Into the Void by Nick Webb

Author:Nick Webb [Webb, Nick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: hard science fiction, galactic empire, alien invasion, genetic engineering, Space Opera, colonization, military SciFi, technothriller, fleet, marines
Published: 2014-12-06T23:00:00+00:00

***

In the morning, Jake woke up to the sound of the comm buzzing persistently at him.

“Yeah?” he grumbled.

“Captain, Ensign Falstaff on the bridge. You’ve got several messages waiting for you, sir. Sergeant Tomaga wants to talk to you, as does Captain Brand. And then there’s the Prime Minister’s office—they called early this morning. Something about inviting you to a banquet or some nonsense.”

“Is that all?” he mumbled again, this time into his pillow. He reckoned only four hours had passed since he’d collapsed on the bed, fresh from being patched up in sickbay. What the hell have you been doing down there, son? the Doctor’s reprimanded when he’d walked in, face still showing signs of dried blood. He’d managed to bring the purple bruising under control, but the broken nose would have to heal on its own—no bone mending medication for Jake this time. He flatly refused after his experience with the stuff after the mishap with the motorcycle and the canyon.

“That’s all, sir. Will you be up here soon?”

Jake wiped a bit of drool from the corner of his lips. “Working on it.” He’d have to teach the bridge crew not to contact him before six in the morning. He glanced at his clock.

Nine-thirty.

Dammit. “I’ll be there shortly. Mercer out.”

After throwing on some clothes and shaving off yesterday’s stubble, he took the elevator down to deck fifteen, hoping to see what Tomaga wanted before he headed up to the bridge and faced the inevitable deluge of administrative work, approving work orders, and answering all the calls he’d missed by daring to get four hours of sleep.

The door to the elevator slid noisily open—he should have one of the techs look at that, after the rest of the critical systems had been fixed, of course—and took in the scene before him.

To his right and left stood the marine guards he’d set at the entrance to the elevator, as a subtle reminder to the 51st brigade that though they were guests, they were also not free to walk around the ship unaccompanied. But in the middle of the large open space of deck fifteen was a group of the 51st brigade massed around two men, who were throwing things at the wall.

It was Tomaga, and Sergeant Logan Jayce—one of the rough and tumble marines he’d seen in the rescue force Po had sent down to Destiny—playing darts. With each throw of Tomaga the men alternated between cheering and moaning as the shots either found their mark or went wide.

Jake watched for a moment as the two concluded the round, which ended when Sergeant Jayce landed his last dart right in the center of the board, eliciting a chorus of moans from the gathered marines of the 51st brigade, and a curt, polite nod from Tomaga. The other man caught Mercer’s eye and walked over.

“Captain, thank you for coming to see me,” said the soldier, who carried himself with the bearing of an officer.

“Glad to. You boys doing ok down here?”

Tomaga nodded. “As good as might be.

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