The Road of Danger by David Drake

Author:David Drake [Drake, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction, Leary; Daniel (Fictitious Character), Space Opera, General, Space Warfare, Adventure, Mundy; Adele (Fictitious Character), Fiction
Publisher: Baen
Published: 2012-04-03T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

Kotzebue on Sunbright

“All right, open the hatch!” Daniel called toward the entry hold. The Savoy had no method of internal communication beyond the unaided human voice, so he had to shout if he didn’t want to walk into the hold himself. That would have meant leaving the console, which was the only way he could view their surroundings until the hatch was down.

Instead of the carillon of hydraulic pumps withdrawing the dogs securing the Sissie’s main hatch, the yawl provided a squeal, a metal-to-metal screech, and finally a clunk. A moment later steam, ozone, and the stench of burned organic matter puffed from the hold into the crew capsule.

They’d landed in a former rice paddy. It was obvious that manure had been used to fertilize the crop.

“Well, that’s bloody pathetic,” Hogg said. He stood to the left of the console, holding a carbine for himself and another for Daniel if the occasion warranted. He could have been referring to any one of several things and been correct.

The yawl’s exterior sensor was a low-resolution optical lens. It was supposed to rotate fully but instead stuck within ten degrees of ninety. Daniel hoped that was the most important wedge to see, since it showed anybody approaching the hatch. He couldn’t help wondering, though, if there was a bloody great plasma cannon aimed at their port side.

A small flatbed with seven floatation tires and a much smaller road tire was angling toward the yawl’s hatch. Two men rode in the open cab and two more—holding carbines—in the back. The paddy’s thin mud formed an undulating wake, but the tires weren’t sinking to the wheel disks.

“That’s Riely,” said Lindstrom, who had been leaning over Daniel’s right shoulder to view the display. She straightened. “It’s all right, then.”

Hogg snorted, but that was probably true. Lindstrom was already walking toward the hatch. Daniel rose and said, “If you’re leaving the cabin, we’ll need somebody on the console.”

“There’s no need,” said Lindstrom. “We’ll still be aboard.”

Daniel had landed close enough to a dike that one could enter or leave the Savoy without necessarily sinking to the knees in muck, but it was a quarter mile to a cross-dike which led to the town straggling along the unflooded slope. The four crewmen were watching out the main hatch, waiting for a ride in the truck.

Each man clutched a purse of Alliance thalers, payment for the outward run. Spacers preferred coins to credit chips in the dives that serviced them. They could still be cheated when they were given change, but it wasn’t quite as easy. There was a Sunbright currency, but apparently nobody used it.

“Hargate, watch the display for now,” Daniel said as though the owner hadn’t spoken. “The lens is higher than we’re going to be, so if somebody comes toward us and you’re not sure they’re friendly, give a shout so we’re ready to discuss it with them, all right?”

“Hey, I’m looking forward to a proper drink, you know,” the spacer complained, but he went into the crew capsule as directed anyway.

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