Eternity or Bust: Mission 16 (Black Ocean) by J.S. Morin

Author:J.S. Morin [Morin, J.S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: fantasy, Space Opera
Publisher: Magical Scrivener Press
Published: 2017-10-14T06:00:00+00:00

“Nice deal,” Carl said. He looked around. Shoni was on the couch, nose aimed at a datapad. She waved briefly when she caught Carl staring. Carl ran a quick inventory, trying to account for recent crew rotations. “We missing someone?”

“Nah,” Roddy replied. “Esper’s sulking in her quarters. Kid went to see Mort’s old lady. I guess delivering bad news in person didn’t go like the fairy princess imagined.”

Carl cringed. How could it? Even a gifted liar like him wouldn’t have known where to begin chipping away at the hardened heart of a woman run out on by a mass murderer with a son set on the first steps of that same path. Sure, knowing the guys, there were good, reasonable explanations for all the murders, but to someone on the home front, that shit had to come with some serious baggage. No one wants a perky little ray of sunshine stopping by to tell them twenty years of heartache and shame is OK. The last thing Nancy Brown would have wanted to hear is that Mort lived a happy life without her.

There was only one way Esper could have made things worse than merely offering condolences. “She didn’t tell Mort’s wife that he’s alive in her head, did she?”

Roddy ambled over to the couch with a fresh beer. “She was crying. I make it a rule not to get involved with crying humans. But between you and me, I’m betting that if she told one of them bossy-britches Convocation types that she’s collecting brains, she wouldn’t be back here.”

“Amy, would you mind—?”

“Already on it,” Amy said, disentangling from Carl’s arm and heading for the cockpit. That left Carl to carry in their luggage, but the sooner they got off Earth, the safer he’d feel. It was like swimming in shark-infested waters. No matter how much the dive instructor insisted that the sharks had just been fed, they were still sharks. Who was the dive instructor to say whether they’d had their fill? All it would have taken was for Jared Malcolm’s tentative deal for safe passage to fall apart, and they’d be scrambling for their lives.

“So,” Yomin said. “I imagine we head back to pick up Archie and the wizards. But where to from there?”

“Dunno,” Carl said, jamming his fists into the pockets of his battered jacket. How many times had he tried that same gesture yesterday, only to be reminded that his tux didn’t have real pockets? “Let’s just see if Amy gets us out of Earth orbit before making any plans about a future beyond today.”

The Mobius shuddered. Out the overhead dome, they could all see the claw arm clamped down around them, feelers extended to form a custom-sized envelope hugging their ship. As clear blue sky clogged with lines of aerial traffic extended overhead, the ship thrummed as the engines fired up.

Carl’s heart picked up its pace. This was it. They were going to get away with it.

The docking arm released. The Mobius shot forward. Amy angled

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