head, despite his grumbling. The scanning range was greatly diminished, but she wanted the extra edge. The woods were populated by a variety of creatures, from birds, to lizards, to things like impalas, to things like bears.
As they moved, she had her safety off. The rest of her crew were fast and good. She was still better. She demanded that extra split–second in an emergency. It might mean the difference between life and death.
Djamila stopped suddenly and pivoted in place. It was an old trick in terrain like this. The sudden turn to catch movement from a watcher giving himself away. Nothing. Well, nothing but Aritza nearly walking into her before he looked up from his screen.
“Hey,” he looked up, “a little warning?” He looked extremely put out. She chalked it up to working for so long alone. Probably forgot how to be polite around people. Or maybe he was just an asshole, after all.
She considered growling at him, settled for a sickly–sweet smile instead. The muttering under his breath was reward enough. She smiled to herself and set off again.
Ξ
Javier set his system to scanning the database of transports, looking for a baseline model to compare against. These things always got customized the second day after they launched, as captains and engineers tweaked things. It would be useful to know what they were working with here. And Yu would appreciate Javier finding him a bigger Auxiliary Power Reactor, to free up space for the next time he had to crawl into the bio–scrubbers.
He was so engrossed in the screen that he stopped ogling Sykora’s butt as she moved. And walked right into her when she stopped and looked backwards. Fortunately for his day, he avoided bouncing his nose off of her breast.
“Hey,” he looked up, “a little warning?” For a moment, Javier thought she was going to punch him, but she smiled instead. He wasn’t sure that it was an improvement, but she started walking again a moment later.
Javier kept his commentary to himself. Mostly.
The emergency beacon had been a standard affair, required by law on every vessel capable of interstellar flight. In this case, it had been the cheapest model on the market, broadcasting a twenty–four digit alpha–numeric ID from the manufacturer, rather than the more sophisticated models that included vessel particulars. That, at least, eliminated several classes of vessels, say, things big enough to have customized beacons, or military vehicles. Javier dug deeper.
At least Sykora warned him before she stopped, the next time. It was the smug smile when he looked up, up, from his screen. He grumbled anyway.
“Rest break here,” Sykora called to the group. Everyone else relaxed and looked around the area warily. Things were generally just the wrong–enough shade of green to gnaw at someone.
Javier found a dead tree and sat on the trunk. His least–favorite tree returned to shadow his view.
“Aritza, where are the scouts now?”
He looked up at her sourly.
“Please?” she added quietly. Huh. Old dogs and new tricks. That had sounded almost painful. Still, she sounded sincere. It was certainly the first time he’d ever heard her use that word with him.
Javier toggled one of the side gauges into the projector, zoomed, and washed out small animals. Two dots appeared on the map, plus a few others at a considerable distance. It was a good scanner probe. It helped to have Suvi piloting it and refining the data.
“Three hundred meters out and closing, ma’am,” he replied. Teeth were teeth. If she could pull hers and act politely, he could do the same.
She nodded and pulled something from her pocket. She started to put it in her mouth and paused. “Cover your ears, Aritza,” she said.
He blinked, thought about it for a half–second, and set the computer down so he could jam fingers in, just before she blew a whistle shrill enough to wake the dead. Hopefully Suvi had been paying attention to the audio channel before it overloaded.
As they moved, she had her safety off. The rest of her crew were fast and good. She was still better. She demanded that extra split–second in an emergency. It might mean the difference between life and death.
Djamila stopped suddenly and pivoted in place. It was an old trick in terrain like this. The sudden turn to catch movement from a watcher giving himself away. Nothing. Well, nothing but Aritza nearly walking into her before he looked up from his screen.
“Hey,” he looked up, “a little warning?” He looked extremely put out. She chalked it up to working for so long alone. Probably forgot how to be polite around people. Or maybe he was just an asshole, after all.
She considered growling at him, settled for a sickly–sweet smile instead. The muttering under his breath was reward enough. She smiled to herself and set off again.
Ξ
Javier set his system to scanning the database of transports, looking for a baseline model to compare against. These things always got customized the second day after they launched, as captains and engineers tweaked things. It would be useful to know what they were working with here. And Yu would appreciate Javier finding him a bigger Auxiliary Power Reactor, to free up space for the next time he had to crawl into the bio–scrubbers.
He was so engrossed in the screen that he stopped ogling Sykora’s butt as she moved. And walked right into her when she stopped and looked backwards. Fortunately for his day, he avoided bouncing his nose off of her breast.
“Hey,” he looked up, “a little warning?” For a moment, Javier thought she was going to punch him, but she smiled instead. He wasn’t sure that it was an improvement, but she started walking again a moment later.
Javier kept his commentary to himself. Mostly.
The emergency beacon had been a standard affair, required by law on every vessel capable of interstellar flight. In this case, it had been the cheapest model on the market, broadcasting a twenty–four digit alpha–numeric ID from the manufacturer, rather than the more sophisticated models that included vessel particulars. That, at least, eliminated several classes of vessels, say, things big enough to have customized beacons, or military vehicles. Javier dug deeper.
At least Sykora warned him before she stopped, the next time. It was the smug smile when he looked up, up, from his screen. He grumbled anyway.
“Rest break here,” Sykora called to the group. Everyone else relaxed and looked around the area warily. Things were generally just the wrong–enough shade of green to gnaw at someone.
Javier found a dead tree and sat on the trunk. His least–favorite tree returned to shadow his view.
“Aritza, where are the scouts now?”
He looked up at her sourly.
“Please?” she added quietly. Huh. Old dogs and new tricks. That had sounded almost painful. Still, she sounded sincere. It was certainly the first time he’d ever heard her use that word with him.
Javier toggled one of the side gauges into the projector, zoomed, and washed out small animals. Two dots appeared on the map, plus a few others at a considerable distance. It was a good scanner probe. It helped to have Suvi piloting it and refining the data.
“Three hundred meters out and closing, ma’am,” he replied. Teeth were teeth. If she could pull hers and act politely, he could do the same.
She nodded and pulled something from her pocket. She started to put it in her mouth and paused. “Cover your ears, Aritza,” she said.
He blinked, thought about it for a half–second, and set the computer down so he could jam fingers in, just before she blew a whistle shrill enough to wake the dead. Hopefully Suvi had been paying attention to the audio channel before it overloaded.
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