The Chara Talisman
Page 27
“But why? It was probably a pure fabrication.”
“If it wasn’t, it contains information that could affect the security of human space. That’s worth spending some effort to find. In fact, I want all the Blue Book files. It’s information we should have, even if 99.9 percent of it is junk. If we can’t find it, or we do and it’s clearly bogus, then it’s just a little manpower wasted. That’s nothing new in the intelligence business.”
“All right. While you’re doing that, can we think about an expedition to Zeta Reticuli?”
Ducayne shook his head. “I can’t officially approve that.” He looked at Carson and smiled slightly. “Of course, neither you nor Roberts work directly for me, so I can’t tell you what to do on your own time.”
Carson looked over at Jackie and cocked an eyebrow. She smiled back at him with a slight nod.
“One thing, though,” continued Ducayne. “The agency is making some expensive upgrades to your ship, Jackie. We’d appreciate it if you were very careful with our property.”
“Like it was my own,” she said, and winked.
∞ ∞ ∞
The story continues in The Reticuli Deception, coming in Spring 2012.
About the Author
Alastair Mayer was born in London, England, and moved to Canada with his family as a young boy. He describes his interest in space flight and science fiction as genetic: his father, Douglas W.F. Mayer, had been an early member of the British Interplanetary Society as well as a science fiction fan (who in fact published some of Arthur C. Clarke's first tales in Amateur Science Stories).
After attending school in Canada, Alastair became involved in both the L5 Society (now the National Space Society) and computers, publishing articles in Byte, Final Frontier, and other magazines, as well as becoming an accomplished scuba diver and a private pilot. In 1989 he moved to Colorado, where he still lives, and where he works for a satellite network company.
His short stories have been published in several anthologies and his work has appeared often enough in Analog Science Fiction magazine to gain him entry to the “Analog MAFIA” (Members Appear Frequently In Analog). Many of his short works can be found in e-book format on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and other e-book vendor sites.
The Chara Talisman is his first novel, and he's working diligently on The Reticuli Deception, as well as two other novels set very early in the history of T-space. Visit his web site at http://www.alastairmayer.com/ .
∞ ∞ ∞
Table of Contents
1: Verdigris
2: Roberts
3: The Diagram
4: Tomb Raiders
5: Spitzer Spaceport
6: Unexpected Results
7: Special Delivery
8: Shipyards
9: Secrets Revealed
10: Unwelcome Intrusion
11: Repairs Complete
12: Mugged
13: Old Friends
14: Departure Preparations
15: Marten
16: The Talisman
17: Rico and Marten
18: Departure
19: En Route
20: Chara Arrival
21: Expedition
22: Sabertooth
23: To the Pyramid
24: Within the Pyramid
25: Trapped
26: Exploring
27: Descent
28: The Gizmo
29: Down and Out
30: Getting Wet
31: The Test
32: Dogfight
33: Pyramid Redux
34: The Hawk
35: Snowball
36: Maynard
37: Exchange
38: Home
Glossary
Acknowledgments
Preview: