America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 1: Feeling Lucky (25 page)

“
Can you spare troops to
crew the Formicidaen ships we captured?” I asked.

“
I am keeping the captured
ships,” advised General Action Jackson, as he cut off radio
transmission. I had not noticed it before, but there were now a lot
of Coleopteran troops on the Shenandoah with General Action
Jackson. “We attack the ant home world now. The attack will be led
by the Shenandoah. When our mission is completed, I will return
your ship.”

* * * * *

The battle for Formicidae was quick and
decisive. We beamed into orbit without incident. Planetary defenses
assumed we were merely Prince Tok returning in triumph from the
beetle slave revolt. The Shenandoah targeted Formicidaen ships and
satellites. The Coleopteran Fleet dropped hundreds of nukes.
Surprise was total, destruction complete.

Formicidae was bombed back into the Stone
Age. Nuclear winter made the planet uninhabitable. The Empire
ceased to exist. The few survivors reverted to roaming nomadic
scavengers. The Formicidaen Fleet on the frontier surrendered to
the USGF Fleet. Many ants accepted an offer to join the United
States Galactic Foreign Legion. Those who refused were shuttled to
concentration camps in the polar regions of Coleoptera, and never
heard from again. Formicidaen colonies, gathering areas for the
former Formicidaen Empire’s slave trade, quickly collapsed or were
seized by Coleopteran troops.

General Action Jackson appointed himself
President for life of the new Coleopteran Federation. I hid the
Shenandoah underneath my new hotel casino in New Colorado’s DMZ. My
detached metal hand is on display in the lobby. It’s become quite a
tourist attraction in the grand tradition of the Legion. I wear a
new advanced prostheses hand that looks and feels almost real.
Lopez and I are partners running the casino hotel. We retired from
the Legion, and we are rich. The only Evil Empire we do battle with
now is Harrah’s Casino & Hotel Resort Corporation. It is a
challenge. Corporate lawyers are almost as scary and hard to kill
as giant ants, spiders, and beetles.

~COMING SOON~

Follow Joey Czerinski and his ragtag band of
profiteering miscreants in their continuing adventures in America’s
Galactic Foreign Legion – Book 2 is coming soon!

~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~

Walter Knight

Walter played football on Tucson High
School’s last state championship team (1971). He served three years
in the army, and the GI Bill paid for his college education,
helping him earn degrees from Fort Steilacoom Community College,
Central Washington State College, and the University of Puget Sound
School of Law.

Walter lives a very quiet and private life,
residing with his family and horses, dogs, cats, and fish atop a
hill in rural Washington. Walt enjoys taking road trips to explore
ghost towns and casinos.

To contact Walter Knight,
please visit
www.penumbrapublishing.com