Countdown by John Walker (feel good fiction books txt) 📗

“Maybe they were worried about what might happen back there,” Lyson said. “What would happen if Alden died?”

Borden considered that for a long moment. The Gold Empire military might find itself in chaos. Leaving their fate up in the air. Who would be in charge? With no one ready to step in, there’d be some internal conflict until the politicians figured it out. Hopping into the capital may have been a bad plan.

“I see your point,” Borden said. “We could be here to lay low. I wonder how long we’re expected to stay, though.” He checked the scans for a buoy. It appeared offline. “Shit! We can’t even send a message out of here without bringing that thing back online. I’m okay at knocking them out, but bringing them back? Not so much.”

“Between Vic and me,” Lyson replied, “we can figure something out. I’ll get him up here in a minute. You’ll want to close the gap on it. Proximity will increase speed. I’m assuming you want to get word back to our people to find out what happened? See if we can proceed to a civilized system?”

“Bingo.”

“Right. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Borden fired up the engines, altering course to intercept the buoy. It wasn’t transmitting, but the reactor remained online at low power mode. That gave him some hope that it might not be such a big deal to fix it. Assuming my computer people are all they say they are. He smirked at the thought. I’m keeping that comment to myself.

Vic came back with Lyson. They were in the middle of a conversation about the best method of connecting with the buoy. Borden ignored them until they began flipping switches behind him, getting deep into the technical jargon. He glanced back.

“You already connected or just theorizing back there?”

“Performing a diagnostic sweep,” Vic replied. “There may be no point in going there if we… oh shit.”

“What?” Borden asked, twisting in his seat in an effort to see what they were looking at. He couldn’t. “What’s wrong? What do you see?”

“Reactor’s online,” Lyson said. “But this thing is old as hell. The transmitters are fried. I don’t suppose we have any replacements in the ship?”

Borden huffed. “You kidding?”

“Hold on.” Vic brought something up on the front HUD. “Check that out. The station must be here to service the area. They’ve got a fuel depot and plenty of parts. Life readings… are… minimal.”

“That doesn’t mean abandoned,” Lyson said. “And they haven’t hailed us as far as I know so any interaction with that place seems like it’ll be unnecessarily risky.”

“You got an alternative?” Vic asked. “Someone sent us here, they must know the place is safe. We hop over, let them know we want to fix the buoy, grab the parts, and get to work. Simple.”

“Oh boy.” Borden shook his head. “If only things ever went that smoothly. I’m happy to communicate with them. Find out what’s going on, but we can’t plan a trip unless we know it’ll work out.”

“Let me go,” Vic said. “Even if they’re hostile, this is what I do. Get in and out.”

Lyson replied, “Analysis of the buoy is done. Looks like some burned-out circuit boards. They’re not huge. You bring back a few, we can swap them out in no more than a couple hours tops.” She turned to Borden. “If you think he can do it, then I’d say we try. Better this place that we have a good idea of what’s going on than risk another jump.”

“Yeah.” Borden stared at the scans for the station. He really didn’t like the fact there were life forms but no contact yet. With the buoy out, they should’ve been gagging for aid. And if they have any starships aboard, they could’ve fixed the thing themselves. Maybe he wasn’t being fair. Technicians may have been in short supply.

How dangerous can it be for Vic? Borden looked back at the man. And do I give a shit?

“We have to be honest about something,” Borden said. “What if you can’t make it in and out of there? What do we do for you? Because no one on this boat can come looking for you.”

“What’s going on?” Hayes shouted just before she stepped onto the bridge. “You guys know we’ve got scared civilians back there, right? They’re kind of freaking out about what’s going on.”

“We’re working that out,” Borden said. “Well, Vic?”

“I can do it,” Vic replied, “and if it doesn’t work out, if you have to leave without me, then that’s fine too. I’m thinking the people on that station want help and are afraid to ask.”

“Supplies might be low,” Lyson added. “In which case, they’re going to need some comms sooner than later.”

“Alright.” Borden nodded. “Move aside for Hayes to get her seat.” She pushed through to sit beside him. “You’d better prep up. When we get closer, I’ll hail them for a chat. Until then, Doctor… why don’t you do your best to calm our passengers down? We’ll do what we have to from up here.”

“Sounds good.” Lyson took off with Vic, leaving the two pilots alone.

“We’re going to the station,” Hayes said, “right?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Parts for the buoy?”

Borden smirked. “How’d you know?”

“I scanned it while I was down below. I figured that had to be the only reason we cared. You sure this is a good idea?”

“It’s a terrible idea,” Borden replied. “It has some merit, though. The people there might need our help. And if we were sent here for a reason, then we’ll be doing the Gold Empire a favor.”

“If it turns out to be dangerous?”

“Vic knows the risks. He made it clear we can bail on him.”

“Providing we don’t go inside a hangar,” Hayes pointed out. “Because then we could