Read Online Lone Star Renegades by Mark Wayne McGinnis - Free Book Online Page B

in close to Collin as they walked. “Is it me or does Cine speak better English than any of us do?”
    “Yeah, kinda weird … huh? Keep an eye on him. I’m guessing he’s a lot more dangerous than he acts,” Collin added.
    As they came around the far side of the space vessel, Collin had to cringe. As bad as the rest of the ship looked, this side looked downright terrible. It was dented, with several large scorch marks; Collin began having serious doubts the ship could ever get airborne.
    Midway back from the bow of the ship, Cine used a recessed handle to open a seven- or eight-foot-high hatch. Before he could move inside, Collin yelled, “Hold it right there.”
    Cine hesitated, looked inside the dark confines of the ship, then back at the three approaching teenagers. Collin was the first to reach the hatch, brush past Cine and walk inside. There, close to the hatch, was an assortment of things lying on the deck—a toolbox of some sort, coveralls, and a weapon. About the size of his MK5, Collin guessed this one was a whole lot more advanced.
    “An energy weapon?” Collin asked, picking up the gun and appraising its alien technology.
    Cine reached for the weapon. “That’s mine … I’ll need it.”
    Bubba placed the muzzle of his MK48 against Cine’s temple.
    “Sorry. We’ll keep it for now,” Collin said, passing it over to DiMaggio. “Why don’t you show us the ship?”
    “And I thought the outside was bad,” Bubba said. “What’s that smell?”
    Collin had to agree, the interior of the vessel was pretty horrific. Just as battered as the outside, there were also dark, rust-colored stains splashed onto the bulkheads and across much of the deck. He could only surmise it was dried blood.
    Seeing Collin’s expression, Cine said, “From what I’ve determined from the ship’s log, few here survived their last attack.”
    Collin took in the compartment, which spanned about forty feet in width, from one side of the ship to the other, and about a quarter that footage in length. “What is this area?”
    “It’s an airlock. You understand what that is?”
    “Yeah, I know what an airlock is.”
    Cine moved forward and, with a soft clang , the hatchway split apart into four segments, disappearing into the bulkhead. They entered a grimy, dimly lit corridor. “To the left are crew berths. All are identical.”
    As they moved forward, toward the bow, Collin noted several smaller corridors off to the left, each with numerous hatchways spaced every ten feet or so. He figured there were close to fifty individual quarters located here. Cine picked up his pace and soon they left the crew compartment and entered what looked like a galley, off to their right, and a wide-open mess area opposite it. There was a stairway off to right, just past the galley. Cine did a U-turn into the little stairwell and led the trio up to a second level.
    “Hold up, Cine.” Collin took in what must have been some of the ship’s operational stations. Chairs, more like metal stools, were positioned in front of consoles. “What is this area?”
    “I don’t know. Probably environmental or geological diagnostics were done here. This is … was … a survey ship … for mining, that sort of thing.” He continued on toward the bow. Again, he seemed to be in a hurry.
    “Hold up there, Cine.”
    Collin was practically jogging to keep up. “What the hell … slow down!”
    Cine didn’t slow down—in fact, he bolted straight ahead for the next hatch. Like the others, the hatch separated into four segments and opened as he approached. Now sprinting after him, Collin saw Cine dive into the compartment. Barely having time to sling his MK5, he dove in right after him. He landed hard on the deck and just missed catching a grip on Cine’s right foot.
    It occurred to Collin that the question he hadn’t asked Cine was if he was alone—if there were others on board the ship? Now he knew the answer to that question. Sprawled on the hard