Read Online Steven Gordon 3: The Modloch Empire by J. W. Murison - Free Book Online
Authors: J. W. Murison
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beamed down to Mya’s new residence.
CHAPTER 11
It had been a few days since Steven had
pushed the panic button on the financial crisis and, despite
hundreds of people working on the problem, still no solution had
presented itself. Even the King had drawn a blank. The Emperor had
simply side-stepped his questions, telling him not to worry about
it.
As the meetings became more secretive,
Steven dismissed Charlie. Colonel Howe and Beaver had taken over
the duty of escorting Steven around the fleet. Charlie had been
glad of the break at first but soon became bored. It seemed that
everyone was busy and had some other job to do in their down time.
Everyone except for him. Kelly had been requested as an instructor
by the commanding officer of a new contingent of troops that
arrived just a few days ago.
Charlie changed into civilian clothes
for the first time in months and Babes beamed him down to a mall in
the big city below. Strange beasts flowed around him. All knew he
was of a meat-eating race and some females even ran from him in
fear. There was more than Modloch present. Other and more colourful
creatures wandered around the giant mall. He discovered he was
being shadowed by a number of security guards. After listening to
their thoughts for a few minutes he decided it might be better if
he went back to the ship.
As he turned a corner Babes beamed him
up. He could imagine the panic his sudden disappearance would cause
the guards. Back on board the ship he soon became restless again
and had Babes beam him over to the city ship. He found the Chief
deep in the engine room.
‘ Hey freak, what are
you doing?’
‘ Day off and bored to
tears Chief, what about you?’
‘ Trying to fix some
of these generators you bloody Scots wrecked as you tore up my
engine room.’
Charlie looked up at the damaged
generators. They were huge. ‘Oh yeah. We would shoot a few holes in
them to shower sparks down on the Albany that were hiding there. It
flushed them out.’
The Chief scowled down at him, ‘Was it
really necessary to take out so many of them?’
Charlie scratched his head, ‘Seemed
like a good idea at the time. Can’t you replace them?’
The Chief snorted, ‘Yeah, will I just
pop over to the Albany embassy and ask them to send over some
replacements?’
‘ Aye OK smartarse, I
got your drift.’
‘ We are having to
fabricate parts from scratch. The trouble is some of the parts are
so badly damaged we can’t replicate them. If the Emperor dropped
off the outer rings, we would have enough power for the rest of the
city. You don’t want to hear what he said when I suggested
that.’
‘ How much of the city
have you power for?’
‘ All of it until you
activate the shields and weapons. Then just over sixty per
cent.’
‘ What’s the chances
of you having to use them within your own borders?’
‘ Not the point,
Charlie.’
Charlie sighed, ‘Yeah I get it.’
‘ Especially with the
Emperor on board. Neither will we leave the home world until the
work is complete.’
‘ Can’t you just
install some of your own?’
‘ There are generators
out there that could be converted, or we could have some custom
built. It would only take a few days at most. Not going to happen
though.’
‘ Let me guess, the
Emperor is a cheap bastard.’
The Chief barked a laugh, ‘How did you
guess! So its repair and make do for now.’
There was a howl and a yelp from
somewhere inside the generator. It was followed by a loud clang of
metal; a large spanner slid into sight and stopped at their
feet.
‘ For the love of the
three moons that orbit my arsehole! That’s the third time those
idiots have dropped it.’ Charlie was still laughing as the junior
engineers slid into sight following the same route as the huge
spanner. The Chief ripped into them as they struggled to lift it.
He stopped his tirade for a moment and eyed up Charlie.
‘ Charlie, would you
mind helping out a little? These two are just too big and
CHAPTER 11
It had been a few days since Steven had
pushed the panic button on the financial crisis and, despite
hundreds of people working on the problem, still no solution had
presented itself. Even the King had drawn a blank. The Emperor had
simply side-stepped his questions, telling him not to worry about
it.
As the meetings became more secretive,
Steven dismissed Charlie. Colonel Howe and Beaver had taken over
the duty of escorting Steven around the fleet. Charlie had been
glad of the break at first but soon became bored. It seemed that
everyone was busy and had some other job to do in their down time.
Everyone except for him. Kelly had been requested as an instructor
by the commanding officer of a new contingent of troops that
arrived just a few days ago.
Charlie changed into civilian clothes
for the first time in months and Babes beamed him down to a mall in
the big city below. Strange beasts flowed around him. All knew he
was of a meat-eating race and some females even ran from him in
fear. There was more than Modloch present. Other and more colourful
creatures wandered around the giant mall. He discovered he was
being shadowed by a number of security guards. After listening to
their thoughts for a few minutes he decided it might be better if
he went back to the ship.
As he turned a corner Babes beamed him
up. He could imagine the panic his sudden disappearance would cause
the guards. Back on board the ship he soon became restless again
and had Babes beam him over to the city ship. He found the Chief
deep in the engine room.
‘ Hey freak, what are
you doing?’
‘ Day off and bored to
tears Chief, what about you?’
‘ Trying to fix some
of these generators you bloody Scots wrecked as you tore up my
engine room.’
Charlie looked up at the damaged
generators. They were huge. ‘Oh yeah. We would shoot a few holes in
them to shower sparks down on the Albany that were hiding there. It
flushed them out.’
The Chief scowled down at him, ‘Was it
really necessary to take out so many of them?’
Charlie scratched his head, ‘Seemed
like a good idea at the time. Can’t you replace them?’
The Chief snorted, ‘Yeah, will I just
pop over to the Albany embassy and ask them to send over some
replacements?’
‘ Aye OK smartarse, I
got your drift.’
‘ We are having to
fabricate parts from scratch. The trouble is some of the parts are
so badly damaged we can’t replicate them. If the Emperor dropped
off the outer rings, we would have enough power for the rest of the
city. You don’t want to hear what he said when I suggested
that.’
‘ How much of the city
have you power for?’
‘ All of it until you
activate the shields and weapons. Then just over sixty per
cent.’
‘ What’s the chances
of you having to use them within your own borders?’
‘ Not the point,
Charlie.’
Charlie sighed, ‘Yeah I get it.’
‘ Especially with the
Emperor on board. Neither will we leave the home world until the
work is complete.’
‘ Can’t you just
install some of your own?’
‘ There are generators
out there that could be converted, or we could have some custom
built. It would only take a few days at most. Not going to happen
though.’
‘ Let me guess, the
Emperor is a cheap bastard.’
The Chief barked a laugh, ‘How did you
guess! So its repair and make do for now.’
There was a howl and a yelp from
somewhere inside the generator. It was followed by a loud clang of
metal; a large spanner slid into sight and stopped at their
feet.
‘ For the love of the
three moons that orbit my arsehole! That’s the third time those
idiots have dropped it.’ Charlie was still laughing as the junior
engineers slid into sight following the same route as the huge
spanner. The Chief ripped into them as they struggled to lift it.
He stopped his tirade for a moment and eyed up Charlie.
‘ Charlie, would you
mind helping out a little? These two are just too big and
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