Read Online HAB 12 (Scrapyard Ship) by Mark Wayne McGinnis - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Mark Wayne McGinnis
Tags: Science-Fiction
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smiled inwardly; he didn't mind her chatter one bit.
She now looked at him with brows raised. "Are you even listening to me?" She shook her head in disbelief.
"Yes. Well, actually ... no, not really. I was thinking how familiar this seems, what we're doing, to when we were married."
She looked at him for a while. Eventually the anger or frustration fell away and she smiled.
"Yeah, I guess it is." She pulled the towel away from around her head and let her long hair fall free. She looked into his eyes and then slowly pulled him closer. They kissed. Eventually, she pulled away and took a breath.
"You better go before I do something I might regret." Jason kissed her cheek and reluctantly stood up. As he turned to leave, she grabbed his hand.
"Oh, and if I ever get thrown in one of those damn cages again I will hunt you down and ... well, you don't want to know what I'll do to you."
* * *
Jason, aware that time was of the essence, called for an immediate emergency meeting. The captain’s ready room was filled to capacity. Those who couldn’t find a seat found an open area on the bulkhead to lean against. Jason stood and let Mollie have his seat at the head of the table, bringing smiles from around the room.
“We’re right back where we were a month ago, with Craing warships en route to Earth. Even if we could repair the Craing vessels that are in our possession and even if we had enough trained pilots—”
“We could still lose,” Ricket interjected.
Jason nodded, letting the point sink in. All eyes turned towards the small alien cyborg.
Jason continued. “We need time to ready our fleet—bolster Earth’s defenses. Hell, we need a year, maybe two.”
“So this plan the Craing overlord is proposing, can we believe it?” Nan asked. “Sounds a little self-serving, if you ask me. I mean, I’m certainly no military tactician like you guys, but it seems like we’d be putting a lot of faith, not to mention resources, hinged on one Craing’s obscure promises.”
“Maybe. But if what he says is true, and we can—if not bring down, at least greatly hinder—the Craing’s ability to traverse the universe, maybe we need to risk it.
“You really think there’s a way—?” the XO started to ask.
Chief Horris interjected: “First of all, even with The Lilly 's advanced FDL drives, there's no way we could make it to the Craing worlds days or even hours before the Emperor's Guard gets under way.”
XO Perkins shrugged. “So that still leaves the problem of getting there under seven days. And do we even know where these Craing worlds are located?”
“We have a good idea where Terplin, their home planet, is located. Unfortunately, no one in the Alliance, perhaps other than my son, Brian, has ever been there,” the admiral replied.
“That brings me to the second issue,” Jason said. “Somewhere along the line I’ve heard both Mollie and Jack talk about a habitat in the Zoo—something about one with Serapin-Terplins—did you bring the information I asked for?” Jason looked toward Jack, the Zoo caretaker.
“Yes, Captain. That would be HAB 12.” Jack had handwritten some notes on several small index cards. “The Serapin-Terplins— weird, the Craing use the word Terplins a lot throughout their language—inhabit a world called Halimar. Halimar is within the Craing eight-world solar system. According to the meta-data information tied to that habitat, both the Terplin and Halimar planets are in a shared orbit around a shared sun—which is a red supergiant.”
Jason turned his attention back towards Ricket. “Would it be possible to access Halimar via HAB 12?”
Ricket looked uncomfortable with the question. “First of all, you need to understand that habitats, such as HAB 12, do in fact reside on other planets, such as Halimar—not here on board The Lilly . They can be hundreds of square miles in size. Also note that habitats exist in a completely different reality—one that is
She now looked at him with brows raised. "Are you even listening to me?" She shook her head in disbelief.
"Yes. Well, actually ... no, not really. I was thinking how familiar this seems, what we're doing, to when we were married."
She looked at him for a while. Eventually the anger or frustration fell away and she smiled.
"Yeah, I guess it is." She pulled the towel away from around her head and let her long hair fall free. She looked into his eyes and then slowly pulled him closer. They kissed. Eventually, she pulled away and took a breath.
"You better go before I do something I might regret." Jason kissed her cheek and reluctantly stood up. As he turned to leave, she grabbed his hand.
"Oh, and if I ever get thrown in one of those damn cages again I will hunt you down and ... well, you don't want to know what I'll do to you."
* * *
Jason, aware that time was of the essence, called for an immediate emergency meeting. The captain’s ready room was filled to capacity. Those who couldn’t find a seat found an open area on the bulkhead to lean against. Jason stood and let Mollie have his seat at the head of the table, bringing smiles from around the room.
“We’re right back where we were a month ago, with Craing warships en route to Earth. Even if we could repair the Craing vessels that are in our possession and even if we had enough trained pilots—”
“We could still lose,” Ricket interjected.
Jason nodded, letting the point sink in. All eyes turned towards the small alien cyborg.
Jason continued. “We need time to ready our fleet—bolster Earth’s defenses. Hell, we need a year, maybe two.”
“So this plan the Craing overlord is proposing, can we believe it?” Nan asked. “Sounds a little self-serving, if you ask me. I mean, I’m certainly no military tactician like you guys, but it seems like we’d be putting a lot of faith, not to mention resources, hinged on one Craing’s obscure promises.”
“Maybe. But if what he says is true, and we can—if not bring down, at least greatly hinder—the Craing’s ability to traverse the universe, maybe we need to risk it.
“You really think there’s a way—?” the XO started to ask.
Chief Horris interjected: “First of all, even with The Lilly 's advanced FDL drives, there's no way we could make it to the Craing worlds days or even hours before the Emperor's Guard gets under way.”
XO Perkins shrugged. “So that still leaves the problem of getting there under seven days. And do we even know where these Craing worlds are located?”
“We have a good idea where Terplin, their home planet, is located. Unfortunately, no one in the Alliance, perhaps other than my son, Brian, has ever been there,” the admiral replied.
“That brings me to the second issue,” Jason said. “Somewhere along the line I’ve heard both Mollie and Jack talk about a habitat in the Zoo—something about one with Serapin-Terplins—did you bring the information I asked for?” Jason looked toward Jack, the Zoo caretaker.
“Yes, Captain. That would be HAB 12.” Jack had handwritten some notes on several small index cards. “The Serapin-Terplins— weird, the Craing use the word Terplins a lot throughout their language—inhabit a world called Halimar. Halimar is within the Craing eight-world solar system. According to the meta-data information tied to that habitat, both the Terplin and Halimar planets are in a shared orbit around a shared sun—which is a red supergiant.”
Jason turned his attention back towards Ricket. “Would it be possible to access Halimar via HAB 12?”
Ricket looked uncomfortable with the question. “First of all, you need to understand that habitats, such as HAB 12, do in fact reside on other planets, such as Halimar—not here on board The Lilly . They can be hundreds of square miles in size. Also note that habitats exist in a completely different reality—one that is
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