Rebel (Rebel Stars Book 0) Read Online Free Page B

hadn't hit it from the perfect angle, we never would have spotted it."
    Parson bent over his device. "This is pretty vague. Could be nothing more than an intrusion of rock. Glaciers can carve out some strange shapes. How did you find this?"
    "It's from the scans I took when we were looking to set down," Genner said. "I was killing time going over them. Seeing if I could add any more landing pads to our map."
    "Here's the real question: even if there is a ship down there, is it worth digging up?"
    "The salvage could be worth something."
    "Salvage on an obsolete ship?"
    "It's not just the opportunity for salvage," Rada butted in. "Anything buried that deep almost has to be old. Could be from the dawn of the Second Space Age. For all we know, it's from the first ."
    Parson's voice climbed an octave. "You think this could be Pre-Virus?"
    "I know that if it were, it would be worth millions."
    "Millions?" Stem said.
    The captain sighed. "Is anyone not listening in?"
    "This supposed to be a private channel?" Karry said.
    "Patching up the Turtle's gonna cost an ugly buck, Cap," Stem said. "We already got the gear to dig it out."
    Parson chuckled. "That gear is for grinding rock out of other rock. Digging a ship out intact, you're talking about painstaking work."
    "Law of the Inky Void," Rada said. "Do you lay claim to this as our captain, sir? Or do you waive your rights to it?"
    "You people are serious, aren't you? You realize this is probably nothing more than an iron-heavy meteorite. And that your enthusiasm for it is nothing more than a way to vent the emotions stirred up by the attack."
    "Like make-up sex," Karry said.
    Rada snorted. "Except with more pirates."
    "Speak for yourself."
    "Answer the lady's question!" Stem barked. "You want it or not?"
    "A couple hours ago, all you people could talk about was how we were about to die." He cleared his throat. "I hereby claim this find in the name of the Box Turtle and its present crew."
    A cheer erupted in both carts. Rada didn't make a habit of ranking a sound's appeal, but it was without doubt the best noise she'd heard in days.
     
    ~
     
    The rescue came on schedule. The ship was an old bastard—not in the sense that it was ancient and beat up, though it was, but in the sense it had been designed to pull double duty as both a mining/hauling barge and as a general recon/transport vessel. Its crew were independents like themselves. They asked nine hundred different questions about the pirate attack, sympathizing mightily. The Box Turtle's crew answered readily but kept mum about the shadow beneath the ice.
    Triton had a few settlements, but they were in the market for a repair crew, so the OB delivered them to Skylon, the moon's major mining orbital. This had started life as a spin-gravity ring, but had been supplemented with a series of unsexy boxes as soon as it had gotten artificial gravity. They made port. While they thanked the rescue team, Parson paid up, which included a low upfront fee and a cut of their next few mining gigs. Rada sniffed the air. Skylon always smelled acidic, like a crude cleaning product.
    Once the OB's people shuffled off, Parson turned to his crew. "I'm going to have my hands full overseeing the Turtle . Try not to get in too much trouble in the meantime, okay?"
    "Any idea how long it'll take to patch it up?" Rada said.
    "You know how engines are. Could be three days, could be three months."
    Genner tipped back her head. "Their first estimate sounded optimistic. 'A few pinholes to plug up.'"
    "Assuming those didn't cause any deeper damage." He held up his palms. "I'll keep you in the loop. Don't be running off. Not if you want to see what Nereid's been preserving for us."
    Rada saluted informally, reaching across her body to touch the side of her hip where people had once worn swords. Parson returned the gesture and strode off, already making another call on his device.
    Stem spread his feet and crossed his arms, gazing at the elevators that would take