Star Guild: Episodes 4, 5 & 6 (Star Guild Saga) by Brandon Ellis

Author:Brandon Ellis [Ellis, Brandon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Star Guild
Published: 2014-03-05T07:00:00+00:00

Episode 6

“S”

Chief Petty Officer Crystal McCoy was in Tech Quarters, examining Mech blueprints on an HDC. Most of the designs had been created hundreds of years before she was born, and during the last two days it seemed like she'd gone over them a thousand times with little sleep, percussion blasts, and explosions rocking Starship Sirona. After awhile, like most things, it had begun to feel normal to her, as familiar as the pounding of Mech legs hitting the dirt and jostling her cockpit.

Crystal looked over at Hank, a Techie sitting at his desk, slurping some type of beverage as he leaned back in his chair, staring at the HDC screen in front of him. Bored by what he was viewing, he released an obnoxious belch and slapped his huge belly, sending ripples throughout the gelatinous mass that he contentedly massaged.

“What percentage are the shields?” asked Crystal.

Without bothering to look, Hank let the straw drop out of his mouth. “What?”

Annoyed, Crystal repeated, “Percentage of shields?”

“Oh, 42% and shrinking.” Hank shrugged. “It ain't no thing but a bird's wing.”

Crystal didn't know if the crude Techie thought his continuous stream of comments was attractive, or if it was some Techie joke being played on her. Regardless, she chose to ignore the failed witticism by asking, “How long can this ship take the pounding?”

As if unworthy of his concern, Hank set his drink on top of his HDC, folded his arms and turned his head to gaze into Crystal's eyes. A disdainful smile crept across his face as he replied, “I'm surprised our shields are still holding, to tell you the truth. Most of our cannons are undamaged, which is baffling.” He leaned way back in his chair, dipping dangerously, but it looked as though he already knew its exact tipping point.

Then, for the first time since Crystal had met him, Hank’s face became sincere. “It's almost like they're toying with us, using their lackeys to train against us. I mean, we're not that good with our cannon fire, and if I were them I'd target our cannons one by one, leaving us defenseless.” Unfolding his crossed arms, he pivoted his chair around to better face her, with his gut hanging lower than his chair. He positioned his elbows on his knees, rested his chin on his hands and winked at her. “You know, we may not have long.” He flicked his head toward the bathroom. “Why don't you and I just head in there and...you know?”

You've GOT to be kidding...! Frigidly ignoring him, Crystal returned her attention to what she was doing. “Next blueprint.” The HDC made a soft clicking sound, pulling up another schematic indicating a little over a hundred different Mechs that had been designed in the past, with designed being the key word. Only a few of the Mech specs had ever been built and the current design being used was the Mech S101 series. The last Mechs, decommissioned over a hundred years ago, were labeled Mech S100.

She clicked

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