Read Online Edge of Redemption (A Star Too Far Book 3) by Casey Calouette - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Casey Calouette
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a load of minerals, and you were left without any pay and a nice little prison sentence.”
Mustafa nodded slowly. “That’s about it.”
Emilie shook her head and pictured the operation. One ship would go in and seize the manufacturing operation while the other ran interference in case the owners popped in. Except in this case, when the owners showed up, Mustafa’s partner ran. “What happened to the other guy?”
Mustafa snorted. “They made it out. Laundered the minerals.”
“Just like that? Done?”
He nodded and shrugged. “Hard to argue with a battlecruiser.”
“How long?”
Mustafa looked at the floor and muttered, “two years.”
“So why the enmity? You got caught, did your time, that’s it.”
Mustafa stared and stepped closer. “It was my ship. They took everything! All they left me with was a hulk. Bare and stripped. I get out and she’s tethered on Luna, baking in the sun. My ship! Mine! ” He shook with anger. “So you take that Captain, strip off his rank, and he’s just a merc with someone else’s ship. At least I own mine.”
Emilie didn’t like it. She didn’t like the fact that Mustafa had such a grudge. She didn’t understand, but she knew that owning a starship was like owning a house. It was personal, linked right to the soul. But more than a home, a world, a place where everything insured survival. She could see how someone could get attached to it.
“Just play it cool. We’ll be clear of them soon enough.”
“Then what?”
“Then we get a nice contract for system security and you’ll be the one busting ore thieves.”
Mustafa waited in silence.
CHAPTER SEVEN
––––––––
T he small convoy plied the routes and passed the discarded jetsam like litter on the side of a highway. At every blink they saw empty canisters, wrecked transports, discarded containers, and mining debris. The shattered remnants of asteroids drifted and hung like clouds of sand.
After leaving Earth and passing through the icy bands that was the Oort cloud, they blinked through a region of interstellar deadness. The places where only radio waves sung. Starship traffic was light and the majority headed back to Earth.
Word of the attack reached the outer colonies and now they were responding. At every encounter, the convoy would open the datastream and transmit their previously loaded newsfeeds. One of the last data dumps they received was packed with news for the colonies. Everything from mineral prices to the latest gossip from the vids. At every encounter they sent it all.
“How’s the war? Did we slam ‘em?” one Chilean freighter asked, though they seemed more interested in the latest World Cup.
The information William received was even more interesting, at least for the Navy. Encrypted inside of the civilian datastream were bits of Naval intelligence. Sa’Ami raiders were assaulting ships.
The Sa’ami had set remote mining operations with additive manufacturing cells. These cells produced strider drones specifically designed to hit ships coming into systems. The gangly limbs would slash into a ship and disable or destroy. Since most ships heading back for Earth contained minerals it was a self-sustaining operation for the striders.
William studied each report and knew it was only a matter of time until he too ran into it.
The farther away from Earth they went, the more the debris from these attacks was seen. Data repeaters on the edge of systems would blare warnings. At each blink the convoy would go to full battle stations and William would blink his ship through first. But after every blink all they saw was debris.
*
“C onvoy standby for blink. Shift through fifteen minutes after we do, unless engaged,” William ordered. He released the keybind and nodded to Huron.
The ship’s Engineer was hunched over the console. Beside him sat Lieutenant Shay, leaning back as if in a hammock, relaxed and calm. The displays showed everything ready, everything
Mustafa nodded slowly. “That’s about it.”
Emilie shook her head and pictured the operation. One ship would go in and seize the manufacturing operation while the other ran interference in case the owners popped in. Except in this case, when the owners showed up, Mustafa’s partner ran. “What happened to the other guy?”
Mustafa snorted. “They made it out. Laundered the minerals.”
“Just like that? Done?”
He nodded and shrugged. “Hard to argue with a battlecruiser.”
“How long?”
Mustafa looked at the floor and muttered, “two years.”
“So why the enmity? You got caught, did your time, that’s it.”
Mustafa stared and stepped closer. “It was my ship. They took everything! All they left me with was a hulk. Bare and stripped. I get out and she’s tethered on Luna, baking in the sun. My ship! Mine! ” He shook with anger. “So you take that Captain, strip off his rank, and he’s just a merc with someone else’s ship. At least I own mine.”
Emilie didn’t like it. She didn’t like the fact that Mustafa had such a grudge. She didn’t understand, but she knew that owning a starship was like owning a house. It was personal, linked right to the soul. But more than a home, a world, a place where everything insured survival. She could see how someone could get attached to it.
“Just play it cool. We’ll be clear of them soon enough.”
“Then what?”
“Then we get a nice contract for system security and you’ll be the one busting ore thieves.”
Mustafa waited in silence.
CHAPTER SEVEN
––––––––
T he small convoy plied the routes and passed the discarded jetsam like litter on the side of a highway. At every blink they saw empty canisters, wrecked transports, discarded containers, and mining debris. The shattered remnants of asteroids drifted and hung like clouds of sand.
After leaving Earth and passing through the icy bands that was the Oort cloud, they blinked through a region of interstellar deadness. The places where only radio waves sung. Starship traffic was light and the majority headed back to Earth.
Word of the attack reached the outer colonies and now they were responding. At every encounter, the convoy would open the datastream and transmit their previously loaded newsfeeds. One of the last data dumps they received was packed with news for the colonies. Everything from mineral prices to the latest gossip from the vids. At every encounter they sent it all.
“How’s the war? Did we slam ‘em?” one Chilean freighter asked, though they seemed more interested in the latest World Cup.
The information William received was even more interesting, at least for the Navy. Encrypted inside of the civilian datastream were bits of Naval intelligence. Sa’Ami raiders were assaulting ships.
The Sa’ami had set remote mining operations with additive manufacturing cells. These cells produced strider drones specifically designed to hit ships coming into systems. The gangly limbs would slash into a ship and disable or destroy. Since most ships heading back for Earth contained minerals it was a self-sustaining operation for the striders.
William studied each report and knew it was only a matter of time until he too ran into it.
The farther away from Earth they went, the more the debris from these attacks was seen. Data repeaters on the edge of systems would blare warnings. At each blink the convoy would go to full battle stations and William would blink his ship through first. But after every blink all they saw was debris.
*
“C onvoy standby for blink. Shift through fifteen minutes after we do, unless engaged,” William ordered. He released the keybind and nodded to Huron.
The ship’s Engineer was hunched over the console. Beside him sat Lieutenant Shay, leaning back as if in a hammock, relaxed and calm. The displays showed everything ready, everything
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