Kill Station Read Online Free PDF Page A

the survivors had gotten the hang of making the customizations work, and had in turn trained replacements who knew how, too.
    Joss was looking around at the handiwork of the station's mechanics with some concern. "Not sure I want anyone from this place touching our ship," he muttered.
    "You and me both, boyo," said Evan. "You locked it up, did you?"
    "Hell, yes. It's on voiceprint."
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    Evan smiled. "Just make sure you don't say anything that sounds like the opening code."
    Joss laughed. "Are you kidding? It's not that kind of voiceprint reader. Ours wants to hear your pulse and see your EEG as well."
    Evan was impressed. "You've been tinkering again."
    "Two weeks from Earth, what was I supposed to be doing? Watching old vids?"
    "Ouch," Evan said, for he knew a gentle dig when he felt one. "Never mind that. How close do we need to be for all this hocus-pocus? Is the ship going to be able to make out details like this if we're heading for her at a run?"
    "Absolutely—that's her business. You can check her later. Meanwhile, I guess we should find out the local time."
    "It's twenty hundred," Evan said. "I saw two of the chronos on those people that just went by me."
    "You just hope they're not keeping personal time," Joss said, "and it's actually three in the afternoon. Or eight in the morning."
    Evan merely smiled and pointed up over the door into the next bubble. It said 2002.
    "Smartass," said Joss: but he said it cheerfully. "Well, there'll be someone in the radar room; we can still go pay them a visit.''
    "I was looking forward to it," Evan said, with feeling.
    "But it's too late to go to the station police office and get our onsite briefing. That'll just have to wait till morning."
    "So it would seem."
    "So after we go see the people in Radar, we'll just have to go out to get something to eat."
    "Indeed."
    "And something to drink!" Joss said with relish. Their ship, like all SP patrol vehicles, was dry.
    "Heavens, what a concept," said Evan.
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    They headed out through the airlock to the next dome, which was also jammed open.
    Behind them, a tall lean figure stood up from behind one of the craft under repair, and stared, fingering the gun at its belt.
    THEY DID NOT GO STRAIGHT FOR THE FOOD
    and drink, of course. There was first the matter of the radar installation. When they got there, Joss had been just about ready to kill someone, but they had found only a lone technician, gangly, painfully young, and terrified at the sight of them. He had been left on his own by the older technicians and told not to touch anything, since the autodocking system was in the middle of being repaired. Indeed, its parts were all over the floor when they arrived. The other technicians were off on their dinner break. They had told him just to keep an eye on the place and not to worry, since no one was expected in for several days. He had heard Joss's call, but hadn't touched anything, and didn't know what to touch anyway.
    Between them, Joss and Evan had managed to calm the poor boy down. There had been no point in waiting for the techs to come back. But the two of them had promised to stop by tomorrow. Joss suspected that he would dream of that final approach as soon as he dropped off tonight. He felt pretty sure of being able to adequately communicate his feelings on the subject to the techs in the morning.
    Then there was the matter of finding a place to stay. The station itself was not supplying accommodation; that wasn't their business, they had apparently told SPHQ when the initial arrangements for the investigation had been made. Any accommodation in the place would accept the visitor's chit or voucher, of course, but it was unheard of to take bookings in advance: the policy was strictly first come, first served.
    The young tech, once he got over his initial terror of
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    two men in SP uniform, one of them unusually large and fierce-looking, had been able to recommend a couple of places where they