Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Gunship: The Great War: Gunship, #17
    Gunship: The Great War: Gunship, #17
    Gunship: The Great War: Gunship, #17
    Ebook126 pages1 hour

    Gunship: The Great War: Gunship, #17

    By John M. Davis

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A war between humans and vampires is underway. Cambria finds herself a victim of slavery as she's sold to a high-ranking Benzan strongman. Going against everything she has ever believed, however, Cambria soon learns that the Benzans are good people and that the warlord in question may have stolen her heart.
    Meanwhile, Dalton James continues his search for Cambria at a feverish pace. Leaving a trail of dead vampires and empty whiskey bottles behind him, Dalton and the Benzans are about to have themselves a little showdown.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBook Commander
    Release dateMay 17, 2019
    ISBN9781386442677
    Gunship: The Great War: Gunship, #17

    Read more from John M. Davis

    Related to Gunship

    Titles in the series (21)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Science Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Robert C. Koehler: Death by nationalism?

      Oct 13, 2022

      The game may be almost over. Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies put it this way: “The irresolvable dilemma facing Western leaders is that this is a no-win situation. How can they militarily defeat Russia, when it possesses 6,000 nuclear warheads

      3 min read

    • Article

      On War and Literature

      Jun 8, 2022

      War literature, at its best, exists not as scripture but as liturgy, not to explain but to remember. The post On War and Literature appeared first on The Millions.

      19 min read

    • Article

      Send In The Spivs

      Apr 1, 2022

      IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW catastrophic, how terrible, how morally squalid, how globally imperilling the circumstances, there is nothing that cannot be shamelessly exploited by the descendants of Stanley Baldwin’s “hard-faced men who look as if they had d

      3 min read

    • Article

      A Miraculous Last Stand

      Dec 15, 2021

      A Miraculous Last Stand
      3 min read

    • Article

      Lest Darkness Fall

      Oct 16, 2023

      Lest Darkness Fall
      5 min read

    • Article

      Letter From The Collapse

      Jan 7, 2022

      I'm only a writer, and the most recondite type, an essayist. Could there by any role for something so insular at the end of the world? The post Letter from the Collapse appeared first on The Millions.

      14 min read

    • Article

      ‘A Sickening Sight’

      Aug 15, 2023

      ‘A Sickening Sight’
      11 min read

    • Article

      Summer Book Reviews

      Dec 1, 2023

      by David Grann Published by Simon & Schuster ISBN 9781398513341 $24.99 That unholiest of trinities – oil, money and murder – are reprised in this painstakingly investigated and riveting account by an award-winning journalist and author, recently rele

      4 min read

    • Article

      Yemen: Our future?

      Dec 20, 2018

      "They must kill and continue to kill, strange as it may seem, in order not to know that they are killing." -- Rene Girard, "Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World." Socially sanctioned killing is called war. The word "war" may be the most po

      4 min read

    • Article

      Robert C. Koehler: The Global Suicide Budget

      Apr 28, 2022

      “Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.” I truly wish these words of Ike, uttered seven decades ago, were no longer quite so relevant. Perhaps what he should have called it was a “cross of irony.” In 2021, th

      3 min read

    • Article

      Butchering the Mythic West

      Jan 5, 2021

      Butchering the Mythic West
      14 min read

    • Article

      Slaying Monsters in Fiction

      Jan 23, 2018

      When a monstrous beast appears in a story, then it becomes, at least in part, what that story is about.  The post Slaying Monsters in Fiction appeared first on The Millions.

      6 min read

    • Article

      Sixty Years In The Limelight

      Feb 14, 2023

      Sixty Years In The Limelight
      15 min read

    • Article

      Post Script

      Jul 13, 2023

      For all its high-fantasy flourishes and indulgences, this is a series that has often addressed more serious topics, most memorably in Final Fantasy VII’s sorrowful exploration of climate catastrophe. Final Fantasy XVI, in an effort to import some gra

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Gunship

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Gunship - John M. Davis

      Chapter 1

      Sadness (Part 1)

      ––––––––

      Don't worry. We'll find her. Hans said.

      Resting his hand onto Dalton's shoulder for a moment, he tried to provide a bit of comfort without showing any doubt in his statement. But Dalton understood there was doubt – he doubted, too.

      Nearly six-months had passed since Dalton had last seen Cambria's beautiful face. They had found the star liner and most of its passengers, who'd been exterminated by the filthy hands of vampires. But Cambria was not among them. Dalton had found her message of desperation stuffed into an empty bottle of hard liquor and knew that she'd been taken alive. It meant there was a bit of hope when it came to seeing her once more. But it also meant that she was certainly enduring unspeakable things at the hands of her vampire captors.

      Most of the folks aboard her commercial flight weren't as lucky. The vampires had committed mass-slaughter aboard the civilian ship and dozens just like it, during a day that humanity had come to know as Day One.

      It had been stamped as such because Day One was the officially the first day of the Third Great War. After the senseless killing of so many civilians, humanity understood that there was no going back. Talks of peace would no longer suffice and the only way to ensure survival was by eliminating vampires until none remained.

      They were terrorists. Slavers who'd successfully launched a war against humanity once more, for no other reason than to kill humans. It was the greatest war that had been seen by either human or vampire eyes. So large in scale that there were warships rocking even the deepest, darkest corners of the Skyla System.

