Pegasus (Part 118)

There were no more guards. Two rows of fifty starships of various sizes, classes, and make were parked in front of us.

Sharon, still being aided by Leanne pointed in the direction of her one. I sprinted ahead wary of the reinforcements that I thought were imminent.

“This one?” I shouted pointing to a dishevelled white Betomez carrier.

“The next one,” Leanne shouted.

I ran forward.

No, it couldn’t be. Not a first-class Mitzu. The ship was famous throughout the system for its speed and agility. Then there were the armaments. Two immense laser cannons protruded on each side. They had enough destructive power to give small space habitats concerns for their continuing existence. In my youth, I went through a phase of our Mitzu idolatry, and this was the ship that I always wanted to fly.

“This one?”

“Yes. The code is 0575ew2”

I couldn’t help but smile.

Most others would not have known where to input the code but I did, and I immediately entered it into the panel input device under the left wing. The rear cargo bay began to open, and I heard the unmistakable clicking sound of the laser cannons becoming operational.

Then I heard the sound of distant laser fire – reinforcements had arrived.

Pegasus (Part 117)

We exited the room and were about to go to our left when Sharon spoke.

“Guys don’t go that way!” She pointed in the opposite direction.

Leanne made to go that way.

“Are we sure we can trust her?”

The others scowled at me and went the way she suggested. We turned right and right again. A service lift was there, She looked at me with a wry grin. I smiled back.

It was a small lift but we all managed to find space inside. Then Sharon inputted the setting for the very top level.

“Be prepared to open fire! There are usually a few guards up here.”

The lift swept us upwards. There were no stabilizers so you could feel the acceleration. With each second, my legs became heavier.

“Woohoo, we’re really traveling!” I exclaimed just before it came to a halt momentarily lifting our feet off the ground.

The door began to creak open.

One of the guards had their back to us. She was wearing a distinctive blue uniform with a handgun around her waist. No quarter was given.

Bullets ripped through his torso. Her body slipped to the ground revealing two. They put their hands up, and Chrissie and Pam ran towards them to tie them up.

Pegasus Part 116

She blubbed that her name was Sharon. Instantly, I remembered the name. I let go of my embrace with Tabitha and turned to face her. Her right eye was swollen and blood was still dripping from her mouth.

“You’re a smuggler,” I said.

She nodded her bowed head.

“Do you have a ship?

There was no response. I stepped in her direction, but Leanne blocked my way, her facial muscles tense.

“Leanne, she is the key to getting us to the Emperor’s habitat. You know what you signed up for joining the movement,”

Chrissie put her hand on my shoulder.

“We need her help Leanne.”

Leanne pouted her lips and glanced back at Sharon.

“Yes, I know. Let me talk to her first. The woman is petrified.”

Chrissie looked at me.

“Give them a few minutes. Let Leanne talk to her.

I went back and tended to Tabitha.

Minutes passed, and the two women murmured to each other. Whatever Leanne said was worth it because she agreed to take us to the Emperor’s habitat. Her ship was at the top of the building. I helped Tabiitha to her feet, as Leanne did likewise with Sharon. There was a silent groan after each step taken.

Pegasus (Part 115)

We ran out the door to a narrow carpeted hallway with multiple wooden doors just like the one we were after exiting.

“Follow me.” Her tone was confident. “We need to take the stairs to catch them by surprise.

We went down the hallway, turning left and then right. It was a labyrinth. Then much to my relief, the stairs appeared in front of us.

She looked back at me over her shoulder. “Quiet.” I nodded.

Each step was taken slowly. Chrissie had her gun at the ready. Then her steps grew faster. I looked up and saw that Leanne and her sister waiting for us. They waved with their gun to follow till we reached our destination.

Leanne took one side of the door and Chrissie the other. Leanne shot at the door lock, and then they barged in shooting at everything that moved. There was Innumerable shots and blood flowed out of the room.

I entered the room to see three riddled bodies. Tabitha’s face was bloodied and bruised. Still, she managed a small smile when she looked at me. I ran and embraced her.

She wasn’t the only battered woman in the room. Leanne was untying her. She was slender with long, blonde hair.

Pegasus (Part 114)

Once more with a smile, he pulled back preparing for another whack.

“Oh, this time it will be your pretty face.”

The bastard was enjoying it.

Then there was a banging sound off to the right, where my view was obscured by the wall. A sound of shot. The bullet hit Jarlath in between the eyes, and he fell to the floor.

A second later, a smiling Chrissie was in front of me. Damn, I never thought I would be so happy to see her.

“Hello buster, I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Now let’s get you out of here and find Tabitha.”

She quickly untied my hands and legs. We hugged. The pain was pulsating me, but I just managed to walk.

“We realized that something had happened to the two of you. And we decided that we couldn’t just leave you. We went into the bar, and well the girls used some of their tried and tested techniques,”

“What are they?” I asked in a hushed voice through gritted teeth.

“A bit of cleavage here, a bit of leg there. And tablets containing some very strong drugs.”

“Well, I am very thankful. Where now?

“Follow me. She’s up a floor.”

Pegasus (Part 113)

The door swung open.

“Jarlath’s my name. You never asked on the way up.”

