Children of the Black Ship by James E. Wisher

Author:James E. Wisher [Wisher, James E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781945763441
Publisher: Sand Hill Publising

Chapter 5

As was his habit when approaching a new location, Marcus brought the Star out of hyperspace well away from the target. It was a good thing he did this time. A debris field filled the area where a less cautious pilot would’ve emerged. Some of the metal chunks were half as big as his ship. Shields or not, he wouldn’t want to run into one of those.

A gentle touch on the yoke brought them to a full stop. The metal looked silvery, so it wasn’t Willie’s ship. The Rust Bucket hadn’t seen a coat of paint in Marcus’s lifetime. That meant… Li’zen.

“Bloody hell, Marcus. Look at that.” Solomon tapped something and the image zoomed in on a huge black ship in orbit around the largest moon orbiting a red gas giant.

“Is that a Void warship?” Marcus tensed, ready to turn around and run for it at the first sign of trouble. If the Silver Sprite had tried to tangle with that thing, it explained the debris.

“I don’t think it’s a warship. Scanners indicate two hundred weapon emplacements. The destroyers that appeared above Mars had over three hundred each and they were less than a quarter the size of this beast.”

Marcus frowned. “If it’s not a warship, what is it?”

Solomon shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“The debris?”

“The Silver Sprite for sure. I’m not picking up any life forms out there. If anyone survived, they’ve got to be on the black ship.”

Marcus ran a hand through his hair. It was the confirmation he’d expected but didn’t want. He never should have gotten Li’zen and her crew involved. “This must be Willie’s big discovery. What was he thinking? He must’ve seen the Void ships over Mars. Surely he’d have recognized the design and had sense enough to flee.”

“It looks abandoned,” Solomon said. “Maybe he thought it was derelict and free for salvaging.”

That sounded about right. Now Marcus had to decide what they were going to do. They could go tell Dra’kor and return with a fleet of Vencar warships, but the boss might be willing to sacrifice Willie to destroy a Void ship that size. If Marcus was in his position, he wouldn’t take a chance to save one old human. The possibility of Vencar survivors might be enough to sway his decision, but Marcus couldn’t risk it.

This was his mess and he’s clean it up.

“Can you zoom in any tighter on it?” Marcus asked.

Solomon typed a command and the ship got bigger, but not big enough to reveal much detail. “That’s all we’ve got. You could fly closer.”

“Ha! That thing blew the Sprite to bits. No way am I getting a yard closer.” Marcus leaned nearer the screen, as if that would help. “They must know we’re here, right?”

“Absolutely,” Solomon said. “With Void tech, they probably knew we were coming before we left Croctus Prime.”

Marcus certainly hoped that was an exaggeration. Solomon was right about one thing: he needed to get a closer look.

“I’ll armor up and fly in for a bit of recon.

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