Page 42 of Tattle Tail
“Well, shit.” He leaned back in his chair.
“Have you initiated a distress beacon?”
“Not yet. I can send an encrypted message to Mari, but it’d be days before help arrives.” Unspoken was that they did not have air to last long enough for Mari and Winter to send in the cavalry.
“Yes, that is not a good solution,” she agreed.
“We turn on a distress signal, we’re sitting targets for the ransomer.”
“Or the signal could be intercepted by a third party.”
Despite being near common shipping lanes, he wouldn’t give that good odds. The go-suits gave them another five hours of air, not nearly enough time to reach anywhere civilized.
Perhaps they needed to go somewhere uncivilized.
He pointed to the screen. “That’s the nearest habitable planet. We can wait there.”
Peaceable planted a hand on the back of his chair and leaned closer to the screen. The clean scent of soap with citrus notes tickled his nose. “Is it safe?”
“There’s no five-star hotel waiting for us,” he replied.
“That is not an answer. That is deflection.”
“Charm,” he said. “It’s pronounced charm.”
Chapter 12
Peaceable
Charm.
He wasn’t wrong, which irritated her.
The uninhabited but habitable planet was an hour away.
Worry kept picking at why their destination was habitable but empty. Habitable worlds were not so common, and those relatively near common shipping zones were never empty without reason.
“I know that look,” he said.
“Why is the planet uninhabited? I do not trust this. Is it full of ghosts? You are bringing us to a ghost planet.” The words tumbled out of her.
“Not a ghost planet. It used to be inhabited.”
“That is the definition of a ghost planet,” she said.
He glanced away.
A-ha! Ghost planet.
“There’s an asteroid belt around the system,” he said. Then quickly added, “Navigation will be tricky, but I can manage.”
That made sense. Tension eased in her chest. “And you checked for additional problems?”
“Life support and shielding. They seemed the most important.”
Peaceable nodded. “I will check the engine and the landing gear.”
“Good thinking. I’ll let you know when you need to put on the go-suit,” he said, turning back to the screen.
