Ad Astra by Jack Campbell Read Free Book Online

engineering. “Vox, I want you to rig the autos so they can best handle all engine functions, even emergency damage.”
    “Can’t.”
    I muttered a prayer to any saints watching. “You need to do your best.”
    “Already did.”
    “In a few hours I’m going to have you evacuate engineering and stand-by at -.”
    “No.”
    “Dammit, Vox, what’s the problem?”
    “Saw the course change. Know what you’re gonna do. Go help them kids. Gonna need us here. We’re staying.”
    For the Chief Engineer that amounted to a very lengthy speech. “Okay. But when I say you have to go I want you guys out of there as fast as possible. Understand?”
    “Aye.”
    Halley was watching me again. “What?” I demanded.
    “Just wondering what you’re planning and what I can do.”
    “I’m planning on using the two weapons available to the Lady .”
    Her eyebrows rose. “I didn’t know you had even one weapon on the Lady .”
    “People are clever, Ms. Keracides. We can turn all kinds of things into weapons. As for you, I’m going to have you and the others from the Canopus suit up and stand-by at the lifeboat.”
    “Chen will insist on staying in engineering with your people.”
    “Fine, the other five of you will go the lifeboat.”
    “Why are we going to need the lifeboat? You’re not planning on putting us off while you somehow go into battle, are you?”
    I took a deep breath. “No. We’re all going to need that lifeboat.”
    Word spread through the crew. I waited for a mutiny that didn’t happen. I told everyone to suit up. Once the privateers figured out that Lady might be a threat they’d open fire. It wouldn’t take many hits by them for Lady to lose atmosphere.
    I left Halley Keracides on the bridge for a few minutes while I went back to Captain Weskind’s cabin and got her into her own suit, then pressurized it. “I’ll be back, Captain. Just wait for me and don’t worry.”
    Halley was in her suit by the time I got back. The Vestral Company suit she wore looked new or very close to it. I couldn’t help comparing it to the suit I had on, which in its patches and worn fittings betrayed every hour of too much use over too many years. But if Halley Keracides noticed the differences between our suits she didn’t show it.
    One hour out. I called for more thrust from Lady ’s engines, and the old girl started putting on more speed. That called for another adjustment to our course. Down and off to the side we could see the privateers closing on the big freighter. So far they hadn’t paid any apparent attention to us. I tried to match a freighter-turned-privateer mentality to my own experiences and wondered how long it’d be before they started worrying that Lady was more than just a tramp freighter trying to sneak past them.
    By adding speed I’d set us up to intercept the privateers a bit earlier, at a point a little further from the big freighter than before. I didn’t want to risk them shooting up the freighter any before I got there.
    “Why haven’t they opened fire on the freighter already?” Halley asked.
    I made a sour smile. “You wouldn’t understand, I guess. When you think of spare parts you think of going to a shop and buying them new. Ships like the Lady live on what we can salvage. I know what they’re thinking. They don’t want to damage stuff on that ship. They’re going to overhaul that freighter, put in a few well-aimed shots at close range to knock out his ability to maneuver, then board, space the kids and strip everything off the freighter that they can use or sell.”
    “Why not just keep the freighter?”
    “It’s too easy to track stolen ships. It’s hard to track stolen parts.” Halley at least had the grace not to remind me that I’d already demonstrated my knowledge of the illicit parts market.
    An alarm pulsed and I watched the read-outs tell me a chunk of metal had just raced past us. “I guess that was a warning shot.”
    Halley nodded. “They’re using