Coming out of the jump hole, the radio was silent. Not dead, but quiet. Almost...intentionally that way. He reached over and drew back the screen that protected his eyes from the Pequena Negra radiation. The shape was unmistakeable, a Liberty Navy gunboat. He pulled the screen closed again before his eyes were permanently damaged.
"Not just yet", he muttered to himself, and set a new course for Tinker's Haven.
The radio stayed silent across the system until the final approach, when he announced his, unscheduled arrival. The ship landed, and he walked out of the dock, waving off the loaders staff.
"Empty," he lied to them, and retreated deep inside the station to wait out the Navy.
Follow the adventures of an Australian author marooned in America.
