World Engine
By Paul Haedo
Chapter Two — selected excerpt

Chapter Two

The Commodore and the Captain did not speak for the rest of the trip. It did not take long to arrive at their destination; after all, the Admiralty for the 89th reserve fleet, which was the fleet that Captain Nagy’s ship was assigned to, was within an hour or so of Captain Nagy’s apartment by public transportation. By air, the trip took less than ten minutes, and the journey from The Shiny Moon bar to the Admiralty building felt like a blink of time.

The aircraft descended and landed, and the two men stepped off. The pilot reclined the seat back and rested, wasting no time taking a break as the Commodore and the Captain left the landing pad and entered the building. Inside was a small room, with two sentry soldiers standing next to a metallic door. The Commodore walked up to the retina scanner, and Captain Nagy did the same. It cleared both men, and the doors opened.

© Paul Haedo. All rights reserved.
Author-supplied manuscript; opening selection beginning at paragraph 90. Paragraph numbering follows non-empty body paragraphs in the supplied file. Authorized short excerpt; full manuscript is not exposed.