The Jovian Run: Sol Space Book One Read Online Free PDF Page B

eat and sleep. All it has to do is not turn. There’s almost always someone in the cockpit to keep an eye on things. And if we did somehow get off course, well, we’ve got thirteen more days to Mars. What’s one hour one way or the other?”
    Parsells grunted, clearly a bit embarrassed. He turned back to his food.
    A minute later, a well-structured, slightly gaunt man with deep black skin and a bald head entered the mess hall. He wore a tight grey shirt buttoned down the front that left little of his well maintained physique to the imagination. Where the short sleeves, which looked close to bursting, ended at his biceps, muscular tattooed arms extended and ended in powerful hands. Staples read the situation and decided to let her security chief have his moment with his new recruits. She stood up and smiled at the men, taking the remains of her breakfast with her.
    “I have some work to do. I’m sure I’ll see more of you in the coming weeks.”
    As the captain exited, the new entrant crossed to the food that the ship’s cook had left in warmers on the counter. He quickly and efficiently spooned the eggs and potatoes onto a plate, plucked a container of orange juice, and finally sat across from the two men with his breakfast.
    Fork in hand, he looked at them and said, “This is probably as good a time as any to introduce myself. I am Kojo Jang, and you work for me.” His voice was deep, and though his English was impeccable, it carried traces of a Swahili accent.
    “I thought we worked for the captain,” the normally laconic Quinn responded. His friend looked at him in surprise and tapped him with his elbow. Parsells smiled in apology for his friend.
    Jang did not smile back. “No. I work for the captain. You work for me, though you should always listen to her. I must apologize for not meeting you earlier, but I returned to the ship only shortly before takeoff, and there was much to do.” He took a bite of potatoes, perhaps to give them a chance to reply. Neither said anything, so Jang swallowed and continued. “I will need to show you around the ship. You must study the blueprints until you can find your way in the dark. This may seem excessive. It is not. If the ship ever loses power, you will be grateful for the knowledge. We will need to go over firearms procedures; I was told you both have firearms training. Is this correct?”
    Parsells answered quickly, perhaps before his friend could. “Yeah. We were both security guards at a prison; we carried pistols, trained with them, all that.”
    “Good.” It was clear from Jang’s quick response that Parsells had offered more of an answer than he wanted. The two men ate and listened silently as Jang spoke. “We will continue to train. We will need to go over ship procedures. You must learn what to do when we both arrive at and depart a planet or moon so that your first mate does not have to move your furniture for you.” The men had the decency to look sheepish. “We must train in hand-to-hand combat.”
    Parsells laughed. “On a spaceship? I mean, I know Templeton told me that we’d have to know how to fight, and we do, but really, what are we gonna do, throw a knife out a window at another ship?”
    Jang regarded him silently, and his smile died. Finally, he responded. “No. We will not be throwing knives at other ships. Not all operations that this crew performs happen aboard this ship. If the captain needs to meet a contact in a disreputable bar, you may need to provide security for her. If Mr. Burbank and Mrs. Trujillo, two of the work crew, are loading valuable and desperately needed medical supplies into the cargo bay destined for Phobos and they are attacked by criminals hoping to sell said supplies on the black market, you will need to provide security for them.” The new hires looked suspiciously like teenagers being given a lecture. Jang was clearly not finished. “And if pirates attack and board this ship in an attempt to take our fuel, our