Read Online Dark Run by Mike Brooks - Free Book Online Page B

replied, chewing on a strand of redblonde hair at the corner of her mouth. ‘Their ident’s an overlay, and a good one, but I can—’
    ‘Don’t,’ Drift said firmly, taking two quick steps to her terminal and planting a hand in the middle of her screen. She looked up at him, surprised.
    ‘But I thought we didn’t know—’
    ‘Let’s keep it that way,’ Drift told her quietly. ‘Two hundred grand says we don’t want to know that ship’s real name, or who it belongs to.’
    She stared at him for a moment, then shrugged. ‘Aye, Captain.’
    ‘You’re never normally that bothered ’ bout the contract conditions,’ Apirana rumbled. The big Maori was taking up most of the space in the cockpit doorway and watching the panorama of sky slowly move in front of them as Jia orientated them on the distant vessel.
    ‘I don’t normally stand to make this big a loss if someone decides we’ve broken the agreement,’ Drift told him, moving away from Jenna’s terminal.
    ‘Don’t really see how y’can lose something you ain’t got yet,’ Apirana shrugged, ‘but I catch your drift.’ He paused for a second, then grunted. ‘No pun intended.’
    Drift just nodded at him, and returned to hovering behind the pilot’s chair. Jia cast an exasperated look back up at him, then returned her attention to the read-outs in front of her.
    ‘I can pilot a ship without a babysitter, you know.’
    ‘I’m not watching you,’ Drift lied, although he was also scanning the darkness and trying to pick out every moving blink of light which might indicate another ship, looking for encirclement patterns. ‘Anyone shadowing us?’
    ‘No one on sensor,’ Jia replied, ‘so either we’re alone, they’re sitting on our pìgu so tight they’ll be getting a roasting from the thrusters, or they’ve got a perfect blind field.’
    ‘Good,’ Drift muttered. He looked out of the viewshield again. The winking star of the Gewitterwolke was starting to resolve into the multiple running lights of a vessel under power as they got closer, and he thought he could make out the faint gleam of surfaces reflecting the system’s star. ‘C’mon A., let’s get down to the cargo bay.’
    ‘Gotcha,’ the Maori replied, easing away from the door frame in a manner which reminded Drift vaguely of an iceberg he’d once seen calving from a glacier during a flight over the Polar Ocean of New Shinjuku. Watching the huge man’s broad back as they walked focused Drift’s mind on exactly what might happen if his gamble failed and his secret got out. How would a man with a temper as legendary as Apirana’s react?
    He felt his heartbeat quicken a little. ‘Actually, you go on. I’ll catch up in a second.’
    ‘’Kay,’ the Maori replied over his shoulder, and kept walking. Drift stepped sideways, palmed his cabin door open and slipped inside. He made a beeline for the bottle of whisky by his bunk and sloshed a measure into a glass, then sank it in one practised motion.
    The liquor burned its way down his throat and he felt his nerves loosen a little. He debated another shot, but decided against it. He was confident he knew his limits, but there was no point tempting fate. He just needed to get through this rendezvous, and then . . .
    Then what? Sit on a secret all the way to Old Earth, lying to my crew? He cast a rueful glance at the bottle. I don’t know if there’s enough whiskey on board.
    He took a deep breath. He was Captain Ichabod Drift now, and he didn’t need whisky. He just liked it. This ship was the closest thing to a stable home most of his crew had ever had, and it was his duty to them to keep it that way. It was in everyone’s best interests. That meant making sure Kelsier didn’t go telling tales which might damage their trust in him, and it meant getting the job done without anyone finding anything out which could link him to the old politician.
    Especially Micah. He’s the only one who’d know the name.
    He took another