He was holding a baseball bat in his right hand.

“You really did come at a bad time. Right when a major operation against smugglers and infiltrators was under way. Bad, bad man. So are you just a smuggler or something worse?”

He lifted the bat over his shoulder and brought it down on my lower legs. A searing, immense pain engulfed my body.

“That’s a nice woman you brought with you. The boys are going to love her.”

Removing the cloth wrapped around my mouth I shouted, “Leave her the fuck alone!”

Jarlath laughed.

“Now, why were you trying to get to the Emperor’s habitat? And don’t fucking lie.”

“It was to trade…”

Another blow came crashing down.

“That’s not what Tabitha said, well after she got a few slaps. Oh yes, you were out cold so we started the process with her some time ago. A feisty woman. I sensed a real dislike of the Emperor. So, stop fucking around. I have places to be. Meeting a nice girl called Sharon in an hour so don’t delay. Funny enough, she’s the kind of person you were looking for. Ah well, too bad.”

Pegasus (Part 112)

I gulped down what was left of my drink and followed him. Tabitha didn’t bother finishing hers.

We went to one of the side walls where he pressed a well disguised button, Part of the wall opened up revealing a silver lift. We got in, and it immediately closed behind us.

The man inputted a long line of numbers. My heart skipped a beat. Our friends outside would be of little use. The lift took what seemed to be a few minutes to reach its destination. The doors opened revealing a large, comfy sitting room. I walked forward before feeling a strike to the back of my head.

It must have knocked me unconscious, because the next thing I know is my eyes are closed and I feel a massive headache. The kind where you wonder f you would be better off dead. I open my eyes to an unfamiliar room. It is very small, with white walls. I am tied down to a wooden chair in front of a door, that is the only piece of furniture. Instinctively, I roar out but it is muffled.

“Tabitha, Tabitha.”

There is no response. This is not good.

The seconds turn to minutes and then hours before I finally hear the sound of footsteps outside

Pegasus (Part 111)

It didn’t take long for that first drink to turn into two, then three. I knew one of the myriad of men would eventually bite and they did.

A burly, bald man dressed in fading clothes came over to us. He addressed us in English.

“What has brought you two here? I caught a word or two of English being spoken between you. I haven’t heard it being spoken in years.”

Tabitha looked at me wide eyed. I took the initiative.

“You don’t get away with too much around here. And where did you learn it? You seem quite fluent.”

“My mother is from Aruna V. She insisted we use it to communicate. And you never answered my question.”

“No, I didn’t. We’re here on business.”

“What kind of business?”

“We need to get a package onto the Emperor’s habitat, and we’re prepared to pay big.”

I let him glance at our bitcoin balance.

He murmured something to himself and then left to go to a backroom.

I could feel the sweat on my brow and took another gulp.

Then the man returned and said to follow him. We got up, leaving what remained of our drinks. It was action time.

For We Are Many (Bobiverse) by Denis E Taylor

Hello dear readers, I have just finished reading the second book in the Bobiverse series by Denis E Taylor. For those that may have forgotten, I gave the first one five stars out of five (We are Legion We are Bob). The sequel is not always on a par with the original though.

Bob Johansson didn’t believe in an afterlife, so he signed up to be resurrected after he had died. Little did he realize that it would be as an Artificial Intelligence or replicant, and that life would far outlive his biological one. Bob and his copies have been spreading out from Earth for 40 years now, looking for habitable planets trying to save the last remnants of humanity after a disastrous nuclear war. Something that’s increasingly feeling like a real prospect these days.

Each Bob copy has its own variability in character due both to the copying process and their own unique experiences once they separate. The relationships between the Bobs themselves is one of the things that makes this novel so special.

What follows is an intriguing tale of exploration, love and friendship over space and time.

Amongst the various sub stories, one Bob becomes a Sky God to a primitive species doing everything possible to ensure its survival.

Another Bob fall in love with a woman he can never touch.

“The Others” are the adversary in the book, who are stripping the surrounding star systems of life and material to create their own Dyson Sphere. Who finally wins is left to the next novel and I for one, can’t wait.

This gets another five stars out of five from me.

Pegasus (Part 110)

Yeah she had a point. I needed to give them something useful to do, or at least keep them occupied.

“I need the rest of you to keep guard across the street. If things kick off, we will need you.”

Casey pouted her lips, while Leanne’s eyes rolled.

Chrissie then spoke.

“Come on girls. It can’t be excitement all the time.”

Tabitha and I headed into the modern-looking building. The automatic doors opened as we approached. I was relieved it was pub on the first level as I had hoped. It had a wooden and leather decor. It smelled of tobacco.

I turned to face Tabitha.

“What would you like?”

“A drink, really? Don’t we have something to do?”

“We need to fit in, trust me.”

“Whiskey with red lemonade for me.”

I went up to the bar.

“Conas ata tu?”

It was the first time someone had spoken in my tongue for quite some time.

“An mhaithe ar fad. Ba mhaith liom Guinness agus uisce beatha.”

Having secured the drinks, we went to one of the round tables in the centre so that we could both observe, and be observed.

It was mostly military aged men in the bar, and many couldn’t resist a peek at Tabitha’s long legs.