Scrapyard Ship 3 Space Vengeance Read Online Free PDF Page B

are … feeling much better?” Admiral Reynolds asked, attempting, and failing, to sound upbeat.
    Mollie rushed to give her grandfather a hug and looked up at him.
    “ Let me tell you how to do this, Grandpa.”
    “ Okay, what is it I’m supposed to do here, Mollie?”
    “ You need to think about what you want to happen. It’s called indention.”
    “ Intention,” Nan said, correcting her.
    “ Yeah, intention. Anyway, you walk into the portal on the left and you’ll come out of the one on the right feeling a whole lot better.”
    The admiral walked to the portal and hesitated. Looking at Jason and then at Granger, he asked, “You sure about this?”
    Jason shrugged. “No, not really. But I didn’t see there were any other viable options.”
    The admiral stepped through the portal. A moment later Jason saw his father reappear as he stepped through the second portal. Jason asked him how he felt.
    “ Much better, thank you for asking. I feel like I can actually think clearly again.” The admiral walked over to Granger and held out his hand. Granger shook his hand and they spoke quietly for several minutes. Other than the occasional word here and there, Jason couldn’t make out what was being said.
    A line had formed and Ricket and Dira were directing people into the left portal. The relief on their faces when they exited the portal told Jason he’d made the right decision. He felt life could finally get back to normal. The admiral was back at his side and he put a hand on Jason’s shoulder.
    “ Son, I want to thank you.” He gestured towards the portals. “I’m not so sure I would have lasted much longer.”
    Son? Jason couldn’t remember the last time his father had called him that. “Well, it’s really Granger you want to thank. This setup was his doing.”
    “ That’s not exactly what he says, but just the same, thank you.” The admiral changed subjects. “We have visitors coming in tomorrow morning. I need you to be at the outpost.”
    As Jason left the hold he looked back one more time. Not once since she had come through the second portal had Dira looked his way.
     
    * * *
     
    Jason awoke early the next morning and was again relieved to feel back to normal, and still human. He’d been pinged several times already with reminders that there was a morning meeting at the outpost and not to be late.
    But this morning was all about Mollie. He’d had little time to spend with her lately and nothing was going to stand in the way of him having a little dad and daughter time.
    She’d arrived at his cabin with a hundred questions, but Jason kept mum to where they were going or how they were going to get there.
    “ What should I bring?” she asked, looking for a hint in the way he was dressed.
    “ Nothing. Here, hold this for a sec, I packed us a lunch.” Jason finished putting on his shoes.
    Molly looked in the small satchel to see what he’d brought.
    “ Why are you being so secretive? I hate surprises.”
    “ Yeah, sure you do.”
    “ I’m supposed to go to work today; Jack will be upset.”
    “ I’ve cleared it with Jack.”
    They left the cabin and headed astern. At the DeckPort Mollie scowled. “If you don’t tell me, I’m not going.”
    “ Okay, I guess I’ll have to go by myself.”
    When they emerged on the flight deck her expression changed from frustration to confusion. The Pacesetter, already prepped, was sitting in the middle of the bay with its canopy open.
    “ Wait, we’re going in that?”
    “ Is that okay?”
    “ Yes, that’s okay. That is more than okay!”
    Mollie sat in the forward seat. Her helmet was a little big on her but she didn’t seem to notice. All strapped in and the canopy secured, Jason entered the coordinates. After a quick conversation with his XO, they phase-shifted to the Chihuahuan Desert above.
    “ Ready to go?” Jason asked.
    “ Stop asking me that, Dad—wherever we’re going, let’s just go already!”
    With that, Jason steered the