Hunter Legacy 9: Hero at the Gates Read Online Free PDF Page A

well.
    "I am so going to enjoy this two star
rank," she said. "Or I will when you give it to me."
    "Are you people normally this
nuts?" asked Jessie.
    "Pretty much," I said.
    "Confirmed," added Jane.
    She let loose her own chuckle, but didn’t
comment further.
    "Jane, stop us before the jump point,
and bring the Unapologizing around to a side Cargo airlock. Better deploy a
comnavsat, and have another one ready for Unapologizing to deploy on the other
side."
    "Confirmed."
    "Do you always say that?" Jessie
asked Jane.
    "Confirmed."
    "Why?"
    "Ask your AI."
    Jessie went blank for a moment.
    "What does 'Grandma' mean?"
    I lost it, and even Jane started laughing.
    "Oh," said Jessie eventually.
"You're the AI here?"
    "Confirmed."
    "How does Tag'Em get his own
body?"
    "Security droid, and a belt," I
said.
    She looked at me as if I was crazy.
    I stopped myself from asking Jane to show
her, as Jane could no longer do that.
    "Talk to George on Custer. He's our
suit programming guru."
    "Suit programming? Why do I get the
impression I'm in the wrong outfit?"
    "Doesn’t Apricot One have its own
avatar?"
    "Avatar? Oh. Yeah, it does. But I
never had the chance to meet it. The boss had me do the trials for Tag'Em, and
then carry right on down here to start work. I guess I missed a memo or
something."
    "George will set you straight. But you
better hurry, because Custer will deploy as soon as the Cruiser is in place.
And before we jump, you should undock and go back to work."
    "Work? I'm staying."
    "It's not going to be safe."
    "Safe? Don’t know the meaning of the
word. This is a new jump point. My job now is to completely map the system on
the other side of it, and determine if there are more jump points."
    "Fine, but you might want to hold off
on that until we determine how many pirates infest the system. Might not be
safe."
    "If I wanted safe, I'd have stayed in
the military."
    Annabelle snorted.
    "Fine. But I suggest when we stop to
move the Cruiser, you also move Tag'Em to one of the side Flight Deck
entrances. You go in with us, but can launch quickly if you need to."
    "How long?"
    "Not long. And Ms. Ball?"
    "Yes?"
    "If you want to party with us, you put
yourself under Wing Commander Lacey's orders."
    "Understood."
    She left running.
    "That girl has spunk," said Dick.
"Especially given her lack of height."
    I hadn't noticed.
    It wasn’t long before everyone was ready to
go.
    Unapologizing jumped.
    The nav map expanded to show a new system.
There was nothing on the other side. The expected station and shipyard were not
there.
    "How much of the system can you see
Jane?" I asked her.
    "Not as much as I need. The next most
likely place for the base is a habitable planet, but I can't find it yet."
    "Send Unapologizing on a direct route
in, until the sweet spot is revealed. If need be later, explain away not using
a direct course with battle damage. Might be an idea if you create some."
    "Confirmed. It's probably safe to
bring BigMother through. There doesn’t appear to be anything here to raise the
alarm."
    "Fine. Do so please."
    I opened ship coms.
    "We are about to jump into the pirate
system. There is nothing on the other side, but let's be prepared for anything
anyway."
    I closed the coms, and waited while we
jumped.
    As Jane had said, there was nothing of note
in the new system. Jane already had it mapped in terms of the outer planets and
gas giants, although she was guessing for half of them, being they were not in
visual range. As I watched, there was a sudden update of the system.
    I raised an eyebrow at Jane.
    "Tag'Em has better sensors. Jessie has
her nose poked out the side, and is mapping the system systematically."
    "Let her do it. All the better if we get
it done faster. As soon as you have a location for the most likely inhabited
planet, change Unapologizing's course."
    I half caught a mumble about something to
do with grandmothers and eggs, and suppressed a grin.
    "Any chance you can upgrade our
sensors without upsetting