Destiny's Choice (The Wandering Engineer) (74 page)

“I
recommended a nodular approach over the branch one we're currently on.”

“Nodule?”

“Set
up pickets on each of the approaches to Pyrax, and trade. Then push the pickets
out exponentially. That way we're covering all approaches instead of just
focusing on one.”

Bailey
wrinkled his nose and then shook his head. “I...”

The
captain held up a hand. “Yeah I know, above your head shorty. I get it though,
It's kind of stupid to guard one door when the enemy can get through another
with a little more work. I see his point.”

“Thank
you. Agnosta is a key, but the other systems are a little more developed and
have more to offer in trade. They also open up to other areas.”

“Hopefully
we can get some of the other ships out there to pick up the slack. We can't do
this all on our own,” the purser said shaking his head.

Bailey
and the others nodded. Irons stopped nodding and sighed. “We'll see. Don't be
surprised if they poach some of your crew,” he glanced at the captain and then
chief engineer. “They'll need experienced crew on the other ships to buttress
the greenhorns.”

“Good
point. We'll be on guard.”

Irons
glanced at them then snorted at their amused expressions. “Whatever.”

“Admiral,
I'm... I'm sorry about what happened,” the captain said after a brief moment of
silence. Bailey shot him a look. The purser stiffened.

“Not
your doing captain. Thanks though.”

“I'm,
well...”

He
held up a stalling hand. “Don't worry about it captain. We all run through
rough patches of space and sea, the trick is to not let it get to us and keep
moving forward. Eventually the storm will pass and we'll see the other side,”
Irons said.

“I'll
remember that,” the captain said with a smile and nod.

“Me
too,” Bailey said nodding as well. He shook hands with the Admiral then pulled
him into his grasp for a tight hug.

“Take
care of the old girl you old fart. And your wives too,” Irons said gruffly as
they broke the embrace.

The
chimp laughed shaking his head. He tugged on one ear. “I was kind of wondering
if you were insulting my ladies there for a moment.”

“Never,”
the Admiral said with a head shake. “Try to keep your offspring from blowing
the ship up.”

“I'll
do that,” the chimp said dryly. “Or at least try to.”

“You
do that chief, try real hard,” the captain said dryly, shaking his head.

“Aye
aye sir.”

 
Many o the ship were reluctant to see him go, he had
repaired their home, saved it from invasion, helped repair this ship, and even
stocked it with parts and materials.  They were amazed and humbled by his
generosity. Those that had thought he had been a pedophile were won over,
knowing better now.

The
captain turned as the hatches to the boat bay opened. People came in, humans
and aliens. They lined up in rows outside of the flight line. Standing there
watching. Ferguson nodded to them and extended his hand. Irons took it, shaking
it briefly.

“Good
luck and goddess speed Admiral. May your touch let hope and rebirth spring
eternal. With luck and hard work we'll see the light once more.”

 Touched,
the engineer turned and came to attention. He saluted crisply, then stepped off
into his shuttle and the future.

The
End

My blog:

http://cyberforge3d.blogspot.com/

Links for the cover:

www.daz3d.com

http://www.daz3d.com/i/shop/itemdetails/?item=2912

http://www.daz3d.com/i/shop/itemdetails/?item=11250

http://www.daz3d.com/i/shop/itemdetails/?item=11959

http://www.most-digital-creations.com/

Information used in the writing of this book:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extracellular_matrix

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meningitis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regeneration_(biology
)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachyon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femme_fatale

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graviton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrino

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raccoon

Yup,
I did it again, breaking the fourth wall to make a comment about the book.
Well, in this case it's a short one, literally. Sorry about that, it's how the
book fell together. The next one (Ghost Station) will be about the same length.
After that I'm not sure.

I
do want to apologize to the readers who were waiting patiently for this book.
Sorry, I had it written and off to Mechmaster last year but well, life got in
the way of editing it. We've both made a special effort to improve my grammar
and writing style. The wait however was excruciating for me as well. That's on
me, not him. He's a great guy for taking the time to give me pointers and check
this over for me, twice. :)

That
wasn't the only reason things slowed down however, a short story I had started
on a whim bit me pretty hard and grew and grew, taking on a life of it's own.
It has grown into a mighty oak, over seven hundred pages of action. It was
quite a break from my normal hard military science fiction. It's your not so
typical alien invasion, blending ideas I picked up from various film,
television, and game sources. You won't believe where the original idea came
from... :) It's called Afraid of the Dark and it's in Mechmaster's clutches
right now.

