Far From Home 16: Spectre Read Online Free PDF Page A

the gun barrel, as did the alien. Shaw slammed his right knee into the creature's sternum. The breath went out of it with a hiss. He grabbed the back of its jacket and made short work of throwing it forward, onto the ground. The pistol clattered away.
    Shaw delivered a few sharp kicks to the Vibion's side, and thought he heard something crack. Whatever the case, the alien now lay curled up in the dust and dirt, trying to breathe.
    He put his boot on the side of its head. "Tell them to send a professional next time. Not a two -bit crook. Tell them whoever it is better be good. Because if I survive another hit I'll come see them myself."
    "Garrr  . . ." was all he got in reply.
    Shaw lifted an eyebrow. "I'll take that as an affirmative," he said with a smirk and stalked off. He passed the pistol on his way and made sure to kick it out of sight.
    Damn amateurs, he thought.

 
    3.
     
    Will led Jessica through the ship by the hand. It should have felt awkward. Unreal, perhaps, to lead an old flame around like that.
    But there it was. It didn't feel strange. His hand, bigger than hers  – his skin rough to the touch – didn't feel out of place around hers.
    As much as it seemed natural, it hadn't left the back of his mind the way in which their passion for one another had returned so quickly.
    "Here's the crew's quarters. As you can see, there's barely room for a bunk and some shelves. There's a communal shower and head. It's not ideal, but there it is."
    They continued on.
    "Go on, have a nose," Will invited her as they arrived at the bridge. He stood to one side at the door so she could walk in.
    A viewscreen extended from one side to the other, a curved sheet of glass. A helm console down the front, a station for weapons and tactical to the left. Sciences and communications on the right. In the centre, the captain's chair.
    "Small, but perfectly functional. I take it you have three up here, plus the Captain. Two more in the back, with the engines and reactor."
    "Correct. It's pretty simple. She's not a complicated ship, to be honest. The viewscreen is the latest display. A prototype. She's packing weaponry you've never heard of, Jess. I can't even tell you what some of them are, they're so far above your security clearance," he said.
    "Wow," she said, eyes wide. "So even the tech on a classified ship is classified."
    "I man the weapons and tactical. We've got a great guy, he's called Kalar. You know, a Xantian. He flies. The advantage to him is that he never sleeps because, you know, the Xantians  . . . well, they just don't. And he has six arms, so controlling the helm is a piece of cake. I don't think the Union has a better pilot," Will told her.
    "A Xantian pilot. Makes sense," Jessica nodded.
    "Come on, let's get to the engineering room. I want you to see something."
    * * *
    It was as small and cramped as the bridge. He could see Jessica's attention was drawn to the furious light emitted by the Spectre 's reactor core. It sparkled and shimmered, emitting a deep yellow glow from the observation windows to either side of it. To the casual observer, the core might have looked like a simple column in the middle of the room but for the pipes leading away from it at the top.
    "And this," Will said. He took her to the far end of the room. A unit stood dark against the wall, showed no sign of life at all. 
    "Know what it is?"
    "Is that your Jump drive?"
    He nodded.
    "Obviously I recognise the tech, but I've never seen one like that. You say she gives you nine Jumpquarts?" Jessica said with a shake of her head.
    "Yep. What does the Defiant do?"
    "I think between four and five, depending."
    "So whatever journey you make, we'd do the same in half the time. In fact, we could theoretically fly to your destination and back again in the time it took you to get there," he said with no small amount of smug pride at serving on such an advanced ship.
    "All right, don't rub it in," she said with a smirk. "I already feel