Ship's Log [The Alliance] by Lawrence P. White

Author:Lawrence P. White [White, Lawrence P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

“Okay, you’ve obviously been thinking about this for a while. What’s your plan?”

“We’ll go to the airport at seven o’clock. You will fly us to the lake, which takes one hour, correct?”

“Better make it at least an hour and a half, possibly a little more by the time we get you loaded into the plane, check out the plane, taxi out to the runway, then look the lake over briefly before landing. We should be at the lake and out of the plane by nine o’clock."

She bit her lip and looked away. “Precious minutes are slipping away. I will remain awake longer if necessary.” She looked back to him. “My ship is hiding in the lake, as was Jarl’s. I’ll call it up before we land, so it will be waiting. Now, Greg, this is the difficult part. The reason I want you along on the trip is two-fold, at least officially.” She smiled her lopsided grin as she stared into his eyes, then continued. “There is always a remote possibility that something will go wrong with the ship on the way. These ships are extremely reliable, and it is unlikely, but it’s best to be prepared. You would at least be able to follow instructions received over the communications equipment. Second, there is a slight chance that we’ll be discovered by the Harbok. There’s not much you can do in that event, but there is a little. The computers on board the ship can deal with almost everything except the Harbok.

“We’ll do everything we can to avoid detection,” she continued, “including working out an energy-efficient flight plan that reflects very little energy. The trip will take longer this way, but it will be more difficult for the Harbok to find us. I’ve made the trip many times in this manner without incident, but right now, because of my attack on their base, they are almost certainly exercising greater vigilance. Even so, the odds are reasonable or I would not ask for your help.”

When he stared at her in silence, she added, “You realize that my ship does not fly at all like your float plane?”

“I certainly hope not. I’m a pretty good pilot. Does that make any difference?”

“Probably not. We must be honest about this.”

He frowned, then he frowned deeper and moved to her bed. He sat beside her and took one of her hands. “Can you teach me what I need to know in the next five or six hours?”

“I will do the best that I can,” she said softly, reaching that hand up to his cheek. “We’re in this together, Greg. I’m sorry it’s happening this way, but I’m glad you’re here.”

“So am I,” he said, not certain whether he should be frowning or grinning. “it’s five ’till seven. You can start briefing me as soon as we’re airborne.”

As he gathered their few belongings together, she added, “Let me remind you that my ship is unarmed. There are no tactics for fighting with it except to run.

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