Read Online Relic Tech (Crax War Chronicles) by Terry W. Ervin II - Free Book Online Page B

She took my hand and held it a moment. “I know,” she assured me. She pointed to her head. “All we are is up here. You’re risking it. And you don’t know for who, or why.”
    I slowly nodded. The pain had spiked and was receding.
    “I am sorry for my failing,” said the doctor. “I know what it will do to you.”
    “Son,” said the captain. “You’re a man of character. That’s evident. I wouldn’t just say that. Of course you didn’t do those things. I know it. Karlton Simms knew it. You know it too.”
    I said to Vingee, “I never intended to back out.”
    “You were right,” she whispered. “I didn’t understand. Not fully.”
    The monitors fell silent. My chest lightened, although the throbbing in my head didn’t abate much. “That little episode probably whittled a week off of my life expectancy, Dr. Goldsen.” Then I asked Captain Hollaway, “When do we visit Io?”
    “Shuttle’s ready,” he said. “As soon as you show up. Sorry, I won’t be able to accompany you. But these two ladies will escort you.”
    “And two of your most violent marines, I’m told,” said Dr. Goldsen.
    “Affirmative.”
    “They’re welcome, of course,” I said. “But I’ve got Agent Vingee. If she’s half as good as Director Simms, they won’t be necessary.”
    Vingee placed her right hand over her pistol and winked. “Time to go.” She moved behind the bed.
    Dr. Goldsen prepared my bed for travel by making quick disconnections and reattachments.
    Captain Hollaway spoke into his watch. “Fitch, Neville get in here.” Two fully armed marines entered. “Don’t worry, Specialist,” said the captain. “The Evanescent Thunder will keep her guns ready on your way down.”
    “I suspect the Umbelgarri might have a few nasties ready,” I said, “for any inquisitive vessels in the area. Only for back up, of course.”
    Captain Hollaway laughed but gently shook my hand. “Let’s be about it, marines,” he said. “The ever popular Falshire Hawks is waiting.”
    “Yes, sir,” the marines said in unison, and led me out.
    “Hawks is down there?” I asked.
    “He is,” said Vingee.
    “I bet he’ll be glad to see me.”
    Vingee snorted a laugh. After that, everyone was silent on the way to the shuttle.
    Patrol gunboats are less than ninety yards in length and we started amidship, moving aft. We spent half the travel time in the elevator. It took two trips to get everyone down to the shuttle bay.
    The aging military ground assault shuttle sat ready to go. While the nose remained smooth and polished, the boxy body displayed multiple battle scars and patching. The interior had been prepared for my bed and needs. Dr. Goldsen looked out of place in the military atmosphere, with laser carbines and armored vests secured to the walls.
    Sergeant Fitch and the doctor spread a sturdy gauze netting over my legs and torso, leaving my head and arms free. They attached the netting to the bed. The locking mechanism’s clack signaled Neville had immobilized my bed.
    Sergeant Fitch checked to see that everyone was properly strapped in their seat. “No grav plates in this old bird,” he remarked while tightening his own straps.
    From his perch in the dorsal turret, the pulse laser gunner focused a roving eye on Agent Vingee, which she worked to ignore. I tapped Fitch and motioned, indicating the situation. The sergeant’s threatening glare encouraged the gunner to focus his attention elsewhere.
    My mind wandered as we traveled to the Io Colony. What is it about tall women? I’d read about the economic success of a booming resort business. Some nameless entrepreneur had set up an orbiting space dock in the 70 Virginis system almost twelve years ago and named it the Celestial Unicorn Palace. Some men, enough men, have been willing to travel dozens of light years to vacation with seven foot blondes built like exotic dancers. Frequent holo-cast advertisements show dozens of enormous, voluptuous blondes chanting the