Carson Mach 1: The Atlantis Ship (33 page)

Morgan lowered his head and his voice. “It was a group of horan spies working out of Fides Gamma. I was using them to filter misinformation to the Axis Combine. You had killed one of their number in some minor skirmish a few years after I had made contact with them.”

Mach laughed and shook his head. “Those horans, eh? Tetchy about that kind of thing, aren’t they?”

“So that’s that,” Morgan said. “You know the truth, about me, about Adira… take the position, Mach. You’re getting too old to go chasing around the stars like some young rebel. It’s time to grow up, do something bigger.”

“Like have the president and vice president assassinated because I can’t get my own way?”

Morgan turned away, hiding the pain of the truth that showed so clearly on his aged face. To Mach, it seemed he had aged far beyond his years. But then, shame and guilt would do that to a man.
 

“That answer will always be no,” Mach said.

“We’ve wiped your criminal record, and those of your crew. You can start afresh,” Morgan said, but the enthusiasm had left his voice. He knew he couldn’t get his own way this time.
 

“It’s not enough,
President Morgan
.”

His old friend took in a deep breath, his shoulders rising before falling again with the resigned exhale. “If that’s the way you want it, then I won’t stand in your way. I’ll have your ship fixed and you’ll be free to go about your business.”

“Wait, how are the others?”

“All fine, recuperating down the hall. Kingsley is working on a new design for his Squid AI. Tulula… well, she’s taken a position within my new tartarun task force and will help liaise with the horan hierarchy now that they’ve back off from the NCZ.”

“She’s a clever one,” Mach said. “Don’t ruin her.”

“I won’t.”

Morgan faced Mach and held out his hand. Mach shook it out of an old respect but said nothing more. There was little else he wanted or needed to say. Morgan held his gaze for a moment before nodding and letting go of his hand. He stepped around the bed and approached the door. He stopped for a brief moment, but when Mach said nothing, he opened it and left, closing it behind him with a soft click.
 

Mach fell back into his bed and stared up at the ceiling, trying to absorb everything they had said and admitted to. He had to give the old man credit; he had worked the system well. He’d never imagined Morgan would have been the type to work horan spies or organize his way to the very top.
 

But he guessed all those years in a seemingly ceremonial position took its toll. He supposed at some point Morgan snapped and realized he was just dying slowly in an office that no one cared about or respected.
 

Everyone comes to that turning point in their lives at some point, he thought, considering his turning point so many years ago now. The day he decided to leave the CW and be a freelancer—the most freeing day he had ever experienced.
 

And he wasn’t going to let the promise of some title take that away from him.

Carson Mach was no one’s marshal.
 

Carson Mach was his own man, with his own crew.
 

Lying there, he eventually drifted off, the painkillers and various stims within his system dragging him off to a dreamless void. He had survived the Atlantis ship; he had survived Adira.
 

The only thing he had to decide now was… what next?

Thank you for reading The Atlantis Ship
.
 

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A.C. Hadfield always wanted to be an astronaut as he grew up reading science fiction novels and dreaming of the stars. He ended up as an engineer but developed a passion for the world of writing. He hopes you get the same enjoyment out of the books as he does writing them.

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