Trajectory Book 1 (New Providence) Read Online Free Page A

looked at him, expecting a reply. She had a grin on her face. Mancuso checked the time. Almost ten in the morning. “Acknowledge them. Then see if you can raise Bruno’s kids for them. I bet he’d appreciate a recording from his littlest.” They’d be in class now, but every once in awhile they let the class send up a hello from the colony. He wasn’t sure who enjoyed that more, the kids or the crews. He sure got a kick out of it though.
    Jill mimed some applause and turned back to her station, sending out the reply.
    He got up from his chair with a creak and a groan. “You have the deck, Mister Nolan. I have to get ready for my surprise party.” Heavy emphasis on the surprise.
    Nolan grinned at him with his excellent teeth and stood up. “Yes sir. Very much looking forward to it.”
    Mancuso sighed and headed anti-spinward for the exit. “And I don’t want any fuss, you understand?”
    “Oh no, sir. Wouldn’t dream of it.” More teeth as Nolan stood behind the commander’s chair watching him go.
 

006
    Making Time.
    After two days into the burn Jerem felt like he could move without injuring himself. Adjusting to gravity, even the gentle artificial gravity of their accelerating ship took care. It was exacerbated by his sore muscles from the weeks on the mining mission. He squeezed into the galley and grabbed a ration pack out of the locker and cracked the seal. He leaned against the ladder while it heated up.
    His dad called down from the cockpit with his raspy voice, “you out of your bunk?”
    “Yeah, Dad.” He almost choked on his bean stew. “Just grabbed a ration. You want anything?”
    “Come on up when you get a second.”
    “Alright.” He’d have to wait until he finished eating this. Can’t climb a ladder with an open ration. He squeezed out a hot mouthful and chewed it carefully, blowing out through his mouth around the chemically heated food threatening to melt a hole through his tongue. He swallowed and chased it with a big gulp of water. He felt a blister forming on the roof of his mouth with his tongue and winced. He blew into the packet, steam rising out of the opening and carefully squeezed another, smaller mouthful.
    Jerem finished eventually, taking his time while the stew cooled down and discarded the empty ration pack in the recycling bin. He hauled himself up past the bunks, all empty save for stowed supplies and equipment in the spares. They were only two on Making Time, but the standard ship design had room for a cramped six. Most of the ships in their fleet ran with three or four crew onboard. Hal had talked about taking on another crew member before but hadn’t for this run. Jerem figured he would soon, maybe their next outing.
    He climbed through the open hatch into the glowing cockpit, orange and blue lights illuminating the round control room. Panels and hatches lined the walls around them providing access to the control systems and electronics. “What’s up?” His mouth and tongue still tingling from the hot stew made his words sound thick to his ears.
    “Take a look at this.” Hal tapped the display in front of him on his console, his face illuminated in a blue cast from the screen below. The control sticks locked into position on either side of the station. An ancient mechanical gimbal stood still in the corner indicating steady flight.
    Jerem leaned around his father’s seat to take a look, taking a moment to make sense of the table of values on the display. He whistled when he figured it out.
    “Holy crap! I knew that felt light on extract, but had no idea.” The display had a highlighted line-item in the list of entries. It read 3% Titanium. Nearly half a tonne of it. The rest was mostly iron and nickel. Smaller amounts of gold, silver and copper were all under a single percentage of the total.
    “That’s gonna build us a lot of parts. It’s a great haul. We’ve flagged the rock for the next time it comes back around. It’s worth going back to.” Hal