Strategic Crush by MJ Blehart

Author:MJ Blehart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sci-fi, science fiction, space opera, sci-fantasy, alien invasion, adventure, starships
Publisher: Argent Hedgehog Press
Published: 2024-01-23T00:00:00+00:00

Not for the first time, Jeck was impressed with his crewmates’ skills. By the time the Dawnstrider had finally departed from Doolari space and arrived at Proxitma Republica, Shael Garris had two separate shipments for transport. Ervik and Deven had assured her they could pack both aboard the Dawnstrider and proceeded to prove it.

Jeck had never seen the starship’s cargo hold so packed. But after one night’s stay planetside, they had managed to load everything aboard and had departed for the A-Zath Gamma sector.

The first delivery was quite a way into Zathru space. Zapanatra was a busy world, featuring eight cities, all of which spanned nearly whole continents. Each city was laid out either as a grid or in a spoke-and-wheel fashion, and the planet was home to several billion Zathru.

To accommodate so many people in a city setting, there were numerous aquaponic and hydroponic vertical farms, as well as rooftop farms for providing food.

The crew of the Dawnstrider saw no Humans on Zapanatra. There were Pame, Qi’ta-ji, Ravusq, the occasional Yalifira, and two or three other non-Human races Jeck was unfamiliar with—but no other Humans.

Despite the delay, their buyer was thrilled to receive his shipment. Lu, while running a check on his background, discovered that he was hiring for a shipper to take a small cargo to an associate at Ragap Vathal Avia, which was their other delivery destination.

Their buyer was thrilled to send his shipment with the Dawnstrider—which turned out to be a single crate containing data files intended for archiving.

Ragap Vathal Avia orbited a neutron star on the outskirts of the A-Zath Gamma sector, rather a long way from Ragap Zathal Puj. It was the smallest orbital platform of its kind Jeck had seen yet, but still teeming with activity. Starships were coming and going, and the platform itself was full of various peoples buying and selling.

The crew of the Dawnstrider had offloaded both of their cargos and determined there was nothing further they needed to do at the platform. Ervik had requested takeoff clearance, and they were told they would have to wait.

The entire crew was on the flight deck. Lu sat in the copilot’s seat, Deven at his station, Ervik at communications, and Ashira at the tech station. They were discussing the options for their next destination.

“When was the last time we visited?” asked Ervik.

“I think it was before Jeck or Ashira were with us,” remarked Lu.

“I don’t think Chandi is going to have anything for us,” Deven put in. “Besides, she’s an associate of K’tark’ah Exporters now.”

“She did have that one job for us,” Lu reminded Deven.

The Dawnstrider’s captain sighed. “Yes, but that was because none of her regular people were available, and we were somewhere we could help.”

“Okay,” Ervik conceded. “So, besides Chandi, don’t we have other contacts on Gamma Terpsich?”

“Not for our current enterprise,” Lu stated. “When we were still running general small cargo, we had Jann. But he’s not likely to have anything for us now.”

“Why are you so insistent on going to Gamma Terpsich, of all places?” Ashira asked Ervik.

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