Now, the Dragon was skirting the fringes of Known Space; an area defined by a myriad of commercial space lanes that encompassed the three solar systems that now played host to migrants from the Sol System’s three inhabited worlds. The territory beyond this was off limits to commercial travelers, being reserved for the exclusive use of the system’s military.

It had therefore come as a considerable shock when Morcott was summoned to PTS headquarters and given sealed orders to proceed to Zen, the outermost settled world in the Antares Sector. There, a consignment of military supplies would be loaded aboard the ship under heavy guard. The destination of the shipment had been left unspecified, but it

MARK BARNARD

@KANSAS2015

MARK BARNARD has not written a story.