Lost Star, Hawke, Morgan [novel24 .TXT] 📗

Aubrey winced. Shit.

The captain grinned at him. “Ha, you did, didn’t you?” He turned back to his controls. “Don’t worry. It’ll only be a matter of hours.”

Hours? Aubrey sucked in a breath and choked. He only had hours to get far enough to die? The choke became a cough. The cough became a spot of blood on his palm. He stared at in shock.

The captain nodded at him. “Oh yeah, there’s a reason you were living in a tank kid. Without the nanites in the liquid to process oxygen for you, your lung problem is terminal.” His smile was full of blackened teeth. “You can’t breathe real air for more than a week or so. Your lungs were pretty much destroyed on your third trip to the airlock.”

Aubrey turned to him in shock. “You knew about my being in the airlock?”

The captain shrugged. “Who do you think put you in it?”

Ice water filled Aubrey’s veins; then his temper boiled white-hot. He fisted his cupped hand. For the first time in his life, he really wanted to kill someone, and he wanted to do it with his bare hands.

Unfortunately, it was pretty damned obvious that the captain had marine-class robotic augmentation in his limbs. There was no way in hell that he could outfight or even outrun the bastard. He would have to find another way to kill him.

20

Morgan Hawke

Chapter Four

The captain leaned back in the pilot’s chair. “Moribund Company ships travel in threes; two next to each other, and the third, one jump behind, to pick up the pieces, if necessary. We had a terminal hit, and the Ravenous was already dead by the time we regained outside sensors. The homing beacon on this baby will send the third ship, the Ferocious, straight for us.” The captain grinned. “You should be back in your tank by this time tomorrow.”

“Great.” Aubrey narrowed his eyes at the captain and then examined the blinking piloting controls. This craft was simplistic compared to the yachts he’d joyridden in.

Maybe he didn’t have to escape. Maybe he could kill the bastard in a crash.

And take himself out with him.

All he needed was some way into the ship’s controls. Aubrey turned to look behind him. The craft was very small. The exit was directly behind them. The sleeping bays took up either wall with food service beyond the right bed and the facility beyond the left. He raised a brow. If this craft was like a few of the other small-hoppers he’d borrowed, there was an engineering access panel in the floor of the facility. But how the fuck was he going to access it without a data-cable?

“Hey, kid?”

Aubrey turned to look at the captain. “What?”

The captain raised a brow at him. “You know how to fly one of these things?”

Aubrey blinked. It couldn’t be that easy. “Well, yeah. I have limited piloting capability. Why do you think I was in that tank?”

The captain sneered. “Because you know how to break into them. The real question is, can you fly this one?”

Aubrey rolled his eyes. “Yes, I can fly this one. Why?”

Interstellar Service & Discipline: Lost Star

21

The captain unbuckled his harness. “I have got to take a piss, and if you don’t mind, I could use some sleep.” He rose from the pilot’s couch. “Once we get on the surface, we may have to deal with a Skeldhi hunting party or two. Not to put too fine a point on it, if you want to keep breathing, you’re going to need me awake and aware to fight them off long enough for rescue to get to us.”

Aubrey blinked. Fuck… It was going to be that easy. He smiled. “Sure, no problem.”

The captain hesitated. His eyes narrowed. “Don’t try anything funny, kid.”

Aubrey set his chin on his hand and raised one brow. “What could I possibly do that you can’t stop me from doing?”

The captain frowned.

Aubrey almost laughed. Don’t strain your brain, Captain. “I’m not augmented, remember?” His smile soured. “And I can’t live outside a tank. If I don’t go back in, I die in a week.”

The captain smiled. “Actually, if you leave the ship, you’ll be dead in a day or so.

The atmosphere is slightly corrosive. No big deal for me, very big deal for you.”

“Fine, you made your point.” Aubrey unbuckled his harness. “Go take your piss and your nap.” He climbed out of his chair.

The captain stood there, frowning.

Aubrey set his hands on his hips. “I only get to be outside a tank for a small amount of time. You have a problem with me enjoying what little time I get?”

The captain’s expression eased into something almost like regret. “Look, I’m sorry, kid, but it’s your own fault you have to breathe water. If you’d agreed to the boss’s deal when we pulled you out of the airlock the first time, you’d be sleeping in a captain’s suite, not a tank. You’re that valuable. Seriously, if I survive this without you, I’m a dead man.”

Aubrey looked away and crossed his arms. You just don’t get it, asshole.

“Tell you what, I’ll see that you get out of the tank every once in a while so you can at least get laid.”

Aubrey tilted his head and faced the planetary horizon line visible on the forward view-screen, turning his back on the hulking captain. “Sure, fine, whatever.”

The captain sighed and turned away.

Aubrey dropped into the pilot’s chair and activated the nav-pilot access. The mechanical feed at the back of the chair interlinked with his data-jack. Raw information poured into his skull. His imagination translated the data into stars and a slowly turning planet. It wasn’t nearly as extensive as what a nav-pilot would see, but it was more control than the captain had driving cold mechanics with his hands.

He crossed his arms and proceeded to plot his demise. He didn’t bother to buckle in. The point was to ensure that he didn’t survive the