Torchship Pilot by Gallagher Karl K

Author:Gallagher, Karl K [Gallagher, Karl K]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Kelt Haven Press
Published: 2016-08-29T04:00:00+00:00

***

When the week ran out Mitchie was almost ready to leave. Setta declared supplies were adequate. The Marines and Rangers came back from leave. But Bing hadn’t come back which left a hole in the watch schedule.

Billy reported Bing had found an apartment in Commerce. She’d started helping him sell some of the more mundane items from the Eden loot. They’d passed the encrypted data archive back to Mitchie. Maybe she could get the Secure Research Center boffins to crack it. They wouldn’t mind finding a Betrayer inside.

She’d requested a new pilot through Admiral Chu. The personnel staff hadn’t found anyone. She suspected they hadn’t tried very hard. She and Hiroshi could trade off for the few weeks to Akiak without endangering the ship. There were lonely stretches where they could leave the bridge unmanned. But if either of them fell ill they’d be in trouble.

Well, if the worst case happened one pilot could get them to the nearest world to wait it out or find a replacement. She didn’t want to blow her departure date. She especially didn’t want to spend all her time arguing with personnel bureaucrats.

“Ma’am?”

Mitchie looked up from her datasheet. A Marine had just escorted a stranger into the galley.

“Yes, Senior Private?” she asked.

“Ma’am, this spacer wishes to present his orders,” said the Marine.

“Thank you, I’ll see him.”

The Marine saluted and left. The stranger saluted. “Coxswain’s Mate Third Class Mthembu, reporting aboard, ma’am.” After she returned the salute he held out a data crystal.

“Sit, please,” she said as she took it. Don’t want a crick in my neck. Sitting didn’t help much. The spacer stood a full two meters tall. He still loomed over her seated.

Her datasheet accepted a set of orders from the crystal. A quick scan explained why she hadn’t received a notice from Personnel. Mthembu belonged to Admiral Galen’s flagship as a backup shuttle pilot. The ship’s captain had detached him on temporary duty to the Joshua Chamberlain. With no end date.

Guo’s gotten good at working the Chief network, thought Mitchie. She said, “Welcome aboard, Coxswain’s Mate. I’ll introduce you to the rest of the crew and we’ll get you settled.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.