“Target main bridge,” Johnordered. “You have two minutes left.”
“Main bridge targeted,” McReidyconfirmed.
John coughed suddenly. His handrose to cover his mouth. “Sam?” he whispered into his communicator.
“You’ll only get one chance,”came the muffled reply.
“That’s all I need.” John’sthroat cleared and his hand returned to McReidy’s console. He pointed, andhoped like mad she was paying attention. She noted where his fingers pointedand changed her targeting accordingly.
“You don’t have the firepower.” The Centauri called John’s bluff.
“Take out their shields,” Johnordered.
McReidy fired. The sudden drainof power to the weapons temporarily dimmed the bridge. It was enough to breakthrough the Centauri shields even if it didn’t cause damage.
“Got her!” Kowalski called beforethe lights were back up.
John sighed with relief. Giacomonearly fainted. It took the Centauri a few minutes to realise what hadhappened. He began ranting in his own language so quickly the translatorcouldn’t keep up.
“Don’t,” John warned. He knewthe Centauri ship was not equipped to fight but a return of fire was to beexpected. “Take your cargo, and go home.”
“What am I supposed to tell mysuperiors?”
“Three crystals out of twotonne? There won’t even be a weight discrepancy. No one will know unless youtell them.”
The Centauri was not happy. Arange of emotions crossed his face but he could see that he had no choice. Hetook a breath, puffing up his chest and his chin with assumed righteousness.
The transmission ended, theCentauri ship turned and disappeared into space.
The atmosphere was stifling. John returned to his chair and sat down heavily. He heard Giacomo’s voice andguessed what he was asking. “No, you’re staying here.” Lorraine was quitecapable of taking care of herself.
“Sir, request permission to takejackets off.” The request came from Gillespie. His hair was wet and plasteredto his forehead.
It should have been an easyanswer, but, even after all this time, John found it hard to break one ofCaptain Decker’s rules. With loss of climate control, engineering had warnedthe ship would heat up. Everywhere else, the uniform rule had been dropped. Itwas still enforced on the bridge.
“It’s thirty nine degreescentigrade,” McReidy added for extra persuasion.
John looked at each one of them. They were all suffering from the heat. “Jackets off,” he agreed.
The following shifts werenotified of the change, much to their relief. The temperature had been slowlyclimbing. Where the ventilations systems were working, they blew hot air. Engineering was almost like a furnace. Engineers were on short shifts andcontinual medical supervision to keep a check on heat stroke.
McReidy caught up with John inthe bar: where ice water was lukewarm – and still the most popular drink on themenu. Soghra complained constantly. As did the women, who would do just aboutanything for running water. John seriously doubted that they would, but a longhot shower was an absolute dream.
If he wanted any peace and quiettonight, it would not be in the bar. McReidy’s approach assured him of that. If she wanted to see him, it would have to be in his quarters because that’swhere he was going. And if she was going to yell at him again, over today’sincident, he would pull a cushion over his head and pretend to go to sleep.
She came straight to the point asthe door closed behind her and stood there with her hands on her hips.
“Would you really have destroyedthat Centauri ship?”
“Would you have fired, if I hadordered it?” He flopped onto the lounge and met her gaze. His brown eyesreflected the seriousness of his own question.
It wasn’t the answer she wantedto hear. For a second it seemed to strike her – maybe he hadn’t beenbluffing. Her face clouded with as much confusion as the Centauri’s had.
“And if they report you?”
“I’ll deal with that.”
The rest of the trip was quiet. The acquired crystals did the job of the original ones. Most of the systemswere up and running with varying degrees of efficiency. Running water wasrestored, for which everyone was grateful. Light speed was achieved andmaintained.
Heat in the engine room wasunbearable. It was only possible to stop the engines blowing by using one at atime. When it neared critical, it was switched off and allowed to cool down. It meant an occasional period of drifting to ensure a safe temperature beforerestarting. No one seemed to mind that too much. It was the only time theengineers could get into the engine room without the use of heat protectiveclothing.
Some of the crew adapted to theconstant heat more easily than others. Everyone pitched in to help everyoneelse. They would make it to Copernicus. It would be slow, but they would makeit.
John was more than pleased. Hewas filled with pride. There were complaints; that was to be expected. Butthis had been a matter of survival. –and they had survived.
# # #
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About theAuthor
Jeannie Meekins writes adult fiction along with children’sfiction and non fiction. She has been published in Australia and the US, andmany titles are available worldwide.
While targeted at children, her non fiction is popular withadults. Many titles have been picked up by schools and public libraries, aswell as secondary and tertiary institutions. Popular topics include over 25books on the Solar System and beyond, biographies of famous (and not so famous– but should be) figures who have changed our lives and our world, and wondersof the natural world.
Fiction is generally aimed at younger readers, with picturebooks, chapter books and junior novels.
Scroll down for a full list of Jeannie’s books.
To connect with Jeannie and findmore information on her books, visit her writer page on Facebook: JeannieMeekins Writer: https://www.facebook.com/jmeekins.writer/
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Storm Cloudebooks
For readers 15 years to adult
By Any Other Name
Shoulder of the Giant
When the Dust Settled
Open House (short story collection)
A Fly in the Ointment (due for release early 2018)
Children’s books
Storm Cloud Publishing also has a wide range of children’sbooks suitable for pre-readers through to young teens. These include picturebooks, junior novels and series, and short story collections.
Picture books
Who’s Scared of the Dark? – for18 months upwards
Grandpa’s Hat – for non orbeginning readers
Meg Helps Out – for beginningreaders
Rhyming stories
I Thought I’d Teach Myself toShave – for readers 6 years upwards
– (Finalistin The Wishing Shelf Book Awards, 2016)
Scully the Cat – for readers 6years upwards
Andrew and the Dragon
