Scorched Earth: (The Human Chronicles Saga Book #16) Read Online Free PDF

happening again—at least the requirement for replacements. Yet periodically we will need full recharges with conventional energy timed at several hours each.
    How much time do we have left on the existing batteries?
    Two hours of jump times, approximately one hundred eighty light-years.
    Okay, give us some time to see what we can come up with.
    You have two hours if we continue with the same jump schedule.
    “Problem,” Adam announced aloud. He repeated to Riyad what Pogo had just told him.
    “That’s what we get for stealing a prototype,” Riyad said.
    The two men hurried to the bridge with bowls of steaming mush in their hands.
    Their current location placed them just on the Kidis Frontier side of the border, which according to the Juireans, was now Expansion territory. This area between the two galactic empires would the most-saturated with passive detectors, and having already perforated local space with a series of pop-ins and pop-outs, it was a good bet the Juireans were already tracking these disturbances, even if they didn’t know what they were.
    “I have no idea what’s around here,” Adam complained. “And who knows where we’re going to find a new battery bank for an experimental starship of Human design.”
    Riyad’s forehead was creased with worry lines. “Not much out here, from what I can see. We’re in the void area between arms of the galaxy. However, if we do find any settlements out here, it’s a good bet they should have a fully-stocked starship parts store. They’d be like an oasis in space and quite popular.”
    “By the way, you got any money on you?” Adam asked.
    Riyad withdrew his wallet. “Twenty-seven dollars. Any idea what the exchange rate is out here?”
    “Not enough, that’s for sure. Hey…what this?”
    Riyad leaned in close to Adam’s screen. “Bingo! Looks like a small support colony about twelve light-years from here.”
    “Yeah, and sitting on a single lump of rock out in the middle of nowhere. It’s registered under the authority of the Tigans, whoever they are. Let’s check it out.”
    “And the money situation?”
    Adam smiled. “I do have my American Express Gold Galaxy card with me.”
    “The one backed by an M-101 assault rifle?”
    “That’s the one. Never leave home without it.”
     
    ********
     
    Twelve light-years was only four jumps and less than ten minutes from their present location, yet rather than pop in close to the station, Adam dumped out of the jump half a light away and approached under a conventional gravity-well of modest depth. He didn’t want to attract any undue attention.
    Support colonies were like truck stops in space, eking out a rough and tumble existence by catering to the needs of star travelers traversing wide stretches of void space. Most were huge space stations, while others took advantage of large asteroids or stray planetoids. The majority of commercial starcraft weren’t equipped to go more than a few thousand light-years without refueling and provisioning, making these stations vital to interstellar travel and commerce. The prices were astronomical, but desperate people were willing to pay the cost for not planning well enough in advance to fill-up at a more competitive gas station.
    Adam was in the desperate category. He also had no money, which made the saying he’d kill for a new bank of batteries more literal than figurative. It may very well come down to that. After all, Sherri and Arieel were worth a few dead aliens. Maybe more than a few.
    The settlement was on a rogue rock about half the size of the moon, and it was obvious from first glance that the Tigans had been there for a very long time. As the only piece of solid ground for three hundred light-years, the colony’s operators had taken advantage of nearly every level square foot of the surface, covering it over with a complicated spider-web-like network of rust-colored plasti-steel canopies and connecting tubes, dotted with thousands of