Beta Five: A Space-age Adventure by Peter Servidio

Author:Peter Servidio [Servidio, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-12-25T16:00:00+00:00

From the Journal of Jack Carter

Stardate 211382.721

Do you know when you like someone? Well, not just like them, but really like them? That feeling you would do anything for them. Would you even give your life for them? I hope Stella knows that I would gladly change places with her. She seems to get weaker every day, no matter what Quirk or I do. I won’t give up, though.

Jack

Chapter 8: Bad Tidings

Quirk and Jack helped steady Stella as they walked back to the compound. Greggor slowly crept forward to get a better look at the fleet and who else Captain Melder had brought with him. Pulling a slender telescope from his pocket, he looked from the west side of the fleet to the east.

Well, at least there are more ships than men, he thought to himself as he counted at least twenty-five ships in the front of the fleet and only four men, including the captain. As the men moved away and further into the fleet, Greggor picked his way out of the underbrush and moved with purpose through the opening until he reached the closet vessel.

Although the ships had looked good enough from the edge of the jungle, now that he was right next to this one, he could see it was in disarray. The outer panels were rusted and loose. One of the windows by the cockpit had been kicked out; the access door sat half open.

Hearing footsteps to his left, Greggor quickly slid through the partially open door and into the ship. He realized the inside was not in much better shape as he heard voices outside the door talking.

“You can see that these ships on the outside of the fleet’s perimeter are pretty worn down. But the good thing is that as we move further in, these outer ships protected the ones closer to the center. We will make a fortune once we salvage the good ones and sell off these others for scrap.”

The voice trailed off, but Greggor had heard what he needed. It's time to look further in. He thought as he climbed out of the ship and crouched down to peer around the back of the ship.

No one was in sight, and he did not hear footsteps or conversation. Looking past the first few lines of ships, he could see that whoever had been talking was correct. The ship's appearance, at least on the outside, looked better the further in they were.

After scouting around for an hour or so, Greggor had found a few ships that would fit the needs of his group, so he made his way back to the compound.

***

“Its been three days, Greggor, and she is not getting any better!” Jack could not help but raise his voice. “Can we focus on helping Stella and forget about that damn fleet of ships for a minute!”

Greggor flexed his jaw as he noticed Jack’s fists clenched by his side. He knew the young man was upset, but they had come to New Thyoph for a reason: to secure a ship.

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