The Treasure of Lei Fong Wu

Chapter Forty Three

The giant ship loomed ahead of them like a piece of the horizon that had broken away from a world and drifted off into the Black. Wash tried not to look worried, even though every fiber in his body was screaming at him to turn tail and get away from that lethal object.

It looked dangerous even from this distance, and with every second it got a thousand feet closer. There was no doubt that it was a military ship. It was long, vaguely tear-drop shaped with a nearly spherical front end, an elongated body, and a gently tapered tail that housed the reactors and the massive engines. Gunports and missile batteries studded the exterior like pimples on a teenager's butt. An elevated dorsal spine housed scores of anti-missile laser batteries and more exotic weaponry – including the emitters for the three main lasers. The underside of the ship was pocked with circular craters containing fighters and gunships in quick-release configurations, as well as orbital bombardment clusters. Despite its sleek lines and pretensions of aerodynamics, the Sun Tzu was never meant to land on any world. Destroy them, yes, but not to land . . .

“That’s one hurtful lookin’ piece o’ hardware,” Mal murmured reverently as they approached. “I can see why folk were afraid.”

“It makes ‘overkill’ an understatement,” noted Wash, his casual manner belying his anxiety. “It’s a gorram Tyranaosaur! That ship must be more heavily armed than the entire Independents movement.”

“That ain’t sayin’ all that much. But I can see why the General was anxious to get it,” agreed Zoe. “Ship like that shows up in your sky, you’re like to consider diplomacizing more seriously.”

“It’s unreal!” Wash said, shaking his head. “Look, they don’t even bother with roll compensators – they just let the thrusters do all the work. And they can. Big bastards. Kaylee, you getting this?”

A moment later the intercom crackled.

“Yeah, I see her. She’s beautiful!”

“Serenity is beautiful. That thing is