The Last Horizon Read Online Free PDF Page A

and to a large extent, the romantic notion of establishing a reputation among the rest of the runners; or at least to having bragging rights for my misadventures or exaggerated versions of them in dives like Curly’s Tavern.
     
       When I got home I grabbed the basics and stuffed them into my flight bag. The Cobalt was secured in its shoulder holster along with extra clips on my belt. A couple of other things I like to carry on my voyages were throwing spikes tucked in an ankle wrap, a tactical knife sheathed in my belt, and titanium razor knots mounted on a six foot whip disguised as a leather belt. A girl’s got to be prepared.
     
       I put on my flight suit and grabbed a spare that had been hanging in my closet for ages. The suit belonged to another pilot I used to mess around with until he disappeared over a year ago. To this day I still don’t know what happened to him.
     
       There were rumors floating around that his ship was hijacked during his last run, but nobody knows for sure. It hurts my heart when I think of him and look at the small holograph of us together. I miss his smile and voice.
     
       I packed a small bag, double-checked my shoulder holster and Cobalt before putting on my bomber jacket, and checked myself in the mirror one more time before putting on my hat. I had a cab drive me down to the launch port where my ship was docked.
     
       When I arrived at the Inter-port, Scott was waiting at the entrance wearing a flannel jacket. All he carried was a duffle bag and a backpack slung over one shoulder.
     
       “Good evening, Mr. Scott.” I smiled.
     
       “You can call me Scotty.” He replied dryly. “And good evening to you too, Ms. Wells.”
     
       “Nikki.” I nodded. “Here, I brought this for you.” I handed Scott the flight suit. “It looks like your size. You’re going to need it for the voyage. They’ve got lockers in the hanger where you can change.”
     
       “Thank you.”
     
       “We’d better get inside and get this clambake underway.”
     
       “Okay.”
     
       “Let me do the talking.” I said firmly as I picked up my bag.
     
       We walked casually through the hanger with our gear. There were a few mechanics tooling around with their maintenance droids on some of the larger commercial freighters but it looked like a slow night. It was perfect.
     
       When we got to the Zephyr, I set my gear down and turned to Scott. “You can change over there.” I pointed to a door that led to the pilot’s lounge. “Meet me back here in five. You can hang back and relax for a few minutes while inspect my vessel.”
     
       “Will do.”
     
       I walked slowly around the fuselage doing my preflight check on the atmospheric avionics and control surfaces along with the zero-grav retrojets when I saw Max working his way toward me from Dock 12. We had to go through “the ritual”.
     
    “Good evening, Nikki.” Max smiled as he offered his hand after tucking his c-pad under his arm. “Looks like the Blue Zephyr Starline is about to embark on another adventure, eh?”
     
    “How’ve you been, Max?” I nodded as I shook his hand. “They been keeping you busy around here?”
     
    “It’s a steady flow, and the hours are good. I’m up for a shift bid in a month.”
     
    “Moving to days?”
     
    “Yeah, like to spend some time with the family for a change.”
     
    “Don’t blame ya.”
     
    Scott had returned and nodded politely at Max as he stood quietly next to me looking casually around the hanger.
     
    “Max, this is Fenmore Scott, a friend of mine.” I smiled, “Fenny, this is Max, the shift manager.”
     
    “How do you do, sir?” Scott offered his hand.
     
    “Pleased to meet you Mr. Scott.” Max replied as they shook hands. “Okay, Nikki, let’s get started, shall we?” Max grinned as he looked at his pad and took a stylus from his pocket, “Name of ship?”
     
    “Blue