The War Machine by David Drake & Roger MacBride Allen

Author:David Drake & Roger MacBride Allen [Drake, David & Allen, Roger MacBride]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780671698454
Google: HqY_AQAACAAJ
Amazon: 0671698451
Goodreads: 602413
Publisher: Baen
Published: 1989-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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“Commander! The aux vehicle hatch is opening.” The engineering officer hit the reset and checked her status board again, just in case it was an error. The light stayed on. “Hatch opening confirmed. I show the captain’s gig boosting away on an external monitor.”

Commander Tarwa Chu swore violently. They were five minutes from launch. Five more minutes, and it wouldn’t matter. She forced herself to calm down and speak in a steady voice. “Is it a parasite, or did one of the crew do it for some damn fool reason?”

“Ah, Commander,” Lieutenant Peroni said, more than a bit hesitantly. “One of the crew members on the beach radioed in a few minutes ago, priority three and requesting a patch through to aux vehicles. It was a woman’s voice, not the captain. The contact came through an AID showing all the proper security checks. That person must have requested the gig.”

“Thank you, Peroni, for that up-to-date report,” Tarwa said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Suss! It had to be Suss. No one else on the ship realized she was more than the captain’s bedmate, but Tarwa knew—and knew a KT agent wouldn’t request assistance without good reason.

If Peroni had followed procedure, Tarwa knew she would probably have granted the KT agent’s request. Except that would have required ignoring the captain’s order to keep the ship buttoned up. Oh, hell. What difference could opening one hatch make?

“Very well, Peroni, the damage is done. But if anything goes wrong because of this—it’s coming out of your pay. Steady as she goes, and stand by for boost.”

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