For
those of you wondering, book 4 Ghost Station is almost done (As of July 2012)
but it will take a while to be cleaned up and edited. I've been sitting on
Jethro since January 2012, I'll release that a month or so after I've released
this book. Look for it then. Ghost Station
might
be out by the end of
the year but I doubt it.

Books
like Afraid of the Dark and others are in the editing stage and will hopefully
be out soon. Hopefully.

Book
2 of the side story Jethro, titled First to Fight, is progressing off and on.
Book 5 of the Wandering Engineer, titled Plague Planet, has been started but
has a long way to go before it's release.

I've
also been working on other projects. You can read about some of them on my
blog. Link in the Appendix section above.

Quicky FAQ:

“Are
you self publishing?
” 

Yes.

“Your
copy editing stinks! Can't you do better?”

I'm
trying. Mechmaster has graciously offered to lend his services. He's a great
guy. Check out his Dalek comic if you get a chance. All mistakes are mine and
mine alone.

“How
many books in this series?”

I
don't have a definitive number since I keep getting ideas for more each day.
Right now I'm at 22 for this universe and climbing. Some are already out, some
are in various stages of production, and a few are only treatments.  They are
broken into 4 time periods to illustrate various major events.

Is
First Steps a part of the Wandering Engineer universe?”

Yes.
First steps is a prequel book, a part of a series I'm also working on and one
of the 22 books in the universe I mentioned above. It will all become clear (I
hope) later. It's sequel is in the works.

“What
other projects are you working on?”

Well,
I'm constantly working on the manual for this book. The manual, or bible as
some call it is broken into several files and folders. Ships, people, tech,
worlds. I like to sculpt many of the aliens with Sculptris. You can see some on
my blog or on the Foundation3D site. I'll be compiling it all and releasing it
sometime in the future.

I
have also been toying with an MMO/RPG UDK game based in the Afraid of the Dark
universe. I did a bit of work there, slowing things up quite a bit.
Unfortunately I've decided to table it for now. It could make a come back if I
get back into UDK when engine 4 is released.

Jethro goes to war:

“One of the things I have to get
through to you is that a sniper is ninety nine percent observer. We call in the
shots,” the Sergeant said standing at attention.

Jethro's nostrils flared as he
picked up an unknown scent. He did a little subtle glancing around. He was
pretty sure it was coming from the rear, near the corner. He didn't want to
look around though, he needed to focus on the course instructor. He had a
feeling the class was going to be harder than he'd anticipated. He knew the
paper side alone was one of his weaknesses.

“A sniper observes the
battlefield, and calls in intelligence or calls for fire. Rarely do you ever
engage. Does anyone know why?”

“Because when we do we let the
enemy know we are in the area sir.” Shiku the white arctic Neo fox growled.

“Exactly. It sends up a flare.
That's a bad thing,” the human Sergeant nodded. “But sometimes you have to,” he
grimaced. “If at all possible try to remember to pick off the closest units
first, then move back down the range. You'll find that the rounds kill better
at range. Close range shots are moving fast and the round doesn't do nearly as
much tumbling, and therefore a lot less damage to the intended target.”

He looked around and then sighed.
“I know some of you are in love with the T, that is hitting someone in the
sweet spot here,” he touched his face from eye to eye down to his mouth. “We
call this the T because if you get the shot right on a human the round will
penetrate easily and sever the spinal column killing the target in a split
second. It is the essence of one shot one kill. However...” he paced for a
moment. “However a head shot is a bitch to pull off right at range. Your target
is moving, bobbing and weaving, and one wrong variable can mean he's alive,
scared, but alive,” he shook his head. “Which is bad. He can take cover and
then return fire or call in your position.”

“Another reason to avoid head
shots is that some species do not have the same structure as a human. Shoot,
oh, say a Tarq in the head and the round would bounce off their slopped skulls.
Others do not have the same centralized weakness of a human so beware.” He
waited a moment while they digested that.

“Observation, Attention to
detail, Stealth, and Science. It all comes together in a first rate sniper,”
the instructor intoned.

Suddenly his chest blossomed in
red gore. He dropped to the floor like a rag doll. The class looked around,
wide eyes. Some were getting out of their chairs, others had hit the deck.

Jethro felt the pulse of
information coming from a transceiver near the front quarter behind the desk.
He glanced that way but and then turned, focusing on the intruder. He ripped
his uniform off and cloaked. The velcro strips went with tearing sounds as he
dropped to all fours...