Endeavour (Ark Royal, #18) by Christopher G. Nuttall

Author:Christopher G. Nuttall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Christopher G. Nuttall
Published: 2022-05-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Three: Shuttlecraft, Dyson Two (Interior)

“All systems go,” Marigold said, as she took her seat. “The passengers are all buckled in, ready for the flight.”

Tobias swallowed a joke about stewardesses as he ran the final checks. Marigold wouldn’t think it funny. Nor was it, he supposed. He’d done hundreds of routine shuttle flights, since his assignment to Virus Prime, but Dyson Two was a dangerously unpredictable environment. There was no way to know if anything, from the gravity field to the terrain, would remain consistent as the shuttle flew to its destination. He’d simulated everything he could, since the alien command centre had been spotted, but simulations had dangerous limitations. If the programmers didn’t anticipate something, they wouldn’t include it in their simulations.

He ran his hand down the console, checking and rechecking everything one final time. The flight shouldn’t be that dangerous, but ... his imagination provided too many possible examples of things that could go wrong. He’d supervised the installation of more decoy drones, and a modified ECM suite, but he feared they wouldn’t be enough to keep the shuttle intact if the rammers decided to destroy it. It didn’t help they’d been given strict orders to avoid doing anything that might be taken as hostile by watching alien eyes.

And we might have already crossed that line, he thought. They’ve made it clear they’re not interested in answering our hails.

He sighed inwardly as the shuttle was cleared for departure. He had too much experience over the years with people violating his boundaries. They’d never been respected and why should they? He hadn’t had the strength or skills to protect them. The Builders had made it clear they weren’t interested in communicating with the human intruders ... it was possible, he’d been told, that they were dealing with automated defences, but he wasn’t so sure. They were poking and prodding at the aliens, just as he’d been poked and prodded as a schoolchild, and he couldn’t help fearing they would eventually draw a sharp reaction. If the Builders were still around, they clearly didn’t want to talk. If ...

Marigold glanced at him. “Ready?”

Tobias nodded, stomach churning as he undocked and guided the shuttle away from the mothership. The gas jets were meant to be undetectable, except at very close range, but it was impossible to be sure. Who knew what the Builders could see? They’d certainly had ample time to put together a baseline image of the sphere’s interior. They would notice if something was even slightly out of place. Tobias frowned as he spotted the Chinese shuttle ahead, its drives already online. It wasn’t a race, he’d been told, but the Chinese didn’t seem to see it that way. Their ship couldn’t remain on station indefinitely.

Nor can we, Tobias thought. We’ll have to leave the sphere sooner or later, just to resupply from the ruins of the other sphere.

He kept his eye on the sensor display as the shuttle’s drives came online. The drives were stepped down as much as possible, but they were nowhere near as stealthy as he wanted.

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