Galaxy's End: Book One by LeRoy Clary (pdf ebook reader txt) 📕

a well-armed private ship would dare attack. Any fool could see that, she thought and knew it was true.

Fang’s calm voice abruptly interrupted her thoughts. “One ship has changed course.”

I sat up.

“The second ship has also veered away,” Fang’s voice reported tersely. “And Captain Stone, Kat, and I are going to have an in-depth meeting about what just happened. How and why the ships diverted is of great interest to me.”

Captain Stone said, “Agreed. Fang, can you change our course again?”

“Do you have a destination in mind?”

“Taranto Six.”

“Never heard of it. Wait, I see it on the inquiry screen. Out near the border, is it?”

“That’s where we’ll find my ship.”

“Excuse me, Captain, but it appears you own two ships, one with several passengers who are as terrified as the rest of us from whatever Kat did to us but without knowing why. It might be a clever idea to attempt to calm them using the same method.”

“When the two ships chasing us are no longer on the screen,” Captain Stone said. “Kat, you can then send calming thoughts to everyone. Not before they are no longer pursuing us.”

Captain Stone secured the comm room and went with Bill to the bridge where they found the airtight hatch sealed and locked. At their knock and calling her name, Kat opened the door from the other side.

Kat appeared haggard, tired, and scared. She paused, looked at them, and said, “You look as awful as I feel.”

“Is that supposed to be a joke?” Captain Stone asked as she swept into the bridge area, taking it all in with a sweep of her eyes.

“No,” Kat said, as she slumped into the swivel chair, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “No jokes.”

A look passed between Stone and Bill, then both turned to Fang, who nodded in greeting. His features were unreadable by them. He said, “Me too. No jokes.”

“You too, what?” Kat asked.

“Me too, scared. Afraid. Almost terrified a ship is going to fire missiles at me.” All of Fang’s eyestalks avoided looking directly at Kat.

Captain Stone said, “You did a wonderful job and maybe saved all our lives. Both of you. I have never heard of an empath that broadcasts a feeling to a group over distance. We all felt your fear. I suspect every crewman and passenger on this ship did too. Most importantly, both pirate ships turned away and I assume that was either because of our fake attack, or your ability to scare them. We are going to do a lot of research on empaths after this is over. Bert will be busy for months.”

Bill said to Kat in a confidential tone, “It was the Schism pit from when we were children that you were remembering, right? Where you almost died? That’s why it was so powerful?”

“Yes, I thought about that for inspiration. I didn’t know all of you would also feel my fear. I’m so sorry.”

Kat appeared mortified, as well as exhausted, mentally, and physically. The body of the dead ship’s captain still lay sprawled haphazardly on the floor in a corner. Fang occupied the other pilot’s chair, using a wet rag to keep his skin damp. Stone noted the rag he used was the sleeve from Kat’s shirt.

Kat went up in Stone’s estimation again. For a girl who had never worn a new shirt in her life to tear off a sleeve to help a friend showed the same kind of loyalty that she had found in Bill and Bert. Unfortunately, she hadn’t found it in many others in her experience. Her past was somewhat limited to traders who traded crewmen on their ships like changing underwear. They came and went according to their whims, or the requirements of the ship.

Life on a trader was traditionally like that. Temporary. One trip at a time. Few long-term involvements. It was a way of life chosen by them. Worse, were the people on each planet a trader dealt with. Traders never got to know the residents, the people or traditions, only the buyers, and sellers, each attempting to outwit and out trade the other.

Then there were the crude entertainment sections of each spaceport where relationships lasted a few hours, and the planet-bound did their best to separate the crews of traders from any credits in their accounts—and they were incredibly good at doing that. They were worse than buyers and sellers.

All of which made Kat’s little crew so different.

There was also the addition of Fang. She cast a glance in his direction. She didn’t know what to do with Fang, nor did she know much about the green thing other than it had evolved in swamps. She knew it was intelligent, far more so than she, she suspected. It also dealt with the soft underbelly of society.

But Fang was also a piece of an unknown puzzle. She was beginning to suspect his present occupation was not what he wanted to do for a living, and if he could be trusted—she allowed the idea to hang there.

Bill said, “If we are in control of this ship, there are things we need to do, beginning with removing the body of the captain.”

Stone forced her attention back to the present and noted how Bill had decided what needed to be done and said so without hesitation. Again, she was surprised. A little test was in order. She asked, “What else?”

Bill knelt at the side of the body. He touched the neck, examined the area on one side, and said, “Puncture wound. A needle. Probably an injection of poison. That’s what killed him.”

She asked, “What else do we need to do?”

Bill looked up. “Remove his body, first. Preserve it in an airlock or freezer for the authorities. Find any video recordings of the bridge if they exist. I’d think something as important as