Pixie Hazard, Archibald Bradford [100 best novels of all time .TXT] 📗

moment as she quickly checked the seals on his helmet.

“That doesn’t make any sense. Did chickens lay empty eggs or something?”

Given that all meat now consumed in the universe was either grown in vats, synthetic, or came from an oceanic world somewhere, his ignorance could be forgiven.

“I don’t know man, Earth was crazy. It’s just a dumb saying.” Billy sighed as she plopped the helmet down without ceremony.

He felt as much as heard the hiss of oxygen as the suit pressurized then he activated his external coms to make another observation.

“A better saying, especially given what we just had for dinner, would be: don’t count your fish before you catch them.”

Eniella came over and looked at them both like they were idiots, then rapped her knuckles against his faceplate.

“Dude, that’s not any better. How are you supposed to count something you don’t have?”

While Kyle tried to insist that was the whole point Billy ushered them to the airlock, sealing them in.

“When you two figure it out you can tell the captain, who is currently waiting for you on the other ship.” She reminded them.

“Nah, I don’t think she’ll care. Probably just end up accusing me of making shit up again. I mean, quails were a real thing! Weren’t they?” Eniella was speaking over the ship coms now, as the pressurized chamber was all but sound proof from where Billy was standing.

“How would I know? I’m a doctor not a zoologist. Now get your asses out there!”

Donnie, Kyle and Eniella worked through the night to make sure the transport ship was space-worthy while the rest of the crew took shifts watching for Junkers. Until in the wee hours they all piled into the Pixie again while Davie lifted her off and began to push and nudge at the debris on top of the other vessel, all the while ignoring the screaming proximity warnings from her scopes.

It took a bit of doing, and more than a few targeted shots with the Javelins, to finally overturn the enormous pile of debris to free the transport. But eventually they succeeded, then it was back outside to ensure the thrusters were clear.

By mid-morning they were all dog tired, but more than happy with the results of their work when Kyle firmly declared the vessel ready for launch.

The celebratory noises and jubilant whoops were abruptly cut short however when Davie’s voice came over the coms.

“Yo Skipper, I found where the Junkers have been coming from. If you’re interested?”

Chapter 8: Junkers gotta Junk

Ducking into tac-ops Donnie found her pilot pouring over the display table.

She’d been in the cockpit since the second ambush but was showing no signs of fatigue, though she pouted a bit at eating Bunny’s dinner after everyone else.

“Tell me a story Reeves.”

“Like I said, I found the Junkers’ camp.”

“Wait, camp? They’re seriously living on the surface?”

“Yes ma’am. They’ve got a number of pre-fab shelters huddled against this ridgeline to our northeast, around fifty klicks out. We actually relocated closer to them, so that helped.”

“Trust a Junker clan to set up a pirate base in a junkyard.” Donnie rubbed at her temples for a moment as she mulled over the development; “How did you find them anyways?”

“They just landed a ship, weren’t very subtle about it, all but gave me their address.”

“Lovely. How long ago?”

“Just a few minutes. I rechecked the surface scans when I detected them entering the atmosphere, found the site almost right away, then called you. Are we done recapping?”

Donnie gave her a level look, to which Davie simply raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“Quit being a smartass, your girlfriend has that covered. If they haven’t detected us already, they will if we try to take the transport into orbit.”

“What do you want to do?”

It took the captain a good thirty seconds to explore all of their options, by the end of which she was looking dour.

“No choice. We need to go take a look. Update everyone’s suits with the coordinates of their camp. Then you and Eniella get the Pixie ready for a scuffle in case we need more fire-support.”

“Copy that Skipper.”

After filling everyone in and handing off command of the Pixie to Billy, Donnie set out with her fire-team to recon the Junker base.

Two hours later they were crouching amidst a pile of garbage while Maria was following the pirates’ activities with an optics unit.

“They’ve cobbled together a lidar tower in the middle of that camp. Sharp-eyed pricks must have caught our drop. I doubt we’re their first victims.”

The blonde’s ribs had mostly recovered after the injection of nanites, so she was eager to volunteer for a chance at some more payback.

“That’s one mystery solved. Shitty luck to come down so close to their base though.” Donnie observed from her place at the Maria’s back; “Personnel on the ground?”

“A couple dozen, maybe. They’re running back and forth from their shelters, loading their boat. They look spooked.”

“Wouldn’t you? They’ve had a rough couple days. Tell me about the ship.”

Maria adjuster her viewfinder while Donnie and Eva continued to watch her back; it would be a hell of a thing if they stayed hidden from the Junkers only because another scrap-hawk caught them unawares.

“Definitely a frigate, but not military. I’m seeing a number of hard points, all retrofitted. Probably an old asteroid miner.”

“Jury-rigged or not, guns are guns. What are they packing?”

“Arbalests I think. I can see three spun up and scanning.”

“Shit, so much for the Pixie being able to take a chunk out of them. Those things hit like freight trains.” Eva muttered.

Maria shifted her scope back to watching the Junkers scrambling around the ship.

“Yeah we’re lucky whoever is watching their scopes is more worried about the sky otherwise our day could get pretty