Acheron Inheritance by Lozito Ken

Author:Lozito, Ken
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Acoustical Books LLC
Published: 2020-09-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

The interior of the ship matched the exterior. As he walked the corridors, he noted dingy yellow metallic walls, and yet Quinton couldn’t see a speck of dirt. He sampled the air with his sensors and noted that the atmospheric scrubbers kept the air fresh and free of contaminants. The ship was simply old and probably beyond its intended life cycle, but someone had kept it serviceable long past when it should have been scrapped for parts. Given the patchwork he’d seen on the hull, he thought someone must have cobbled together enough working parts to keep the ship serviceable, but he wondered if anyone was building ships anymore.

The loading ramp closed, and Wallace led them toward the center of the ship where the bridge was located. Their armed escorts stayed with them, but Maelyn didn’t seem to mind. Becker strode behind her as if their armed escorts didn’t matter to him in the slightest. Quinton wondered if it was for show, but perhaps Becker really didn’t perceive them as a threat. He glanced at Vonya, and the lavender-skinned beauty smiled at him reassuringly.

The command deck had the standard workstation layout that was at once vaguely familiar to Quinton, though he couldn’t remember why. The command chair was occupied by an older woman, who stood up.

“Sitrep, Elsa,” Wallace said.

“We just got clearance to decouple from the docking platform, and we can be underway in a few minutes, Captain,” Elsa said.

Wallace nodded and peered at the main holoscreen. There was a mass exodus of ships as they fled the outpost as quickly as possible. Quinton spotted the Nebulon, which had positioned itself on an intercept course.

“I see the Nebulon,” Quinton said.

Wallace looked at him and frowned.

“Yes,” Maelyn said. “We need to get back to our ship immediately.”

Wallace shook his head. “You know I can’t do that. Admiral Brandt’s orders are that we bring you back to the fleet. Cantos signed off on the orders as well.”

“Wallace,” Maelyn said.

“I know what you’re going to say, but I can’t. Not this time. Brandt’s orders are clear.”

“I understand, but Brandt doesn’t know everything,” she replied, and Wallace pressed his lips together. “I claim captain’s privilege.”

Quinton glanced at the others. He had no idea what “captain’s privilege” meant, but the others seemed to know.

Wallace regarded her for a few moments and stood up. “Very well, Captain Wayborn. Let’s take this to my ready room. Elsa, you have the conn.”

“Yes, Captain, I have the conn,” Elsa replied and returned to the command chair. “Captain, what about them?” she asked, tilting her head toward Quinton and the others.

“Rosser, take them to the meeting room and keep two men posted outside,” Wallace said.

“Understood, sir,” Rosser said.

Quinton and the others were escorted off the bridge and taken to a meeting room a short distance away. They were left alone, and Quinton looked at Becker and Vonya. He couldn’t help but think they were the extremes of who he could have been stuck with. By all outward appearances, Vonya was calm.

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.