Free Metal Boxes - Rusty Hinges by Alan Black Page A

Allie’s artificial eye spun, shifting color and the pupil dilated, adjusting to his proximity, recording every minute muscle twitch and his pupil response, feeding data about his excitement at seeing her directly to her brain. Her other eye, the natural one, seemed to bore into his soul, flaying open his heart.
    “How may I be of service, Lieutenant Vedrian?” He heard a snort from behind him. “Something to say, Juarez?”
    “Come on, Ensign Stone. There isn’t a creature on this ship with a working brain who doesn’t know you two are a couple.”
    Stone continued to stare at Allie, but he spoke to Juarez. “Do you have a problem, Petty Officer?”
    “Oh no, sir. I think it’s a good thing, but you’re standing in the hatchway. So if you’re going to be playing kissy-face, please go somewhere else so us working stiffs can get these mines moved.”
    “Aye, aye, Petty Officer.” Stone knew an order when he heard one, even if spoken by a mid-ranking enlisted.
    He grabbed Allie by an elbow and directed her back into the corridor. Once a team pushed a cartload of mines out of the hatch and around a corner, the corridor was empty. He took the occasion to kiss Allie, long and soft.
    She sighed, “That was what I needed. My batteries were running low and I needed a recharge.” She placed a flat palm on his chest and backed up to arms length. “I’m free for a couple of hours, but I have duty at sixteen hundred hours. You?”
    He shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t think I can get away until oh-three-hundred tomorrow morning.”
    “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’re avoiding me.” At the panicked look on his face, she laughed, “I’m only teasing, boy.”
    Stone said, “Good. I want some free time, but Rusty Hinges is a huge ship and the navy hasn’t been slack in their attempts to retrofit it for human use.”
    “They have done some incredible things since we first came aboard.”
    “Engineering is a shining marvel of upgrades. Communications is a seamlessly secured wireless system. The bridge is an amazing example of military perfection. However, our tactical weapons positions are still a tangle of rust, broken equipment, patched and repatched systems.”
    “I’m not an expert at Hyrocanian weapons systems, but if we meet the enemy soon, we might as well throw rocks at them.”
    Stone laughed, “We’ve been there. The ship’s shotgun-style mine throwers work, but barely. None of the dozens of barrels on cannon eleven will fire more than five or six times without jamming. Of course, that was dry firing them.” They were in hyperspace having transited through the jump point and no one wanted to fire active munitions into the gray. No one knew what would happen. “We have plenty of mines, both the ones in storage scattered around the ship, plus those scooped up from around the Brickman’s Station jump point. But the big problem is they were stored all around the ship.”
    She laughed, “I can see that.”
    “There are feeder tubes from every storeroom to the various gun emplacements, but the tube from this one is jammed tight. The vent runners are working to get it cleared without blowing us all up.”
    “I would appreciate not getting blown up.”
    “Me too.”
    She gave him another quick kiss. “I was hoping that we could have time together on Peach’s Rest, getting you away from your job as governor. Now you’re not in charge, but busier than ever.”
    “I’m sorry about Peach’s Rest. I —”
    “Don’t worry about it. I had a good time anyway. I met a real nice couple there. We got along great and we talked about you a lot until I got orders from Major Numos to return. We had fun and I’m sure you like them. Well, gotta go.”
    She was gone before he could reply, racing down the corridor at marine top speed. He realized he hadn’t seen a marine on board moving at any pace slower than a sprint since …
    He stopped.
    “ Wait! ” he thought. “ What did she