“Well, losing the investment we put into Starlight almost put Smythe Biomedical into receivership,” she said, smiling with half her face. “It was a huge gamble, and we crapped out.”
“What exactly was your wager in that blasted piece of barren dust?” he asked. “It certainly wasn’t going to become a vacation destination for the rich and ludicrous.”
“There were mineral deposits that are essential to recreating one of the Shan Takhu medical devices,” she said. “It was how we swung the lease on the proxy chamber we were carrying.”
“The what?”
“It would take a while to explain,” she said. “Let’s say it’s one of the most important technologies to come out of the Tacra Un, and the only place we’ve found this critical mineral is on Shadetree.”
“So your family was bankrolling a mining mission in hell.” he said. “That doesn’t change your royal lineage.”
“Do you know how much I resent that?” she said, the flash in her eyes telling him he’d landed on a raw nerve.
“I can’t believe I’m even considering this,” he said, getting up and walking over to pour himself another cup of coffee.
“I can’t believe I’m doing it either,” she said. She grabbed the thinpad and scrolled to the end of a long file before she pressed her thumb against the screen. “That’s the contract transferring title. The Olympus Dawn is yours.”
She handed it to him. “No strings.”
He stared at the file for almost a minute, unable to make his mind focus on the writing. His hands shook as he struggled to accept the reality that the ship was really his.
“Just seal the transfer,” she said.
He set the thinpad down on the table and pressed his thumbprint onto the screen beside hers.
“Now, Captain Walker, since you have several positions you will need to fill, I would like to post formally as chief medical officer of the Olympus Dawn. I think I’m qualified,” she said. “If you choose me for your crew, I assume there’s some kind of standard contract I’ll need to execute so you’ll feel comfortable that I won’t overstep.”
He nodded. “If I can somehow wrap my brain around the insane reality of you wanting to serve on a freighter, I will need to set one condition right up front. While I’m willing accept the idea that you might have jobs you’d like us to take, when you’re on my ship, you will never contradict an order I give. This applies whether it’s for your mission or one we get through normal channels.”
“Agreed,” she said. “Your authority is absolute.”
“Then I think we’ve got a deal,” he said. “Now if you don’t mind I think I need to catch my old crew before they post to another ship.”
“I don’t think that will be a problem,” she said, grinning. “They’re all waiting in the hall.”
“They are?”
“I knew you’d have some vacancies to fill.”
THE END
Get Wings of Earth: 2 - Dust of the Deep now to continue enjoying the journey
Archaeology is a dirty business.
Out in the Deep, it’s dangerous too.
After almost losing his Shipmaster’s licenses, Captain Ethan Walker takes on three new crewmembers and the first job that will get him back into space. Fortunately, the load pays exceptionally well. But when he discovers that the supplies and personnel they’re carrying aren’t the type of payload the Olympus Dawn usually hauls, he realizes he has no other options. They must complete the run regardless of the danger.
Things get worse when Walker makes a one hundred light-year detour to pick up an archaeologist who knows their destination, only to find that someone has kidnapped her. Planetary security is looking for answers.
Answers he doesn’t have.
Before they find out where they’re headed Ethan learns they’ve attracted the attention of the renegade Captain Kendrick Jetaar, and that he will stop at nothing to capture their cargo. Captain Walker must escape the ruthless pirate lord before he and his crew become casualties in a war he didn’t know existed ... Get it now.
Thank you for reading Wings of Earth: 1 Echoes of Starlight. If you enjoyed the story, please take a moment and consider leaving a review.
Reviews feed the creative souls of all authors and are invaluable in helping readers discover new books to experience.
Thank you. EMC
Other works by Eric Michael Craig
Atlas and the Winds
Book One: Stormhaven Rising
Book Two: Prometheus and the Dragon
Shan Takhu Legacy
Book One: Legacy of Pandora
Book Two: Fulcrum of Odysseus
Book Three: Redemption of Sisyphus
Wings of Earth
Book One: Echoes of Starlight
Short Story
Ghostmaker
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eric Michael Craig is a Hard Science Fiction writer living in the Manzano Mountains of New Mexico. He is the former Director of Research for a private consulting laboratory in Phoenix, where he experimented with inertial propulsion and power generation technologies.
Fascinated with the "cacophony of humanity," he dedicated much of his life to observing society and how people relate to each other and the world around them. Ultimately this drove him to write full time.
When not writing, Eric is active in Intentional Community Design, plays guitar and bass, occasionally dabbles in art of various forms, and designs websites. He also owns way too many dogs.
Eric is a founding member of the SciFi Roundtable. The SFRT is an active online group dedicated to supporting indie and traditional authors by networking them with other writers and professional resources.
Connect with Eric at:
ericmichaelcraig.net
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From the Desk of Eric Michael Craig
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you, Thomas Brass for answering a question in my newsletter. You gave me an excellent character and I hope you enjoy her journey. And thank you to my editor and cover artist, Ducky Smith, without her there would be no Wings of Earth.
Echoes of Starlight Page 19