Read Online Plague Planet (The Wandering Engineer) by Chris Hechtl - Free Book Online
Authors: Chris Hechtl
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people, he also knew it would haunt him. Molly's
death haunted him more because she had been his first friend in this time
period. He waffled a sigh, smiling a little at Dorah's concerned look.
Still, the crew looked good he thought, nodding to her. He was
curious if they'd gotten over their recruiting methods. The captain chose only
fallen women, or children, all human females. She rarely ever took a human male
in. Partly due to her and her core crew's experience in their home system of
New Dublin most likely. Being thought of as second class... hell, treated as
little more than a slave, an animal, sometimes brood mare with no rights by the
patriarchal males in the system had to be infuriating to a woman with her
mindset. How she had not been beaten down by that system was a testimony to her
character and stubborn will to not only live but thrive. Of course part of that
was spite too he recognized.
The captain... yes she was a piece of work. Her and her partner.
The purser had never let on that the two of them had been lovers, but he knew.
Hopefully Io had kept them on their toes, kept them growing after he'd left.
Io had left him in Pyrax, where he had other adventures. He sized
them up. From the look of them they had a few adventures of their own. They
were more... mature. Or at least some of them were, he thought. Some things
however never changed, he thought, hiding a slight smile at the antics behind
him.
He glanced over to Dorah and Hibiki. The almond eyed girl was
dragging the young man along but he wasn't nearly as reluctant as he was
pretending to be. At least that was how Irons read it. The boy was playing hard
to get, that was for sure, but it wasn't all ingrained, some of it was
definitely a way of play fighting with Dorah.
She in turned seemed slightly more mature, but only slightly. She
finally settled into hooking her arm through Hibiki's and snuggling up to him.
That got him moving faster, if only to get away from her and into the bar.
As they entered the bar he found out Io was picking through the
belt and had dropped them off as sort of an advanced party. Hibiki implied it
was to get the girls out of the captain's hair. They were leaving in a couple
hours and no he wasn't drinking.
The admiral nodded politely to the barkeep who waved to a semi
secluded booth off in the corner. It was dark but the leather seats were
relatively clean and intact. He nodded and took a seat with them, making sure
the ladies sat first.
The Chief of course sat with her back to the corner, eying the
room with a professional air. He saw her hand twitch, she of course was making
sure no one would come up behind her and she had a clear view... and clear
access to her weapon when or if needed. He nodded in approval when their eyes
briefly met. Her eyes cut away. His infrared caught a slight flush in her
cheeks.
He and the Chief hadn't been on good terms for most of his trip on
Io. In fact she'd done her level best to get rid of him for a while, usually
out an airlock without benefit of a suit. Eventually though she'd seen him as
an asset, and then to his amusement she and her Captain grandmother hadn't let
him leave for a while! He'd been amused and annoyed at the sudden paradigm
shift in her thinking.
When they had been forced to work together, first in various projects
related to ship's security but later in crises like the hostage rescue on
Centennial they had grown to a grudging respect of one another.
The barmaid came over and took their order, jotting it down with
chalk on a piece of slate before leaving. Irons snorted when Dorah caught
Hibiki looking and kicked his shin under the tile covered table.
“Some things never change. How are things?”
“Well...” she paused as the barmaid came with their order. The
admiral paid her and then nodded as she placed a bowl of stale pretzels in the
center of the table. He smiled politely and thanked the woman but she was
already gone.
They exchanged stories. They told him
death haunted him more because she had been his first friend in this time
period. He waffled a sigh, smiling a little at Dorah's concerned look.
Still, the crew looked good he thought, nodding to her. He was
curious if they'd gotten over their recruiting methods. The captain chose only
fallen women, or children, all human females. She rarely ever took a human male
in. Partly due to her and her core crew's experience in their home system of
New Dublin most likely. Being thought of as second class... hell, treated as
little more than a slave, an animal, sometimes brood mare with no rights by the
patriarchal males in the system had to be infuriating to a woman with her
mindset. How she had not been beaten down by that system was a testimony to her
character and stubborn will to not only live but thrive. Of course part of that
was spite too he recognized.
The captain... yes she was a piece of work. Her and her partner.
The purser had never let on that the two of them had been lovers, but he knew.
Hopefully Io had kept them on their toes, kept them growing after he'd left.
Io had left him in Pyrax, where he had other adventures. He sized
them up. From the look of them they had a few adventures of their own. They
were more... mature. Or at least some of them were, he thought. Some things
however never changed, he thought, hiding a slight smile at the antics behind
him.
He glanced over to Dorah and Hibiki. The almond eyed girl was
dragging the young man along but he wasn't nearly as reluctant as he was
pretending to be. At least that was how Irons read it. The boy was playing hard
to get, that was for sure, but it wasn't all ingrained, some of it was
definitely a way of play fighting with Dorah.
She in turned seemed slightly more mature, but only slightly. She
finally settled into hooking her arm through Hibiki's and snuggling up to him.
That got him moving faster, if only to get away from her and into the bar.
As they entered the bar he found out Io was picking through the
belt and had dropped them off as sort of an advanced party. Hibiki implied it
was to get the girls out of the captain's hair. They were leaving in a couple
hours and no he wasn't drinking.
The admiral nodded politely to the barkeep who waved to a semi
secluded booth off in the corner. It was dark but the leather seats were
relatively clean and intact. He nodded and took a seat with them, making sure
the ladies sat first.
The Chief of course sat with her back to the corner, eying the
room with a professional air. He saw her hand twitch, she of course was making
sure no one would come up behind her and she had a clear view... and clear
access to her weapon when or if needed. He nodded in approval when their eyes
briefly met. Her eyes cut away. His infrared caught a slight flush in her
cheeks.
He and the Chief hadn't been on good terms for most of his trip on
Io. In fact she'd done her level best to get rid of him for a while, usually
out an airlock without benefit of a suit. Eventually though she'd seen him as
an asset, and then to his amusement she and her Captain grandmother hadn't let
him leave for a while! He'd been amused and annoyed at the sudden paradigm
shift in her thinking.
When they had been forced to work together, first in various projects
related to ship's security but later in crises like the hostage rescue on
Centennial they had grown to a grudging respect of one another.
The barmaid came over and took their order, jotting it down with
chalk on a piece of slate before leaving. Irons snorted when Dorah caught
Hibiki looking and kicked his shin under the tile covered table.
“Some things never change. How are things?”
“Well...” she paused as the barmaid came with their order. The
admiral paid her and then nodded as she placed a bowl of stale pretzels in the
center of the table. He smiled politely and thanked the woman but she was
already gone.
They exchanged stories. They told him
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