Free Omega Rising by Joshua Dalzelle

like this. Often it had pushed people away from him. Just as his thoughts were beginning to turn back to "her", Deetz strode back in and startled him out of his reverie.
    "Get your fill? We're good to go, the reactor is still stuck in some kind of low-output mode, but the field emitters are fully charged and ready so we can enter slip-space. We're still going to have to use the main engines in normal space though." Deetz gracefully swung his mechanical body into the command seat and looked over to Jason expectantly. The human took one last, lingering look at Jupiter before heading back to what he now thought of as the copilot seat.

                  "Let's do it. What's the play?"

                  "We could jump to slip space within the system, but that takes a lot of energy since we're so close to the primary star and a gas giant as well. The ship is only just now slip-capable again, no point in pushing it too hard until we get to a proper repair facility." Deetz began to accelerate the ship, preparing to swing around Jupiter and slingshot out towards the outer Solar System and the heliopause. Jason could feel the pulsating rumble of the four main engines as the gunship roared around the enormous planet, but with the compensators fully engaged he didn't feel even the slightest sensation of the brutal acceleration.   

                  The trip out of his native star system was mostly uneventful for Jason. He had hoped for a flyby of one of Earth's robotic space probes or some other such excitement, but other than a disinterested blip from the ship to let him know he was passing an artificial construct, there was nothing to see. Even at over 450 G's of initial acceleration (it had taken a few minutes to explain to the computer the unit of measure he wanted acceleration displayed in) the view outside the canopy didn't change. They would also not be flying near any other planets on their way out to the Kuiper belt, and even then it would be highly unlikely there would be anything more to see. Jason had fell for the same misperception many people did when viewing diagrams and renderings of nearby space; everything seemed so close and accessible when seeing it on a single page. The reality was that the distances and speeds involved were so great that other than Sol itself, the "crowded" Solar System was very much empty space with nothing to see. Jason slouched back into the copilots seat and stared off into space, literally, as the ship continued its long climb up out of the gravity well.
    Another couple of hours passed and Jason rose out of his seat and stretched. "Does this tub have any coffee aboard?" He was fading fast but he didn't want to go to sleep until they had transitioned into slip space, whatever the hell that was. Deetz cocked its head as if pondering the question for a fraction of a second.

                  "Ah, yes. Ask for chroot . It's very similar to your coffee drink and has the same stimulant effect."

                  "Thanks," Jason replied as he hopped down from the command stations and walked off the bridge. He was very aware that sometime during his meals and rest his rifle had gone missing from the place he had set it on the bridge. Initially he had intended to ask Deetz directly about where the weapon had gone, but for now he decided to see how it would play out. While he doubted the synth was holding it for safe keeping, he knew from past experience it would do him no good right now as anything other than as a "security blanket". If Deetz meant to harm him or had any other nefarious designs regarding him, the AR-15 and its single magazine of ammo would not likely save him.
    He walked with more confidence up to the terminal in the galley and instructed it with a single word, "Chroot."

                  "How would you like it, sir?"

    Shit, how am I supposed to know? "Um, black?"

                  "Processing..." He was once