To Fire Called (A Seeker's Tale From The Golden Age Of The Solar Clipper Book 2) by Lowell Nathan

Author:Lowell, Nathan [Lowell, Nathan]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2017-04-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

Dark Knight Station: 2375, May 17

If Mel’s Place was a bright bustling city, Dark Knight Station was one large factory in space. The station itself lay out on the edge of the system. A gas giant lay on the far side of the primary and the largest solar array I’d ever seen hung above the tangle of galleries, constructions, and left over bits of ships, tanks, and shipping containers. I wasn’t sure how much power it generated, but perhaps the materials were cheap here.

Also like Mel’s Place, they relied on voice communications to establish our approach and docking. It all seemed to work well, and we’d docked just before lunch mess. As before, Pip and I met with station officials, but we’d cleared visas for the crew on approach so our meeting was simply a pro forma exercise.

After lunch, I found myself back in the cabin, chasing my demons around in my head and asking “what would Fredi do?”

We had the basics covered. The ship was operating at CPJCT levels of expertise with all the crew, ratings, and experience necessary to keep the ship sailing safely. We had plenty of provisions and fuel. We still had months’ worth of spares.

Pip opened the door and stuck his head through. “Got a minute?”

“Sure. Come on in.”

He took his customary seat. He’d been subdued since our conversation with the chief. Nothing like being reamed out by an expert to convince you to pull in your wings a bit.

“I ran some plots against the navigation data. I got Tom to help,” he said. “About half of the positions are on a straight line between two known stations.”

“That leaves what? Five hundred?”

He grinned. “About that. More than we can search.”

“So, what’s next?”

“I’m heading up to the chandlery to see Inky. Wanna come along?”

“You going alone?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Unless you want to come with me.”

“Civvies?”

“I was just about to change. Nobody wears undress in Toe-Hold space.”

“What’s the dress code here?”

“Same as Mel’s. Most places are the same. Comfy and colorful, as a rule.”

“Gimme a couple ticks,” I said.

He nodded and left me to rummage in my grav trunks. I didn’t have a lot of colorful clothes, but I had some comfy jeans, a dark pullover, and my favorite ship boots. I probably wouldn’t win any prizes for best costume, but I’d be comfortable.

I stepped out of the cabin in time to meet Pip coming along from his stateroom dressed in dark slacks under a scarlet tunic with gold piping down the sleeves, and highly polished boots with pointy toes. “That’s comfy?” I asked, taking in the outfit.

“It is surprisingly comfy,” he said. “And colorful.”

Chief Stevens strolled up to us wearing some kind of flowing pantsuit outfit in a jewel green with black frogs toggled down the front. “Good, you’re ready,” she said. She eyed me up and down and shrugged. “Maybe we can take you shopping while we’re here.”

I looked at Pip.

He shrugged. “She asked if she could go with us.”

“No complaints here,” I said.

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