The Jupiter War by Gregory Benford & Bill Fawcett

Author:Gregory Benford & Bill Fawcett [Benford, Gregory]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Event Horizon EBooks
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

She was everything he’d hoped, her breasts full buds, yielding and fresh, and she filled his senses with an intensity of pleasure he’d all but forgotten. Afterward, as they lay contented in each other’s arms, he asked about her life before she came to the Gallipoli.

“Not a lot to tell, really,” she answered, cuddling close in the single bunk. “We led rather a sheltered life. We were a test-tube pregnancy, you probably guessed that. Not unusual among Space Service families, with radiation and such. Mom and Dad decided they didn’t want to go through all that nonsense again, so when they learned it would be a multiple birth, they were happy. Mom decided to forget about numbers and let whatever would be, be.”

“She was a brave lady,” he said, stroking the smooth, silky skin of her back.

“I guess. I wish I’d known her. She didn’t live long. After Mom died, Dad stayed home. He had us to raise. His old mates in Space Command talked him into training us as pilots. He knew they would be desperately needed and he would have given a lot to be one himself, but his health wasn’t the best, mental or otherwise. He never was the same after coming out of those caves on Mars, you know.

“Anyway, Space Command set up special classes for us, starting when we were eight. It wasn’t bad—better than regular school—and we went home weekends, except when Dad was in hospital.

“Space Command has the idea that we’re perfectly compatible, the ideal piloting team. If they only knew.” She chuckled ruefully.

“But you are the perfect team. Pilots we’ve had before were always in each other’s way. Bushy had a hell of a job trying to keep the team in line. You always seem to know what the other is going to do.”

“Well . . . it may seem that way. But how can that be true when half the time even I don’t know what I’m going to do next?” She smiled and began to stroke his chest in small circles, till she found the patch of newly healed skin, now mostly covered by growing hair.

“Ooh, I don’t like scars. You’re dead good-looking but for that.”

“I didn’t like being wounded much myself, and I’d rather be lucky than good-looking.”

“Too right. Sorry, about the scar. It’s just that I have a thing about sickness. I guess it’s because Dad was sick so much.”

“Well, I’m fine, and even I can predict what you’re going to be doing for the next little while,” he told her, and pressed his mouth against hers again.

At 0800 hours, an enemy scout ship was detected by the Gallipoli. The auto-cannon homed in and boomed in response, without measurable success. Cheevers ordered the Gallipoli to pursue, but the smaller, faster ship ducked back into the asteroid belt where it was easy to hide and impossible to catch. Cheevers cursed in frustration. The tension level increased now that the ship’s company knew they were a target on an unfriendly screen somewhere.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.