Blade of the Reaper_An Intergalactic Space Opera Adventure by J. N. Chaney & Scott Moon

Author:J. N. Chaney & Scott Moon [Chaney, J. N. & Moon, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-18T06:00:00+00:00

15

I kicked back in my captain's chair, feet up on one of the terminals.

Elise read from her tablet. She’d picked up some fiction about a young woman who saved the galaxy. The main character was five or six years older than her, and it seemed to me that Elise had adopted her as someone to look up to. There were also some romantic overtones in the story, which I stayed away from. After one or two conversations about the book, I concluded it was better just to let her read it and butt out.

She looked up. "Are we there yet?”

"Not exactly," I said. "Captain's log, star date get-me-out-of-this-godsdamn-tunnel.” I cleared my throat. “My crew is holding up well, except for the young woman who I had high hopes for. She's become moody and difficult, like a teenager. I’m considering the airlock solution."

"Ha, ha, ha. You think you're pretty funny?" Elise asked. "Why don't you add to that log that the made-up captain isn't a real captain.”

"You probably got me there," I said, then lowered my feet to the deck slowly, aches and pains from Path’s instruction restricting my movement. “Ship driving isn’t my specialty.”

Elise put away her tablet then stood and stretched. If she'd been hitting the gym a lot before, now she practically lived there. We were all trying to stay busy. The ship had never been in better repair.

We'd managed to shuttle Tom back and forth from the Jellybird and the Lady Faith several times. He put his ship engineering skills to good use. From time to time, even James Henshaw was helpful.

He’d added his advanced programming and biomechanical knowledge to what Tom had already done. I was starting to think my arm, at least, was better than when I had full Union support for my Reaper gear. What he couldn't help me with, and wouldn't talk about, was the prospect of X-37 going off-line without a proper update.

"We need to ration supplies," I muttered, trying to remember how many slip tunnels we’d been through on this odyssey. We were up to something like ten or fifteen slip tunnels now, probably going in three dimensional circles around the galaxy—or far beyond the Deadlands. The long trip frustrated me but also reassured me we were on to something. A secret Reaper facility should be hard to find, I thought.

"Oh, you are a captain!" Elise exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Captain Obvious!"

“Okay, I had that coming,” I admitted, not sure why Elise’s jab actually made me chuckle.

"May I interrupt?" Jelly asked.

I knew it was something serious because X-37 also beeped to warn me of his presence. "Of course."

"We are approaching the end of the slip tunnel," Jelly said. "I have double-checked my data with the Lady Faith and our combined level of confidence in this conclusion is extremely high."

"That's great news, Jelly. Elise was starting to get worried,” I said in retaliation to her Captain Obvious comment.

Elise rolled her eyes and laughed. "Whatever."

"All right, let's do this the right way. Full scans the moment we are safely clear of the exit," I said.

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