StarHawk by Mack Maloney Read Free Book Online Page B

was beneath the skin. Can the embers of a dying star actually touch the soul? Can they penetrate and open any memories stored there?
    Through the scarlet cloud, turning this way and that. The sky, spectacular. Throttles forward. Yes, everything is a blur. But life is not just about being good, it’s about being better . Right on time, the face appears on the clouds ahead. The red giant glows brighter. The clouds swirl. He sees her smile. He hears her laugh.
    You must see this .
    Then…
    Suddenly Hunter was awake.
    The ship’s Klaxons began blaring so loudly, he almost fell from his bunk. What was going on? They were twice as urgent as the day before. Was the ship about to fight another battle? So soon?
    Now the lights inside his cell started flashing wildly. The thunder of boots running through the ship could be heard once again. Hunter was off his bunk and by the cell door in a flash. It did not dematerialize before his eyes this time. Rather it slid open cleanly. A security officer was standing on the other side.
    Behind him, soldiers were rushing up and down the long corridor. Some were dressed in battle gear, some not.
    “What’s happening?” Hunter yelled to the security man.
    “Wake up, man!” the officer yelled back. “The ship is under attack! All prisoners are to report to the evacuation bay!”
    Under attack ?
    “By who?” Hunter yelled at the security man, but the man was already gone, lost in the stream of troops.
    Hunter tried to get his bearings. He wasn’t even sure what part of the ship he was in. The chaos of the passageway was only getting worse. Lights flashing, the Klaxons at earsplitting level. Soldiers pushing their way around each other, running in different directions.
    Where the hell was the evacuation bay?
    Hunter began moving with the stampede. He found his way to a balcony similar to the one from which he’d watched the attack on Vines 67. The vast war chamber lay in front of him once again. But something was wrong here. Soldiers seemed to be stumbling this way and that, floating, colliding, falling.
    Gone was the choreography, gone were the fluidity and well-drilled movement. At best there was controlled pandemonium inside the war chamber. At worst, panic.
    Some of the troop transports were floating at the top of the chamber, but the soldiers in motion were ignoring them. Instead, the troops were igniting their rocket packs and hurling themselves directly through the huge protective membrane and into the wilds of outer space beyond.
    What was happening here ? Hunter didn’t have a clue at first. Were these men abandoning ship?
    Dozens of ship’s security men were rushing by him now, but none of them gave a second look. Hunter moved down the passageway to the nearest observation bubble. Beyond the glass was an even more fantastic sight!
    Far from jumping ship, the stream of troopers leaving the BonoVox were meeting a stream of other spacemen heading in the opposite direction. These unknowns were coming from a huge ship that had materialized off the BonoVox’s starboard side, not two hundred yards away. This vessel was black, very sinister in appearance. While it was less sleek, less impressive than the BonoVox , it was bristling with small weapons and was dispensing armed spacemen as fast as the Empire ship could spit out soldiers to stop them.
    Hundreds of soldiers began fighting within the small area between the ships. Some were shooting ray guns, others were engaged in vicious hand-to-hand combat. Space was suddenly filled with colors. The bright yellow of rocket packs. The deep red of ray gun blasts. Powerful beams from hundreds of weapons were streaking off in all directions. The sudden ferocity of the battle was simply mind-boggling.
    Those hit directly by a ray gun blast found themselves propelled at high speed off into deep space, a gaping hole in their spacesuits, and leaving only a trail of blood bubbles behind. Others were simply exploding whenever an enemy ray gun blast