The Apprentice Starship Engineer: Book One The Link Read Online Free

sports in public schools. Sweetie, keep me on and with you, and I’ll be nice.”
    “Huh, well, let’s see how it goes. Direct me to my quarters. I need to pick up my stuff in the shuttle as well.”
    “Drake, I have all the information. Were good, but you need access rights,” Margret said.
    Brice looked at his screen. “Yeah, well, come over here and I’ll get a picture of you and your hand. I need your stats.”
    I pulled out my old assistant and transmitted my info to him.
    Margret said, “I’ll connect with your old assistant and download all his information.”
    I paused. My old assistant wasn’t smart like Margret, but had a lot of stuff about me on it. “Sure. Go ahead, Margret.”
    “Put your hand on this reader.” Brice tapped his console, and said, “Okay, you now have access to everything. Ah, later about eighteen hundred a bunch of us get together—few guys and a couple girls at G-4 lounge. Come join us. We’re just a bunch of freaks with nothing to do.”
    “Good. I should fit right in. See you later, Brice. Thanks.”

Chapter 3: I’m not on a farm. It’s a starship
    The Armstrong was pleasant. I looked up at the tall ceiling with its soft lighting, thinking to myself that the ship was a work of art. Margret helped me get back to the shuttle and pick up my “trash.” As she led me to my quarters, the Armstrong changed. The hallways were shorter, narrower. Appearing more utilitarian, reminding me of servant quarters.
    “Margret, are you sure you’re going in the right direction?”
    “Yes, your quarters are just down the hall. Here we are at men’s dorm F,” she said.
    The door slid open as I approached with my heavy bag. I fought it through the doorway. Several young men looked up at my noisy arrival. They were older than me. A few had hair on their faces, others had tattoos and piercings. Most had long hair. Everyone stared at me as Margret led me on a tour of my living module, starting with the comfortable dayroom and its attached study. The shared the bathroom and showers. She informed me it was a men only dorm, although several women were lounging on the couch. On one side of the room were eight sleeping tubes—four on the bottom and four on the top, each was four feet high, eight feet deep and six feet wide. The doors had locks on them, and Margret gave me my code. I opened the door. Mitch had left me a mess of dirty clothes, towels, linen and garbage.
    Someone commented from across the room, “Our Mitch was a bit of a pig, but I’ve seen his tube a lot worse.”
    “Hey, kid, we have cleaning supplies in the closet,” another man said.
    It took me an hour to tear it apart, stuffing the dirty laundry into the wash and filling the recycle bins with Mitch’s trash. At five, Johnny, a man with a beard and nose ring, smacked me in the arm and said it was time for dinner. He led me into the dining room. After picking up a plate of food, I followed him over to a table of men from our dorm. I sat next to Johnny.
    “Mealtime on ship is staggered. The dining room isn’t big enough to hold everyone at once. This is our dining room, and we share it with the other eight dorms. If you miss mealtime, you can always stop in and get something. It’s always open,” Johnny said.
    After everyone settled down, a man stood. He had a scruffy beard and flowery print shirt. “My name is Bill, and as the self-appointed head of F dorm, I wish to confirm that Mitch was dumped on Mars. We now have a new dorm mate, Drake Wilson,” he said in a loud voice. Every one stared at me, and my face heated.
    “So, Drake, allow me to introduce you to everyone. I’m Bill Lawson. I’m a physics major. I’ll be studying the stars we pass. This is Sam Myers. He has a masters in physics and minor in astronomy. On my left is Johnny Rodman. He’s a biologist, and is looking for planets that might have life on them. Victor Clemens, another biologist. Rich Pierce, Danny Martin and Roy Mason are geologists.” The