Prominence - Jump Master Read online

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  Tanlen handed Relv a dynamic driver and grabbed another for himself.

  “All these access panels need to come off so we can replace all of the optical circuit boards with these new generation nano-circuit matrix sets.”

  “Wow, so cool! Nobody I know of has ever seen an optical board, not even the Professors at my university.”

  “Enjoy the history lesson because we won’t be using them any longer. Now shut up would you. I just spent the last two days on synaptic learning drugs to cram about forty years of advances in circuitry into my head to make sure that I know what I am doing.”

  “Learning drugs? They have been banned for decades.”

  “Down there on the home world maybe, but up here in the big black when you are working for the corps it’s practically mandatory. When decades pass between destinations it’s the only way you can keep up.”

  After all of the access panels were removed Tanlen demonstrated to Relv how to remove the circuit boards without killing himself or wrecking anything. The two worked side by side quietly for some time until Relv could not stand the silence anymore.

  “In the shuttle on the way up to the ship I heard some of the other new crew members saying that this is the Abarath’s last voyage. Is that true?”

  “Yep. We are transporting a second wave of colonists to a planet called Egra,” replied Tanlen as he finished removing the last optic board. He stacked it carefully with the others then sat back to rest. While everything on the ship was being serviced and upgraded the environmental systems were on emergency survival settings and it was as hot as hell in the drive room. Relv sat cross legged in front of him like a kid waiting for a bedtime story. His enthusiasm to know about everything was both refreshing and annoying at the same time.

  “Why a second wave? That’s unusual isn’t it?”

  “The planet is only just within the habitable zone, and its atmosphere was not quite up to scratch. The first wave of colonists they sent were terraformers. They have been out there for about seventy years, from your perspective. Assuming they survived and they did their job the place should be ripe for a proper seed colony. The Abarath will be landed on planet and her fusion core converted to become a power plant for the colony until the heavy industry kicks in.”

  “What ship will we go to next?”

  “That’s up to command in your case. In my case I will be retiring with the Abarath. I have done all my tours and it’s time to start a new life on Egra.”

  “Why go to a colony world and not stay on Vaslus?”

  “Because with 180 years of financial investments that I can cash in I can live there like a king. All without the fear of being burnt to a crisp at some point.”

  “Are you referring to the instability of the suns core? That was disproven almost a century ago.”

  “Every time I return to Vaslus I hear the same argument from whichever government is in power. Yet the solar flares and the solar prominence get worse and more frequent. If everything was going to be just fine then why are they still pumping out colony ships as fast as they can gather the materials?”

  “With respect I think you may have been stuck inside this drive room too long.”

  “Very probably true, but my future is all sorted. You are the one who needs to worry about how to survive. Now help me install the new nano’s.”