Mystically Engineered Read online

  “Now, Chief!” Coraolis managed to say. The boat bounced as if floating free in an asteroid field.

  “Thrusters!” the chief ordered.

  “At your command,” helm replied.

  “Toros-1 and -4 are on course. No other creatures on screen,” systems reported.

  “Ready!” someone called from within engineering.

  “Hold the dragon steady,” the chief shouted. “Two more seconds.”

  Coraolis was losing. The real-world dragon was orders of magnitude more powerful. The M1C struggled to pull his dragon back, draw the other further into the plane. He was losing strength, both astral and physical.

  The boat bounced off the dragon’s back leg as the chief worked toward the metal underbelly. The clang of contact told him that he was there.

  The chief mashed his finger against the button at the instant of the second clang.

  In a violent spasm, the dragon kicked the boat away. In the astral plane, the dragon’s scales disappeared. The creature shrank in size.

  Mike lunged forward, slamming against his restraints as he mirrored his dragon’s movement. With one great bite, his dragon took the head from the defender, spitting it into the mist. The window between the dimensions snapped shut.

  “Holy crap!” the captain called. “Get us out of here.”

  Without delay, the ship skewed sideways as it reoriented away from the moon. It accelerated at three gees.

  “One gee, please,” the captain ordered after a twenty second burn. His eyes remained fixed on the headless dragon floating above the fourth moon.

  “Tell me that you two knuckleheads got our data,” the captain said into his ship-to-ship system.

  “Someone has to clean up your mess. Yeah, we both got it. Initial indications look like an advanced civilization used to be down there, but it is long dead. It’s an archaeological site, now, but there were some exotic metals within a breathable atmosphere. I can see why they built there. We’ll let the head shed figure out who takes priority and what happens next. On our way back to the Toros mothership.”

  ***

  Fleeston freed her hands from Coraolis’s grip. He slowly opened his eyes.

  She took the bottle first and drank deeply before handing it to him. He drained the rest and refilled it before handing it back to the M3C.

  Coraolis flexed his fingers, smiling. “Well, that was interesting.”

  Fleeston flexed her neck, rotating her head back and forth to loosen her muscles. “I see so much more,” she said. She unbuckled and let the seat flip back up against the bulked. Fleeston pursed her lips as she added, “Thank you.”

  Coraolis freed himself from his seat and staggered into the corridor after his acolyte. He stopped beside her as she looked at the gear that needed to be returned to the commune chamber, turning it back into a storage locker.

  “Maybe later?” she asked. The M1C laughed softly.

  “Yes, later.” They turned to walk away when the engineering hatch opened and the chief popped out. He made a beeline for the mystics.

  Coraolis stood his ground, but Fleeston sighed and leaned back against the bulkhead. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

  “Dragon. You did your thing. I did my thing. Then, dragon with no head. I had nothing to do with that part. That dragon was real. Maybe my electrical surge blew its head off. Maybe you did something.” The chief’s mouth worked trying to find the right words.

  He gave up and offered his hand. “Chess at dinner?” the chief asked.

  “I look forward to it,” the M1C replied.

  “Thanks, Mike. You’re a good man.” The chief looked uncomfortable as he stood there for a couple more seconds before nodding toward the M3C and returning to engineering.

  Fleeston opened her eyes and looked at Coraolis.

  “But your name isn’t Mike.”

  “There are worse things to be called, Mack,” Coraolis conceded.

  The End

  * * *

  I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to read this story. If you would like to read anything else by me, stop by my website and take a look. My titles are available exclusively on Amazon.

  www.craigmartelle.com

  * * *

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  From the Author

  I wrote this story as a quick foray into space fantasy. What if there were dragons? In space? A question that Chris Fox posed. I had to answer and Chris was kind enough to include this story in his anthology (now unpublished), but at least I can make this story available here.

  I hope you liked it.

  I’m an international bestselling author. I write mostly science fiction. I live in the back of beyond, the Sub-Arctic in Alaska. We can watch the northern lights from our driveway during the six months of winter. The summers turn my property into a lush jungle where you can’t even see our house from the road. Just the way we like it. It gives me lots of time to write, so I’m prolific as others may say. I have over two million words published. I’m retired from the U.S. Marine Corps as well as retired from a second gig as a business consultant, but both of those careers took me away from home a great deal. I stay at home now, write full time, and I love my job. I don’t ever see doing anything else. I’m also passionate about giving back to the indie publishing community. There is a lot of great talent out there that only needs the right nudge in the right direction at the right time.

