Last Updated 01 Sep 1999.
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created and maintained by Virtual Insanity. |
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Chapter 1
by Layne Saltern
[Aboard the scavenger ship Carrion near the Truane's Star System]
Verran's long Yazirian fingers lazily played with the piloting controls, accelerating the Carrion's barely sufficient ion engines further into the black nothingness ahead.
He shook his head when he seemed to hear a voice. Weeks of flying solo could play games with your mind. But the voice was not imaginary--not this time.
"Verran. Verran! Reply at once!" It was the subspace radio, and K'llk'lk's annoying chatter.The Yazirian took his time answering.
"What is it?"
"I need a report on your progress. How many kilos of scrap have you procured?"
"I keep telling you weasels that finding flotsam isn't like hauling dirt. The war was a long time ago. Wreckage is hard to come by these days."
K'llk'lk's voice doubled in volume. "Every time we send you scavengers on collecting missions, it costs us money. If you don't return with recyclables, we lose money. If we lose money, we close the operation, and people lose jobs."
"Yeah, go cry about your job to someone else," said the Yazirian, shutting off the radio too quickly to allow a response. The conversation had been enough distraction for Verran not to notice the blip on his computer panel, at least not for several seconds.
But at last it caught his eye. "Ahh. Jackpot!" The Yazirian's hands played across the computer touchpad. And his cat-like eyes widened.
"More than jackpot. This is the motherload! There's enough recyclable ore there to shut K'llk'lk up for months." Verran turned to another viewscreen. "Let's see what we've got on the long range sensors." A computer replicated image appeared on the viewscreen, rotating in three dimensions. The image glowed across the Yazirian's gaze of astonishment.
"What the--"
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