Read Online First Principles: Samair in Argos: Book 3 by MICHAEL KOTCHER - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: MICHAEL KOTCHER
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“Very good work, XO. It’ll take me another minute to get this loaded, but then we need to turn back. We need to reengage the battlecruiser, but again, come in at the stern.”
“Captain, the minute we start turning back to fight the Leytonstone , they’re going to turn toward us and they’re going to blast us apart.”
“Captain,” al Fakhir put in, his voice low, “we can’t take another pounding. With the damage to the spine that we’ve taken, a good hit even to a shielded area will crack us open right down the middle.”
She nodded. “I know. But that ship is going to reach the Kutok mine in only a short while and there’s no one else who can stop them.”
“So we get to die to save the company a few bucks?”
She rounded on him. “I’m not fighting for the company’s balance sheet. I’m fighting to save our people’s lives. The people who launched that ship did so because they didn’t like me or Eamonn’s way of doing things. And they didn’t like that our business was ever expanding. The only ones who send warships to settle business disputes are pirates and cowards, Mister al Fakhir. And they’ve already killed too many of our people.”
He stood and stared at her for a long moment. Then without another word, he continued to push the hoist. “Can you supercharge our forward shields, Chief?” she asked. “I’m going to need a few seconds to launch this baby, then we can run for it.”
“Can you get this to the launch tube on your own, Captain?” he asked. Taking a deep breath, he stopped pushing and turned to rush off down the corridor in the other direction. “I have some work to do.”
Tamara didn’t spare him a glance. It took a few more minutes to get hoist with the missile from the armory to the missile tube. Please let this work , she prayed silently. She was fairly confident that it was going to. It wasn’t as though the technology was all that new or innovative. Well, it was innovative for military tech nowadays from what she’d seen, at least out here in the Argos Cluster. Who knows what kind of cutting edge tech they might have over in the Republic, or even the Federation? It had been two and a half centuries since she’d been a serving officer in the Republic Navy, after all. But her jury-rigged weapon had just been slapped together in a matter of minutes. It was crude and ugly and wouldn’t perform anywhere near as well as something that had been properly engineered. But that was all right. As long as it functioned to within fifty percent of her expectations, then the crew of the Leytonstone had a serious surprise coming.
“ Grania Estelle , this is Leader Korqath,” the zheen pilot said. “We’re in position and are ready to advance on the battlecruiser.”
“Very good, Leader,” a female human’s voice responded. Hmmm, he thought, I wonder where the Captain went? No matter . “But you need to hurry. That ship will be in range of the station and this ship any minute.”
What do you think I’ve been trying to do? “Understood, Grania Estelle ,” he responded. He keyed the squadron channel. “All right, First flight,” he said, addressing his five remaining pilots. “Escort formation, everybody keeps moving, no one stops. We’re going to bring the shuttles in underneath the chin of that big bastard and then we break off.”
“Let’s bring it, Lead!” one of his pilots said excitedly. A chorus of similar sentiments came from the rest of his pilots and he waggled his antennae in amusement.
The Aplora pilots maneuvered their
“Captain, the minute we start turning back to fight the Leytonstone , they’re going to turn toward us and they’re going to blast us apart.”
“Captain,” al Fakhir put in, his voice low, “we can’t take another pounding. With the damage to the spine that we’ve taken, a good hit even to a shielded area will crack us open right down the middle.”
She nodded. “I know. But that ship is going to reach the Kutok mine in only a short while and there’s no one else who can stop them.”
“So we get to die to save the company a few bucks?”
She rounded on him. “I’m not fighting for the company’s balance sheet. I’m fighting to save our people’s lives. The people who launched that ship did so because they didn’t like me or Eamonn’s way of doing things. And they didn’t like that our business was ever expanding. The only ones who send warships to settle business disputes are pirates and cowards, Mister al Fakhir. And they’ve already killed too many of our people.”
He stood and stared at her for a long moment. Then without another word, he continued to push the hoist. “Can you supercharge our forward shields, Chief?” she asked. “I’m going to need a few seconds to launch this baby, then we can run for it.”
“Can you get this to the launch tube on your own, Captain?” he asked. Taking a deep breath, he stopped pushing and turned to rush off down the corridor in the other direction. “I have some work to do.”
Tamara didn’t spare him a glance. It took a few more minutes to get hoist with the missile from the armory to the missile tube. Please let this work , she prayed silently. She was fairly confident that it was going to. It wasn’t as though the technology was all that new or innovative. Well, it was innovative for military tech nowadays from what she’d seen, at least out here in the Argos Cluster. Who knows what kind of cutting edge tech they might have over in the Republic, or even the Federation? It had been two and a half centuries since she’d been a serving officer in the Republic Navy, after all. But her jury-rigged weapon had just been slapped together in a matter of minutes. It was crude and ugly and wouldn’t perform anywhere near as well as something that had been properly engineered. But that was all right. As long as it functioned to within fifty percent of her expectations, then the crew of the Leytonstone had a serious surprise coming.
“ Grania Estelle , this is Leader Korqath,” the zheen pilot said. “We’re in position and are ready to advance on the battlecruiser.”
“Very good, Leader,” a female human’s voice responded. Hmmm, he thought, I wonder where the Captain went? No matter . “But you need to hurry. That ship will be in range of the station and this ship any minute.”
What do you think I’ve been trying to do? “Understood, Grania Estelle ,” he responded. He keyed the squadron channel. “All right, First flight,” he said, addressing his five remaining pilots. “Escort formation, everybody keeps moving, no one stops. We’re going to bring the shuttles in underneath the chin of that big bastard and then we break off.”
“Let’s bring it, Lead!” one of his pilots said excitedly. A chorus of similar sentiments came from the rest of his pilots and he waggled his antennae in amusement.
The Aplora pilots maneuvered their
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