PMF Sneak-Peek: Better Get a Helmet (Patreon)

Hi All!

Holidays, Patreon ambitions, and life-stuffs stole most of my work time from the next PMF book for the last couple months of 2022, but I'm back on my Tanner bullshit for 2023! As you've seen in sneak-peeks from a few months back, book 6 has Tanner working with a Union Fleet military expedition, but this one also has civilian experts like Dr. Liu Shen here, a xenoarchaeologist whom Tanner instantly admires... and then remembers not everyone has been through all of his brand of space nonsense.

* * *

Tanner wandered over to the astrogation table, partly to stare at the holographic image of the planetoid and partly to avoid looking aimless. He found one other person there with perhaps more purpose, but her attention shifted with his arrival. “They’re guessing a good twelve hours before the first launch,” said Dr. Liu. “We want time to collect data and establish some baselines. It may be longer than that, depending on what we see.”

“Sure,” said Tanner.

“Maybe you don’t need to be in that vac suit yet.” She flashed him a tight smile. It seemed genuine enough.

“Yeah,” he replied slowly.

“They gave me one of my own before I came on board, all fitted out and everything.” Liu spoke with the air of small talk, but something lingered behind that. Tanner only caught it in the beat of silence that followed.

Dr. Liu appeared a decade and change older than Tanner, but longevity treatments surely hid a much greater gap. She was a scientist and a leader in her field, and her confidence was well-earned. She didn’t often have to ask for guidance.

She probably had reason to avoid such questions of her military hosts, too.

“Did they train you?” he asked.

“Oh, of course. The whole survey team got a couple hours of orientation, and I’ve been through safety training on starships before.” Another pause. She nodded to the spread of specialists and officers on watch. “I notice only you and Miss Wong are suited up.”

“The Archangel Navy defaults to keeping everyone suited up while on a starship,” said Tanner.

“Ah.” Her shoulders eased—a bit.

“Also, I’ve had a spaceship blown out from under me without any warning,” he added gently. “And, I mean…” He gestured to the holographic image. “Hostile alien space rock.”

“So, to your thinking, everyone should be suited up already?”

“Yeah. Helmets on hand and everything. I wouldn’t wait for the order.”

Dr. Liu’s mouth tightened as she looked around the bridge again. Everyone else carried on, oblivious to the conversation.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she said coolly, and then left to get into her vac suit.