Marchenko's Children by Brandon Q Morris

Author:Brandon Q Morris [Morris, Brandon Q]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hard-SF.com
Published: 2021-08-24T00:00:00+00:00

Under normal circumstances, the plan would have been insane. The freighter was shooting through space at almost 100,000 km/h and was going to let a badly damaged ship catch up with it so that, as it passed the freighter, the ship’s crew could come aboard. Adam locked the screen where Gronolf’s shuttle would appear. He couldn’t see it—it was far too small for the ship’s sensors to detect it yet. And since its engine was switched off, he couldn’t make it out using the infrared sensor, either.

They couldn’t be far from each other anymore and this made him anxious, as if he were alone in a dark forest at night and constantly expecting to be attacked by a predator. But no trees surrounded him. The cosmos was a vast void that was continually expanding, becoming an even more immense void at increasing speed. But even though only emptiness lay between him and the other ship, it could hide very effectively in this darkness.

It was a good thing Gronolf wasn’t chasing him anymore. But this also meant that Gronolf’s chances of finding him were slim. A freighter that had switched its engines off blended perfectly into the cosmic background, becoming dead matter that was visible only when illuminated directly.

Hopefully Gronolf would be aboard soon! While traveling alone, he had the strangest thoughts. Adam activated the radio.

The shuttle had to be within range of the short-range transmitter.

“Adam here,” he said. “What’s the status?”

Gronolf didn’t respond. Ah, he’d forgotten that there was no air in the shuttle’s cabin. He turned to the computer and typed.

“How much longer?”

Someone wrote back, “Three minutes.”

Good. This gave him 180 seconds to decide what version of the truth he’d tell Gronolf.

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