Carthage_A Space Opera Colonization Adventure by M. D. Cooper & J. J. Green

Author:M. D. Cooper & J. J. Green [Cooper, M. D. & Green, J. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Wooden Pen Press
Published: 2018-07-25T16:00:00+00:00

ENGAGEMENT

STELLAR DATE: 11.29.8935 (Adjusted Years)

LOCATION: SATC site, eastern shores of Knossos Island

REGION: Carthage, 3rd Planet in the New Canaan System

The picotech deployment system registered as empty. While she and Sasha had waited, Erin decided to execute the second phase of the SATC’s pico-excavation. Emptying the module alleviated her boredom—for a while, at least.

She nudged Sasha. The young engineer’s eyelids had been closing.

Sasha jerked awake and looked apologetic.

<Get your AI to keep you from falling asleep,> Erin said, using the Link to avoid speaking aloud. If the picotech thief heard them talking, he would be warned of their presence.

<I’ll do the same for you,> Walter said to Erin.

<Thanks, but I don’t think I’ll need it,> she replied.

As the night had worn on, she hadn’t felt at all sleepy; in fact, she’d grown more nervous, though not about their attempt to catch the interloper. Erin had been dwelling on the fact that Cullen had said the thief was a professional. While she didn’t mind confronting the criminal herself, she wasn’t sure that she’d done the right thing in involving Sasha. She hadn’t even asked the young woman if she was OK with helping out in the task. Maybe she’d been wrong in taking it for granted that her assistant would come along. The engineer had zero military training or combat experience, while Erin had been through a few scuffles in her day, and wasn’t afraid to go toe-to-toe with a traitor.

After seeing Sasha nearly drop off to sleep—even with her mods in play—Erin concluded it would be better to face the thief by herself.

<Sasha>, she said. <I changed my mind. Go back to the office. I’m going to do this alone.>

<What? No. I want to stay. I want to help. I promise I’ll stay awake now.>

<It isn’t that. It isn’t safe for you here. I shouldn’t have asked you to do this with me.>

<Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. I’m sure it isn’t that hard to point and shoot a gun—I’ve done it plenty of times in games.>

<Sasha,> Erin said sternly. <I wasn’t making a suggestion.>

Her companion frowned, but she began to move. Before she got to her feet, however, she halted. <Isn’t it too late for me to leave? What if the thief is coming right now? He’ll see me.>

She has a point.

Erin was about to answer, when something distracted her. She’d been listening to the waves sweeping the shore below for over an hour, and she thought she’d just caught the sound of something different. The noise had been a rustle—like the sound of the cover over the site being lifted.

<Did you hear something?> she asked Sasha, but the woman shook her head in reply.

They were hiding in a spot that offered the best possible vantage point, but it didn’t allow a view of the entire area under the cover. Erin had figured it didn’t matter too much. As long as they had a clear view of the module, that was all that was important. That would be where the thief would go.

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.