Read Online First Principles: Samair in Argos: Book 3 by MICHAEL KOTCHER - Free Book Online
Authors: MICHAEL KOTCHER
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Captain,” the man replied, adjusting the ship’s course. Unfortunately, as he did so, the battlecruiser’s aft cannons caught the corvette and hammered them. Three then four blows rained on the dorsal shields, battering the hull beneath. The hull was blasted away in that section and atmosphere ignited inside, causing secondary explosions.
“Break off!” Tamara barked, clutching the arms of her chair in a white-knuckled grip. “Drop us down the perpendicular axis to the battlecruiser and accelerate away. We can’t fight them.”
“Captain!” came al Fakhir’s voice over the comms. “What the hell are you doing to my ship?” he demanded.
“We’re breaking off, Chief,” Tamara said bitterly, grimacing. “I tried to get clever and we got pummeled for it.”
“Well, I’m glad we’re breaking off. The central spine of the ship is nearly broken in half. We’ve got only a few spars holding the ship together. I’m going to have to reduce power to avoid strain on the remaining power conduits. And you need to reduce acceleration. Right now.”
“Helm, reduce accel,” she ordered. Checking her displays, she nodded. They were out of range of the battlecruiser’s weapons, unless the ship turned and chased after them. “In fact, cut accel to zero.”
“Thank you, Captain,” the Chief Engineer replied. “I’ll get to work trying to fix all this damage. Thankfully, I don’t think we lost anyone this time.”
Tamara grimaced. “Well that’s some good news anyway. Do what you can, Chief. As soon as this is over, we’ll get teams from the Grania Estelle and the Samarkand to assist in repairs.”
“Repairs?” al Fakhir demanded. “Are you kidding me, Captain? It’s going to take a full rebuild to fix all that damage.”
“Understood, Chief. Just keep us space worthy as best you can.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” And he signed off.
“Is the battlecruiser changing course to chase us?” Tamara asked.
“No ma’am,” Leicasitaj replied.
“Very well. You have the bridge, XO,” she said, getting up from her chair. “Keep me informed of any developments. But right now I’m going below to give the Chief a hand.” And she turned and exited the bridge.
The Romigani watched her go shaking his head in disbelief. That’s it? After all her speeches, all the training and now, with the job not done, she just walks off the bridge? He turned back to the tactical display in front of him and studied the readouts. There had to be something that they could do. Cavalier wasn’t out of the fight just yet.
Tamara stepped off the bridge went down the corridor a few meters, then leaned against the bulkhead. Putting her hands on her knees she doubled over and tried to suck air into her lungs. Things were not going as they were supposed to. But what had she expected, anyway? She was an engineer, not a combat officer. She’d been going about this as though she was a master tactician, someone who had been on the command track in the Navy with a thousand battles under her belt. The closest she’d ever been to a tactical officer, outside of the starfighter corps was serving as bridge engineering watch during her stint on the Archimedes , just after her transfer out of fighters. But that was a totally different set of circumstances. Fighting from a starfighter cockpit and fighting from the bridge of a warship were completely different ways of thinking and fighting.
I told him , she raged. I told him I
“Break off!” Tamara barked, clutching the arms of her chair in a white-knuckled grip. “Drop us down the perpendicular axis to the battlecruiser and accelerate away. We can’t fight them.”
“Captain!” came al Fakhir’s voice over the comms. “What the hell are you doing to my ship?” he demanded.
“We’re breaking off, Chief,” Tamara said bitterly, grimacing. “I tried to get clever and we got pummeled for it.”
“Well, I’m glad we’re breaking off. The central spine of the ship is nearly broken in half. We’ve got only a few spars holding the ship together. I’m going to have to reduce power to avoid strain on the remaining power conduits. And you need to reduce acceleration. Right now.”
“Helm, reduce accel,” she ordered. Checking her displays, she nodded. They were out of range of the battlecruiser’s weapons, unless the ship turned and chased after them. “In fact, cut accel to zero.”
“Thank you, Captain,” the Chief Engineer replied. “I’ll get to work trying to fix all this damage. Thankfully, I don’t think we lost anyone this time.”
Tamara grimaced. “Well that’s some good news anyway. Do what you can, Chief. As soon as this is over, we’ll get teams from the Grania Estelle and the Samarkand to assist in repairs.”
“Repairs?” al Fakhir demanded. “Are you kidding me, Captain? It’s going to take a full rebuild to fix all that damage.”
“Understood, Chief. Just keep us space worthy as best you can.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” And he signed off.
“Is the battlecruiser changing course to chase us?” Tamara asked.
“No ma’am,” Leicasitaj replied.
“Very well. You have the bridge, XO,” she said, getting up from her chair. “Keep me informed of any developments. But right now I’m going below to give the Chief a hand.” And she turned and exited the bridge.
The Romigani watched her go shaking his head in disbelief. That’s it? After all her speeches, all the training and now, with the job not done, she just walks off the bridge? He turned back to the tactical display in front of him and studied the readouts. There had to be something that they could do. Cavalier wasn’t out of the fight just yet.
Tamara stepped off the bridge went down the corridor a few meters, then leaned against the bulkhead. Putting her hands on her knees she doubled over and tried to suck air into her lungs. Things were not going as they were supposed to. But what had she expected, anyway? She was an engineer, not a combat officer. She’d been going about this as though she was a master tactician, someone who had been on the command track in the Navy with a thousand battles under her belt. The closest she’d ever been to a tactical officer, outside of the starfighter corps was serving as bridge engineering watch during her stint on the Archimedes , just after her transfer out of fighters. But that was a totally different set of circumstances. Fighting from a starfighter cockpit and fighting from the bridge of a warship were completely different ways of thinking and fighting.
I told him , she raged. I told him I
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