Stranded (Shadows of the Void Space Opera Serial Book 2) Page 9

  “Who’s there?” Lee asked.

  “It’s me, Sayen,” said Lingiari. “Harrington’s here, too, and the engineer, MacAdam—”

  “And I,” said Haggardy. “How nice to speak to you again, Navigator Lee.”

  “Haggardy?”

  “That’s Acting Master Haggardy to you.”

  Lingiari said, “Sayen, we need your help.” He explained MacAdam’s theory about the engines, and the fact that maybe they couldn’t start them because the ship was on emergency power.

  “Wait a minute,” said Lee, “the ship’s systems would have shut down during the crash. Didn’t you try to reboot?”

  “We didn’t,” exclaimed Jas. “We didn’t even try to restart them. I don’t believe it.”

  “Well done, Navigator Lee. You may have just saved your life,” said Haggardy.

  ***

  Carl had warned the crew. Everyone was in their crash seats. Haggardy had taken the master’s chair, and even Flux had been unbound and was sitting in a bag that Carl had strapped into a seat on the flight deck. The little fella’s head peeked out, and his long, black-tufted ears were switching to and fro. He seemed to have got a lot better as soon as he was released.

  Haggardy had insisted that Harrington stay within his sight. She was sitting at the comm control.

  Carl’s pilot’s screen was live, the measurements and graphs glowing as bright as they ever had, which was a welcome sight after days of darkness. Lee’s advice had been spot on. The ship’s systems had rebooted like a dream. The interior lights had come on, the air circulation system had whirred to life—everything had started up as if it had never stopped. Cheers from the crew had echoed down the corridors.

  Haggardy’s patience had been tested by MacAdam’s insistence that she check and doubly secure the hatch she’d opened. She’d also made the access hatches to the engine airtight. Though the engine could operate perfectly within the vacuum of space, the crew could not, and she didn’t know if the hull had been breached during the crash-landing.

  Now, the most important thing was to get off that planet.

  “All clear,” Carl said into his mic. “Lift off in one minute.” He would use the RaptorXs to fly them into orbit. It would take a huge amount of fuel to push the massive starship into space, but they had no choice.

  A ping sounded from the comm desk.

  “It’s a packet,” exclaimed Harrington. “Polestar’s sent a reply to Lee’s message.”

  “Read it out,” said Haggardy.

  “Packet from Navigator Lee aboard the Galathea acknowledged. Please proceed to K. 23198f, otherwise called Dawn, where you will receive further instructions from the resident authorities.”

  “They don’t want us to return to Earth?” asked Carl.

  “Doesn’t look like it,” replied Harrington. “I guess they don’t know whether or not we’re carrying infected crew.”

  “So what’re they going to do with us at the new planet?” asked Carl.

  “We will comply with the directive from Polestar,” said Haggardy.

  Carl’s screen was flashing. “Prepare for lift-off.”

  The RaptorX engines fired, and Carl’s chest constricted. In front of him, the visual of the planet shook before dropping slowly down. Whoops and hollers could be heard from the rest of the ship.

  “You beaut,” exclaimed Carl. Exhilaration flooded him as the Galathea lifted from the frigid, barren plain below and moved slowly toward the horizon, which began to bend into a curve as they flew higher. He’d completed this maneuver once before, just once, and that had been in a simulator.

  Both the ship and his nerve were holding up, however. Carl lifted the ship steadily through the atmosphere as it gradually thinned and and the sky darkened. Acceleration pressure pushed him into his seat. The first stars became visible, twinkling in the thin gas of the upper atmosphere.

  After what seemed like a long time, they achieved orbit, and Carl cut the Raptors. He floated briefly against his seat harness until the Galathea’s artificial gravity kicked in.

  He’d done it. He’d lifted a starship off from a planet, and maybe it had been the first time anyone had done it. He’d never heard of another pilot landing—okay, crashing—a starship onto a planet and taking off again. He might be the first.

  “Lingiari,” said Harrington, “I’ve sent over the coordinates in that packet. Do you want to input them? We’re going to try to starjump, right?”

  Oh yeah. He’d forgotten about that for a moment. Carl shelved his satisfaction for later contemplation.

  He had a ship to fly.

  Thanks for reading!

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  ALSO BY J.J. GREEN

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  Carrie Hatchett, Space Adventurer #1

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  A SCIENCE FICTION COLLECTION

  DAWN FALCON

  A FANTASY COLLECTION

  About the Author

  It isn’t easy to look back over a lifetime and pick out the bits that others might find interesting. I was born in a humble home in London’s East End—a caul birth—more than half a century ago, but I’m now both British and Australian. I picked up Aussie citizenship after living in Melbourne for many years and working as an Australian Volunteer Abroad. My AVA stint led to some time in Laos before returning to the UK and spending fifteen years or so teaching English to immigrants.

  Most important to me in all my experiences are my three gorgeous, amazing sons, who graced me with their appearances along the way.

  I now live in Taiwan, where the weather suits my clothes, and I spend my days writing about the voices in my head.

  Copyright © 2016 J.J. Green

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying without written permission of the publisher or author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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