Lucifer's Nebula by Phipps C. T

Author:Phipps, C. T. [Suttkus, C.T. Phipps. Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science fiction, space opera
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 2018-08-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

“I can’t believe you got us dress uniforms,” Clarice muttered, adjusting her beret.

“I look like a pepper shaker,” William said, frowning at me.

William, Isla, myself, Fade, Clarice, and Major Terra were the five-person crew I’d selected for our “diplomatic meeting.” They were all dressed up in the Melampus’s black-and-white dress uniforms that none of them had ever bothered to use before. Not even during David’s funeral, when only two of them had bothered to show up and eight more members of the rest of the crew had worn plain clothes.

The six of us were standing in one of the Melampus’s airlocks as the ship lowered itself into the atmosphere. It surprised me the regent’s palace had a private space port large enough for the star galleon, but there was a lot of things about the FSA that made no sense. I’d put Munin in charge of the ship and hoped I hadn’t led them all to a horrible fate.

Quite a few of the crew had come to wish us off and I was surprised at how high the mood on the ship was. They were a collection of murderers, thieves, scoundrels, and pirates, but all of them had lost someone or had worlds involved in the Insurgency. The fact I was possibly going to bring it to an end had removed all of the anger and resentment they’d built up against me over the past year. Some of them had even said I was the best captain they’d ever served under.

Fools.

“What? We can’t look nice as the crew of a cargo freighter?” I asked, adjusting my brown coat. I was wearing it over my dress uniform with a pair of Spacer’s goggles around my neck. It was in direct defiance of everyone else who was dressed more fashionably. I admit, the hypocrisy of the action made me smile and was my subtle form of revenge on everything I’d been put through these last few weeks. Also William for his behavior in general.

“I always look nice,” Isla said, barely visible behind the others. “It’s genetically encoded into you and Clarice.”

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” Clarice said. “Albeit, I love how Cassius’s hair is always perfectly coifed even when he first wakes up.”

“What’s with the five o’clock stubble anyway?” Isla said, giving me a once-over. “You could have at least shaved.”

“I decided that was a good idea,” I said, actually having just forgotten in my rush to get ready. “I want you to be able to tell the difference between me and my doppelganger should this end in a shootout.”

“You mean the doppelganger with the millions of soldiers and massive armada?” William said, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, I don’t think we’re going to be starting any firefights unless we’ve all developed a death wish.”

“I’ll start working on escape plans as soon as I have a layout of the building,” Clarice said. “Also, our chances of surviving a fight.”

“We just said—” William started to say.

“We’re not starting a fight,” Fade said, taking a deep breath.

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