HAB 12 (Scrapyard Ship) Read Online Free PDF

was the flattest and best location for The Lilly . He hailed Lieutenant Commander Perkins.
    “Go for XO—I can hear you loud and clear, Cap,” Perkins said.
    “Good to know. I’ll be ready to phase-shift back in a few moments—just checking in.”
    His HUD indicated breathable air here, although the temperature was a chilly 38 degrees. Coming to a narrower end of the underground space, there appeared to be an adjacent cavern, almost as large as this one—but someone would need to be on foot to access it. As far as he could ascertain, this cavern would work just fine. He set the return coordinates and entered the command to phase-shift.
    Nothing. He rechecked his coordinates—double-checked them. He could feel beads of sweat forming on his brow. He tried it again … Still nothing. Jason looked around at the pristine landscape. This wouldn’t be the worst place to end up. He hailed Ricket.
    “Go for Ricket.”
    “Ricket, I can’t seem to phase-shift out of here. Am I doing something wrong?” Jason asked, hearing his own nervousness.
    “You won’t be able to phase-shift—”
    Jason could not believe what he was hearing. “What do you mean I won’t be able to phase-shift?”
    “As I was saying, Captain, you won’t be able to phase-shift for several more minutes. As you’ll recall, the fighters with their limited power supplies need more time to recharge. You’re coming up on the twelve-minute mark soon; try again then.”
    He watched the small digital mission-elapse timer on his HUD. He still had several more minutes. Looking at the surrounding terrain, something caught Jason’s eye. Actually, two things caught his attention. First, even the small amount of light from the fighter’s spotlight, which cast some illumination into the area ahead, showed the adjacent cavern looked nothing like the one he was in. The rock walls were not the same sparkling white granite. There seemed to be splashes of color on the walls. And second, Jason could swear there was something carved into the far elevation of the second space. Perfectly straight lines and ninety-degree angles do not typically form in nature. What he was peering at, he thought, were stairs hewn into the rock face. Intrigued as he was, the cavern’s exploration would have to wait.
    Once the full twelve minutes had elapsed, he tried again. It worked. He was back aboard The Lilly . Taking a deep breath, Jason guided the Pacesetter back to its mooring position next to the other fighters. Within a few moments, Jason headed off the flight deck.

Chapter 4
     
    Entering the bridge, Jason walked into a flurry of activity.
    “What’s going on, XO?” Jason asked, looking up at the display and seeing multiple Allied Craing warships.
    “We’ve got five Alliance Craing battle cruisers maintaining a slow perimeter around the outpost, sir. Multiple hails have been ignored. Totally unresponsive with the exception of a repeating message. They’re providing The Lilly with heading and specific landing instructions.”
    Jason watched the distant warships and wondered who was manning them. He had his flight crews in orbit conducting training, but they wouldn’t have been ready for this. Perhaps the prisoners, the Craing crewmembers? But he hadn’t authorized their use, at least not here at the outpost.
    “Captain, I believe the outpost has been compromised,” the XO said, “Communications to the rest of the world has completely gone dark. There’s definitely something going on.”
     
    * * *
     
    Fifteen minutes later, Jason was back in the cockpit of the Pacesetter and skimming across the desert floor at close to three hundred miles an hour.
    “For God’s sake, why so fast? And why so close to the ground?” Admiral Reynolds asked from the second pilot’s seat behind Jason’s.
    Just what I need , Jason thought , a backseat driver . “I want to come at the outpost from a completely different direction than from The Lilly ’s underground position. Probably