HAB 12 (Scrapyard Ship) Read Online Free Page A

answer.
    Admiral Reynolds took the basket and placed several pieces at the side of his plate. He thought for a moment and shrugged.
    “Got it to turn over.”
    “Seriously? That’s something,” Jason commented.
    “Timing’s still shot to shit, but … yeah.”
    “So, a few more days under the hood?”
    “Need to scrounge a few more old parts from the yard. There’s another old F1 pickup out there somewhere—think it’s a ‘48er, though,” his father replied.
    Jason nodded and said, “Northeast corner of the yard. Look for the old blue Econovan. You’ll see it.” Jason took another slurp of spaghetti before continuing: “I’m headed back to the outpost tomorrow. You okay here by yourself for a while?”
    His father didn’t answer right away. “Hmm … I don’t know. I mean, after sixty years of wiping my own ass, I might need your help.”
    “I just meant—”
    “I know what you meant. Go. I’m fine.”
    Somewhere, not so far away, a dog barked—then two others barked back. A woman’s voice yelled “ Dinner!” farther off in the distance.
    “I talked to Brian this morning,” Jason said. He noticed his father looked up from his plate for the first time.
    “What the hell did he have to say?”
    “Just that Earth will be free of the Craing forever. All they want is their emperor back.”
    “Emperor being Ricket…?”
    “Yep.”
    “Your mother, God rest her soul, must have been screwing the milkman, because there’s no way I share the same DNA with that boy,” his father said with a smirk and a shake of his head.
    “He honestly believes in what he’s doing,” Jason replied, encouraged by his father’s unexpected chattiness.
    “He’s thinking from a flawed perspective. He’s thinking with his head up his own ass.”
    Jason thought about that for a moment and started to laugh. Then so did his father. They sat together laughing a little while longer as the sun dipped behind the San Bernardino foothills.

Chapter 3
     
    Jason awoke early the next morning. He’d started sleeping in his childhood bedroom again and wondered why he had been so reluctant to do so. While it was still dark out, he stumbled his way to the hall bathroom and got the shower going. The old water heater had seen its best days, taking longer and longer each morning to come back alive. It would be easier to just stay on board The Lilly , but he wanted to provide Mollie with some semblance of a normal home life when she stayed with him. Both Mollie and his ex-wife Nan were returning from a prolonged trip to Washington later tonight. Part summer vacation for Mollie, part work for Nan. Reluctantly, she had agreed to become the legal envoy between the Earth Outpost for the United Planetary Alliance and various allied governments around the world, but mostly from Washington’s directive.
    As Jason stood beneath the now steady stream of hot water, he noticed several inches of water accumulating at his feet. Terrific, roots! They’d begun to invade the old pipes under the house years ago, but lately the problem had worsened. Just one more thing needing fixing around here. Maybe he should rebuild the house. He’d think about it when things got back to normal. If things got back to normal.
    To Jason’s surprise, his father, dressed in his admiral spacer’s jumpsuit, was sitting at the kitchen table.
    “Here, I made you a cup of coffee,” his father said, sliding the still steaming cup across the table.
    “Thanks.” Jason, standing, took a long sip. Eyeing his father’s uniform, he asked, “So, had enough of the old ‘49?”
    “For now. It’ll still be here after we crush the Craing.”
    “Yes, it will … Hell, I may even help you with it.”
     
    * * *
     
    All eyes were on them as Jason and the admiral entered the bridge together.
    A bosun’s whistle blew and The Lilly AI announced, “Captain on deck.”
    Jason took the command chair while Admiral Reynolds sat to his right and slightly behind him. Ensign