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The Great Ship is a starship without equal. Ancient and vast, the Ship travels the galaxy, human captains watching over multitudes of intelligent species and brilliant machines. But a grave danger is coming. The Master Captain must come alone to a certain empty room if she wants to hear the full warning. Obviously, this must be a trap. That's why a human soldier named Voussoir is enlisted in everything that follows.
"Voussoir was still a genderless child when they saw their first corpse. The victim -- a Jick'ick'mee male -- died inside an alcove where the young human often built toy forts and starships. Voussoir discovered the corpse but didn't understand what they had found. They were that young, that ridiculously innocent. Because the fellow was lying on his back, breathing slowly, he had to be asleep or enjoying a drugged state. The neighbor most certainly looked the same as he did yesterday. Jick'ick'mee were beautiful creatures, orange fur tipped with snow, long faces and long eyes and voices that sang best in their own language, which they preferred over the Ship's standard tongue.
"Voussoir often played alone, but this day delivered a companion who didn't care what the human child did or said, and that was a blessing. Through the morning, Voussoir pretended they were the captain of a streakship and the alien was their crew. Orders were given. Intricate scenarios were built on top of one another. Not one but several attacks were made agains the streakship, but Voussoir and their loyal underling fended off a sequence of fierce, poorly defined enemies.
Robert Reed is the author of several hundred works of science fiction, both short and long form. Reed won a Hugo in 2007 for his novella "A Billion Eves." But he is best known for his Great Ship stories.
Genre: Science Fiction
"Voussoir was still a genderless child when they saw their first corpse. The victim -- a Jick'ick'mee male -- died inside an alcove where the young human often built toy forts and starships. Voussoir discovered the corpse but didn't understand what they had found. They were that young, that ridiculously innocent. Because the fellow was lying on his back, breathing slowly, he had to be asleep or enjoying a drugged state. The neighbor most certainly looked the same as he did yesterday. Jick'ick'mee were beautiful creatures, orange fur tipped with snow, long faces and long eyes and voices that sang best in their own language, which they preferred over the Ship's standard tongue.
"Voussoir often played alone, but this day delivered a companion who didn't care what the human child did or said, and that was a blessing. Through the morning, Voussoir pretended they were the captain of a streakship and the alien was their crew. Orders were given. Intricate scenarios were built on top of one another. Not one but several attacks were made agains the streakship, but Voussoir and their loyal underling fended off a sequence of fierce, poorly defined enemies.
Robert Reed is the author of several hundred works of science fiction, both short and long form. Reed won a Hugo in 2007 for his novella "A Billion Eves." But he is best known for his Great Ship stories.
Genre: Science Fiction
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