Gnamma (Abner Fortis, ISMC Book 4) by Piatt P.A

Author:Piatt, P.A. [Piatt, P.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Theogony Books
Published: 2021-11-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

Lou’s voice came over the circuit.

“Lucky, this is Lou. Bad news. All the medical equipment was stripped by the slavers. How’s Cheese?”

Fortis swallowed and tried to speak in a normal voice. “He’s gone.”

“Damn it.”

Bugs let out a ragged sob. Silence hung heavily over the circuit.

“Do you want to camp out in the shuttle or over here, boss?” Bender asked.

Cujo made a chopping motion across his neck. “We can’t stay here. If we wear the batteries down on lights and heat, we won’t have enough juice to get the engines started.”

“Cujo says we can’t stay here, so we’ll make the move over there. Someone will have to come back for Bugs; his emergency exposure suit won’t hold up.”

“Roger that. Call when you’re close, and I’ll have someone standing by the hatch.”

Fortis looked at Cujo and Bugs.

“Change of plans. Bugs, I’ll give you my ECW gear and wait here while you three head over to Imperio. When you get over there, send my gear back here with Bender.”

Bugs looked at Cheese. “Maybe I should stay here.”

“No. You’re going over with Cujo and Lou. I need a few minutes of peace and quiet to think through our next steps, and it’s safer to be alone over here. DINLI.”

“DINLI, indeed.”

Bugs grumbled as he donned Fortis’ gear, but he did as he was ordered. By the time he was dressed, his natural ebullience began to emerge, and he managed to joke about fouling the ECW gear.

“I’ll leave you a nice warm present in the seat of your suit, Lucky.”

Fortis chuckled. “That won’t be necessary. A thank you will suffice. Before I forget, take a few cases of pig squares over there, too.”

As the trio lined up by the hatch, Cujo leaned close to Fortis.

“Body bags are in the medical compartment.”

Fortis nodded, and the trio left the shuttle. After they were gone, Fortis located a body bag in the medical compartment. After some awkward maneuvering, he got Cheese into the rubber bag and zipped it up. It was an unpleasant task, and he was relieved when he was finished. Afterward, he sat back and contemplated their situation.

The betrayal by Stoat wasn’t a complete surprise. Cujo had recommended the bonus to head off the possibility, but the bonus might have caused his betrayal. Two million credits was a lot of money, even shared among the crew. Perhaps Stoat’s fear of being in Maltaani space finally outweighed his greed, and he lost his nerve. Still, the unidentified signal seemed to be evidence that Stoat had something planned when they sailed. In fact, Cujo—

Fortis jerked like he’d been shocked.

Before they sailed, Cujo had claimed he didn’t personally know Stoat, but during the transit it became obvious they’d known each other for some time. Fortis frowned at yet another example of Cujo’s lack of candor.

What is Cujo’s game?

He pushed those thoughts aside. Whatever Cujo was up to, it could wait until they were back on Terra Earth, or at least off Menard-Kev. Rescue was his number one priority. The

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