  Read More from Craig Martelle

  www.craigmartelle.com

  The Terry Henry Walton Chronicles, a Kurtherian Gambit Series, co-written with Michael Anderle

  World’s Worst Day Ever (a short prequel of sorts)

  Book 1 – Nomad Found (also available on audiobook)

  Book 2 – Nomad Redeemed (also available on audiobook)

  Book 3 - Nomad Unleashed (also available on audiobook)

  Book 4 - Nomad Supreme (also available on audiobook)

  Book 5 – Nomad’s Fury (also available on audiobook)

  Book 6 – Nomad’s Justice (also available on audiobook)

  Book 7 – Nomad Avenged (also available on audiobook)

  Book 8 – Nomad Mortis (also available on audiobook)

  Book 9 – Nomad’s Force (also available on audiobook)

  Book 10 – Nomad’s Galaxy (also available on audiobook)

  Nomad’s Journal – A collection of Terry Henry Walton Short Stories

  The Bad Company – with Michael Anderle

  Book 0 –Gateway to the Universe (with Justin Sloan)

  Book 1 – The Bad Company

  Book 2 – Blockade

  Book 3 – Price of Freedom (coming February 2018)

  Book 4 and beyond – TBD

  Free Trader Series

  Book 1 – The Free Trader of Warren Deep

  Book 2 – The Free Trader of Planet Vii

  Book 3 – Adventures on RV Traveler

  Book 4 – Battle for the Amazon

  Book 5 – Free the North!

  Book 6 – Free Trader on the High Seas

  Book 7 – Southern Discontent (2018)

  Book 8 – The Great ‘Cat Rebellion (2018)

  Book 9 – Return to the Traveler (2018)

  Outpost of the Ancients – a Free Trader short story published in the Apocalyptic Space Collection, Volume 1

  Cygnus Space Opera – set in the Free Trader Universe

  Book 1 – Cygnus Rising

  Book 2 – Cygnus Expanding

  Book 3 – Cygnus Arrives

  Cygnus Omnibus – Books 1 to 3, also as a single 30-hour audiobook

  Darklanding – a serial space western (Firefly meets Tombstone) co-written with Scott Moon

  Book 1 – Assignment: Darklanding

  Book 2 – Ike Shot the Sheriff

  Book 3 – Outlaws

  Book 4 – Runaway

  Book 5 – An Unglok Murder

  Books 6 – SAGCON

&nb
sp; Books 7 – Race to the Finish

  Book 8-12 – TBD

  End Times Alaska Series, a Winlock Press publication

  Book 1: Endure (also available on audiobook)

  Book 2: Run (also available on audiobook)

  Book 3: Return (also available on audiobook)

  Book 4: Fury (also available on audiobook)

  Rick Banik Thrillers

  People Raged and the Sky Was on Fire (also available on audiobook)

  The Heart Raged (coming)

  Paranoid in Paradise – a short story within the Close to Bones Anthology

  The Human Experiment – a novel, co-written with Kevin McLaughlin

  Short Stories (and where you can find them)

  Just One More Fight (published as a novella standalone)

  Wisdom’s Journey (published as a novella standalone)

  Fear Peace (published as a short story standalone)

  Paranoid in Paradise (a Rick Banik Thriller in the Close to the Bones Anthology)

  The Trenches of Centauri Prime (in Galactic Frontiers, edited by Charles Ekeke)

  The Outcast (Through the Never Anthology, nominated for consideration for a Nebula Award)

  Defense of the Deep Space Denali (in The Expanding Universe Vol 2)

  A Language Barrier (in The Expanding Universe Vol 3, also nominated for Nebula consideration)

  The Misadventures of Jacob Wild McKilljoy (with Michael-Scott Earle) (Always FREE)

  Mystically Engineered (in Tales from the Void, a Chris Fox Anthology)

  Box Sets & Anthologies

  Trader, Cygnus, & People Raged – Martelle Starter Library

  Close to the Bones, a Thriller Anthology (edited by Martha Carr)

  The Expanding Universe, Volume 1 (edited by Craig Martelle)

  The Expanding Universe, Volume 2 (edited by Craig Martelle)

  The Expanding Universe, Volume 3 (edited by Craig Martelle) (Dec 2017)

  Earth Prime Anthology, Volume 1 (Stephen Lee & James M. Ward)

  Apocalyptic Space Short Story Collection (Stephen Lee & James M. Ward)

  Lunar Resorts Anthology, Volume 2 (Stephen Lee & James M. Ward)

  Metamorphosis Alpha – Chronicles from the Warden Vol 1 (with James M. Ward, edited by Craig Martelle)

  Metamorphosis Alpha – Chronicles from the Warden Vol 2 (with James M. Ward, edited by Craig Martelle) (Dec 2017)

  On the next page, you’ll find the covers for most of my books and stories, just because those artists deserve the recognition for the great work that they’ve done. Let’s hear it for these incredibly talented artists.

  Tom Edwards

  Andrew Dobell

  James Baldwin

  Eric Quigley

  Jeff Brown

  Christian Bentulan

  Victoria Cooper

  Kevin McLaughlin