Read Derelict: Halcyone Space, Book 1 for Free Online

The smile never reached his eyes.

Chapter 5
    While she sat in the commissary waiting for the diagnostics to finish running on the medical bay temperature controls, Ro sneaked glances at the stolen schematics . Most of the tables stood empty, and the few station staff that stopped in for a late-afternoon snack ignored her.
    Unwilling to risk using the holographic display, she squinted at the micro, coffee cooling at her side. The ship's design was simple enough that she memorized the basic configuration in a single glance. Its stubby body tapered down to a slim nose at one end and a blunt tail at the other. Two sets of wings, one larger and one smaller, jutted out from the sides in what was supposed to  look like a dragonfly, but had been nicknamed the bumblebee almost from the beginning. 
    Her father's handwritten notes interested her even more than the design of the old transport ship. Tapping the engine compartment to enlarge it, she pondered his design mods, wondering if these were plans or completed work. There was only one way to find out.
    The diagnostic finished running with a satisfied beep. At least the Durbins wouldn't be able to complain about being too cold or too hot or too whatever in medical. She logged herself as working/unavailable/emergencies only and headed to the ship, a utility cart loaded with tools and supplies following behind her.
    She tapped her micro. "Locate Rotherwood, Micah."
    Daedalus's slightly nasal, bored voice responded. She guessed he figured he wouldn't be here long enough for him to personalize his message. "Habitation ring, 37/Beta."
    That left her free to explore without his interference. She wound her way through the station proper, into the older, temporary corridors, and through the airlock into the ship.
    Ro walked down the central corridor that linked the ship's nose to its tail. Once she got past Micah's lab, the lights dimmed. Halting her cart, she dug out a work-light and clipped it to the pocket of her coverall, leaving her hands free. It swept the area in front of her, illuminating a surprising lack of dust and debris.
    The crew quarters had been transformed into large barracks, one on each side of the ship, temporary billets for soldiers on their way to deployments. The captain's quarters would probably be a better base of operations. She triggered the sensor. The door opened and she peered inside. A bare bunk frame with a desk beneath was anchored to the wall next to a chair bolted to the floor. That would do nicely. She would likely be able to scrounge all the spare computer parts she needed from the aft storage bays that had been used as Daedalus's scrap midden for years.
    At the starboard bay, Ro waved her hand under the door sensor, but nothing happened. Frowning, she pulled out her micro. According to her read-out, there was power in all the basic sub-systems. Maybe the sensor had fried.
    The port side bay door opened at her request and Ro slipped inside, playing her light against mounds of construction detritus, broken furniture, abandoned computers, and spare tools. There was more than enough to scavenge from. She piled what she thought she'd need on her cart before sealing the compartment again and heading aft.
    The closed door nagged at her. All the other rooms on the ship had opened easily. Why not that one?
    Leaving her utility cart in the corridor, Ro turned back to the starboard bay. She pulled out her micro and in an attempt to bypass the sensor, triggered an external override. The door still didn't open. "Hmmm," she mumbled, shining her light all around the door and looking for some sign of damage. There was no evidence of tampering, only normal wear that matched all the other surfaces on the ship.
    Ro had never met a lock she couldn't coax, and she wasn't going to walk away from this one now. Studying the stolen schematic, she traced the door circuits, looking for the fail-safe. An electromagnetic kill switch ran in the ceiling conduits. She set her micro