Read Online Space Corps - Explorer (Book 1) by K. W. Matthews - Free Book Online Page A

long.
    On the way to the mess hall, she passed the barracks. Looking in, almost a third of the bags contained a sleeping crewmember. Ashley didn’t want to disturb anyone, but noticed one young man had his bag only half sealed. He lay awake with a picture in his hands. His eyes glossed over from staring at it for so long.
    “Who is that?” Ashley asked, pointing to the picture.
    Startled, the young man said, “My wife, sir.”
    “May I?”
    The crewman placed the picture in Ashley’s extended hand.
    “She’s pretty.”
    “She’s the most gorgeous woman I know,” said the crewman. “She was pregnant before I left. I got a message earlier today. Apparently I’m a father.”
    Smiling, Ashley said, “Congratulations.”
    “Thanks. I just wish I could have been there.”
    Ashley wrung her hands together. She didn’t know what to say.
    “It’s alright, I suppose,” the crewman said, “but I’ll always regret it.”
    “That’s the life of a soldier. We go where we’re told, when we’re told to go. We have a duty, and sometimes it gets in the way of our lives,” Ashley said. “It’s sad, but it has to be done. In the end, a soldier’s life is about sacrifice. Can I ask you something?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Isn’t it worth it?”

Chapter 11
    First Contact
     
    “Admiral, we’re here.”
    The words of Lieutenant Harris snapped Ashley out of a daze.
    “Sensor team, I need to know if the aliens have been here.”
    Working together, the sensor team on the command bridge of the Explorer worked quickly. The five-man team needed to digest a lot of information, but they knew all of it was crucial to their mission. After several minutes, one of the crewmen popped his head up from his console.
    “Admiral, the energy signature isn’t showing up here.”
    “Are you saying they never came this way, or that they haven’t arrived yet?”
    “We don’t know. We’re working to figure that out.”
    Members of the sensor team worked with a purpose and fervor rarely required for their job. They wouldn’t disappoint their admiral or country in a time of need.
    Another crewman stood. “Admiral, it looks like the alien vessel did maintain its projected path, but hasn’t gotten to this point yet.”
    “And what makes you say that?”
    The crewman pushed her console readout to the secondary monitor at the front of the room. The image showed the location of the Explorer, the projected path of the alien vessel, and the energy signature they followed to find the aliens.
    “Sir, if you look closely, you’ll see that the energy signature is very close to where we currently are, but hasn’t reached this location yet. However, it’s still steadily growing toward us.”
    Ashley’s jaw dropped. “Are you telling me we can—?”
    “See them? Yes, sir. We’re trying to focus our cameras on them now.”
    On the primary monitor, the computer projected an empty image of space. Every few seconds, the image flickered slightly as the camera tried to focus on something. With great effort, a dark grey outline seemed to form out of nowhere in the middle of the screen.
    “Admiral, I present you with your aliens.”
    For a moment, Ashley stood perfectly still. Unremarkable, the alien ship showed a round base at the front, but came to a bit of a point at the top. A disturbing color, it looked as though the aliens designed it to blend in with the background of the dark emptiness around it. If it didn’t block out a number of stars, they would not have noticed it at all.
    “This is the admiral to security. Please come in.”
    “Go ahead, Admiral.”
    “I need you to bring Commander Hong of the Fu Zing to the bridge, please. I have something I need him to see.”
    “Yes, sir. We’ll have him there shortly.”
    A few moments later, Hong was on the bridge with two security officers and a translator. He stuck out his arm as if to offer a handshake to Ashley, but after looking at the security officers, he withdrew it before she