Colony One by E. M. Peters Read Free Book Online Page A

punched in.
    “Do not call me Mak,” was her only response.
    Charlie mouthed ‘OKAY’ to himself with wide eyes and went back to double checking the numbers that scrolled across the heavy-duty glass console.
    “Not bad Charlie Foxtrot,” Avery commented, unstrapping.
    “The Pilot did not authorize the unbuckling of seatbelts,” Charlie pointed out.
    “I don’t see any ‘no unbuckling’ signs.” She countered, moving to stand behind him. She leaned forward and scanned the readouts from his console. “Command says all we need to do is follow these communications buoys,” Avery pointed to the console that showed the distance to the first one. “At a certain range, we’ll be out of verbal communication capability. How long until then?”
    Charlie tapped and slid his fingers across the console until a read out appeared, “24 days.” He reported. The improvement of technology being exponential as it had been for the past several years, and the Hyperion being only six months old, it had an edge on the technology used for the Colony missions. While it took the first colony ship three months to hit the non-comm line, with her advanced engines and reduced size, the Hyperion could make the trip in much less time.
    Avery turned towards Niko where he was still strapped into his seat at the navigation console, “Any anomalies or debris we should worry about yet, Andris?”
    “Negative,” Niko reported. “Just a bunch of empty space ahead.”
    “Good. Krasnov, try not to take too much of the ship apart to pass the time.” The Captain advised and Makenna shrugged in concession. ”I’ll be in my quarters. If you need something, try to figure it out yourself before you bother me,” she informed the crew and strode off the bridge.
    “She’s real friendly.” Niko observed.
    “Doesn’t look like they required a personality test when they hired her,” Charlie put in, then opened a communication’s line ship-wide to tell the Doctor and Finn it was safe to un-strap and enjoy the view.
    It didn’t take Finn long to find her way to the bridge, camera in hand. They let her snap pictures and waited until she was transfixed with the field of stars ahead of them before interrupting her process.
    “Never been in space?” Charlie asked.
    Finn shook her head to answer, but was not willing to pull her gaze away from the stars yet. “No. The closest I’ve been to space is at the summit of Mount Everest.”
    “So how’d you land this tour?” He wanted to know.
    “Yer guess is as good as mine. I didn’t think World Corp would take me, to be completely honest. I have a reputation for recording civil unrest, protests, war zones… you get the idea. I believe I am what they call, ‘bad press.’”
    “They must really be out to appease Citizens United to send you,” Niko guessed. “That’s why all of us are civilians, with the exception of our Captain.”
    Finn nodded, “Makes sense.” She finally turned to face him, explaining – “So I threw my name in the hat, anyhow. You can imagine my surprise when they sent a Tibetan Monk out into the snow to find me. I want to hear the story of these colonists, to see what they have created. It must have been an incredible journey.”
    Niko’s lips twitched with a hint of a grimace – but it flashed so quickly across his face, Finn didn’t have time to try to read it. “I just hope we find them…. thriving.”
     
     
     
     
     
    06
     
     
    Colony One, Mission Duration: Three Months
     
     
    “Good evening Colony One.” Captain Fairfield’s voice came over the audio system throughout the ship. “We have just passed the last communications marker capable of communicating verbally with Earth. The good news is that this marks the halfway point of our journey. There is no bad news – we’re doing great!”
    Javier looked down from where he had lifted his chin to listen to the announcement, “I wonder what she’s eating for dinner, because this freeze dried brick