The Ghost Ship by C R Turner

Author:C R Turner [Turner, C R]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780648381365
Published: 2020-02-27T22:00:00+00:00

A couple hours later, we’ve made our way to one of the huge energy canons that dot the landscape. It sits in the middle of a park surrounded by trees, gardens, benches and a children’s playground. It’s one of the most peculiar sights I’ve seen, and a little disturbing. As I dismount, I catch a glimpse of someone running away. I drop Max’s reins and run to catch up. I make it to the edge of the park where the person disappeared down a street, but there’s no sign of them.

“What is it?” Bradley asks as he and Hawkins catch up.

The rest of the team run over.

“I saw a civilian … I think he had an energy weapon slung over his back.”

Bradley and Hawkins survey the empty street.

“So not all dead then,” Hawkins says.

Our eyes lock.

When we make it back to the energy canon, Hawkins and Marcus open panels to look inside. It’s an impressive machine. The main turret stands as tall as the adjacent two-storey buildings while the barrels extend into the sky for a hundred or so feet. Sam looks distracted as she stands back, watching Hawkins and Marcus work. She’s normally elbows deep in this kind of thing. It’s strange working with someone you’re involved with personally. We spend long days apart when we’re home, training in our chosen fields, only coming together as a team for planning, briefings and intense combat training. When we head off-world, the mission takes over, and Sam and I go hours, sometimes days, without talking.

“How are you going?” I ask.

“Okay, just tired,” Sam replies.

I know that seeing the things we see on missions must be poisoning our souls, and I worry how much Sam can take before her pure soul is irreparably damaged. It scares me to death thinking about it.

After a couple hours, Hawkins and Marcus pack up their gear. Bradley walks over with a hard black case. He cracks it open and hands me half-a-dozen motion-activated cameras. “Put them out how you see fit. We’ll see if we can catch a glimpse of the locals.”

Whenever I see these cameras, I get flashbacks to when the striker scout was hunting Max and me back on Terra Primus – the abandoned factory where Max and I spent the night, Marcus’ office building where Sam and I met. It was long ago, but I’ll never forget what it was like to be hunted – the fear, uncertainty and exhaustion.

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