Stormwind undertook the pilot/astrogator role and soon realised that he was woefully unskilled at the task (when he was serving, he was an insertion specialist and he left the rest to the bridge crew.) However, the "No Strings Attached" made a successful translation to Jump space, en-route to Naxos.
"We need to hire a competent pilot. How's our guest?" Stormwind glanced across to Julia, who had slipped into the co-pilot's seat.
"Resting. He's not too bad; a few days should see him fit"
"So, what do you reckon to him. What was all that about, back on Gateway Station?"
Julia glanced out of the forward window and felt the blind spot. She shivered. She hit the control that blanked the windows.
"I don't know. The one goon was trying to search him; the one that got away. Next we know, there's an air/raft chasing us. He was obviously desperate to get away from someone, or something."
Stormwind checked over the instrument panel readouts. Everything was on the green.
"We first met like this", mused Julia. "Remember? When you pulled me off Jamison's World." She leant over and kissed him on the cheek. "It's a week to Naxos", she murmured.
A few days later, they were all seated in the common area in the ship. Trobb was recovered, but still looked pale.
"I'm really very grateful for this", he stammered. "I didn't expect you to get so involved."
"Involved in what, exactly?" said Stormwind. "Why were those men after you?"
Trobb spread his hands. "I don't know. I was leaving my hotel and I saw them following me. They must have mistaken me for someone else."
"So, what do you do?"
"I'm an air/raft salesman, on a roving commission. I work for Universal Flyers, based on Pavonis. My job is to set up dealerships in different systems."
Stormwind glanced at Julia. She shook her head slightly. "Something doesn't ring true".
No comments:
Post a Comment