The Soul Eaters (The Thin Hex Line Book 1) by Gwyndolyn Russell (e reader txt) 📕

Reaper pushed himself away from the couch and grabbed the edge of the counter.

"If you want it, I have a job."

"Really? What is it this time? Delivering more supplies?" Jackal rolled his eyes.

"Assassination."

"Whoa, thought we were above that, Cap."

"You fucking smell." Reaper's face twisted.

"Shut up."

"Shower. Fix your hair and make yourself presentable. I'll give you the details when you come to the bridge." He headed from the door.

Jackal grumbled like an upset teenager.

"Also, have you heard about the missing panels?" He paused in thought. "Lieutenant Whiskers seems to be missing too."

"Damned cat still hasn't shown up?"

"Would you mind looking for it and figuring out what's going on with the missing pieces? Thus far, nothing vital has vanished, but we need to figure it out before we're stranded in the void."

Jackal grumbled under his breath.

Reaper headed out, shutting the door on his way.

The bridge was quiet. Soft chatter among the few there. Pilots running the morning system checks. Navigator checking the surrounding area.

"Set course for Tarkeav."

"Isn't that a raven station, sir?" Willis turned around in his seat.

"It is."

"So, there's a closer station that isn't raven."

"We have orders."

"Oh." He turned back around. "Feels like they're sending us into the wolf's den. I don't like this."

"Well, that's the funny thing about orders, Lieutenant. You don't have to like them, just have to follow them."

"Aye, aye, sir."

"Captain Phillips," the intercom cracked to life with a high-pitched voice.

"What is it?"

"One of my boys just found a whole slew of missing panels from coolant D's housing. The whole damned thing is exposed!"

"Is it still operational?"

"Yeah, but we've got a severe radiation leak because of it. Coolant D is the runoff from the core. I've got my boys on it as we speak, but this issue is getting worse."

"Any idea of the cause yet?"

"Fuck no. I ain't seen something like this before! I don't think my grandfather even has! These things are disappearing in thin air, bolts and all!"

"Have we checked for any anomalies? Something we could have passed through?"

"The scanner has picked nothing up." Irzazee stated.

"Captain, one of my boys just found some cuts on one of the pipes."

"I'll send someone down there."

Reaper put his chin in his hand. That definitely rules out anomalies. Something must have been tearing the panels off. Where were the panels going, though? He thought about the Utopia. There were scratches all over the walls.

Oh, no... they didn't happen to bring a stray, did they? One of those monsters from that ship would be the end of them. They had no hope of scanning for one either. They didn't pick those creatures up on the Utopia.

Fenris would know though, wouldn't it? It sensed them on the ship, or at least Reaper thought so.

"So, what's this job?" Jackal grabbed the back of Reaper's chair.

He actually jumped a little. His thoughts broken, he looked up to Jackal floating just barely above him.

He smelled good. Hair slicked back. He even trimmed that scruffy beard away. He didn't even look hungover.

"Good morning." Reaper said.

"Busy day, huh?"

"Need you to head down to the engine room. Coolant D is exposed, and they found cuts on a pipe."

"Whoa, serious? You don't think…"

"I don't know what to think about it. Do you know where Fenris has been? I haven't seen him in a few days."

"The core." Jackal said it like Reaper should have known.

"What? Why there?"

He shrugged. “Probably to avoid contact. Not sure he enjoys being touched.”

“You touched it?”

"Why?"

"Reynolds cut her hand open when she touched him. Said the armor was made of knives?"

"I touched his head. I mean... he was a dog... I thought."

"You see it, too?"

"I think we all see it," Willis chimed in. "That thing... phases between whatever it is."

"It's quite interesting!" Irzazee sang. "I've never heard of any creature who can do such a thing! I can't even imagine how it's possible."

"Smoke and mirrors. CGI." Willis said.

"He's not a hologram. He's a real living thing." Jackal corrected. "This isn't a movie."

"Then you explain it!"

"We haven't even explored ten percent of our galaxy. We don't know anything about the endless possibilities that God could have given life."

"I'll check out the damage. What about that job you mentioned earlier?"

"The Admiral got word that a raven lieutenant was found dead in the street early one morning. Right now there are no leads, but he wants us to investigate the matter and apprehend the assassin before the ravens do."

"Show of power?"

"Bureaucratic pissing match."

"And we're the piss."

Reaper chuckled.

"Just like old times!" He kicked off from the back of the chair. "Call me when we get there."

Down in the core room, the rodent engineers were hard at work as they always were. Several of them were complaining about the sudden extra work load. There was a mystery afoot, and no one had a clue to solve it. For weeks now parts of the ship were disappearing without a trace. Like an anomaly was eating them.

It could have been too many horror movies setting off the paranoia. There were only rare cases of anomalies destroying ships, and none of them, not even a movie, described anything like this.

Before I even got to enter the core room, the kotoli on point yelled at me to put a hazmat suit on. A radiation leak caused by the runoff coolant being exposed made the area too dangerous. They only let me in on behalf of the Captain's order, and because of my rank. It was my job after all to investigate any crimes on board the ship, and this was certainly calling for that signature yellow tape.

Lieutenant Torch was standing on a few crates, waving a wrench around as he shouted orders at his rodent underlings. The kotoli were actually pretty cute when they were kids, but once they got as old as Torch, they looked like fat, hairy kung fu masters.

"It's about time you showed up!" Torch yelled at me. "You damned kids are too lazy these days!"

"Hey, I'm here, ain't I?"

"Just move your ass so you can get out of our way!