Read Online The Road of Danger-ARC by David Drake - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: David Drake
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spoken—or almost spoken—out of turn. “Real spacers, I mean.”
“Cory got to the main point,” Daniel said, cutting off the discussion without raising his voice. “The Wilhelm ’s sailing master—”
The corvette had actually been renamed Demon of Fanti before liftoff, but Adele caught herself before she interrupted.
“—was from Cazador, but he’d drunk his way out of his captain’s license. The remaining officers were Bijalans, and the crew were whoever the Bijalans could hire from the waterfront in Kostroma City. I don’t imagine they were all spacers, and I’m certain that none of them were both sober and holding an able-bodied rating. Most were neither, I suspect.”
There was general laughter. Woetjans said, “Like Six said to start out, if that lot didn’t crash on liftoff, then Kostroma was the last planet they saw in their lives. So—”
She looked around.
“—when do we lift, sir?”
“In about eighteen hours, by my calculation,” said Daniel. Grinning broadly, he added, “But perhaps we should ask Former Principal Hrynko, the Sissie ’s new owner. Eh, Adele?”
Adele gave the room as warm a smile as her personality allowed. “I’ll discuss that matter with my officers,” she said, “but for now I think we can expect to lift in about eighteen hours. I should point out, however—”
They are my friends. They are more than friends, they’re my family .
“—that my yacht is named The House of Hrynko . I hope you’ll all remember that, and I hope that I will remember it also.”
The laughter resumed as Woetjans undogged the hatch to get to her duties.
CHAPTER 5: Holm on Kronstadt
There were six spaces reserved for Commanding Officers in front of the Operations Annex, three ahead and three behind the space marked Admiral; four were empty. Hogg pulled into one, rode up the curb, and straightened out. The car was half into the admiral’s spot, but Daniel was pretty sure that Cox wouldn’t arrive in the next few minutes.
Hogg looked at him truculently and said, “We’re bloody leaving the planet in a couple hours, aren’t we?”
Daniel got out with a smile. “Quite right, Hogg,” he said. He walked toward the entrance carrying the small chip case. “I don’t expect to be long.”
A blue pennant with the single silver star of a captain dangled from the standard on the car’s right fender. Closely examined, one would see that Hogg had picked out the previous name Cossack and embroidered Princess Cecile in its place. He wasn’t the most polished servant an RCN officer might have, but even in matters of display he was more useful than an outsider might have guessed from his scruffy exterior.
The four guards at the front door were spacers, not Marines. They watched those entering the building, probably checking uniforms, but they didn’t bother looking at IDs. That would have been a major bottleneck given the crush of traffic caused by the deployment warning order, as well as being a pointless waste of time.
The Operations Annex was a converted warehouse whose wooden floor held the odors from the spices which had been stored here in former days. Daniel stepped out of the doorway but then paused to close his eyes and take in the mixture of scents. He understood his fellow humans well enough to know that the personnel working here must complain bitterly about the stinking conditions, but to Daniel it was trip back to his childhood and Uncle Stacy’s tales of wondrous worlds among the stars.
Departures in holographic red letters hung over two consoles in front of an enclosed office in the corner. The bar which framed them was also of coherent light. A lieutenant in utilities talked heatedly to the enlisted clerk at the console on the right, but the other clerk was shifting data with no outside interference.
Until now , Daniel thought. Wearing a pleasant smile, he strode to the left-hand console, waited a polite moment, and then said, “Excuse me, technician. I’d
“Cory got to the main point,” Daniel said, cutting off the discussion without raising his voice. “The Wilhelm ’s sailing master—”
The corvette had actually been renamed Demon of Fanti before liftoff, but Adele caught herself before she interrupted.
“—was from Cazador, but he’d drunk his way out of his captain’s license. The remaining officers were Bijalans, and the crew were whoever the Bijalans could hire from the waterfront in Kostroma City. I don’t imagine they were all spacers, and I’m certain that none of them were both sober and holding an able-bodied rating. Most were neither, I suspect.”
There was general laughter. Woetjans said, “Like Six said to start out, if that lot didn’t crash on liftoff, then Kostroma was the last planet they saw in their lives. So—”
She looked around.
“—when do we lift, sir?”
“In about eighteen hours, by my calculation,” said Daniel. Grinning broadly, he added, “But perhaps we should ask Former Principal Hrynko, the Sissie ’s new owner. Eh, Adele?”
Adele gave the room as warm a smile as her personality allowed. “I’ll discuss that matter with my officers,” she said, “but for now I think we can expect to lift in about eighteen hours. I should point out, however—”
They are my friends. They are more than friends, they’re my family .
“—that my yacht is named The House of Hrynko . I hope you’ll all remember that, and I hope that I will remember it also.”
The laughter resumed as Woetjans undogged the hatch to get to her duties.
CHAPTER 5: Holm on Kronstadt
There were six spaces reserved for Commanding Officers in front of the Operations Annex, three ahead and three behind the space marked Admiral; four were empty. Hogg pulled into one, rode up the curb, and straightened out. The car was half into the admiral’s spot, but Daniel was pretty sure that Cox wouldn’t arrive in the next few minutes.
Hogg looked at him truculently and said, “We’re bloody leaving the planet in a couple hours, aren’t we?”
Daniel got out with a smile. “Quite right, Hogg,” he said. He walked toward the entrance carrying the small chip case. “I don’t expect to be long.”
A blue pennant with the single silver star of a captain dangled from the standard on the car’s right fender. Closely examined, one would see that Hogg had picked out the previous name Cossack and embroidered Princess Cecile in its place. He wasn’t the most polished servant an RCN officer might have, but even in matters of display he was more useful than an outsider might have guessed from his scruffy exterior.
The four guards at the front door were spacers, not Marines. They watched those entering the building, probably checking uniforms, but they didn’t bother looking at IDs. That would have been a major bottleneck given the crush of traffic caused by the deployment warning order, as well as being a pointless waste of time.
The Operations Annex was a converted warehouse whose wooden floor held the odors from the spices which had been stored here in former days. Daniel stepped out of the doorway but then paused to close his eyes and take in the mixture of scents. He understood his fellow humans well enough to know that the personnel working here must complain bitterly about the stinking conditions, but to Daniel it was trip back to his childhood and Uncle Stacy’s tales of wondrous worlds among the stars.
Departures in holographic red letters hung over two consoles in front of an enclosed office in the corner. The bar which framed them was also of coherent light. A lieutenant in utilities talked heatedly to the enlisted clerk at the console on the right, but the other clerk was shifting data with no outside interference.
Until now , Daniel thought. Wearing a pleasant smile, he strode to the left-hand console, waited a polite moment, and then said, “Excuse me, technician. I’d
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