      Their kind had long fought wars with sword in hand. It was the way of a vampire. Their new queen, however, was different. She understood that the humans and their technology-rich ships could not be beaten with the skill of a sword. Instead, the vampires had secured many allies through political means. They envisioned a new Skyla System where only a handful of humans remained and did so for the job of slavery. Otherwise, it was to be a vampire-dominant galaxy which awarded territories to anyone who aided their cause in the war. Among those helping them were the Benzans. They were unlikely allies after fighting one another in previous wars, but the organized crime syndicate saw potential in a galaxy ran by criminals. Crime was certainly common ground among the two races. It was to become a universe in which the strong would survive, while the stronger thrived. And, aside from the vampires, the Benzans were to be feared like no other group of killers alive. Vampires committed unspeakable acts for no good reason. The Benzans committed similar acts for money.

      The green-skinned Husk remained, but their numbers had dwindled a great deal. They'd been hit the hardest during the years of plague and only a few thousand capable warriors remained. Those who did, backed the cause of humanity. They were mortal enemies of the vampires and backed anyone who fought against them.

      Humanity's central planet and prized home of desert sun and green-hued skies, Glimmeria, had come under siege but defended itself well enough. Initial vampire attacks had done great amounts of damage, but humanity had recovered quickly enough. Striking back and pushing the war into a virtual stalemate.

      There were no clear-cut front lines in the Third Great War. The Skyla System was simply too large. Instead, there were coordinated attacks by both sides and intelligence had become just as valuable as a solid weapon. The leadership of each side was well-protected and rarely moved, but, when they did, all hell typically broke loose.

      Many things among humanity had been adjusted to fit the needs of their new war. Prisons were cleared out with the understanding that killing vampires would officially pay their debts to society. They were typically sent into the far reaches of the Skyla System, often in the face of unspeakable odds, and few prisoners made it through a month of hard service. Those who did, however, were then paid just like the rest of the brave soldiers who proudly wore Freedom Republic blue.

      Likewise, anyone who'd been found guilty of a charge that was initiated by the vampires was cleared in full. Humanity began backing its own, for a change.

      Dalton James had also been cleared of the charge of murder. It hadn't taken the authorities long to figure out that the vampires could no longer be trusted, and even the wealthiest of undead warlords had no influence among honest people. Not anymore. It was the first time in history that Dalton could remember every living, breathing son of a bitch working together in the face of evil.

      There were only two sides in The Great War, and absolutely no gray area. You were either with the Vampire Nation, or you were sworn to the pact of ending them, while allying yourself with the Freedom Republic. Each side had its army and strong financial backing. For the Vampire Nation, there was a promise of new government and that, of course, enticed many of the wealthy. The undead intended to rule through fear and had no problem assigning territory to some of humanity's worst, assuming they backed them in the war. The Skyla System was big enough, and the prospect of having a mighty army behind you was appealing to anyone who'd ever questioned the current government.

      That said, most men chose to remain free. And being free had its price. Soldier to soldier, humans were weaker, but their numbers were far greater. If mankind had learned anything over the course of history, it was how to survive even the toughest of wars. That experience had proved invaluable as humanity wasn't easily squashed like the vampires had intended them to be. Mankind had proved resilient – they had brought an equally strong force of military might to the party.

      Humanity was organized, for the most part, but there were others. Men and women who fought the good fight, while doing so with complete freedom. Hans, Dalton and crew had become mighty good at hurting their vampire adversaries while living freely in the black of space. Hans had 21 unofficial kills to his name, Dalton had 22. Not that anyone was counting, of course.

      For Hans, it was a personal matter of ending the race which had taken his true love away in the act of murder. For Dalton, it was about finding his true love before it was too late. Two men hell-bent on putting themselves in harm's way for the cause of just. But even warriors liked to eat a nice meal every now and again.

      This tenderloin tastes like shit. Deshazo said.

      He was the typical muscle-bound soldier for hire. Deshazo had killed a few, but his thousand-yard stare was a bit inflated for a man who'd only killed so few. And being very outspoken was in his nature. A very typical trait for a man so large that folks generally backed away before testing him.

      Well it does. he added as the crew stared at him.

      It's likely been sitting there for a few days. Wolfman replied.

      They'd hit another vampire stronghold, which was their third of the week. Dalton had hoped to find Cambria. But, just as in month's past, he was left with little more than fading hope when it came to finding the woman he loved.

      The stronghold had either been evacuated because of Freedom Republic soldiers in the area, or the vampires had left it to strike somewhere else. Either way, according to the Gunship's muscular greenhorn, the meat left behind tasted like shit.

      Look. Josie is even turning her nose up at it. Wolfman stated.

      His long-haired dog of police-grade, nearly wolf, was snubbing the tenderloin, which made her unshaven owner mighty proud. Wolfman was tough as nails, though not abundantly muscular. What muscle he did have was lean and practical, and it seemed to flow synonymously with his long locks of black hair.

      Fuck it. More for me. Deshazo commented as he swiped the table quickly and shoveled all of the stale meat into his jacket pocket. He certainly wasn't a fan of its taste or texture, but protein was essential in keeping his bullish stature.

      You better hope that's animal meat you're eating. Dalton warned.

      Immediately, Deshazo spit the half-chewed mess to the floor in disgust.

      That's horrible. Wolfman said.

      Well, it's true, Dalton replied. The vampires will eat a woman and hell, I will too. But it's two different kinds of eating, if you know what I'm saying?

      As Deshazo continued to hack up every morsel onto the floor, Hans shook his head for a moment and tried to comfort his friend once more.

      Maybe the next stronghold.

      It's OK, we'll find her, Dalton finally said. And when we do.

      They'll get what's coming to them, my friend. Hans said as he rested his hand onto Dalton's shoulder for a moment.

      You can bet your ass on that. Dalton said with truth.

      "I'm guessing if our fanged friends are out on a strike somewhere, they're going to be mighty upset to come home and discover a puddle of hacked-up vomit

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1