Law's End Read Online Free Page B

laser or long range gas analysis particle beam. Each
was tuned to work exactly as advertised and in a pinch could be
safely overloaded to provide long range firepower not too
dissimilar to what the ship had originally been outfitted for.
In all respects Sabha was a fine ship, and she
was probably as perfect for this mission as any other that could be
named. Unfortunately that was an assumption based on almost no
evidence. It was one thing to skirt the edges of Law's End. It was
something else entirely to dive fully in. Few ships, no matter how
well outfitted, had ever returned from deep dives through the
barrier.
There were a lot of unanswered questions. There
were a lot of potentially deadly variables. Unfortunately the
people with the answers were all beyond Law's End and a great deal
would have to be taken on faith.
Thirty years worth of income encouraged a lot
of faith, but Kassad was no simple mercenary. More than the
financial incentive there was the potential to have some of
Laniakea's finest minds indebted to him in gratitude for saving
their lives. Thumbing his nose at the University which had
effectively exiled him was a serious temptation as well. Perhaps
more than anything else after hearing spacer's tales about the
barrier for so many years Kassad just wanted to see what all the
fuss was about with his own eyes. On faith he felt that with all
things considered together the job had to be worth some risk.
In Kassad's rented hanger the Sabha squatted on
its extended landing struts. The struts at the forward end extended
significantly more than the aft section to facilitate loading of
cargo. In Kassad's mind this nose-up posture made Sabha look
somewhat disgruntled at being inspecting by a stranger. While
Kassad could only see the figure's feet at his ship's far end, he
immediately felt a certain annoyance at their presumptive
presence.
Ignoring his guest who had not introduced
herself Kassad busied himself performing a quick visual inspection
of the venting ports for the reaction drive. Not that eyesight
alone was sufficient to determine anything of worth about the
mechanisms. So much of the mission would depend on these devices
that Kassad felt they merited personal attention in addition to the
usual molecular level safety inspection scans.
A couple of meters from the sharp conical end
of the twin teardrop hulls the vents expressed themselves. They
formed a discreet gap in a ring through which the thrust generated
could be directed. The cone sections could then be adjusted to
deflect the thrust as much as one hundred and ten degrees in any
direction. They made the Sabha incredibly agile.
A distinctly feminine voice called out to
Kassad from the other side of the vessel."I have some equipment to
load and I trust your ship will be ready to go as soon as it is
loaded."
"I trust her too." Kassad replied, openly
admiring the lines of his vessel.
With a whistle Kassad called for the front
facing loading ramp to open. The ramp provided ingress through a
large airlock located in the join between the two teardrop hull
segments. From the top of the ramp one could move into the
starboard section which housed the living and working spaces along
with assorted equipment, or to the port section which housed the
main cargo hold. Having both hulls separated by an airlock was a
survivability attribute inherited from her military design.
No sooner did the ramp finish extending then a
deep loud burst of threatening canine barking emanated from
it.
Openly annoyed instead of concerned the female
voice complained, "No one said anything about wild animals on the
ship."
A bemused Kassad came around Sabha's portside
to see his guest staring down a growling hound. The dog's stance
was that of a fighter, legs slightly spread, tail straight and
stiff, head and ears low with teeth prominently displayed. At a
little over a half a meter tall the dog was clad in a thick
tricolor coat in pure white, shades of brown almost orange, and a
black so dark