![Cosmopath - [Bengal Station 03]](/res/dh/book4.jpg)
Read Online Cosmopath - [Bengal Station 03] by Eric Brown - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Eric Brown
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Daddy?”
Sukara squeezed her. “He said that he might have work for Daddy, to pay for Li’s medicine.”
Pham looked at Vaughan, and he nodded.
Rao returned. “Mr Chandrasakar is more than delighted at the prospect of making your acquaintance, Mr Vaughan. He suggests that we make immediate tracks for the spaceport, where he is currently supervising the refitting of one of his liners.”
Vaughan nodded. “Give me thirty minutes to get a shower, and I’ll be with you.”
Dr Rao smiled. “I shall await you in the coffee house in the plaza, Mr Vaughan.” He made a gallant bow to Sukara. “It was, as ever, a delight to make your acquaintance.”
Sukara smiled uncertainly and nodded as Rao hurried from the room.
Vaughan showered, changed, and then slipped into Li’s bedroom. She lay on her tummy, mouth open. She looked, in sleep, the picture of vulnerability, and Vaughan wanted nothing more than to hug her.
He returned to the lounge, kissed Pham and embraced Sukara.
“Be careful, Jeff,” she whispered.
“Always am,” he said. “I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.”
He kissed her and hurried from the room.
* * * *
He sat in the passenger seat and stared out.
The flier banked and came in low over the packed streets bordering the spaceport. The streets terminated seconds later and they were flying over the relatively barren expanse of the spaceport, the deck pocked with docking rings and populated by star-ships at rest. Vaughan had worked here six years ago, and starship technology had moved on in that time; many of the ships he’d worked on had long gone to the scrapyard, to be replaced by a new series of faster, more efficient voidships. He stared down at the sleek, insectile vessels decked out in the colours of the many starship lines.
The flier slowed abruptly, hovered, then lowered itself gently to the deck alongside the flank of a voidliner; Vaughan was put in mind of a minnow beside a vast basking whale as he climbed out and stared up at the curving mountainside of the Chandrasakar Line ship.
Dr Rao peered out at him from the back seat. “I will leave you here, Mr Vaughan, and wish you every success in your employment with Mr Chandrasakar.“
“You presume much, Rao.”
The doctor smiled and jogged his head from side to side. “I think you will find Mr Chandrasakar a persuasive gentleman, Mr Vaughan.” He raised his cane in farewell. “Until next time.”
The flier blasted its turbos, turned on its axis, and sped off.
A tall Indian woman in a trim crimson uniform appeared at his side. “Mr Vaughan? If you would care to accompany me to Mr Chandrasakar’s quarters...”
Discreetly, Vaughan enabled his tele-ability and probed. The woman was shielded, as were most of the workers beyond the skin of the ship.
She led the way to a ramp, which climbed into a brightly lit interior; they passed through a concourse like a busy shopping mall. Wherever he looked, uniformed workers scurried back and forth, engineers attended open inspection panels and drones - spindly AIs like spiders - scuttled up the walls and across the great arched dome of the ceiling, pausing occasionally to insert needle probes into access ports.
The woman gestured towards a sliding door and Vaughan stepped onto an elevator plate. They rode the plate as it shot up a diaphanous column, and down below the frantic workers were quickly reduced to the aspect of ants.
The plate halted and the woman indicated a long corridor, which Vaughan guessed ran towards the nose cone of the liner.
Five minutes later they arrived at a pair of sliding doors. The woman said, “Apologies for the trek, Mr Vaughan.” She indicated the opening doors with an elegant hand. “Mr Chandrasakar will see you now.”
He sent forth a probe, and came up against a patch of static in the room before him. Not that he had expected Chandrasakar
Sukara squeezed her. “He said that he might have work for Daddy, to pay for Li’s medicine.”
Pham looked at Vaughan, and he nodded.
Rao returned. “Mr Chandrasakar is more than delighted at the prospect of making your acquaintance, Mr Vaughan. He suggests that we make immediate tracks for the spaceport, where he is currently supervising the refitting of one of his liners.”
Vaughan nodded. “Give me thirty minutes to get a shower, and I’ll be with you.”
Dr Rao smiled. “I shall await you in the coffee house in the plaza, Mr Vaughan.” He made a gallant bow to Sukara. “It was, as ever, a delight to make your acquaintance.”
Sukara smiled uncertainly and nodded as Rao hurried from the room.
Vaughan showered, changed, and then slipped into Li’s bedroom. She lay on her tummy, mouth open. She looked, in sleep, the picture of vulnerability, and Vaughan wanted nothing more than to hug her.
He returned to the lounge, kissed Pham and embraced Sukara.
“Be careful, Jeff,” she whispered.
“Always am,” he said. “I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.”
He kissed her and hurried from the room.
* * * *
He sat in the passenger seat and stared out.
The flier banked and came in low over the packed streets bordering the spaceport. The streets terminated seconds later and they were flying over the relatively barren expanse of the spaceport, the deck pocked with docking rings and populated by star-ships at rest. Vaughan had worked here six years ago, and starship technology had moved on in that time; many of the ships he’d worked on had long gone to the scrapyard, to be replaced by a new series of faster, more efficient voidships. He stared down at the sleek, insectile vessels decked out in the colours of the many starship lines.
The flier slowed abruptly, hovered, then lowered itself gently to the deck alongside the flank of a voidliner; Vaughan was put in mind of a minnow beside a vast basking whale as he climbed out and stared up at the curving mountainside of the Chandrasakar Line ship.
Dr Rao peered out at him from the back seat. “I will leave you here, Mr Vaughan, and wish you every success in your employment with Mr Chandrasakar.“
“You presume much, Rao.”
The doctor smiled and jogged his head from side to side. “I think you will find Mr Chandrasakar a persuasive gentleman, Mr Vaughan.” He raised his cane in farewell. “Until next time.”
The flier blasted its turbos, turned on its axis, and sped off.
A tall Indian woman in a trim crimson uniform appeared at his side. “Mr Vaughan? If you would care to accompany me to Mr Chandrasakar’s quarters...”
Discreetly, Vaughan enabled his tele-ability and probed. The woman was shielded, as were most of the workers beyond the skin of the ship.
She led the way to a ramp, which climbed into a brightly lit interior; they passed through a concourse like a busy shopping mall. Wherever he looked, uniformed workers scurried back and forth, engineers attended open inspection panels and drones - spindly AIs like spiders - scuttled up the walls and across the great arched dome of the ceiling, pausing occasionally to insert needle probes into access ports.
The woman gestured towards a sliding door and Vaughan stepped onto an elevator plate. They rode the plate as it shot up a diaphanous column, and down below the frantic workers were quickly reduced to the aspect of ants.
The plate halted and the woman indicated a long corridor, which Vaughan guessed ran towards the nose cone of the liner.
Five minutes later they arrived at a pair of sliding doors. The woman said, “Apologies for the trek, Mr Vaughan.” She indicated the opening doors with an elegant hand. “Mr Chandrasakar will see you now.”
He sent forth a probe, and came up against a patch of static in the room before him. Not that he had expected Chandrasakar
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