Into the Black: Odyssey One Read Online Free PDF Page A

and even happier that they had performed up to his expectations. Throughout the ship, a similar sense of confidence had boosted the already high morale of the crew as the word of the test spread through the ranks.
    *****
    “If you Slackers don’t get off your flat butts and double-time… I’m going to start knocking heads!”
    The room full of crewmen scrambled to their feet as the harsh voice of the Chief growled out at them. They snapped to as she marched down the length of the long, slightly curved, room and glared at them.
    “Damage Control Drills. Now!” She hissed softly, her tone brooking no argument as the crew quickly snapped into action, grabbing their gear and rushing out the door.
    Corrin sighed as she watched them go, letting her mask drop for a second once, she was alone.
    This crew needs more than drills, in the worst way; she shook her head, moving along behind the retreating figures.
    Whoever had been behind the formation of the Odyssey’s crew had either been complete imbeciles, or hidden geniuses.
    Corrin wasn’t sure which, though she had money on the former.
    The individual crew members had been drawn from some of the best pools of military talent available and in the post war nation she served, that meant that they had some damned fine people on board.
    The problem was that damned few of them had ever served with any of their shipmates.
    And that was a recipe for disaster, if Chief PO Corrin ever saw one.
    *****
    The Odyssey, now back en route to the Saturn refuelling rendezvous, accelerated back to its ‘in-system’ cruise speed of point three of light speed. Ahead of the massive ship its navigation beams roughly shouldered aside any debris unlucky enough to be caught in its path, causing the occasional shudder to run through the ship as a particularly large piece of rock slowed the ship slightly, as it passed.
    Shortly thereafter the rings of Saturn became visible, as the vessel roared towards the orbit of the sixth planet. Out of the rings, a black shape became visible, its trajectory altering almost as soon as it was spotted. It rocketed free of the big planets gravity well and slid into a parallel course with the Odyssey.
    “Odyssey Command, this is the Indigo. Welcome to Saturn.”
    “Indigo, this is the Odyssey. Thanks for the welcome, but I don’t think we’ll have time to sightsee.”
    “Pity, we’ve taken in the sights for the past day, while waiting for you. Least you could do is hang around and keep us company, for a while.” Weston could hear the smile that had slid across the face of the Indigo’s Captain.
    “’Fraid not, Indigo. We have a mission to start and I understand you have something to help us along?”
    “Roger that, Odyssey. Lines are coming across now.”
    Snaking out from the Indigo, thick hoses were gliding across the space between the two ships as they continued to slide together, reducing the distance to a few hundred feet before the tanker altered its course and paralleled the Odyssey exactly. Small pods were in place on the ends of the hoses, each containing a two man crew that guided the hoses into place. The five hoses were soon locked into the Odyssey’s rear compartment and the tanker began emptying its cargo.
    The fuelling would take the better part of what remained of the night, so Weston retired shortly after the process had begun. When he woke, Eric could tell by the low hum he felt through the deck that the big ship was again under full thrust and moving toward the edge of the Sol system.
    On the bridge, everything was running smoothly. They had just crossed the orbit of Pluto and although the planet itself was nowhere in sight, it was a cheerful milestone in itself since they were the first humans to reach that far. Roberts had relieved the night watch a couple hours earlier and was sifting through crew assignments when the Captain stepped onto the bridge.
    “Captain on the bridge!”
    “Status,” Weston ordered as he stepped over to the