(eng) Jonathan Moeller - Silent Order 04 by Eclipse Hand

Author:Eclipse Hand [Hand, Eclipse]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6: Spare Parts

March reacted, his own gun pointing at the woman’s head.

His eyes noted details, assessing her as a threat. She was wearing white trousers, a white jacket, and high-heeled black boots, and the clothes fit her well. If he had not been assessing her as a target, he would have found her attractive. She had long black hair bound into a severe bun and deep blue eyes. Lipstick highlighted her mouth, and some mascara made her eyes seem larger. She had just climbed a ladder from the lower decks, but she wasn’t breathing hard, which meant she was in good shape.

“Wait,” said Cassandra. “Wait, wait, wait.” She stepped forward. “Don’t shoot each other! We’re not macrobes!”

The woman in the steward’s uniform looked at her and then back at March.

“Yeah,” said the steward. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” Slowly she lowered her pistol, and March followed suit. “Sorry. You just startled me, that’s all. I didn’t expect to see...well, I didn’t expect to see anyone on this part of the ship. I thought the macrobes would have killed everyone who hadn’t transformed.”

“I think they did,” said March. “You’re the first human we’ve seen since we came on board. We had better get moving. There are five macrobes chasing us from the Tap and Grill, and they might be able to fit through the utility corridor.”

“Damn it,” said the woman. “Yes, that’s a good idea. We can’t go back down, though.”

“Why not?” said March.

“That area of the ship is swarming with macrobes,” said the woman. “I don’t know why. I think when the resonator failed, the macrobes were drawn to the dark energy emissions of the hyperdrive and...well, you can guess what happened then.” She shook her head. “I barely got out alive.”

“Is there another way out of this section of the ship?” said March.

“Yes,” said the woman. She pointed at a ladder against the far wall. “That leads to an access corridor running along the top of the retail promenade. There are hatches opening onto the outer hull of the ship. But I don’t think the macrobes can fit up there.”

March glanced at Cassandra, and she tapped a few commands into her phone.

“There aren’t any in that direction,” she said. “Not unless they’re sleeping.”

The woman in the steward’s uniform frowned. “How do you know that?”

“Long story,” said March. “We’d better move.”

“Wait a minute,” said the woman, holding out a hand.

“We’d better move before the macrobes come,” said March.

“That utility corridor behind you is narrow enough that we’ll be able to hear them coming a long way off,” said the woman, “and our three guns can shoot them down. Who the hell are you? You’re not crew, and you’re not passengers, not if you’re walking around with plasma weapons.”

“My name’s Jack March,” said March. “I’m captain of the Tiger, a Calaskaran privateer. We suffered a hyperdrive failure when we jumped into JX2278C, and we hailed the Alpine for assistance. When we didn’t get an answer, we docked and came aboard to find out what had happened, and we’ve been avoiding macrobes ever since.

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.