Carrion Duty (Necrospace Book 5) by Sean-Michael Argo

Author:Sean-Michael Argo [Argo, Sean-Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severed Press
Published: 2017-05-16T22:00:00+00:00

SLAVE SHIP

The week passed quickly for Rhett, and he was thankful for that. He needed to be engaged, whether it was the heat of the mission or the depths of pleasant vice, he needed to be in the action to feel steady. It was the downtime that always twisted him up, when he had time and space to think, to remember, to consider what he could have done differently. There was much to do in the way of preparing for the mission, as there had been meager shore leave, and much of the refitting work was yet to be done.

Kratos turned out to be as capable a soldier as he was a cutter, which came as no surprise to Rhett. Neither Kratos nor Rhett was any match for the former cultist twins when it came to marksmanship, though John was a former salvage marine. Being a man with wartime military experience made John unique amongst the group, and Rhett was pleased to have him on the team. Vader had been a skilled cutter, one of the best in the business, though when it came to combat he was more like Sparks and Quinn, less like the hardened veterans Rhett suspected might be needed.

Soon the nameless ship had transformed from an image on the briefing display to a dark shape materializing out of the void ahead of Vulture Six. Rhett stood behind Vitrian as the pilot brought the Six into scanning range. Captain Estrada and Bella were pouring over the data coming back from the scanners, and Rhett found himself unable to look away from the ship.

It was roughly the same size as Vulture Six, though it was outfitted for ship-to-ship engagements, that much Rhett could see with his own eyes at long last. Once they’d had more time to track the ship it had become clear that the vessel had fired its engines at maximum, possibly to break orbit from whatever dirtside it had originated from, and shortly after it hit void the engines burned out from the stress. Now that they were in visual range even Rhett, without extensive knowledge of ships, could see that the thrusters were slagged. It still hurled through space at a good speed, though nothing a ship with working thrusters couldn’t easily keep pace with.

The ship positively radiated with menace, and Rhett wasn’t the only one who felt it.

“Back home there are these predatory fish that hunt in the open waters of Brittle Sea, where my family would sometimes visit before I signed on with the fleet,” said Vitrian, partly to Rhett and seemingly partly to the room itself, his voice thick, “Sharks, they were called. Really, just eating machines, endlessly prowling the waters, always hungry. That, my indentured friend, isn’t a ship, it’s a shark.”

“Then let’s hope it’s a dead one so we can do this and head back to the light,” said Rhett as he clapped Vitrian on the shoulder before turning around to address the captain.

“Orders, sir?” asked Rhett.

“The grafts are

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