and a rail gun, as well as an improved communications array. Brit suspected the ship’s true purpose was long-range surveillance. It also had several nicely appointed cabins in addition to the crew quarters, situated in a drum-shaped ring section providing internal gravity, which made it seem an ideal vessel for smuggling high-ranking people. Those cabins now provided space for her, Petral and Ngoba Starl, who had insisted on joining.

Four privateer multi-use ships followed the Furious Leap in a loose formation. The TSS captain, a woman named Kendra Smirt, didn’t like the fact that her ship was being followed by what were blatantly pirate vessels, but she masked the irritation behind a worshipful allegiance to Yarnes.

In less than a day they would rendezvous with the Marsian contingent. Jirl had provided a map of Heartbridge locations but they were still depending on Kraft to provide details on which clinic they should raid first.

It was a terrible plan, but it was the best they had at the moment. While Brit wanted to simply find the closest facility and raze it from space, she acknowledged the benefit in using whatever information Kraft might provide. If they destroyed one clinic, that facility might alert others with more valuable information—or more terrible research—and they would lose their advantage.

What Brit couldn’t stand anymore was waiting for Kraft to wake up.

<Have we got any stimulants?> she asked Petral.

<Not personally. I’m not into that stuff. You could ask the captain.>

Brit gritted her teeth. <I’m not in a mood for humor right now. We’re running out of time.>

<You want to squeeze Kraft a little bit? You should have opened with that.>

<You said you were tired of waiting.>

<I am,> Petral said. <And I already cracked their communications system, so I don’t need to waste any more time on that. Smirt has been sending location reports back to her headquarters but nothing incriminating. Apparently, the cover story for the crew is some sort of survey mission.>

Brit snorted. <Whatever works.>

<What’s interesting is that it doesn’t seem like the other crew members know what we’re doing. Is that normal for the TSF?> Petral asked.

<Maybe. But they don’t really need to know what we’re doing. They’re all technicians except for Smirt.

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