The Last Flight of the Argus by E. R. Torre

Author:E. R. Torre [Torre, E. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Atomic Rocket
Published: 2010-07-26T04:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY

The five hour rest flew by, and Inquisitor Cer and B’taav both rose wearily from their cots just outside the engine room of the Xendos. They went back to work and progressed without the added burden of significant fatigue.

The two replaced almost all the burnt circuits in the engine’s core computer system as well as the last of the fuel lines. Finally, they cleaned the primary energy connections.

Rasp no longer hovered over B’taav, but the Independent knew at least one camera was still trained on him.

Later in the evening Inquisitor Cer left him alone, only to return with a tray of food. She ate with the Independent.

“They said we can have another five hour rest.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“We should unionize. Force them to give us vacation and sick leave.”

“We’re not going to make the deadline,” Inquisitor Cer said. “We are at great risk.”

“Agreed. Given the amount of work left to do, I estimate we need at least three more days.”

“Two days past our deadline.”

Inquisitor Cer put down her drink.

“You said it would be dangerous to remain beyond four days, B’taav. What is the risk of staying six?”

“Lieutenant Daniels is probably using a standard search procedure. He’ll keep his fighters spread out and circling. Their sensors will shine on each asteroid and every crevice within. They know we used some kind of escape craft, and therefore know we can’t be too far away. If they get the Dakota in close enough, they could release the ship’s complement of probes and rewire them so they sense any heat or electronic signature. Even assuming the probes aren’t close, they likely will equip them with a motion detector system. You get a few hundred motion detectors spread out in this zone and every movement will be detected, however minute.”

“Even if he doesn’t find this base, we might already be trapped.”

“On the plus side, the asteroids are not stationary. When we launch the Xendos we could emulate their movements. Doing so might allow us to slip through.”

“You don’t sound very optimistic.”

“One should always maintain a sense of optimism, so long as it isn’t blind,” the Independent said. “Our advantage is that Lieutenant Daniels doesn’t know when we bailed out of the Pilgrimage and therefore has a lot of space to cover. We need to have faith he doesn’t get lucky.”

“There you go, talking about faith again.”

B’taav smiled and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket.

“Here’s another list of material we need.”

Cer wearily eyed the paper.

“Since you brought dinner, it’s a shame I can’t offer a movie in return,” B’taav said. “On the other hand, there isn’t anything quite as romantic as slaving over an antique engine.”

“That's funny,” Inquisitor Cer replied. “I thought Rasp was more your type.”

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