Syndicate's Pawns
by Davila LeBlanc
A month has passed since the eclectic crew of the Covenant Patrol vessel Jinxed Thirteenth endured a harrowing mission on the abandoned space station of Moria 3 and rescued its sole surviving crew member. During the mission, Moria 3's deranged AI all but crippled the Jinxed Thirteenth, and the skeletal crew is now desperately trying to get it repaired. Waking from several millennia of cryo-sleep, Jessie Madison's worst fears are confirmed. She is the last surviving member of the Human race. Surrounded by the descendants of mankind in a world she knows nothing about, not even the basic alphabet, Jessie finds herself only able to communicate with the ship's medic, Marla Varsin, and its translator, Machina Chord. When the merchant vessel Althena arrives on the scene, its captain, a shrewd trader named Domiant, offers to sell Captain Morwyn the parts he needs. As guards are lowered on the Jinxed Thirteenth and repairs get underway, it becomes evident that a cunning foe...