A preview from the novel Space Tug.



                                                           Space Tug on Amazom.com

 I lowered the tug toward the location on the asteroid where I needed to apply the tractor beam. Touching the computer screen I clicked the command to hover. It would cause the little ship to halt about five hundred feet above the asteroid. I was reaching for the tractor beam ignition when I realized something was wrong. The little tug was not responding to the computers command! I was dropping like rock and on a collision course! I was heading straight into the asteroid! I hit the switches and clicked the commands again and still I dropped closer to the asteroid. The ship was not responding to my manual commands either! I was going to crash onto the surface! I quickly toggled the systems switch from ‘A’ position to "B" position. That changed the main system over to a redundant backup system. I hastily clicked the command for an emergency stop. Still the little ship did not respond. I had only seconds before I collided with the surface!
Above my head jammed in a crack between two gauges was a picture of my wife. I glanced up at the photo. "Linda…" I wistfully called my wife’s name through clinched teeth as I watched the surface rise swiftly towards me. I fought the dead controls frantically but to no avail. The last two years of my life did a fast run through my mind. I realized that I would never meet my son. All at once and just that quick all was lost! I was going to die in a spatial train wreck millions of miles from home because of a simple systems malfunction. What a way for America’s favorite son to end his career; smashed on the side of a floating mountain!
I slapped my palm on the send switch that sent the last hours of the little ship’s computer’s memory banks data back to Earth. This was a last minute thing to do aboard a long distance space ship. This action meant all was lost. It was somewhat like the black box on an airliner, except in my case it was a burst of coded information sent zipping off to Earth. The moment it was received, even before analyzing the data, mission control would know I’ve probably met with disaster. As a matter of fact, it would possibly be months before NASA would be able to launch another Interceptor to come find my crash site confirming my loss. Then they could finish my job of retrieving the asteroid.
The front portal was completely full of nothing but cold, dead ground rushing toward me. I instinctively threw my arms in front of my face expecting to crash in the next second. Nothing happened! The little ship came to an abrupt halt about twenty five feet above the surface of the asteroid. "What the hell…?" I mumbled as I realized I had stopped just in the nick of time! I was hovering and I had no clue why. I should be an oily spot on the side of this thing! I touched the computer screen. The little ship still would not respond to my commands. ‘How weird is this?’ I was totally confused by the last few minutes. What did all of this mean?
A LITTLE MORE...
I stepped into the laboratory, Teague turned to me as I leveled the laser rifle on the giant body lying on the operating table, and I took aim. The robot was slow in response, probably the very last thing he expected was that I would try to stop him from his duties. This hesitation probably gave me the time I needed to pull the trigger and slice the synthetic body into three elongated segments, instantly the damage was complete.
I guess my actions made his decision for him. The robot charged me and in an instant, even before he reached my vicinity he had me bound in his manipulative force. The rifle dropped from my grip and immediately I felt like I was wrapped from head to toe in an impervious trap. Well, I guess that robot rule number five must have come into effect allowing him to manhandle me, a human. The safety of the many overrides the desires of the few. He had me like a wasp in amber, I was stuck. Standing before me as a hunter evaluating his kill the robot had me held fast with the power from the palm of his metal hand; the beam had me in his total control. Teague looked back at the dismembered synthetic body and then back at me. I guessed that the robot was confused at my actions to the point of his own inaction. Maybe he was pondering whether he should kill me or not.
I would have struggled against my bonds if I could have moved at all. I realized that I wasn’t able to take a breath. Did Teague know that if he didn’t release me very soon I would pass out and then die of asphyxiation? I couldn’t tell him or even barter for my life. Maybe I was spending my last seconds in this astral plane, pity I didn’t get to finish my mission. Spots began to dance before my eyes and blackness began to wash over me. It was like my childhood nightmare, I couldn’t breathe! The smell of coal dust was in my nostrils. I heard my grandfather calling my name, "Glenn, come here boy!" My heart was racing faster and faster and my mind was reeling from the lack of oxygen. Death was upon me, all went dark, and I passed out.
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