20 In 5 -- Vol. I -- Weight of Darkness

What would you have done?

When the ship shuddered, Ralston knew it was something bad. Cavalier-sized hypercruisers didn’t shake like a dog after a bath for nothing. Maybe the Aramis was a bit long in the tooth, but it wasn’t that far gone.


The second shudder came with a large flash from the starboard side, the opposite one from Ralston’s position near the port nacelle. Keying his mike, Ralston tried to get an update, but there was such a frantic squawk of jumbled voices it was a wonder anyone could make out anything.


Noting that his adjuster jets were near Empty, Ralston chose to hand-walk up the nacelle’s flanges to reach the upper intake scoop. The Aramis was still showing signs of battle damage, but the vital nacelles were near-perfect and Ralston was going to make sure they stayed that way.


The next second, the Aramis lurched sideways, the impact of the starboard side explosion—for it couldn’t be anything else—thundering through the hull and into Ralston’s body. He flailed wildly as his handhold on the nacelle’s piping ladder gave way to utter nothingness. Spinning slowly, with every turn he could see the Aramis farther and farther away, backlit against the incredible darkness by flashes of electrical explosions and venting plasma.

The rest of this story is continued in...

December 2011 Edition of "20 in 5"

To finish "Weight of Darkness" and 19 other great stories, please buy the inaugural ebook edition of "20 in 5."