by J. F. Holmes
Nearly three weeks later, the ambassador from Mountain Home arrived and greeted them warmly. Negotiations were left up to Saully and Rosia. Jack wasn’t good at long talking, and they all knew their terms. He just kept working on upgrading the ship.
The ship was done in short order and armed with several of those wonderful flak cannons, to Jack and Rosia’s bemusement. Those guns had saved lives. Millions and millions of lives. Already, several scientists and other research vessels had arrived with eager postgraduates to study the machines. Information was kept tight, and everyone was given a briefing by an official that none of this was to be shared outside Mountain Home or Accord Station, which meant they didn’t want the UN knowing about it.
It was yet another week of long days before the terms were settled with the ambassador and all parties brought it for the agreements to be finalized.
“Jack, it’s simple,” Rosia explained. “We’re getting new identifications as residents of Mountain Home. We get the privilege of serving in their Citizen’s Reserve Militia as a bonus. We each get some land of our own, a very nice stipend to help us in our new lives, and we can keep the Merlin’s Ghost as an armed cargo transport.”
“I’m fine with that. But what about Sparky?”
“They have cats, Jack. He’ll be fine.” She reached up and kissed his cheek. “Now sign.”
Jack signed and the rest followed. Sherry was up and around on her new legs, and none the worse for wear, even if she was still in stabilizer braces. She swore the physical therapy AI system was a bitch from hell. Tito was good with his own leg and was walking around with only a slight stiffness in his stride. After they signed, the ambassador congratulated them with a traditional handshake and sent off the data packets. They met at the only open bar and grill on the station shortly thereafter to celebrate. It was run by two of the station’s staff members, in lieu of the previous tenants.
“Welcome to Mountain Home!” Mills lifted her mug.
“Thank you, Sergeant. I hope we make good neighbors and friends,” Saully replied, lifting his glass.
“To new friends!” Jack said, smiling.
“Hear, hear!” Sherry replied.
“Salute!” Rosia chimed in.
“Fuckin’ A!” Tito yelled back from the end of the long table.
“Merreow!” Sparky added from Jack’s shoulder.
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To Be Continued….
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The Hundred Worlds Universe ™ is sole property of Cannon Publishing, LLC, and no part may be used as a setting for any other fiction without permission of the company. Authors hold individual rights to their own material.
Gate Keeper© 2018 Jon Del Arroz
Leverage© 2018 Doug Dandridge
The Only Planet We Have© 2018 James Schardt
Unrest© 2018 Lucas Marcum
Sailing to Independence© 2018 James Peters
Above My Paygrade© 2018 Jamie Ibson
Debt Repaid© 2018 Sean McCune
Finding Sara© 2018 Daniel Humphreys
Miracle Machine© 2018 Bart Kemper
The Jump© 2018 J.K. Robinson
The Big Picture© 2018 J.F. Holmes
One Fish, Two Fish© 2018 Scott Bascom
The Witch’s Spell© 2018 T. Allen Diaz
Three Strikes© 2018 John M. Olsen
After Party© 2018 Sean McCune