Operation Vermont

By Louis Shalako

There's more than one way to skin a cat, or take out a star cruiser in Louis Shalako's short story of the near future. Science fiction, action-adventure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Louis Shalako
• Release date: Sep 23, 2016
• ISBN: 9781988621005

Louis Shalako

Louis Shalako is the founder of Long Cool One Books and the author of twenty-two novels, numerous novellas and other short stories. Louis studied Radio, Television and Journalism Arts at Lambton College of Applied Arts and Technology, later going on to study fine art. He began writing for community newspapers and industrial magazines over thirty years ago. His stories appear in publications including Perihelion Science Fiction, Bewildering Stories, Aurora Wolf, Ennea, Wonderwaan, Algernon, Nova Fantasia, and Danse Macabre. He lives in southern Ontario and writes full time. Louis enjoys cycling, swimming and good books.

Book preview

Operation Vermont

Louis Shalako

Copyright 2016 Louis Shalako and Long Cool One Books

Design: J. Thornton

ISBN 978-1-988621-00-5

The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person living or deceased, or to any places or events, is purely coincidental. Names, places, settings, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination.

Table of Contents

Act One

Act Two

Act Three

About Louis Shalako

Operation Vermont

Louis Shalako

Act One

Astrogation was dependent on a lot of higher maths. The success of their mission depended on human psychology, and in being at the right place at the right time.

It was a simple equation.

Chimera arrived at 55 Cancri f, on time and on schedule, materializing impressively close to the only inhabited objects in the system.

It was a breathless moment.

The place was a hive of activity with ships in port, ships inbound, outbound, and pursuing their own individual courses back and forth. Visually, it wasn’t much, but infrared, RF and EM signatures flared all around them.

Voices chattered on the intercom as the harbour pilot steered the ship into her assigned berth, retros and stabilizers firing intermittently.

She came to a halt.

They were right on the numbers.

Her Majesty’s ships Viper and Vixen were the regulation thousand kilometres away, a bit up and off to starboard.

The Confederation and the Dominium were at war, but Cancri was a neutral port. Most parties had replenish, refit and repair