Linda Wilson
Stories
9
Chapters
2,065
Words
1.6 M
Comments
0
Reading
5 d, 15 h
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On the Defiant, activities had reached a fever pitch. They had just reached ship-maneuverable speed, where the Defiant could now maneuver and fire her weapons, and allow Arvan to launch her fighter craft. She, as well as the other ships in her fleet fired their braking thrusters and turned to face the coming Federation ships. All twenty-two ships were now at a relative standstill. At Arvan's signal, Defiant and her sister ships launched their single-seat fighters. The small, tubular ships streaked out of…-
87 •
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Tasha looked at the Plot computer, and stared at a group of dots moving across the screen. "What are they?" she asked the pilot-navigator. "Detterex and Tirosian vermin, My Lady," the pilot answered. "We have been tracking them ever since we crossed the edge of the Federation boundary, but it is only now that we have become sure of them. We thought that they were just interference, but as we went into deceleration, the picture has become clear. They are Empire spacecraft, beyond a doubt." Tasha nodded…
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87 •
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Bill stepped into the "Mud Turtle" shuttle - one of many in Seeker's complement, and was met by the little ship's co-pilot. "Hello, ensign." "Good day, Captain. Welcome to Seeker shuttle oh-four. I’ll bring you over to the Seeker." She wondered where Mike, Pedro and the other CETI specialists she had requisitioned were in all of this. She hoped they were okay. The flight to the Seeker was uneventful, and they entered Seeker's deck without a hitch. Mia surveyed the large pressurized bay through the…
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87 •
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Bill was striding down the hall in his usual, preoccupied manner. The changes made to Triton Station made him feel old, useless. But he knew it was inevitable. New locks were on the doorways, more machinery was running, and more guards and uniformed people with sidearms were in evidence. It was only a year since the papers for the United Earth Defense Force were finalized and signed - no mean feat considering the unspoken paper war at the time between the Eastern and Western nations. But to many of the…
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87 •
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The princess walked briskly across the high-vaulted main hall of her keep despite aching muscles fresh from gladiator practice. The heels of her riding boots, much smudged from a day of tromping on hard, dusty earth, made rhythmic tapping sounds on the polished green-marble tiles. Her mail battle skirt made a rasping noise on the balustrade as she wearily climbed the stairs. Her valet hastened to give her a helping hand. The princess pulled back her arm. "I'm all right!" she barked and glared at her…
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87 •
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In a future Earth, where the long-dreaded nuclear war had come and gone and the humans had started to rebuild, Earth’s new tranquility was shattered yet again. The arrival of aliens at their doorstep forced them in into battle once again for reasons they barely understood. This was the precursor to a wave of change that would sweep the galaxy and put the fate of a hundred species in the balance. But no one could have predicted that at the time… - with a nod to the masters of space opera: J. Michael…
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87 •
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Silence came over the room; most of them were a little overwhelmed. "Well," Bill said, "what do you think?" He was smiling broadly. "That was very beautiful, William," Allie said. "Thank you, Allie. I just hope it'll work." They paused for a while before continuing with more prosaic matters. "Artistic values aside," Jerry said, breaking the mood, "we took pains in keeping everything on the most general level possible. If you will notice, besides our location, there's nothing specific about the Earth…
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87 •
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The meeting started normally enough. A large rectangular table filled the middle of the room. A large screen (no 3D stage projectors in sight) occupied one end and a bank of computer control panels the other. Allie, two assistants to her right and Sahsha to her left, took one side of the table. Walter, Jerry and his assistant Phil McIntyre took the opposite side. Marc and Jen sat at the foot of the table. Allie's security was noticeably absent, but they knew that they were just outside. Bill was at the…
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87 •
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Jawharal Bhavnani-Singh, a big-muscled Bengali almost two meters tall, was quietly cursing at the lab terminal. The computer program was on the blink again after some ignorant technician forgot to re-seal the lock on a magnetic memory-suspension circuit on the main motherboard of the station's mainframe. As a result, a large chunk of the cipher program had slowly randomized into complete uselessness. "Goddammit," he shouted at the duty officer, "get me the maintenance personnel roster!" Responding to his…
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87 •
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He stepped out of the taxi on the roof of a public landing pad - a seemingly average man. He leaned over the window of the driver, mentally converting Solars to dollars. "You got change for a fifty?" the brown-haired man said, knowing his credit ID wouldn't work here. The cabby smiled. "That old trick won't work with me, buster," he said in a decidedly Russian accent (Leningrad, perhaps, the man thought). He keyed the lock on his cashbox. "I got your change." Now how did a Russian such as this get to…
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