Read Online Craggy 2: Another Last Flight for Craggy by Gary Weston - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Gary Weston
Tags: Science-Fiction, Space Opera, Military, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Space ships, mars, Space Fleet, alien encounters, alien planets
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land.'
'Give me that, you big ape.' Graham took the microphone from Dillow. 'Wayward. I'll have all emergency services on red alert and standing by. Orbit until otherwise instructed. One moment.' She glared at the three men. 'The door's that way.'
The three commanders meekly left Graham and her technicians to do what they did best.
Chapter 31
'W ill ya look at that lot,' said Stella. 'They hardly left anywhere for us to land.'
Every available emergency service vehicle, fire officer, paramedic, and even police security officers, were surrounding launch pad seven.
'You'd better make us look good, Stella,' said Breeze.
Stella flicked her hair and pouted at Breeze. 'Don't I always, Breezy? Right. Permission to land, please?'
'Permission granted,' came the reply.
'Easing back to one tenth power. Balancing landing thrusters. Thrusters in equilibrium. I think I found landing legs. Yes. Landing legs locked. Lining up on launch pad seven. Main thruster ports off. Landing thrusters fully engaged. Bringing her down. Hope you guys got beer on ice. And here we are.'
'My Dad's going to blow his stack,' said Dillow, unbuckling her straps.
'Just say sorry and he'll be ok,' said Skye.
'You met my father? Come on. Let's face the music.'
The ramp opened up and the four women nervously walked out onto the concrete pad to be greeted by Lance Dillow, Forbes and Potts. Dillow stood with his hands on his hips, a dangerous expression on his face.
'Fawn Dillow. Come here.'
'Oh, crap. Hi, Dad.'
'You...I am so damn proud of you. All of you. Now come here and hug your old man.'
Fawn wrapped her arms around him. 'Sorry, Dad.'
'Hey. It's ok.' He kissed her forehead. 'The ship flew well?'
'Fantastic. The speed is phenomenal. And I killed some rocks.'
'Shit! We got cannon on that bird?'
Fawn said, 'Two. At least. Controls are tricky, but we can master them.'
'Mommy.'
'Come here, sweetie. Give Mommy a big kiss.'
'Got one for me too?' said Joel.
'You bet. Now. I don't know about the rest of this motley crew, but I need a good feed and a lot of love from my family.'
Leaving Stella, Skye and Breeze to handle the inevitable debrief, Fawn walked hand in hand with Shyne and Joel.
'Mommy. I gotta story.'
'You have, sweetie?'
'Yes. Did I tell you about the time my Mommy was the most bravest mommy on Mars? And she took off in a great big ship and she flew and she flew and she went round and around and then she came home. The end.'
'You made that story up?'
'Like it, Mommy?'
Fawn squeezed Joel's hand. 'I love stories with a happy ending.'
Chapter 32
T he days rolled on; the activity relentless. Forbes and Potts led from the front, working eighteen hour days, overlapping so one or the other was always available. The continuous meetings, site visits and organising was tempered with ensuring everyone had one full day off in ten. Potts was with the head of engineering as one of his five teams was fitting the latest laser cannon.
'This is the last ground fixed laser,' said Driver.
'You've all done a fantastic job, Screwy. How are the freighters coming along?'
Driver said, 'Two left to do. One dedicated team on each. My fourth team is supplying the other teams and the fifth is keeping the rest of Mars ticking over.'
'Great. Any issues?'
Driver laughed. 'Where do I start? We couldn't make another cannon. All these changes have sucked up every last resource. We literally have nothing to work with and I don't need to state the obvious for fixing anything else.'
'Understood. Send me through a full inventory of everything you have. I also want a full list of all outstanding jobs, in priority order. Underscore anything critical for particular attention. I'm not promising...'
Driver slapped Potts on the back. 'Don't make promises you can't keep. I'll make those lists, Pottsy. I'll leave it to you to read between the lines.'
