Frontiers Saga 10: Liberation by Ryk Brown Page B

the forward end of the bay in his EVA suit, watching as the other technicians checked that the maneuvering packs had completely shut down and were safe.
    The massive overhead doors began closing over them, sliding in from port and starboard. They moved quickly, taking less than a minute to close and lock. Internal lights flickered to life, illuminating the entire bay. Despite its size, the Takaran weapon looked rather small, as the bay had been designed to hold a much larger weapon.
    As the numerous technicians began disconnecting the equipment-maneuvering pods from the base of the plasma cannon turret, the lead technician looked around the bay. Shortly, the bay would be pressurized, and his people could begin installation of the weapon.
    * * *
    “Any idea what they’re doing down there?” Josh asked from the front seat of the Falcon’s cockpit.
    “ Not a clue, ” Loki answered. “ I haven’t been able to see anything since the Aurora moved in over the top of the Celestia. She’s inverted — I know that much — and she’s really close to the Celestia as well, maybe fifty meters. ”
    “Whatever they’re doing, I hope they finish soon,” Josh said. “I’m getting bored.”
    “ You’ve been complaining for weeks about wanting to get back in the cockpit, and now you’re complaining about being bored? ”
    “I wanted to get back to flying ,” Josh said, “not hovering over the pole of a gas giant for days on end.”
    “ It’s only been a few hours, Josh, ” Loki said. “ Besides, you’d better get used to long, boring flights. I suspect most of them are going to be recon flights from now on. ”
    “I need some excitement, some challenges. Instead, I’m staring at swirling gas clouds. Hell, flying the Aurora was more exciting than this,” Josh exclaimed.
    Loki ignored him as he continued to monitor his sensor displays.
    “ You could always take a turn monitoring the sensors ,” Loki mumbled.
    “At least you got to go on an adventure back on Tanna.”
    “ Yeah, that was loads of fun, ” Loki replied, “ especially the space jump part. ”
    “Exactly! That’s what I’m talking about. You got to space jump! How cool was that? The most exciting thing I’ve done lately is crash the flight simulator just for the hell of it.”
    “ You don’t want to space jump, Josh. Trust me on this. ”
    “I have this overwhelming urge to open up the throttles and do a fast lap around this big ball of gas. Maybe dodge a few moons at high speed just to see how she feels again.”
    Josh waited nearly a minute for a response from Loki, but it did not come. “That was your cue, Loki. You’re supposed to talk me out of doing stupid things, remember?”
    Loki continued ignoring him as he studied his sensor display more closely.
    “Are you even listening to me, Loki?” Josh turned around the best he could in his flight seat to look back over his shoulder at Loki who was sitting behind him. Loki was staring intently at his displays. His brow was furrowed and concern showed on his face. “What’s wrong?”
    “ Uh, I think you might get that excitement you’re craving, and sooner than you thought. ” Loki activated the Falcon’s laser comm-array, locking it onto the Aurora’s position over Metis. “ Aurora, Falcon. Flash traffic. ”

CHAPTER THREE
    “ Two contacts, ” Loki reported over the comms. “ Tactical database puts them as Jung gunships. They just dropped out of FTL. Transmitting sensor telemetry to you now. ”
    “Tell them to stay on station and keep feeding us their sensor telemetry,” Nathan ordered as he came out of his ready room to the port side of the comm station.
    “Yes, sir,” Naralena answered.
    “Receiving the Falcon’s sensor telemetry,” Mister Randeen reported from the tactical station. “Putting it up on the main view screen.”
    Nathan watched the main view screen as he passed the tactical station on his way forward. The computer-enhanced images of the two targets