The Ship Who Won Read Online Free PDF

up.
    "He's demanding another meeting, and you know what
    that means. We've got to get as far away from here as we
    can, right away."
    Keffwas already struggling back into his ship-suit. "Are
    we refueled? How much supplies are on board?"
    Simeons voice issued from the concealed speaker.
    "About a third full," he said. "But its all I can give you right
    now. I told you supplies were short. Your foods about the
    same.
    "We can't go far on that. About one long run, or two
    short ones." Keff stood, jamming feet into boots. Susa sat
    up and began pulling the top other coverall over her bare
    shoulders. She shot Keff a look of regret mingled with
    understanding.
    "We'll get missing supplies elsewhere," Carialle promised. "What's the safest vector out of here, Simeon?"
    TU leave," Susa said, rising from the edge of the bed.
    She put a delicate hand on his arm. Keff stooped down and
    kissed her. 'The less I hear, the less I have to confess if
    someone asks me under oath. Safe going, you two." She
    gave Keff a longing glance under her dark lashes. "Next
    time."
    Just like that, she was gone, no complaints, no recrimi-nations. Keff admired her for that. As usual, Carialle was
    correct: a brawn's ideal playmate was another brawn. It
    didn't stop him feeling frustrated over his thwarted sexual
    encounter, but it was better to spend that energy in a useful manner. Hopping into his right boot, he hurried out
    into the corridor. Ahead of him, Susa headed for a lift. Keff
    deliberately turned around, seeking a different route to his
    ship.
    "Keep me out of Maxwell-Corey's way, Simeon." He ran
    around the curve of the station until he came to another
    lift. He punched the button, pacing anxiously until the
    doors opened.
    "You're okay on that path," the stationmaster said, his
    voice foUowing Keff. The brawn stepped into the empty
    car, and the doors slid shut behind him. "All right, this just
    became an express. Brace yourself."
    "What about G sector?" Carialle was asking as Keff
    came aboard the CK-963. All the screens in the main cabin
    were full of star charts. Keff nodded Carialle's position in
    the main column and threw himself into his crash couch as
    he started going down the pre-launch list.
    "Okay if you don't head toward Saffron. That's where
    the Fleet ships last traced Belazirs people. You don't want
    to meet them."
    "Fragging well right we don't."
    "What about M sector?" Keff said, peering at the chart
    directly in front of him. "We had good luck there last
    time."
    "Last time you had your clock cleaned by the Losels,"
    Carialle reminded him, not in too much of a hurry to tease.
    "You call that good luck?"
    "There're still a few systems in that area we wanted to
    check. They fitted the profile for supporting complex life-forms," Keff said, unperturbed. "We would have tried
    MBA-487-J, except you ran short of fuel hotdogging it and
    we had to limp back here. Remember, Cari?"
    "It could happen any time we run into bad luck," Carialle replied, not eager to discuss her own mistakes. "We're
    running out of time."
    "What about vectoring up over the Central Worlds cluster? Toward galactic 'up'?"
    "Maxwell-Corey's going toward DND-922-Z when he
    leaves here," Simeon said.
    Carialle tsk-tsked. "We can't risk having him following
    our scent."
    Keff stared at the overview on the tank. "How about we
    head out in a completely new direction? See what's out
    there thataway?"
    "What's your advice, Simeon?" Carialle asked, locking
    down any loose items and sliding her airlock shut with a
    sharp hiss. Her gauges zoomed as she engaged her own
    power. Nutrients, fuel, power cells all showed less than
    half full. She hated lifting off under these circumstances,
    but she had no choice. The alternative was weeks of interrogation, and possibly being grounded-unfairly!-at the
    end of it.
    "I've got an interesting anomaly you might investigate,"
    Simeon said, downloading a tile to CariaUes memory.
    "Here's a report I received from a freighter captain