Tyger Bright by T. C. McCarthy

Author:T. C. McCarthy [McCarthy, T. C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction, Action & Adventure, Military, Space Opera
ISBN: 9781982125172
Google: P16YzQEACAAJ
Amazon: 1982125179
Publisher: Baen
Published: 2021-02-02T05:00:00+00:00

San left the mess hall with her head tingling as she struggled to pull her helmet back on; she sensed Wilson’s reach. Instead of concentrating on his message San brushed it aside and sent a quick not now, motioning for the Marines to follow. She pulled herself through the corridors. Thoughts of nervousness and apprehension about the coming cryo sleep leaked from the minds around her, filtering into her brain in the form of unwanted messages that San tried her best to reject but couldn’t. By the time she reached her quarters she’d started crying again.

“Are you all right?” asked the lieutenant.

“I’m fine; I just wanted to change into a new undersuit before the burn. But . . .”

“But what?”

“Lieutenant, did you know that almost all this crew grew up as orphaned children? I can’t read their thoughts, but sometimes thoughts leak.”

“Yes, ma’am. I did know. We’re orphans too. Fleet prefers us now because of how much time it takes to transit to and beyond wormholes. We don’t have much to miss back on Earth.”

San shut the door and spun the wheel. She popped her helmet and curled into a ball, rotating in midair so that the tears spun off her face and hung to form small crystal globes as they drifted toward the air intake; in a universe where Fleet used orphans and the Proelians altered children to suit their needs and goals, who was good and who was evil? In the moment, everything became a problem set so overwhelming that San felt herself begin to hyperventilate, control of her physiology slipping away in an instant of panic that crashed through her mind.

She had just started to sob when movement caught her attention. A small panel opened above her cryo couch; the motion triggered a deep memory, which now filled her mind with the low voice of an old man. Death surrounds the faithful. One must always consider weapons of choice among our enemies. Chief of these is assassination—a profession as old as prostitution, and as common as oxygen. The assassin moves in darkness. The assassin relies on his victim’s complacency. San’s heart raced with fear and she held her breath, staring at the opening only a few feet away.

A finger-sized device emerged from the opening that had formed; San grabbed a nearby strap to halt the spin, doing her best to freeze when she identified it: butcher bot. A tool of Chinese killers, it was one of the most feared among politicians and Fleet flag officers, and so San wondered why she, a relative nobody, would have been targeted. There was no time; as soon as it detected her heat signature it would act. And the small plastic sphere on its back indicated the thing would kill with poison instead of explosives or projectile, making her want to scream for help from the Marines. But her guard would never spin open the door fast enough to stop what was about to happen; there was no time!

The suit helmet, San realized.

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