Metal Boxes by Black Alan

Author:Black, Alan [Black, Alan]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2013-09-19T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Light flooded the bridge through the view screen.

Stone’s eyes flew open as a strange voice shouted over the open communications. “Reverse course. Hit the brakes, you moron! Collision imminent!”

The view screen filled with the side of a space station getting closer as the pod raced towards it. Stone’s hands flew to the bridge controls. He hit the reverse thrusters, pushing them to the maximum. He knew it was useless to try, but he did it anyway. Nothing happened except that the station bulkheads loomed closer.

The voice came back on. “My station has shields fully operational. You are not even going to put a dent in me, but you better have your systems up or you are going to get squashed like a bug in that little tin can.”

Stone glanced at the bridge gauges. The inertial dampeners were running off the batteries as was life support and shields. The engine was registering zero output. He hoped the gauges were reading right.

Their shield slammed into contact with the station’s shield. They bounced at an odd angle and sheared the top off a sensor tower sticking out beyond the station shielding. Wright and Stone did not feel a thing. The drascos were hissing and waving their arms around. Stone was sure they had not felt anything either, but they were definitely unhappy.

“Dang it, Jerry.” The voice on the comms shouted over the noise on the little bridge. “I told you to retract everything on the southwest corner. I don’t know who you are, but you are going to pay for that tower. Your trajectory is going to send you into my traffic lanes if you don’t get that P.O.S. under control.”

Wright reached forward and snapped open their outgoing communications microphones, just as Stone slapped off the collision alarm.

“Shut up, you two,” Stone shouted.

The voice shouted back. “Who are you telling to shut up? This is my station-”

“Not you, signore,” Wright interrupted the man.

Stone shouted again. “Jay! Peebee! It is okay. You two calm down. That’s better. Now sit down and behave. Good girls.”

“Sorry, signore, we are having engine problems,” Wright said to the station voice.

The voice dripped with sarcasm, “Really? I hadn’t noticed. You are still heading for my traffic lanes. Are you going to do something about that or should I just shoot you out of my sky?”

“Signore, thank you for the suggestion,” Wright replied with a grin at Stone. “I am sure we will take it under advisement. Give me a second, will you?” She looked at Stone.

“Sorry, the engine is shot,” he shrugged. “We are going to go wherever we are headed, unless we get a tow from somebody.”

“Station, did you get that?” Wright said into the microphone.

The voice replied “Yeah, we got that the engines are gone and you don’t have steerage. Toni, you and Billy, take a sled out there and latch onto that piece of flotsam before it hits something worse than a sensor tower.”

Stone leaned into the microphone. “Sorry, signore. We are jetsam, not flotsam.

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