First Chapter—Mack ‘n’ Me: Arach

Since I’ll be releasing the fourth book in the Mack ‘n’ Me ‘n’ Odyssey series on Friday, US time, I figured I’d continue with the first chapter reads of the series so far. This week, it’s the first chapter of Mack ‘n’ Me: Arach, the third book in the series.

You can find the first chapter of the first book, Mack ‘n’ Me: Origins, HERE; the first 500 words of The Depredides Dance, the short story that takes place between these volumes, HERE; and the first chapter of the second book, Mack 'n' Me: Blaedergil's Host, HERE.

What’s it About?

Nothing ruins a good cup of kaff than a spider teleporting on board… and these were in the six-foot-business-suite-and-tie range, carrying blasters and a sense of entitlement like you wouldn’t believe. They gave me a job to do, and held my ship hostage while I went to do it—and *that’s* when everything went all to Hell. Exactly how I’m gonna get us out of this one, is a mystery to me. First step, though, is to bust Mack and the ship right out of their eight-legged claws. Piece of cake. Right?

Mack ‘n’ Me: Arach is the third science-fiction novel set in the Odyssey universe. Cutter is running with Mack and his merry band of space-faring freelancers, and, outside the occasional contract, Odyssey are leaving them well alone.

NOTE: The main character swears like a sailor, and the support cast aren’t much better. If swears bother you, then this story may not be to your taste.

Here You Go:

Mack ‘n’ Me: Arach

Chapter 1—Boarding Party

The arach materialised in the ship’s canteen. I had turned away from the counter with a cup of tea in my hand, and the air in front of me shuddered.

Funny one, Mack, I thought, but I backed up a step, just the same. No way was I going to let him spoil my first cup of the morning. And then the air grew solid, and I saw a face I knew. One that still came to me in nightmares.

I dropped the tea… kinda. Actually, I tossed the tea, cup and all, at the creature standing before me. Oh, he might look like a man, but he wasn’t. He was arach—and spiders still scared the crap out of me. I tossed the tea, and I was back over the canteen counter and reversing towards the stove top when Mack arrived.

His hand, on my arm, yanked me sideways, saving my ass, quite literally, from a nasty burn. And then he pulled me up against his front, and wrapped one arm around me, while the other pulled an A-Level blaster and levelled it across the canteen counter.

“I told you not to come back,” he said, and the arach smiled.

I glimpsed fangs. Reversed away from it. And didn’t move an inch. Mack was a solid wall behind me, his arm a bar of iron over my chest. More air shimmered, and the few crew who were in the canteen were gone before the rest of the arach team arrived.

A whimper clawed its way out of my throat, and I froze. Tremors shook me, but I couldn’t move. The arach regarded Mack’s blaster, regarded Mack, and regarded me, and that damn smile didn’t shift. We were in it, but deep.

“We have more work for you,” it said.

“And I told you, no more,” Mack retorted.

He had? Somewhere in my mind that registered as something he’d done for me. It was almost sweet.

“You also said you don’t say no when you can’t outrun us,” the arach replied, and Mack swore.

Yeah, pretty much what he said. We’d been bugged and we hadn’t even known it. Tenser had some explaining to do.

And then the arach looked at me. Most frightening thing I’d seen in a long line of things that scare. The tea had hit it mid-chest, staining its suit, and shirt and tie. I mentioned this thing looked like a man, right? Yeah?

Well, it was wearing a suit. All business, these arach—when they weren’t slaughtering each other’s clans, or taking over planets under the guise of being traders. This one looked at me, glanced down at its suit, and looked me right in the eye. I went weak at the knees, and so not in a good way.

“You owe me blood,” it said, and my knees gave way.

Not that this monster was going to know it. Mack’s arm tightened, kept me from sliding to the floor. I grabbed hold of my vision, stopped it wavering. Stopped the blur that meant I was about to go to black. Couldn’t stop the shakes. Still. Couldn’t. Move. Mack lowered his blaster.

That was a good thing. A-Levels were not ship-safe weapons, and I didn’t want to try breathing vacuum. Although, given what we were sharing our air with, that was starting to look mighty tempting. Mack’s voice in my head carried through to the crew.

We all had implants, and the internal net cut down on chatter.

‘All hands to lock down. We have been boarded.’

Across the counter, the arach smirked. Behind him, his team drew their weapons. Three covered the door; four covered us. It was like they knew we were talking—and what the response would be…

‘No, can do, captain. They have the bridge.’

Fear became a solid ball in my chest, and I wanted to be sick. Mack’s arm kept me by his side.

‘We’ve hacked your net, too,’ the arach said, inside our heads—all our heads—and I felt Mack tense.

He had good reason, too. If the arach had hacked our net, and held our ship—and they’d definitely hacked our security if they’d been able to teleport aboard—they really did have us. Tenser sure as shit had some explaining to do—and then a ton of work to find out how they’d managed it, and make sure they couldn’t manage it again.

And me. Cos I sure as shit had a bullet in this shooting match, and then Tens was goin’ to want another round on the mats. I wondered if he’d let me live, this time.

If we lived, at all.

Mack started to holster his blaster, but the arach raised their weapons, and I saw their safeties flicked off. The arach leader gestured to the counter. Still as tense as hell, Mack carefully put the A-Level on the counter-top. And I found I’d stopped shaking.

Funny thing about terror. You can only be terrified for so long. After that, it settles down to a manageable level. Mack knew this, and knew I’d been put through part of an arach desensitisation program on the last mission. He was probably hoping it would be enough.

Enough for what, I sure as shit didn’t know, but I found I could stand on my own again. Discovered, too, that I preferred to stay just where I was. Mack was warm. He was shelter. And I wanted his arm around me, dammit!

The arach leader watched us, and, if I hadn’t known better, I woulda thought he was reading my mind. Now, there was a thought that didn’t bear considering, but it got me thinking about implants, and what could be accessed through them, and it turned out I did know better.

Oh, Hell no.

I looked at the arach, really looked at him, met his eyes. And I saw he knew exactly what had been on my mind. That smirk widened into a smile and a wink, and then all humour left his face.

“You know where the meeting room is,” he said, and turned away.

Mack and I watched him walk back through his team, and out the canteen door. We watched as the first three members of his team preceded him into the corridor, and two followed. The last two kept their weapons on us, and then gestured we should follow.

‘Don’t keep me waiting,’ echoed in our heads.

I studied the communications, and saw it was set for us alone.

“You mobile?” Mack asked, and I nodded. “Can you talk?”

I tried.

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

He unwound his arm from my chest, but kept it draped across my shoulders. Either he didn’t want me leaving all of a sudden, or he’d caught that thought about me wanting his arm around me. I was betting on the former. I’d wanted his arms around me before, and he hadn’t obliged.

 

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Would you like to read more?

Mack'n' Me: Arach is available direct from Amazon, Smashwords, DriveThruFiction, Google Play and Kobo, and via Smashwords and Draft2Digital distribution. More links can be found at Books2Read.