Lives of Future-Past (The Chronicles of Max Gunnarsson Book 1) by S.K. Benton Page B

turned back to his duties, surveying every square inch of the ship, minus living quarters. This was helpful in certain situations, if one knew what he/she was looking for, but this was a tech, and he was just looking for normal abnormalities, such as conduit leaks or broken door sensors.
     Jennie shut the door behind her and sat down at the main screen in the editing bay, where she turned on live cams and zoomed into where Johnson was working on his craft. She wanted to get a close-up of his cute butt and then take some snaps of it and tease him later.
     She was really considering spending the night with him, although it made her nervous thinking about it. She wasn’t sure if it was the right time, as she wanted so much more with him. Zooming in on his location she saw nothing unusual - just someone being slightly anal about his attack vehicle, which made her giggle.
     “God, he’s such a perfectionist,” she thought. She knew in her heart that she could really compliment him in life and help him to reach his true potential - all he needed was a little prodding in the right direction.
     She checked some other sectors on different consoles and then went back to her zoomed view on his posterior, but this time she noticed him look around suspiciously and remove a 1 by ½ meter device out of a box and place it up into the cargo storage of his Draeder. She then saw him lift up some thick tubing and shove it up into the same cargo area.
     He’s loading up gear so he can refuel himself on Earth!
     Earth, like Azul, was full of saline oceans, and saline oceans had deuterium. Deuterium powered fusion-ion drives, as well as atmo concussion boosters, but Draeders carried enough deuterium to last two weeks at full burn. Johnson had no need for refueling gear.
     Tempted to contact Commander Bagatelle immediately, she held off and started to record Ryder’s activities, which were in direct violation of orders and protocols. She made an educated guess that he was planning to stay on Earth, but as the details of the mission were completely transparent to all officers, she had no idea where his orders came from – most certainly not Admiral Bagatelle.
     Once Ryder had stored everything he needed for his mission, he made a beeline to his quarters and again pulled out his footlocker, unlocking it and opening up the side space video console. His father’s familiar face appeared in the screen.
     “Father, we are nearly in Sol System. My ship has been adequately prepared for the extended operation. I will –” 
     
     Councilman Johnson immediately interrupted his son. “Stop. There is a change in plans.”
     “Father?”
     “Our side space orbital probe detected Gunnarsson’s basic landing zone, and you are to go there immediately and engage him before Revolution’s recon teams can find him. Here is what you are to do.”
     He watched the screen intently as his father gave him instructions that even unnerved the jaded young lieutenant.
     Oh well, he thought. It was good while it lasted. Time for Plan B, I guess.
     Jennie kept scanning all displays, and going back to her view on Ryder it appeared that he had left his Draeder and the flight deck, so she stopped the recording and decided the take the ball into her own hands. She felt she knew him, and didn’t want to accuse the lieutenant of any wrongdoing, so she left her duty station and went to his quarters, where she had hoped he would he would be. She was positive that she had totally misunderstood the whole situation, and that there was a plausible explanation for everything.
     As she approached his door she was surprised to see him exiting while holding the box from underneath his bed. He was also dressed down in his flight gear, which was unnecessary, as there would be no Draeders leaving the flight deck for at least some hours.