Project Charon 2 by Patty Jansen (best interesting books to read TXT) 📕

Tina enquired at the guest accommodation anyway, but it was full, besides ridiculously overpriced, so she had to accept Thor’s offer.

Despite Rasa’s casual remarks, Tina thought there was a bit more going on between her and Rex, and she was not terribly happy to stay on board the ship with Finn. But over the long and boring trip to Aurora, Rasa had developed quite a good knowledge of the operation of the ship, and she got along well with Finn. Besides, the geese would be staying on board and she would need to keep them from attacking Finn, who would be reluctant to feed them, seeing as they had developed such a strong dislike for him.

Rasa had been given a time slot in which they were allowed to visit the resupply area and they needed to find a trolley to carry their stuff.

Tina supervised the refuelling operations. The station staff responsible were professionals who had probably always worked here and now continued to perform their job as before.

Pirate rule or no pirate rule, ships still needed to be refuelled safely.

She made sure that Finn was up to speed with all the ship operations, but he had proven himself a capable pilot during the journey.

Tina and Rex had to make sure that they took all the tech devices and information they needed off the ship so that they could access them while staying with Thor. Maps and databases had to be copied.

Rex’s harness computer had a huge capacity. Tina made copies of every imaginable bit of information that she thought might be of use, even stuff she thought they would never need. She asked Rex to break into and download as many maps and station databases as he could get, so he spent some time doing just that.

Jens helped him.

With the help of Jens, Rex could get into so many more places. Young as he was, Jens knew everything about the station’s computer systems.

Meanwhile, Thor conjured up a couple of primitive radios for communicating with each other without using the official channels. “Mind you, once you start using these, it’s my guess that they’ll upset part of the station’s communication channels and everyone in the station command room will be after you, so only use them in an emergency.”

Once the Alethia left the docks, Finn was to keep the ship close enough to the station to remain in range of the radio.

Tina and Finn worked through several scenarios in which they lost contact, the ship was forced to move or couldn’t come back to the station. Tina showed Finn all the manuals for mid-space docking and how to adapt the docking tube for non-standard vehicles. Many of these procedures she had never had to perform herself.

He listened and made notes.

This was what she liked in Finn. Having served in the military under the pressure of thousands of people dependent on his work, he was forced to consider every option in an unemotional way.

They made a long list of options and gave them priority numbers, so that in case communication failed, they would know which option either group was likely to have taken. They agreed that weapons was their weak point: they just didn’t have many. Tina wasn’t sure that carrying weapons in the station would be a good idea. She had the Fireseed she had confiscated at Kelso Station, but wasn’t keen on having it on her while walking through the station. All stations had rules against carrying weapons. When a routine check revealed you had weapons, it led to an investigation, during which you might be held if the authorities thought it was warranted. So: no weapons, because she didn’t want to run that risk.

The main priority would be to avoid situations where weapons would be necessary.

Meanwhile, the time slot for getting their supplies was approaching fast. They decided that everyone should go to get them except Finn, who really didn’t want to enter the station. It was probably best that someone stay at the ship anyway, so Tina didn’t mind. Thor and Jens insisted on coming, too, even though Tina said they could go home.

So she, Rex, Rasa, Thor and Jens went to collect the ship supplies. Tina had found a small trolley in the cargo hold, but doubted it would be big enough to carry everything they needed. They would probably have to make several trips.

The area surrounding the ship was a hive of activity, with station crews walking around, refuelling ships, and ship crew ferrying in supplies.

Tina and her companions followed the stream of people coming from a different area within the docks with crates of pre-packed rations and other essentials.

People were talking to each other in loud and happy voices, and a steady stream of people were coming down the hallway carrying all manner of things. They had electronics, furniture that someone had unbolted, and, strangely enough, sheets and blankets. On the corner of one of those, Tina spotted the insignia of the SF Manila.

“They’re coming from the Federacy ship. They’re looting it,” Tina said.

Ahead, they came to an entry tube that was wide open, and seemed to be the source of all those people.

“This is where we’re meant to get our supplies,” Rasa said, looking at her map. “This” meaning the wide dock space where the Manila lay moored.

“You’re kidding,” Tina said.

“No, that’s what it says on the instructions.”

“That’s right,” Jens said. “Out of anything the pirates bring to the station, they never let any part go to waste.”

Tina was horrified. “It looks like we can just go in.”

She tried to spot if there were any guards posted, but there didn’t seem to be any. The people walking in and out were just civilians, station residents and a mixture of seasoned merchants and irregular travellers. She even spotted young children going in.

“Let’s go,” Rasa said.

They followed the stream of people into the ship.

Tina struggled with feelings of sacrilege and betrayal. This was a secret ship.