Free No Man's Space 1: Starship Encounter by Nate Duke Page B

Because I kill people on my first day?”
    Now that’s a weird reason to choose where to place your loyalties. Sometimes, the crew surprised me. I’d lived amongst engineers who rarely wanted to speak their opinions or decide anything unless they were talking about science or about reducing the resistance of one of our circuits. The rest of the crew judged their officers and rarely trusted them to keep them alive.
    “I don’t like Banner; that’s no secret,” Flanagan said. “And didn’t you hear his girly cries for mercy when we entered the Cassock brig? He’s too green to command, too soft on the sides. You’re the lesser of two evils.”
    And I’m tough and brave, and I capture Cassock frigates single-handedly, but nobody takes that into account. I could’ve been green for an officer, but I was an engineer. My officer’s training had taken place at a 3-week boot camp session, and I’d passed out of pity. And because engineering officers are awesome at hacking into the central servers and changing their own grades.

Chapter 9
    Several of my men had landed minutes before us on other shuttles. Kozinski and York took their hands to invisible hats and tipped them to greet me, a formal naval salutation generally reserved to pretty women, governors, and officers they admired. Not bad for a green officer who was merely the lesser of two evils, huh?
    The port was like a small floating city. It had a long central street with high ceilings and holographic effects that emulated open skies, and shops and houses everywhere. Traditional functional designs of spaceships and orbiting starbases had disappeared and transformed into comforts for the wealthy investors who wanted to move away from the Earth’s contaminated air.
    We headed for the town hall, a large and imposing building made out of composites that emulated stone. Inside, marble floors and golden lamps hinted at the inhabitants’ wealth.
    Banner was waiting just inside the town hall beside a tall and stylish young woman. She was slim, with black hair tied up neatly above her head, intense green eyes and red and luscious lips. She wore a bright red dress that reached her ankles and highlighted her curves. It was as if she’d been designed to be physically perfect. Well, she’d probably been designed artificially through genetic upgrades, but she still had merit. She was like a goddess.
    Banner kept glancing at her with respect and admiration. Flanagan exhaled loudly, equally impressed.
    Kozinski nudged York. “I didn’t know women could rule a space port, but I’d gladly live under her rule. Can we have women captains?”
    She’d had the same effect on the men.
    No woman had ever ruled a spaceport and I doubted that she’d be the first. She was either the governor’s daughter or his new wife. In either case, she was representing the governor because he wasn’t available to greet us or because he considered his time too valuable to waste it with us.
    When she moved, her dress flowed freely over her figure, marking each of her long legs. I caught myself staring at her, mesmerized. I cleared my throat and shook my head; I was the acting captain, and I was supposed to talk to her.
    I don’t mean to brag, but I’ve broken many hearts. One of my recent conquests, Kat, compared me to Greek sculptures. She said I had perfect proportions, a square jaw, and intense black hair that highlighted my iceberg blue eyes. Banner and the others stood no chances with her.
    Banner bowed curtly at me and gestured at the woman. “Lady Elizabeth McMurdoch, this is James Wood, the North Star’s acting captain.” He marked the word acting more than I would’ve liked.
    Lady Elizabeth curtsied and I bowed. She looked at my black double-breasted jacket and her smile became more forced. Her eyes moved down to my well-worn boots. She didn’t like my appearance.
    Okay, I might’ve exaggerated about my looks. I’m fine, but I’m no sex symbol. And Kat had turned out to be a