Jack McFee, though a talented jump-pilot, was officially too young to join Group Force. That did not prevent his powerful family from getting him on as a test pilot with their company. A test pilot in name only — Jack was soon recruited for secret reconnaissance missions, finding himself immersed in a world of spies and assassins, and even a princess, ‘out there’ Among the Many Worlds.
an excerpt:
The passengers, who had no more than half-filled the seats, began to make their way out. Slowly. No one was in any great hurry to get anywhere. Some would remain here, some would ride on to the next world or that after. The two women who had been last to enter looked like they intended to be the last to leave.
That had also apparently been my escort’s intention. He was keeping us at a distance from the crowd exiting. As we drew even with the women, one stepped out, blocking our way. There was quite a lot of her to block us with. The other dawdled over her seat, as if looking for something she had misplaced.
Both wore bright, light colors, yellows and pinks. Loose tunic-like tops hung over their voluminous calf-length pants. They looked liked a pair of vacationers returning from the beach. I thought nothing of it and waited for them to move along.
Tarmo shouldered me aside and took the brunt of our opponent’s lunging attack. I ducked behind a seat. Darn, I was on the right side, just like he warned me against. My gun was in my hand at once. The moment the two in the aisle lurched past I could see the second woman and fired without hesitation. Down she went. Her eyes had been on the Thulean and her comrade, not me. That was her mistake.
The other woman still grappled with Tarmo. I considered shooting her too, for a brief second or two. Instead I threw myself into the back of her dimpled knees. Down she went. On top of me with Tarmo on top of her. Fortunately, a couple of security personnel showed up to lift them off.
The woman I shot sat up, groaning, about then. I’d hit her dead-center in the chest, I knew. “Wearing armor,” stated the captain. “Both. I could feel it when the other one bashed into me.” More security showed up and both women were marched off. One limped more than marched.
“You handled yourself pretty well,” he continued. “Once you realized what was going on. And once again I wonder why anyone wants to kill a boy like you.”
And once again I wondered that myself.