* * *
S anitation engineer, Ivor Potful, didn't mince anything much, especially words.
'Anton. If you think that
'Give me that, you big ape.' Graham took the microphone from Dillow. 'Wayward. I'll have all emergency services on red alert and standing by. Orbit until otherwise instructed. One moment.' She glared at the three men. 'The door's that way.'
The three commanders meekly left Graham and her technicians to do what they did best.
Chapter 31
'W ill ya look at that lot,' said Stella. 'They hardly left anywhere for us to land.'
Every available emergency service vehicle, fire officer, paramedic, and even police security officers, were surrounding launch pad seven.
'You'd better make us look good, Stella,' said Breeze.
Stella flicked her hair and pouted at Breeze. 'Don't I always, Breezy? Right. Permission to land, please?'
'Permission granted,' came the reply.
'Easing back to one tenth power. Balancing landing thrusters. Thrusters in equilibrium. I think I found landing legs. Yes. Landing legs locked. Lining up on launch pad seven. Main thruster ports off. Landing thrusters fully engaged. Bringing her down. Hope you guys got beer on ice. And here we are.'
'My Dad's going to blow his stack,' said Dillow, unbuckling her straps.
'Just say sorry and he'll be ok,' said Skye.
'You met my father? Come on. Let's face the music.'
The ramp opened up and the four women nervously walked out onto the concrete pad to be greeted by Lance Dillow, Forbes and Potts. Dillow stood with his hands on his hips, a dangerous expression on his face.
'Fawn Dillow. Come here.'
'Oh, crap. Hi, Dad.'
'You...I am so damn proud of you. All of you. Now come here and hug your old man.'
Fawn wrapped her arms around him. 'Sorry, Dad.'
'Hey. It's ok.' He kissed her forehead. 'The ship flew well?'
'Fantastic. The speed is phenomenal. And I killed some rocks.'
'Shit! We got cannon on that bird?'
Fawn said, 'Two. At least. Controls are tricky, but we can master them.'
'Mommy.'
'Come here, sweetie. Give Mommy a big kiss.'
'Got one for me too?' said Joel.
'You bet. Now. I don't know about the rest of this motley crew, but I need a good feed and a lot of love from my family.'
Leaving Stella, Skye and Breeze to handle the inevitable debrief, Fawn walked hand in hand with Shyne and Joel.
'Mommy. I gotta story.'
'You have, sweetie?'
'Yes. Did I tell you about the time my Mommy was the most bravest mommy on Mars? And she took off in a great big ship and she flew and she flew and she went round and around and then she came home. The end.'
'You made that story up?'
'Like it, Mommy?'
Fawn squeezed Joel's hand. 'I love stories with a happy ending.'
Chapter 32
T he days rolled on; the activity relentless. Forbes and Potts led from the front, working eighteen hour days, overlapping so one or the other was always available. The continuous meetings, site visits and organising was tempered with ensuring everyone had one full day off in ten. Potts was with the head of engineering as one of his five teams was fitting the latest laser cannon.
'This is the last ground fixed laser,' said Driver.
'You've all done a fantastic job, Screwy. How are the freighters coming along?'
Driver said, 'Two left to do. One dedicated team on each. My fourth team is supplying the other teams and the fifth is keeping the rest of Mars ticking over.'
'Great. Any issues?'
Driver laughed. 'Where do I start? We couldn't make another cannon. All these changes have sucked up every last resource. We literally have nothing to work with and I don't need to state the obvious for fixing anything else.'
'Understood. Send me through a full inventory of everything you have. I also want a full list of all outstanding jobs, in priority order. Underscore anything critical for particular attention. I'm not promising...'
Driver slapped Potts on the back. 'Don't make promises you can't keep. I'll make those lists, Pottsy. I'll leave it to you to read between the lines.'
* * *
S anitation engineer, Ivor Potful, didn't mince anything much, especially words.
'Anton. If you think that
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