Free Penance (RN: Book 2) by David Gunner Page B

through me, understood?”
    The chief engineer found Avery’s intense stare a little disturbing, “If you insist so, any request will go through you.”
    “And the motive systems?”
    “Well, the chemical engines are all good. Tough as nails, they are. It’d take a mad monkey with a hammer to do anythin’ to them. But the sub-light engines, well ...” the engineer scratched his cheek as he considered the sub-light drive. “They took a lot of heat and the insulation on the drive coils was smokin’ like a steam train by the time he’d finished pushing them so far into the red. Why’d he do that by the way? All we heard down here was someone’s lizard had escaped.”
    “Chief, if you’d seen what was holding us back and what was trying to eat us, you’d have run the engines to melt down.” Avery said with an intriguing raise of the eyebrows.
    “But what was it then?”
    “I’ve no idea chief. The sub-light engines?” Avery nodded toward the long curved intrusions that ran the length of the engineering bay.
    “Oh, they’ll get us home as long as he doesn’t cook them again. But I’ve capped them at point six, and they’ll need to be physically checked when we get back as we lost a lot of lining.”
    “Point six!” Avery said incredulously, “Jesus, Chief, we won’t outrun a kite on a windy day at point six.”
    “Well it can’t be helped. We lost a lot of insulation and are down to the wire in a lot of places.”
    “OK, I’ll make a note for a priority inspection as soon as we reach a suitable site,” Avery said looking down into the engineering bay. “Anything else?”
    Something of a considering light came over the engineer and he took a step toward Avery, “Lieutenant. I’ve an odd idea about how that magnetic crap was holding us up back there, and if you’d give me a minute I’d like to give you some idea as to –“ The chief engineer’s fingers moved as if they were constructing a 3D model in the air as he spoke.
    “Is it a priority as I have other urgent duties?” Avery said making as to leave.
    “Why, no, but if you can spare a few minutes later I’d –“
    “As soon as I’m free. Thank you, Chief,” Avery said leaving the bewildered engineer staring after him as he exited the control bay in something of a hurry. He initially turned left to give the impression of heading to the rear weapons bay, only to slip down three flights of hand rails navy style before entering a lower section of the engineering bay covered from observation above. He passed through several hatchways towards the lower center sections of the ship, eventually reaching an armoured bulkhead door with a fifty symbol keypad. Avery entered a long pass code and the door opened to a small room that was essentially a slim corridor running around a large center obstruction. He moved to the rear of the room where two figures stared cautiously from the shadowed recess of a series of vertical glass pipes tinted blood red by the fluid inside.
    The two men, one very tall, the other much shorter and squatter with dirty blonde hair, slipped from between the pipes as Avery approached. The shorter man moved to a junction in the pipes as Levre greeted Avery.
    “A-ver-ree!” Levre called, his huge mouth spread in a loose skinned grin and one hand held high in anticipation of a salutary hand slap as the Lieutenant approached.
    The top of Avery’s head barely reached Levre’s shoulders, but the taller man spat out a choking cough when Avery struck his solar plexus with the base of a closed fist. A man of little substance, Levre staggered backwards to collide with the wall where he stood rubbing his chest, his face sagging and protruding eyes fixed on Avery in pained wonder. The blonde haired man smirked at Levre’s distress and turned his attention back to the valve he was fiddling with.
    “What the hell, Captain Avery. I was just saying hello,” Levre said, as he rubbed his chest.
    “You dumb piece of shit!” Avery