Read Online Birthright: Battle for the Confederation- Consequence by Ryan Krauter - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Ryan Krauter
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easy."
"Well, you two have to stay out of sight and out of mind. I'll have to let them kick me around for a little while. Then you two come in, save the day, and we move on to the next phase."
Halley didn't like it, of course, but there weren't many options. Without any support or time to plan in-depth, she'd had to set the plan in motion and fill in the blanks. Ideally she would have showed up only a day or so before the mission (breaking in guns blazing and not entering as a prisoner), but she'd done enough digging to learn about the new truth drugs and assumed they'd use them on Web since he was 'only' a soldier and not a political prisoner that might be worth something in trade someday. Her appearance and the ruckus preceding it would focus attention on her instead. Her training would help her resist longer than Web would have, and all she needed to hold out for was three days. A hoped-for local contact had backed out of a deal for work on the extraction, so she'd improvised the best she could. In the meantime, she only hoped Web wasn't going to put himself in even more danger before they could escape.
The captured pirate ship raced through hyperspace. Avenger followed at a respectful distance which would give her plenty of time to drop out of hyper far behind if necessary. Loren and Velk stayed on the bridge, the taller Priman ducking constantly and eventually claiming a console to sit at and thus save his scalp from repeated attacks.
The first day had been uneventful. The pirate frigate had followed a course plotted to maximize their chances of avoiding contested space. It meant their journey would take longer, but any contact with Primans, Talarans or even Confed forces would lead to more trouble than they wanted. With Avenger following them, the pressure to stay undiscovered was intense because nothing would stir up the Primans like the hated Confed ship being spotted behind the front lines.
Loren and Velk had a sort of easy understanding. They shared the same ideals for their people and their interests aligned; neither would admit to the other but both hoped their alliance was more than a passing phase.
They often went hours without saying anything; Velk was not a chatty conversationalist, while Loren didn't have much idea how you started a conversation with the leader of a conquering enemy horde.
"So do you know for sure you have some allies where we're headed?" Loren asked as they both picked at the remains of their self-heating ration packs. Loren, not a fan of piracy or the ships they called home, tossed his wadded up packaging into a dark corner of the bridge. Velk folded his up and set it aside for disposal later.
"When I was a Representative, before you and your team captured me, I knew where I could find a friendly face. There were a number of them stationed at the facility on the planet we are headed to, but I could not say for sure if their assignments have changed."
"Well, I guess that'll have to do then." Loren pushed back on his chair and stood, crossing the few steps to where their equipment crates sat. There had been much debate over whether to allow Velk to have a weapon, but Loren himself had given the ok, saying it didn't much matter whether Velk had a gun or not because soon they'd be in Priman space anyway. If Velk meant to betray him, the possession of a weapon wouldn't matter.
"You want to try on your compression mask?" Loren asked.
"Not really."
"Can't blame you there. But we're heading to a Talaran planet, so you need to look like a human and I need to look like a different human."
It
"Well, you two have to stay out of sight and out of mind. I'll have to let them kick me around for a little while. Then you two come in, save the day, and we move on to the next phase."
Halley didn't like it, of course, but there weren't many options. Without any support or time to plan in-depth, she'd had to set the plan in motion and fill in the blanks. Ideally she would have showed up only a day or so before the mission (breaking in guns blazing and not entering as a prisoner), but she'd done enough digging to learn about the new truth drugs and assumed they'd use them on Web since he was 'only' a soldier and not a political prisoner that might be worth something in trade someday. Her appearance and the ruckus preceding it would focus attention on her instead. Her training would help her resist longer than Web would have, and all she needed to hold out for was three days. A hoped-for local contact had backed out of a deal for work on the extraction, so she'd improvised the best she could. In the meantime, she only hoped Web wasn't going to put himself in even more danger before they could escape.
The captured pirate ship raced through hyperspace. Avenger followed at a respectful distance which would give her plenty of time to drop out of hyper far behind if necessary. Loren and Velk stayed on the bridge, the taller Priman ducking constantly and eventually claiming a console to sit at and thus save his scalp from repeated attacks.
The first day had been uneventful. The pirate frigate had followed a course plotted to maximize their chances of avoiding contested space. It meant their journey would take longer, but any contact with Primans, Talarans or even Confed forces would lead to more trouble than they wanted. With Avenger following them, the pressure to stay undiscovered was intense because nothing would stir up the Primans like the hated Confed ship being spotted behind the front lines.
Loren and Velk had a sort of easy understanding. They shared the same ideals for their people and their interests aligned; neither would admit to the other but both hoped their alliance was more than a passing phase.
They often went hours without saying anything; Velk was not a chatty conversationalist, while Loren didn't have much idea how you started a conversation with the leader of a conquering enemy horde.
"So do you know for sure you have some allies where we're headed?" Loren asked as they both picked at the remains of their self-heating ration packs. Loren, not a fan of piracy or the ships they called home, tossed his wadded up packaging into a dark corner of the bridge. Velk folded his up and set it aside for disposal later.
"When I was a Representative, before you and your team captured me, I knew where I could find a friendly face. There were a number of them stationed at the facility on the planet we are headed to, but I could not say for sure if their assignments have changed."
"Well, I guess that'll have to do then." Loren pushed back on his chair and stood, crossing the few steps to where their equipment crates sat. There had been much debate over whether to allow Velk to have a weapon, but Loren himself had given the ok, saying it didn't much matter whether Velk had a gun or not because soon they'd be in Priman space anyway. If Velk meant to betray him, the possession of a weapon wouldn't matter.
"You want to try on your compression mask?" Loren asked.
"Not really."
"Can't blame you there. But we're heading to a Talaran planet, so you need to look like a human and I need to look like a different human."
It
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