Bitter Arrow by David Kantrowitz

Author:David Kantrowitz [Kantrowitz, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B0833FG4K3
Goodreads: 54760939
Publisher: Kyrie Devonai Publishing
Published: 2010-04-09T07:00:00+00:00

__________

In the cargo bay of the Faith, John, Aldebaran, and Ari prepared to disembark. Richter, his left arm in a sling, stood by jealously. Dana was still on the bridge, having just brought the ship down through some rather turbulent cloud layers, and Christie and Ray continued to labor away somewhere on fixing a series of minor computer glitches. Miriam stood by, eager to breathe the air of an alien world.

While still in the air, the crew had observed the city to which they’d been called. The cloud layer had ended at about fifteen thousand feet, giving them an excellent view of the landscape. The city was on an dirt island, bare of any visible vegetation. The structures and streets of the city took up almost the entire island, which was at least ten square kilometers. The streets were paved with large flagstones, and the buildings were either white granite or something similar, and although none of them exceeded five stories in height the net effect was incredibly impressive. Canals were as prevalent as roads throughout the city, and it was obvious that they were used just as much for transportation as for conveying water.

The largest building was at the center of the city, and resembled the Parthenon except it was six-sided and divided into rings. The Faith was expected to land in a huge square in front of the building, so they didn’t get a good look inside the rings, but they appeared to contain courtyards and flower gardens. There wasn’t a hint of technology visible from the air; all of the citizens going about their business were dressed as they pleased, which was quite casually, and the primary means of transportation, other than the water-borne gondolas, seemed to be bicycles.

"One minute to landing," Dana said over the intercom.

"Scherer," said Aldebaran, "you still haven't told me how you plan on synthesizing more of the Vengeance virus now that Talvan is dead."

"Are you implying that we should ask the colonists to do it for us?" replied John.

"It would obviously be to their benefit if the Zendreen are planning an invasion, assuming, of course, that they're not allergic to it themselves."

"I'll bring it up if necessary. I'd rather not jump from a simple warning to an attempt to get them to fight in the very first conversation. Revealing we have such a virus would also raise too many other questions."

"Understood."

Dana had expressed concern about landing in the middle of the square, which was busy, but as the ship approached the people made way for it.

“Good luck,” Dana said. “You can lower the ramp when you're ready.”

“Roger,” said John, nodding to Richter.

Richter pressed the appropriate button and the ramp lowered. A warm breeze ushered in a pleasant aroma. There was a large crowd gathered several yards from the ship, and an individual easily recognizable as Mother Calico stood a few feet from the end of the ramp. She was wearing a flower-patterned sun dress, and had traded the garland on her head for a straw hat.

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