USS Lincoln: Mercy Kill

USS Lincoln Mercy Kill USS HAMILTON SERIES Book 7 Mark Wayne McGinnis Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Epilogue About Mark Wayne McGinnis Acknowledgments Other Books by MWM Chapter 1 Alternate Universe… USS Adams Captain Galvin Quintos I stood at the captain’s ready room window, looking out to an inky blackness that was both alien and hostile. It wasn’t my imagination; this place, this universe, if we let it, … would soon bring an end to the lot of us. The longer we stayed here, the more inevitable that would become. God, I want to go home. It had been three days since we’d destroyed the Ziu. Thousands upon thousands of those multiheaded, snapping-jawed little fuckers. More accurately, we destroyed their mind-controlling Ziu queen—an immense creature held up within the center-most confines of that alien mother ship. Battle weary and desperate, there was no doubt about it—we had been losing the battle—I was certain we would all die here within this horrible alternate universe. It had come down to one last-ditch Hail Mary shot in the dark. We’d been keeping them held within a containment field—seven of the vilest creatures in existence. I’d vowed to never ever let them out. I’d seen what they could do … witnessed firsthand via a security feed as they methodically devoured US Space-Navy personnel. Sloth forms. Virtually indestructible, each the size of a full-grown rhinoceros, they slithered more than walked on six stumpy legs. Slimy, covered with a kind of mucus, their heads were faceless, with a protruding nozzle appendage thing that could suction up a full-grown man within seconds. So, I’d broken my own resolute promise and, with Coogan’s help, quansported the seven sloth forms over to the Ziu mother ship. Even now, they continued to dine on the queen’s immense bulk. But I wondered. How many more Ziu mother ships were out there? We would not survive another attack like the last one. Plus, there were only so many sloth forms to go around. Off in the distance I could just make out the Ziu mother ship’s smooth, spherical hull. What to do with it now … Out of view was Boundless Wrath, the once Varapin prisoner ship, which was somewhat still intact and being crewed by the few surviving Symbio-Poth 2.0s … But there was another latecomer starship here within local space. I had no idea who it was being crewed by, or what they wanted. My Jadoo comms/quansporter ring started to vibrate. Reluctantly, I thumb-tapped the thing, bringing up the 3D projection of Hardy’s oversized head. I let out an irritated breath. “Hardy, what is it about I don’t want to be disturbed that you didn’t understand?” “Wait …You were serious about that?” “Just tell me what you want,” I said. “Sonya … she’s—” “Wait! Is she okay? Is she out of surgery? For shit’s sake, why didn’t Viv tell me?” “Yes, yes, and I don’t know … Cap, you have to know … Doc Viv is overwhelmed with more injured patients than she and her staff can handle. I offered to help; you know I do have medical train—” I cut him off. “Uh-huh, I’m on my way. Stay there.” I accessed my Jadoo ring’s projected options menu, intending to directly quansport to the corridor outside of HealthBay. Thinking better of it, I decided I’d walk … it was getting way too easy to avoid walking. I needed to be seen by the crew. I needed to be accessible. Adjacent to the captain’s ready room was the bridge. Upon entering, heads turned in my direction. Chen was at the comm station, Grimes at Helm, Bosun Johanna Polk at the bridge CIC console, and Lieutenant Akari James was at Tactical. She stood. “I need to talk to you.” “I’m on my way to—” She raised a palm, shaking her head. “I’ll walk with you.” I noticed one of her gold piercings, this one above her left eyebrow. She’d been nervously playing with it. The skin there was still pink, looking slightly inflamed. Nerves getting to her, like the rest of us. Adding to the tat artwork down both arms, and her short and always disheveled hair, the look worked for her. Akari seemed to go out of her way to look and act irreverent—silently screaming to be both noticed and unconventional. An ace Arrow pilot in her own right, she’d settled into her post at Tactical just fine. The truth was, at least as of late, she was my most trusted bridge officer. Leaving the bridge, she hurried to keep up with me. “We’re low on … well, just about everything. Mainly spikes.” I nodded, knowing she was referring to Adams’ rail gun ammunition, rail spikes. “Add to that, our stock of smart missiles is getting dangerously low, and three of our plasma cannons are down; their barrels literally melted from prolonged overuse during that last battle.” I nodded but didn’t comment. “Well?” she said. “If we’re attacked again …” “You’re the tactical officer, Akari … I can’t do your job for you. What do you suggest, Lieutenant?” She shrugged. “It’s not as if we can jump to the closest star base, get resupplied with munitions, or have a maintenance team re-outfit our ship guns.” I looked about, then glanced up, taking in Adams’ beautifully appointed interior. Years earlier, the USS