Read Online Morgan's Return by Greta van Der Rol - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Greta van Der Rol
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human could, live for as long as the machine… No food, no sex, no love. Just like Artemis. Morgan shoved the thought away. Wiping the sweat off her brow, she struggled to her feet. Her legs felt like jelly. She grabbed at the chair's arm, while Ravindra steadied her.
"Jirra, I've got to go down to the engine room. Get a suit on and go out there and fix the starboard sensors. While you're there, check hull integrity."
Jirra was already on her feet. She saluted, a fist on her breast combined with a bow. " Mahodaya. "
Morgan glared at her. "Don't call me that. I'm not an officer."
Jirra's white teeth gleamed. "Sorry, Morgan. Habit." Having directed a neck bow at Ravindra, she was out the door before Morgan could say anything else. Jirra was good. She'd been the best of the engineers Morgan had trained, as well as being a first class combat officer. But Morgan had had a hell of a time convincing them to use just her name.
"I think it's time you got over it," Ravindra murmured, grinning. Morgan had complained to him often enough, that she didn't want to be seen as an officer, and he'd always responded the same way.
"Whatever. I've got work to do," Morgan said, gently extricating herself from his grasp.
"Before you go, can they follow us?"
"Maybe. Seventy-five percent no. They can if their guesses are lucky, and if they can be bothered. I'd expect them to shrug and move on to somebody easier, wouldn't you?"
"True. Is there anything I can do?"
"Stay up here with Captain Davaskar, and keep an eye on the scenery and the weapons systems. If our friend follows us, and finds us, we're sitting ducks."
She stepped through the hatch, then ran down the stairs two at a time to the lower decks. Down here, the hitch in the engine's usually smooth rumble was more obvious. Morgan wished she could go into machine mode and chase away the fears and the doubts, but they were part of being a human. Sometimes she could see all too easily how machines could take over. She wondered often if 'normal' Supertechs—the ones who did as they were told and didn't stir the pot—had those doubts.
Part of her was aware of Jirra floating out of the ship's hold into the long dark, her breathing regular and even, with just the slightest jump in heart rate when she left the safety of the ship. The human half of her sealed the engine room, shut down the main drive, then opened the service panel. The force of the missile's blow had knocked the impellers out of alignment. A few moments with a spanner had them back to where they should be. When they got back to the Coalition, she'd modify the plans to insulate the engines even more. On a bigger ship, this wouldn't have happened. While she was there Morgan checked the shift drive, too. If that had been damaged, they'd be in terrible trouble.
"Morgan, unknown vessel astern." Ravindra's voice cut into her thoughts.
"On it." The sensor data showed an energy trail, but not much more. Morgan hadn't had time to probe earlier. Nothing to see. The IDs were invisible, and so was the intruder's appearance, hidden behind its shields. Judging by the emissions and its maneuverability the ship was a fighter. Then again, could you class Curlew as a fighter? It was fast and maneuverable.
"Morgan, can we get out of here?" Ravindra asked.
"We can. As soon as Jirra's on board."
Morgan connected with the sensors. Jirra had a few meters left to go to the air lock, but the raider was coming. Fast. Curlew was a sitting target.
"Shift drive on stand-by." Morgan powered up the shift drive and reset the jump coordinates for Torreno in the navigation system.
Come on, Jirra, hurry up. With the main drive shut down, the shields hadn't recovered, still operating at less than twenty-five percent. If the ship was hit again, they'd be history.
Her hands felt clammy, her heart thudded too fast. It wouldn't do her any good standing here. Morgan raced back up to the bridge in time to see Ravindra loose a missile, aiming a calculated
"Jirra, I've got to go down to the engine room. Get a suit on and go out there and fix the starboard sensors. While you're there, check hull integrity."
Jirra was already on her feet. She saluted, a fist on her breast combined with a bow. " Mahodaya. "
Morgan glared at her. "Don't call me that. I'm not an officer."
Jirra's white teeth gleamed. "Sorry, Morgan. Habit." Having directed a neck bow at Ravindra, she was out the door before Morgan could say anything else. Jirra was good. She'd been the best of the engineers Morgan had trained, as well as being a first class combat officer. But Morgan had had a hell of a time convincing them to use just her name.
"I think it's time you got over it," Ravindra murmured, grinning. Morgan had complained to him often enough, that she didn't want to be seen as an officer, and he'd always responded the same way.
"Whatever. I've got work to do," Morgan said, gently extricating herself from his grasp.
"Before you go, can they follow us?"
"Maybe. Seventy-five percent no. They can if their guesses are lucky, and if they can be bothered. I'd expect them to shrug and move on to somebody easier, wouldn't you?"
"True. Is there anything I can do?"
"Stay up here with Captain Davaskar, and keep an eye on the scenery and the weapons systems. If our friend follows us, and finds us, we're sitting ducks."
She stepped through the hatch, then ran down the stairs two at a time to the lower decks. Down here, the hitch in the engine's usually smooth rumble was more obvious. Morgan wished she could go into machine mode and chase away the fears and the doubts, but they were part of being a human. Sometimes she could see all too easily how machines could take over. She wondered often if 'normal' Supertechs—the ones who did as they were told and didn't stir the pot—had those doubts.
Part of her was aware of Jirra floating out of the ship's hold into the long dark, her breathing regular and even, with just the slightest jump in heart rate when she left the safety of the ship. The human half of her sealed the engine room, shut down the main drive, then opened the service panel. The force of the missile's blow had knocked the impellers out of alignment. A few moments with a spanner had them back to where they should be. When they got back to the Coalition, she'd modify the plans to insulate the engines even more. On a bigger ship, this wouldn't have happened. While she was there Morgan checked the shift drive, too. If that had been damaged, they'd be in terrible trouble.
"Morgan, unknown vessel astern." Ravindra's voice cut into her thoughts.
"On it." The sensor data showed an energy trail, but not much more. Morgan hadn't had time to probe earlier. Nothing to see. The IDs were invisible, and so was the intruder's appearance, hidden behind its shields. Judging by the emissions and its maneuverability the ship was a fighter. Then again, could you class Curlew as a fighter? It was fast and maneuverable.
"Morgan, can we get out of here?" Ravindra asked.
"We can. As soon as Jirra's on board."
Morgan connected with the sensors. Jirra had a few meters left to go to the air lock, but the raider was coming. Fast. Curlew was a sitting target.
"Shift drive on stand-by." Morgan powered up the shift drive and reset the jump coordinates for Torreno in the navigation system.
Come on, Jirra, hurry up. With the main drive shut down, the shields hadn't recovered, still operating at less than twenty-five percent. If the ship was hit again, they'd be history.
Her hands felt clammy, her heart thudded too fast. It wouldn't do her any good standing here. Morgan raced back up to the bridge in time to see Ravindra loose a missile, aiming a calculated