Oklahoma Salvage Read Online Free

Reactor online . The positive pressure test
is green, and Gulls are up. Foils are standing
by.”
    Dave’s seat slid forward as he spoke,
“Can you fly? You sure sound like you have co-piloted.”
    “ Yes. Sometimes Mark needs
help bringing auction items home. I’ve even been to the moon for
stuff.” She sighed, “I wish I could do more auction work.
I’m kind of stuck in the store.” Still scanning the
status board, she noticed the comms systems were all green.
“Comms too? You are good!”
    “ I haven’t tested them
yet. No call sign, no ship ident codes,” Dave said,
trying to seem busy with something else.
    “ I can test it with my
call sign if you want. I do it all the time from here. From the
bench in the shop.” She reached towards the transmit controls but
waited for permission.
    He stared blankly at the console for a
moment, saying nothing. Alex knew the look. He was consulting
something in a Heads Up Display.
    “ Why not? Be cool, though.” He smiled.
    His smile didn’t go all the way to his
eyes. Alex felt unnerved but didn’t know why. She set a frequency
and activated the system. “Alexandra3737 for a radio
check.”
    Immediately the comms
responded with a voice that had a thick Texas drawl, “Alex… how
ya doin’ .”
    “ Doing fine Mikey, how’s
the signal?” Alex replied.
    “ Signal good, power good,
encryption is tight. Want to know how tight?”
    “ Not really, Mikey. I’m
here with a customer,” Alex responded.
    “ Oh… er… sorry, Alex. It
all looks good. Full freq cycle,” Mikey stammered.
    “ Thanks, Mikey. Say hi to
your mom for me.”
    “ Will do.” The connection
dropped.
    “ You’re good on comms, ” she said. “Mikey hit frequency switching encryption to test
the spectrum. We do this a lot. You should be golden on all
channels.”
    “ Thanks, Alex. That was
easy. I was scratching my head a bit on that.”
    It told Alex way more than
Dave realized. He was actively trying to keep this whole rig
off-the-books. Alex had been doing the same thing for years. She’d
never even gotten a
HUD. No way to stay off-grid once you plug
that in. Comms in an ear cuff was good enough for her. She could
take it off and leave it behind.
    While thinking this, she noticed that the power systems were all up and green for
the empty AI rack. “You should keep the rack cold if it’s
not being
used . Open leads can be bad. Shorts, fires
and shit. I even accidentally electrified a floor plate
once.”
    Dave looked over at the status board
and got that look again for an instant. “I secured all the leads.
Harv said he might have a local in-system nav unit that might work
in there. I had to make sure there was power before he went off
looking. You ready?”
    She nodded and watched the panel as
the Gulls deployed and the foils activated. The ship began to rise
in a vertical take-off.
    “ One meter per second.
Three meters per second,” she said. The salvage yard fell away
around them. Visibility wasn’t good on this thing. Looking directly
down Alex saw five more ammo cans as the tarp that covered
them blew aside. It made her wonder. She shook it off. None of her
business.
    Dave began a simple
rotation as they rose. “Looks good so far . Foil balance is
good. Uniform 46% utility remains.”
    Alex tapped the console to see if it
changed. “Forty-six percent will last you years, even if there is
daily use. With that Ball-Reactor up, it will last longer still. It
will charge at light speed,” she said as Dave began a slow drift
toward the shop. “Come on, Dave. Knock the dust off this thing.”
She smiled at him. Daring him.
    “ OK. Hold on.” He slid the
thrusters’ control forward. And soon they were going 200kph over
the open desert. Leaving the yard behind.
    “ How’s it feel? ” she asked.
    “ The controls feel like
shit. Can aerodynamics get any worse? Manual says it should cruise
at 600kph. You hear that?” Dave asked. There was a rapid hammering
or rattle coming from