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    Gunship
    Gunship
    Gunship
    Ebook107 pages1 hour

    Gunship

    By John M. Davis

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    About this ebook

    In a distant galaxy, planets are on the brink of civil war. While the totalitarian Legion prepares its troops, Captain Adam Michaels sees opportunity in the field of smuggling. Now, along with the rest of the Gunship's crew, Adam will chase their biggest payday yet. Of course, they'll have to face vampires, orc, true love, and plenty of other perils along the way. Gunship is the perfect mix of whiskey, saloons, spaceships and alien races.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJohn M. Davis
    Release dateNov 3, 2011
    ISBN9781465958549
    Gunship
    Author

    John M. Davis

    Welcome to my world! I write full-time because I enjoy making things up. Seriously, this all began one day as I sat down with a notebook and started sketching out planets and technology that didn't exist. Usually that's when they put you in a special place with a bed, no windows and plenty of medicine. I'm just blessed enough to have readers out there who buy my ramblings and allow me to do this for a living. Currently, I live in the mountains of Virginia with my beautiful wife, two spoiled children, and two dogs who think they're human. I practice minimalism, but have no problem admitting that I'm a retro video gaming nerd. Atari 2600, anyone?

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      Book preview

      Gunship - John M. Davis

      Gunship

      Book One: The Flight

      Digital Edition

      Copyright 2017 Serenity Valley Publishing

      Written by: John M. Davis

      Edited by: Daniél Lecoq

      Digital Edition, License Notes

      This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to johndavisbooks.wordpress.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. Please note that this is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, places or events are purely coincidental.

      Find Other Gunship Adventures at:

      johndavisbooks.wordpress.com

      Table of Contents

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Continue the Adventure

      Chapter 1

      Of all of the planets in the Skyla System, Adam found himself here.

      A small cropping planet filled with the swine of society. Fleeing convicts, underground smugglers and the like. Sitting quietly for several moments, he thought long and hard about the decisions he'd made. Who else was there to blame? He'd had a decent upbringing. Adam had been given the same chances as the other kids around him. Most of those kids had grown up to become something honest. Doctors, executives, hell even a professional skiff ball player in one case.

      But Adam was a smuggler of illegal goods.

      Some folks tried to dress it up with fancy words that didn't quite fit, but at the end of the day he took things that were stolen and delivered them to the highest bidder. He was good at it, too. One of the best. But that didn't make it any easier to swallow. His father had always tried to steer him onto the right path. Have ambition, he used to say. Instead, Adam had found himself in and out of prisons up until the First Glimmerian War, at which time he'd been volunteered for service against the Legion.

      You sleeping over there?

      Adam's stare broke away from the window. As dry bushes rolled across the barren landscape outside, he turned back to the card game – glancing at each of the men for a moment. They were typically looking for men who danced to the ballad of illegality. Tossing in a small handful of credits, Adam remained silent.

      You've got balls, Adam. I'll give you that, one of the men said. Lucas, who was also considered one of the best. He and Adam ran the smuggling game on the furthest side of the Skyla System and everyone knew it. But I'm gonna raise your ass.

      Adam didn't care about the money. He should have. His Gunship model was barely worthy of flying and his crew hadn't been paid in weeks. But as he sat there, turning his attention back to the window once more, Adam could think of nothing but his father tucking him in at night as a young man.

      Don't spin your wheels, Adam. He'd always say. You figure out which road to take and then you drive it hard. Go somewhere.

      Yet here he was. Sitting in one of the most run down establishments of the quadrant. Paulie's Drinking Hole.

      Read 'em and weep, boys. Lucas grinned.

      Right away, the grizzly-bearded man put his arms in and began scraping all of the credits into his direction. Without a word, Adam stood up and left the table of shady characters who claimed to be his friend. Truth be told, they would have given him over to the authorities for a fistful of credits. Hell, maybe even for a free beer. Honor among thieves? Adam had been around long enough to know the saying was ridiculous. The only honor he knew was a fast gun hand and a trusty revolver by his side.

      Politics? Adam asked.

      Taking a seat beside one of his real friends, crewman Dalton James, Adam began looking at the wall mounted monitor. Finding humor in Dalton's gaze. It was half interest and half drunken stupor.

      Ah fuck, Dalton admitted. Ain't my doing. It's all that's on.

      No skiff ball?

      Nope, Dalton grinned with defeat. Nothing. Just a bunch of old bastards talking about the possibility of another civil war. I've had my share. But every so often they switch over to Monica.

      Monica?

      She's this newscaster chick, Dalton said. I don't the first clue what she rambles on about, but she wears some pretty hot clothes.

      Adam stared at his friend for several moments.

      And no I'm not drunk, before you ask, Dalton said with pride. Who could get drunk by drinking this watered down piss.

      The bartender glanced into his direction.

      Yea, I said it loud on purpose. And don't think I wouldn't say it to your face either, he bitched. "I'm a professional criminal and I'm telling you that calling this mule urine ale is a crime in itself."

      You know, they do have better drinks here. Adam said in a low voice.

      Yea, but I ain't paying seven credits a shot.

      Two shots of rock whiskey, Adam said. Holding up his hand for a moment. He could see the bartender's hesitation. Put a rush on it. My friend doesn't like to wait. And bring me a coffee while you're at it.

      Coffee? Dalton asked.

      Yea, Adam turned to the only window of the bar once more. I'm not in much of a mood to drink tonight.

      You pussy. Dalton said.

      Immediately, he downed a shot of rock whiskey. For the rest of the Skyla System, rock whiskey was a last resort. It was good for cleaning up oil spills or soaking flatware in, but to drink? Not so much. At Paulie's it was top shelf.

      Dalton followed the first shot with a second; chasing one bad swig of rock whiskey with the next.

      May want to slow down. Otherwise we'll be washing dishes to pay for it. Adam cautioned. Dalton had the tendency to drink like a millionaire, while wearing the look of a beggar.

      We need to do something, the ship ain't gonna fly itself. Man we need fuel and the crew wouldn't mind getting paid.

      I know, Adam agreed. But what do you want me to do? We flew all the way out here and Jones screwed us over. It's not like we could outgun him – Jones had at least twenty armed men with him.

      Then, all of the sudden a man slipped into Paulie's. He was making it a priority to enter without being seen. But it just so happened that Adam was terrific at reading people. Not that it reflected while playing cards for money.

      He's military, Adam said. But not Legion. I can tell because of the glasses. I can't think of a single Legion outpost where you'd need shades that dark. Dark green jacket, so I'd assume it's far from here and it's baggy, which means he's hiding something.

      All of this and you keep losing at cards?

      Unfortunately for me, the other captains know how to read people too, Adam said, standing to his feet and placing a hand on Dalton's shoulder for a moment. Old buddy, I'll be back in a few minutes.

      Don't be too long, Dalton grinned. This whiskey ain't cheap and this old dog right here is mighty thirsty.

      Dishes... We'll be washing dishes.

      Adam wasted no time making his way over to the mysterious man. His crew had needed another set of hands for quite a while and the man looked the

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