Chewing Rocks by Alan Black Read Free Book Online Page B

knows full well we are on the docks, she sent the sheriff looking for you down at Queene Mines and United Mech.”
    The comm beeped for a break in, but it was voice only.
    “Whyte Corp, this is Larry Wright of Wright L&S. Done enough to get the Sedona on the road. You really should have your vectral rotators replaced, but they’ll hold for a few more trips. The invoice is in the mail.”
    Sno replied, “Thanks, Larry. I appreciate the hurry up.”
    Larry replied, “Whyte Corp? I can’t hear you. Do you read?”
    Willem spoke, “Yeah, Larry. We are reading you five-by on audio. Is your video on the fritz?”
    Larry said, “ It must not be working since I can’t see you either, Willem. Now I won’t have to lie to the sheriff when I tell him I did not see or speak to that wildcat daughter of yours. Not that I was eavesdropping, but…princess, my eye! Fairytales is all gone to garbage and back, that’s what.”
    Willem said , with a laugh, “Thanks, Larry. I owe you one.”
    Larry returned the laugh, “The heck you say; you just pay the invoice on time and we are square.” With an audible click, Larry signed off.
    “Dad , or should I say King Willem, am I ready on your end? My sensors are green across the board except where you have me locked out.”
    “Done, Princess.” Then more formally, “ The Sedona, you are clear to undock. Good hunting.” Before Sno could reply, her father continued, as she depressed the undocking button and let the computer back the Sedona out of the docking slip and into empty space. “One more thing; we got a readout from those three contract ships. It’s looking a bit shaky and nothing coming through the material feeds into the coffers. We don’t know if there are any problems or not, but their coordinates put them about where you were on your last run.”
    “No, Dad. Don’t ask me to go look up a bunch of earthers who don’t have enough sense to not get killed.”
    “Yes, I am going to ask. And yes , you are going to do it. I know we don’t have any legal requirement to render assistance to these gentlemen, but we do have a moral and ethical requirement to help, if we can. And I will not have it said the Whyte Mining didn’t look out after it’s own. You will help if they’re in trouble. That is princess behavior.”
     
    Chapter 6.0
    “What is that?” Allan Lee screeched into the Blinkin’s comm system. His voice blasted to the other two ships. “Umpteen thousand kilometers and we drop right on top of that?”
    Doc shook his head, “Easy, Lee. The odds are definitely very high against this happening, but it was always a possibility.” Doc could not begin to calculate how high the odds against this would be.
    Joey laughed, “So you would say the odds were astronomical?”
    Daryl laughed. Doc rolled his eyes and groaned. The comms from the others were silent.
    “Okay , gentlemen. This is not the end of the world.”
    Lee replied, “No, not even the end of the solar system, but we are so close to it we can smell it. We spend weeks getting away from the regular asteroid fields and into this area. And when we finally get to what you said was the most promising chunk of rock, we find this.”
    ‘ This’ was a claim marker beacon.
    Lee continued, “What next, Ortiz? You’re the mastermind who picked this particular corner of the solar system to hunt rocks. You said that no one would have ever been out here. Now we have wasted all of this time and we have nothing.”
    Ortiz said, “Well, we just look around at some of these other asteroids. This is the only one showing a beacon. The others are free for the taking.”
    Lee snorted, “Yeah, but you and Doc said we want this one. It’s got the best alberto, right?”
    Doc replied, “Albeito. And yes, it is the best in this cluster.”
    Lee said, “Then let’s take it anyway. Who is to know? It’s not like anyone out here is going to call the cops, right? So who is with me?”
    Doc said, “No. I don’t think so.