felt the bottom jaw break. The creature let out a blood-curding scream and fell to his knees, his bottom jaw dangled limply straight down from his head. The crowd was stunned into silence.
Then Riyad ceremoniously moved behind the pirate leader, took a moment to survey the crowd, then crashed his right fist all the way down into the lizard’s skull.
That should get their attention, he thought as he looked out at his pirates.
He was now the Pirate General!
As Riyad paced his quarters, recalling his ascension to the leadership of the Fringe pirates, he nodded his head. Yes, the aliens had been wise to assassinate the humans. After all, they couldn’t have dozens of humans wandering the galaxy, causing all kinds of havoc, now could they
Chapter Nine: Nimor
Over the twenty-hour transit to Nimor, Adam and the two aliens had very little contact. Jym had dropped off some bland tasting food - yes, it tasted like chicken - and then left without saying anything.
Adam actually got some rest and even found a shower in the ship’s only restroom. He dressed in the blue tunic and waited in his room for the next hammer to drop. He didn’t know what it would be, but he was about to make landfall on an alien world. Kaylor and Jym would then turn him over to other group of aliens - and from there, who knew Even though he’d only been aboard their ship for a few hours, he did feel a strange familiarity with them and his surroundings. What an alien world held for him would be just one more shock to his system.
Kaylor allowed Adam to join them in the pilothouse as he released the alien spaceship into an orbit above Nimor. Another alien — short, hairy and husky — came aboard with an entourage and Kaylor led them through a quick inspection of his ship. Apparently satisfied, the burly alien had Kaylor sign some paperwork and then he left, indicating that his crew was now going aboard the big circular ship to start the inventory. It would be transmitted to the Ministry in about three hours.
Kaylor had opened the exterior shield to the pilothouse viewport and Adam gazed out at a vast and brilliant alien world. It looked very similar to Earth, with shimmering blue seas and ruddy brown land masses, all with patchy white clouds casting dark shadows on the surface below. This world didn’t appear to have as much landmass as Earth, just a modest-sized blob to the north and a large island to the south. He didn’t know if there was more land on the other side, because they didn’t seem to be moving around the planet while in orbit -they called it geo-synchronous, he believed.
Jym asked Adam to strap himself into a seat next to him and Kaylor began the decent to the planet’s surface.
Adam was struck by the fact that he felt no sensation of falling, or any movement at all as a matter of fact. He simply watched as the features on the ground grew larger until he could make out the cris-crossed pattern of a city. As they got closer, the ship slid over toward a large open area dotted with various craft of different shapes and sizes. As they descended, Adam was amazed at how large the area was and how massive some of the ships were.
And then they were down.
“Prepare yourself, I’m dissolving the well.” Kaylor announced to the room. Instantly, Adam felt light headed and he could feel the weight of his body melting away.
Jym noticed Adam’s reaction. “This planet is about .75 of standard. I’m guessing that would make it a little more than half the gravity of your world. You should get along fine here.”
“We’ll see,” was all he could muster.
The three of them left the pilothouse and Kaylor told Adam that Jym would stay on the ship while the two of them went into the Nimorian city of Gildemont to the Ministry Compound and register the salvage. Adam was surprised to see Kaylor was wearing his weapon around his waist.
“So what’s this place like he asked.
“It’s not the roughest place in the Fringe, but it’s close.
Then Riyad ceremoniously moved behind the pirate leader, took a moment to survey the crowd, then crashed his right fist all the way down into the lizard’s skull.
That should get their attention, he thought as he looked out at his pirates.
He was now the Pirate General!
As Riyad paced his quarters, recalling his ascension to the leadership of the Fringe pirates, he nodded his head. Yes, the aliens had been wise to assassinate the humans. After all, they couldn’t have dozens of humans wandering the galaxy, causing all kinds of havoc, now could they
Chapter Nine: Nimor
Over the twenty-hour transit to Nimor, Adam and the two aliens had very little contact. Jym had dropped off some bland tasting food - yes, it tasted like chicken - and then left without saying anything.
Adam actually got some rest and even found a shower in the ship’s only restroom. He dressed in the blue tunic and waited in his room for the next hammer to drop. He didn’t know what it would be, but he was about to make landfall on an alien world. Kaylor and Jym would then turn him over to other group of aliens - and from there, who knew Even though he’d only been aboard their ship for a few hours, he did feel a strange familiarity with them and his surroundings. What an alien world held for him would be just one more shock to his system.
Kaylor allowed Adam to join them in the pilothouse as he released the alien spaceship into an orbit above Nimor. Another alien — short, hairy and husky — came aboard with an entourage and Kaylor led them through a quick inspection of his ship. Apparently satisfied, the burly alien had Kaylor sign some paperwork and then he left, indicating that his crew was now going aboard the big circular ship to start the inventory. It would be transmitted to the Ministry in about three hours.
Kaylor had opened the exterior shield to the pilothouse viewport and Adam gazed out at a vast and brilliant alien world. It looked very similar to Earth, with shimmering blue seas and ruddy brown land masses, all with patchy white clouds casting dark shadows on the surface below. This world didn’t appear to have as much landmass as Earth, just a modest-sized blob to the north and a large island to the south. He didn’t know if there was more land on the other side, because they didn’t seem to be moving around the planet while in orbit -they called it geo-synchronous, he believed.
Jym asked Adam to strap himself into a seat next to him and Kaylor began the decent to the planet’s surface.
Adam was struck by the fact that he felt no sensation of falling, or any movement at all as a matter of fact. He simply watched as the features on the ground grew larger until he could make out the cris-crossed pattern of a city. As they got closer, the ship slid over toward a large open area dotted with various craft of different shapes and sizes. As they descended, Adam was amazed at how large the area was and how massive some of the ships were.
And then they were down.
“Prepare yourself, I’m dissolving the well.” Kaylor announced to the room. Instantly, Adam felt light headed and he could feel the weight of his body melting away.
Jym noticed Adam’s reaction. “This planet is about .75 of standard. I’m guessing that would make it a little more than half the gravity of your world. You should get along fine here.”
“We’ll see,” was all he could muster.
The three of them left the pilothouse and Kaylor told Adam that Jym would stay on the ship while the two of them went into the Nimorian city of Gildemont to the Ministry Compound and register the salvage. Adam was surprised to see Kaylor was wearing his weapon around his waist.
“So what’s this place like he asked.
“It’s not the roughest place in the Fringe, but it’s close.
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