Ghost Fleet (The Pike Chronicles Book 4) by G. P. Hudson Read Free Book Online Page A

too.”
    Returning to the grill, Seiben began piling fish and sides onto platters. The three men took the food down the wooden steps onto the beach. A long table stood near Darla and Breeah, already setup with appetizers, plates and cutlery. They set down their platters and strolled over to where Breeah and Darla were seated. Breeah looked up at Jon and smiled. “I was just telling Darla how beautiful her new home is.”
    “It’s very nice, Darla,” said Jon.
    “The girls love it,” said Darla. “They’ve been swimming every day since we got here.”
    “Is the beach always this quiet?” asked Kevin, glancing around at the serene landscape.
    “It’s been that way so far.”
    “Amazing. Where I grew up the beaches were always full of people.”
    “Try growing up on an asteroid,” said Breeah. “See how much swimming you get to do there.”
    “I can’t even imagine,” said Kevin.
    Breeah looked over at her daughter, splashing water and laughing. “At least Anki won’t have to do that anymore.”
    Jon thought about Sallas’s offer again. He cared for Anki and wanted the best for her. Breeah had a tough childhood. It was true that she had been raised on an asteroid colony, just like the rest of the Reivers. Now they lived on a warship. But Anki could have a good childhood on this planet. They could all have good lives here. He looked over at Seiben, who laughed at one of his own jokes again. He looked genuinely happy. Could I ever be that happy? thought Jon. He wasn’t sure, but he wanted to try.
    Yet this planet was about to fight for its very survival, and if it failed, all this would disappear. He suddenly knew he had to accept Sallas’s offer. New Byzantium had to be saved.
    “I assume you never got to eat any fish on that asteroid of yours,” said Seiben, handing Breeah a plate of grilled salmon and vegetables.
    “No,” said Breeah. “We ate the vegetables that we grew ourselves. The rest of the food was engineered with nutrients in mind, similar to what you would find on a spaceship.”
    “Well try the salmon. Let me know what you think.”
    Breeah broke off a forkful of pink meat from her fillet and tentatively bit into it. She chewed and swallowed it with a perplexed look on her face.
    “Well?” said Seiben. “What do you think?”
    “It tastes…”
    “Fishy?” said Kevin.
    “Yes,” said Breeah, to a chorus of laughter. “It tastes fishy.”
    Seiben shook his head. “You mean you don’t like it?”
    “No, it’s very good. I have just never tasted anything like it before.”
    “Don’t worry about hurting this crusty old freighter captain’s feelings, Breeah,” said Jon, with a grin. “Tell him the truth.”
    “Tell me the truth?” Seiben scowled. “You want to know the truth? You’re not getting any. Enjoy your spaceship paste.”
    “Come on, old man,” said Kevin. “Stop being so grouchy.”
    “You’re not getting any either,” said Seiben, pointing his tongs at Kevin. “And stop calling me old man!”

Chapter 9
     
    The holograph of Colonel Bast’s brain provided Doctor Ellerbeck with a real time three dimensional display of her progress, as she maneuvered the microscopic chip deeper within the cerebral cortex. Tiny medical bots, invisible to the naked eye, did the work, but the Doctor still had to guide the process and ensure the chip was embedded in exactly the same position as before. She simply had no way of knowing what would happen if the chip was incorrectly placed. Even as the foremost human expert on alien medicine, much of the Juttari technology was still a mystery to her. Removing a Juttari brain chip from a living human brain alone was unparalleled. Sadly, she knew more about what happened when the chips were in place, than when they were removed. Still, if her findings could be studied, a solution might be found and the Chaanisar could be freed from their bondage.
    For now, she needed to focus on the task at hand. Once in place and activated, the