The Kruton Interface by John Dechancie Read Free Book Online Page A

Those damned aliens are known throughout the galaxy for stealing starships. It wasn’t as if you left the keys in it or anything! Right! Completely exonerated. Completely!”
    He began pacing in complex patterns.
    “Right, okay. Other mistakes? Plenty. Your first command, the light cruiser. Didn’t go exactly as planned, but, hey—nobody’s perfect. Okay, so you scored a direct hit on a friendly flagship in the war games! It was a great shot! If it had been an enemy flagship—”
    He fell silent but continued to make trails across the deep-pile carpeting.
    Presently he resumed lecturing himself: “Okay, forget all that. You’re an officer in the United Systems Space Forces! You have a tradition to live up to and goddamn that comm panel.”
    Savagely he yanked a switch on the desk. “What the hell is it?”  
    “Captain?”
    “Yes, yes, what do you want?”
    “It’s Darvona, sir. Am I… am I disturbing you?”
    “No! Uh, no. Sorry. What is it, Ms. Roundheels?”
    “All the other captains called me Darvona.”
    “Oh, all right. What is it, Darvona?”
    “Captain Chang left a recording for you.”
    “Chang? Who the hell is he?”
    “It’s a woman, sir. She was the last captain of the Repulse. Remember?”
    “Oh. And you say she left a recording for me?”
    “For the next captain.”
    “I see. Well, play the message.”
    “It’s confidential, sir. You have to authorize playback with your orders.”
    “Very well.” Wanker fetched his microdisk. “Okay, it’s in the slot.”
    “It’ll be up in a second, sir.”
    Wanker sat at the desk. “I have to get control of myself,” he muttered. “Think of it as a challenge. A challenge. That’s the ticket.”
    “This is the former captain of the Repulse speaking,” said a voice from the screen.
    Wanker raised his eyes and saw the face of an attractive Asian woman.
    “My name is Naomi Chang, and I have a message for the next captain of this fine military vessel.”
    Wanker waited, intrigued and puzzled.
    The woman’s face contorted into a tortured mask. “GET OUT! GET OUT! HIDE! WHATEVER YOU DO, DONT TRY TO COMMAND THIS SHIP! IT’S A JINX, A TRAP! IT’LL KILL YOU! THEY’LL DRIVE YOU CRAZY, THEY’RE ALL INSANE! EVERY ONE OF THEM, LUNATICS! IT’S A SHIP FROM HELL! AIEEEEEEEEEEEEE—!”
    Wanker lunged for the cut-off switch.
    The screen went dark.
    “Oh, my God,” David Wanker said in a small voice, his freckled face ashen.
     
     

 
     
    CHAPTER 6
     
     
    Over the next few days, none of the skeleton crew so much as glimpsed the new captain, who spent the time sequestered away, taking his meals alone and admitting no one to his sanctum.
    Scuttlebutt didn’t know what to make of it. Meanwhile, on the planet below, the rest of the crew—mostly enlisted personnel with a few warrant officers—were getting restless. The base’s laundry was overwhelmed, jammed with piles of mud-encrusted uniforms.
    Captain Wanker called no executive meetings. He did request numerous computer files: ship’s logs, data bases, procedural flowcharts and such. He also tapped the ship’s computer for a flood of other data. This behavior was unremarkable in itself, but coupled with his becoming a virtual recluse, it caused some speculation.
    “It’s our next assignment,’’ Darvona surmised. “He’s already been briefed by Operations. It’s something big, I’ll bet.”
    “Fat chance,” Sven said dourly as he looked at some instruments close to Darvona’s console.
    Darvona gave him a haughty look. “Well, how do you know it isn’t?”
    Sven shrugged. “Dream on. Before you do, though, why don’t you find out who’s sending out that distress call?”
    “Huh? What distress call?”
    “The one registering on your console.” Sven reached and flipped a switch. A loud beeping sounded. “You had the scanning alert off.”
    “Oh, that distress call.” Darvona squinted at the display. “It’s only a third-class call. Nothing really to worry