The Alpha Protocol: Alpha Protocol Book 1 by Duncan Hamilton (free ebook reader for iphone .TXT) 📗

his little crew. With nothing to do but think of the loss of all their comrades, not to mention the psychological impact of being among the first to encounter signs of alien life in the universe, they had grown quiet and sullen.

Hard work was the only solution available to Samson, and he now had plenty of that to put them to before their spirits could sink any deeper.

‘I’ve received new orders from Frontier Command,’ Samson said. ‘Alpha Protocol has been invoked.’ He looked around, and from the reaction, he could see everyone there knew what that meant.

‘We’re to use whatever resources the depot has,’ he continued, ‘to make the Bounty as mission-ready as possible to investigate the destruction of the Sidewinder and the unidentified objects found on the Bounty. That means we’ve got some work to do, including but not limited to upgrading comms, sensors, power cells, and mounting the two Gauss guns that Command informs me are in the depot’s stores. In addition, I want the hull reinforced wherever possible—over crew areas in particular—and any other modifications or improvements you feel will contribute to making her mission effective.

‘The Bounty has plenty of cargo space that we don’t need, so let’s use it to power her up and put some teeth on her. After that, we’re to make all speed for the Oculus system and patrol until we are relieved by the Peterson. Command has made it very clear to me how seriously they are taking this, and right now we are on point. Any questions?’

‘How long do we have to make the modifications?’ Vachon said.

‘I want to be underway in forty-eight hours,’ Samson said. ‘I think that’s as long as we can afford to delay.’

‘In that case, I think we should try to get the Bounty into dry dock in the hangar bay. The drones will work faster in a pressurised environment, and we will too.’

‘Agreed,’ Samson said. ‘I’ve also been promoted to acting lieutenant commander. Lieutenant Price,’ he said, stretching a smile across his face in the hope of lightening the mood, ‘I’m sorry, but I’ve still no word on your promotion.’

Price chuckled, but that was all Samson got. Perhaps the joke was getting old. ‘Harper is to remain incarcerated on the depot. I will bring the Bounty into the depot’s cargo bay. Mister Vachon, you’re the engineering specialist. Other than any guidance on mission requirements you need from me, you can consider yourself in charge of the refit for the next forty-eight hours. We’re all going to have to get our hands dirty to make this happen, so you let us know what you need done, and we’ll do it.

‘Additionally, the Bounty has been given naval designation. She’s now the TUS Bounty. Everyone clear?’

There was a resounding ‘aye’ from everyone there. It was amazing what a project and a deadline could do for focus.

18

Samson watched the edges of the hangar bay opening; it seemed perilously small as he got closer. The Bounty squeezed in with only centimetres to spare on either side. He impressed himself with the precision of his piloting. Because the Bounty was so large, and so close to the cargo bay door’s dimensions, the depot’s tractor magnet refused to play along, with its safety limits preventing its use. Thus they had to do it the old-fashioned way. Still, he thought, all’s well that ends well. It would have been embarrassing if his first act as a lieutenant commander had been to crash the ship into the depot.

Once satisfied that she was safely in, he shut the outer doors, then pressurised the hangar bay. He could see gas blasting from the vents along the wall, and watched the flashing red indicator light until it finally turned a solid green. As soon as everything was showing as normal, he got out of the Bounty and took the opportunity to give the hull a good look over.

All things considered, the Bounty wasn’t in too bad a state. The Ager Dynamic ships were built to last, and that sturdy construction had paid dividends. The paintwork was scorched, scratched, and worn away in all the expected places from regular atmospheric entries, and there were signs of micro impacts along the hull, but none of them were dangerous, and all could be easily filled in a few hours with a welding torch.

His initial inspection done, he walked along the hull considering where the Bounty would benefit from some extra armour plating, and looking for hard points where the Gauss guns could be most effectively mounted.

He brought up the depot’s manifest on his datapad and made a note of anything that he thought might come in useful. It was intended to house enough spares to allow the Sidewinder or her replacement ship to stay out on the Frontier for thirty-six months at a time before having to return to a proper naval dock for an overhaul. For an engineer, it must have been like being allowed into a treasure trove. The Bounty was a blank canvas, and Samson was curious to see what they could make of her.

He had heard of ships of the Bounty’s design—which was intended to be generic and suitable for multiple roles—being used as everything from small-scale miners to exploration ships, militia gun boats, armed smugglers, and stripped-down cargo ships. The reliability and sturdiness of the design was confirmed by the fact that Bounty’s logs confirmed she was approaching her centenary. Had she been better looked after, his concerns would be far fewer, but he hoped the forty-eight hours he had allowed for the refit would make a significant difference.

The first order of business was to repair any hull damage and give the ship a good cleaning. Rating Kushnir was waiting in the wings to get started with that, aided by every repair and maintenance drone the station possessed. After that they’d reinforce the plating surrounding critical systems and compartments, and mount the guns. Then it would be on to the insides—an overhaul of the engines