Guardian Ship by Mark Wayne McGinnis

Author:Mark Wayne McGinnis [McGinnis, Mark Wayne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Avenstar Productions
Published: 2019-07-10T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 31

Momentarily mesmerized, I took in the endless black cosmos of space, out there beyond the Watcher Craft—it was like nothing else I had ever experienced. Sure, dark and foreboding, yet not dead or lifeless, because all those billions upon billions of twinkling points of light gave rise to something else—maybe it was hope, maybe it was something spiritual. I can’t claim to know too much of such matters. As I thought more about it, I couldn’t avoid thinking that those twinkling points of light also gave rise to the Wikk, and to Hannig, and to an incomprehensible universe of other life out there that we were just now discovering.

On approach, we assessed the long Wikk vessel with all its asymmetrical, bulbous protrusions.

“Looks more like a skinny turd than a spaceship,” Gordo said flatly.

I took the lone empty seat next to Hannig. Speaking quietly, I said, “Let’s say we pull off the impossible here. Somehow gain control of that ship. The rescuing of the abducted people, all those kids—what are our options for bringing them back to Earth?”

“Well, the Wikk ship has a flight bay. There are four large shuttles, like the ones that took them, plus other vessels,” Hannig replied.

Irritated, I just stared back at him. “Shuttles that none of us know how to fly. Most of these guys don’t even drive cars, how are they gonna be able to fly a spacecraft?” The others around us went quiet, listening in on our conversation.

Hannig looked at me with the same calm demeanor as always. “Dominic, do you really believe one needs to hand-pilot a spacecraft with that level of technology?” He gestured to the inside of his own ship. “Do you believe my tactile piloting is really necessary to operate this Watcher Craft? Yes, at times I take up the controls, but it is not a necessity for me to do so. System, in reality, is a far better pilot than I am. It has reaction times far quicker than any organic being could possibly provide. Isn’t your own society currently working on self-driving automobiles? I assure you, if and when the need arises, we’ll find a way to courier any survivors back down to Earth.”

“I have a question,” Tito Caputo said.

“Yes, Tito, what would you like to know?”

“How many of those green bugs are there on that ship? What are we talking about—a hundred? A few hundred? I can’t tell much from that projection, they’re all mixing together.”

Hannig stared up at the crew boss, blinked several times, and said, “Two thousand, three hundred and six.”

The compartment fell quiet.

“You’re just telling us this now?” I asked.

“I thought you would surmise as much. The vessel is approximately two miles in length. On average, a half-mile wide. This is a large craft intentionally purposed for planetary invasions. An army is required for such intentions.”

“So the nine of us are going up against thousands? Against a fucking army?” Georgina said.

Things were quickly unraveling here, and I should have anticipated this. Everyone was now talking at once.

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