Derelict: Trident by Paul E. Cooley

Author:Paul E. Cooley [Cooley, Paul E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severed Press
Published: 2021-09-12T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Forty-Four

It wasn't long before Blue's first support craft arrived. Taulbee blinked at it twice and asked no one, "What the void is that?"

Whatever it was, it was similar to his SV-52, but sleeker and it actually had what looked like stubby wings. The dim light reflected off a freshly printed Atmo-steel hull. "What is it?" he asked again.

Black responded this time. "According to Blue, it is an SV-Ø, a gravitic engine enabled vehicle."

Taulbee raised a brow. "A what?"

"The vehicle uses a gravitic drive for propulsion instead of a typical engine. It still has thrusters, of course, but the drive allows for greater range, increased mobility, and exceptional speed."

He nodded, but his face was a mask of confusion. "All that means what, exactly?"

Black was silent for a moment. When she spoke again, she sounded wistful. "Have you ever flown in gravity, Lieutenant? Or watched terrestrial birds? They glide, they use air currents and their attitude to change direction in 3D space, and they flap their wings for propulsion."

"Yeah, so?"

"The gravitic drive provides a similar experience enabling the vehicle to move nearly like a terrestrial bird."

"Um," Taulbee watched the SV drop several meters and come to a complete stop in front of him; the SV had done it as though it had been dropped to a floor.

"Lieutenant," a voice said over the comms. "Taulbee, it's Sarah."

He grinned. "Well, hello, Lieutenant. I like your new ride."

He could practically hear the smile in her voice. "So do I. Yours, on the other hand, looks a little worn. How bad off are you?"

Taulbee shrugged although she couldn't see it. "I have suit life support, but the cabin is depressurized, got significant thruster damage and, wait, there was something else. Oh, yeah, I'm out of ammo."

"Ouch," she said. After a far too dramatic sigh, she said, "Well, I don't have time to print you another one, so I guess you'll just have to use one of ours."

He blinked. "One of yours?"

"It'll be here soon," she said. "Is the hangar secure?"

"As secure as it can be, I guess," Taulbee said. He assumed it was, since neither Oakes nor Black had said anything about unwanted guests.

"Good. We're going to use the hangar to get organized. I have skiffs and more SVs on the way."

He grinned. "Almost sounds like a military operation."

"Staging ground," she said. "Based on what we saw on our way in here, it's going to be a siege."

Taulbee didn't like the sound of that. "Speaking of, where the void have you been? What happened?"

She laughed before answering. "We don't have enough time to go through all of it. Let's just say we went to Uranus to perform an S&R mission. We ended up fighting our way out of there." She was quiet for a moment. "I don't know how you made it back here."

He nodded to himself. "To be honest, I'm not sure either."

Two more craft appeared on his screens. "Those yours?"

"Yup," she said. "You should get transponder updates momentarily."

"Where's Blue?"

"She's coming. Getting my marines on their skiffs at the moment.

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