Shattered Dawn (The Eternal Frontier Book 3) by Anthony J Melchiorri

Author:Anthony J Melchiorri [Melchiorri, Anthony J]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Military Science Fiction, Space Opera, Genetic Engineering, space marines
Publisher: Thunderbird Media
Published: 2017-06-25T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Running wasn’t enough. Tag had logged plenty of time on the treadmill, but it hadn’t jump-started his mind. How was he supposed to get Raktor’s help? He struggled to come up with anything better than taking over the station by force. Threats of violence were unpredictable at best against the strange alien, as Tag and his crew had learned the hard way.

He’d left the gym and now sat at his desk in his quarters, staring at nothing while his mind worked. Several shelves were still empty, waiting for the computational supplies and research files he had yet to move from his old quarters below deck. A single holopainting of the Argo was projected on a bulkhead—the only holdover from Captain Weber.

Something scratched his leg, and he looked down to see Lucky pawing at him. In her fanged mouth she held an empty plastic bottle. Tag took it and tossed it across the room. Lucky sprinted after it, pounced, and bounded back to him, holding it in her mouth.

If only making Raktor happy was as easy. He brought up a schematic holo of the Hope. He gestured over the glowing image, highlighting the computer core chamber where Raktor’s main body dwelled. Maybe there was a way he could infiltrate the place without Raktor knowing and set up a transponder to leech all the data they needed.

There was a knock at his door.

“Come on in,” he said, throwing the bottle again.

Sofia and Alpha entered.

Watching Lucky, Sofia leaned against a bulkhead. “Any ideas?”

“Nothing but storming in there with guns blazing and demanding Raktor let us into the computers by force.”

“I don’t think threats will work. Doesn’t seem like it would fall for the same trick twice.”

“If I’m being honest, as much as I don’t like the plant, I don’t relish the idea of exterminating it.” Tag cradled his chin in his left hand as he used his right to throw the bottle. “That wouldn’t make us much better than the Collectors.”

“Maybe we can have Lucky sneak in there and steal the data while Raktor isn’t looking,” Sofia said.

“Ha, yeah, good luck getting her to do anything we want,” Tag replied. “She’s on her own schedule.”

The Rizzar brought Sofia the plastic bottle and dropped it at her feet. Sofia obligingly resumed the game of fetch.

“Once you start, you don’t get to stop,” Tag warned. “I’m running into a dead end here. There’s got to be some way to convince Raktor to do this last favor for us without threatening it.”

“There might be,” Sofia said, her eyes starting to brighten. She flipped the bottle across the room again, and Lucky went after it. “Maybe there’s a ploy with the seedlings.”

“I’m interested,” Tag said. “Go on.”

When Lucky dropped the bottle at Sofia’s feet again, Alpha took over, picking up the bottle. She threw it inhumanly fast, and it flew like a comet into the corridor. Lucky’s claws pattered away, giving them a respite from her game.

“Alpha recovered some data on Raktor that she thought we might find interesting,” Sofia said.

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