Free Ilox Saga 1: Eris Monroe: More Than Human by Bruce Adams Page A

smiles on us again! I have another job for you. There is a human target that needs to be captured – alive, and unharmed. Take as many men as you need and travel to Earth in the Sol Quadrant. I don’t want any incidents with human authorities either. Republic territory means you will be discrete. Use stun guns on the human but keep things quiet.” Chol Cuxa rubbed his chin and looked at his subordinate with cold humorless eyes.
    “If you are caught by human authorities, I will not be able to help you. You realize that, don’t you?” Chol looked at Verinous with unblinking gaze.
    Does he think I am stupid? Verinous tried hard not to say anything sarcastic. The only outward sign he gave was a small twitch in the corner of his mouth that lasted a fraction of a second. He was well disciplined when talking with his superiors – especially in regards to what he said around Chol Cuxa, who could be easily displeased. He leveled his gaze at his superior.
    “I will take precautions but I wish to move quickly. I will take Fala and Maahir on this mission. They are both human and will back me up if things…go badly. What level of expenses can I incur in the pursuit of this target? Verinous let the last word linger on his tongue as if he could savor the hunt already.
    Chol Cuxa looked at the dozens of data streams in the comm and quarters and smiled. “This Eli Bowman is wanted and the pay is exorbitant. Make sure that your expenses are not.” Chol turned his back on his lieutenant and Verinous knew that he was dismissed. On the ride up inside the elevator he thought about plans and contingencies. He was already talking to Maahir and Fala by the time he exited the never ending party inside Blood and Honor.

CHAPTER 8
     
    Life aboard a military starship is inevitably dull – there is nothing to look at except the same gray durasteel walls and bulkheads day after day and there is nothing to do within the confined bulkheads and limited corridors. The Majestic was considered a hybrid vessel which had an impressive array of scientific instruments and laboratories to analyze and catalog specimens, in addition to a couple of large turrets, one positioned on the top forward spine of the ship and one placed aft underneath the spine. That way, the ship could fire on any threat in a three hundred and sixty degree arc to cover all possible attack vectors. The turrets were equipped with Heavy Particle Cannons which should be able to disable or destroy up to destroyer sized warships. It was the seventh day of the voyage, with two solar days left to enter the Shaedra system. Unlike the massive cruise ships that ply star-lanes and jump-points carrying thousands of passengers who gamble, carouse, dine at fancy restaurants and sleep on comfortable beds at night, military starship’s are all about clean lines and hard edges. A form that functioned very well in delivering lethal killing blows to enemy ships – a function unknown to most civilian starships. Eris could not fathom being part of the crew and having to endure such confinement for the long time intervals; she preferred hard land under her feet and a clear mission objective. The only time it’s not boring is during a firefight, and then boredom is replaced with adrenaline and sheer terror . Eris broke the daily monotony up as best she could with early morning exercises, target practice in the simulator, and making the rounds throughout the various compartments of the warship. She had just entered the engineering bay to have a talk with the crew stationed there and learn a little about the propulsion systems. Almost all ships were built around the concept and practice of modular construction. Each critical area – engineering, crew compartments, cargo bays, weapon turrets and command centers were all built as modules so their structural integrity wouldn’t be compromised in case of catastrophic hull breach. M odular designs also allowed greater capability and easier upgrades at the