make and change the laws to suit their
best interest. She’ll see that.”
McNeal ran his fingers through his hair and let out a
tortured breath. “Fine, I’ll pass along the idea. But until we hear something
back, we proceed with the original mission.”
He took his first deep breath since he’d started making his
case. This would work. It had to. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. This is a long shot at best.”
“I know.”
“You’d better go do your preflight checks. The captain will
suspect something’s up if we don’t keep up appearances. Oh, and channel
seventy-five on the comm is secure. Use it for any mission communication.”
“Will do.”
It wasn’t a long walk to his quarters but the vicious
thumping of his heart made the corridors of the small ship seem longer. If
anyone could convince the Coalition to change course, it was McNeal. But could
Adam convince the captain to switch sides? That was the real question. When he’d
been pitching the idea, it’d seemed completely possible—even plausible. But he’d
heard the disdain in her voice when she talked about the Coalition. Yes, she
had honor. Did that honor outweigh her hatred for the rebel movement though? He
had a feeling that everything would depend on the answer to that question.
Punching in his access code, Adam took a deep breath as the door opened
smoothly in front of him.
The room was exactly as he left it. With the exception of
the view screen. It’d been fixed and all the wires were once again connected
and tucked under the sleek desk.
Sitting down at his console, he did the preflight check and
strapped himself in. There was always the possibility of a bumpy ride but after
his talk with McNeal he was optimistic that things would go smoother now that a
new mission had been laid out.
And that optimism grew after an easy takeoff until he found
he was actually humming. But when the captain’s question about a system’s
malfunction was met with communicator silence, his stomach twisted hard in his
gut. There was only one reason McNeal would ignore the captain. The Coalition
had decided to stick with the original mission. And with another party after
the captain, they’d need to make their move quickly. He didn’t need to see the
three ships simultaneously jump onto his radar screen to know everything was
about to go to hell.
“Three hostiles on screen, Sans. Let’s charge up those
torpedo bays and show them we aren’t going down without a fight.”
He typed in the codes to charge the weapons but one of the
ships fired an EMP field at them and the room went black.
Damn! They hadn’t been ready for a fight. With the vessel
only minimally shielded, critical systems like life support and communications
would’ve been spared from the pulse, but everything else would be offline until
McNeal got them back on. And if he was correct in his assumptions, McNeal
wouldn’t be exactly rushing to their aid. They were a dead bird.
“Sans, we need you on the bridge.”
The captain’s always calm voice sounded frazzled as the
hollow thud of another ship docking with theirs echoed through the silence.
“On my way, Captain.” His eyes had adjusted to the dark so
finding his way to the hatch wasn’t a problem. When he punched in his code,
though, nothing happened.
Tapping on his communicator, he said, “Sans to McNeal, I’m
locked in the armory.”
When there was no reply, he switched his comm to the secure
channel and tried again. “I need out of here, McNeal. My cover depends on it.”
There was a high-pitched drilling noise as the Hawk was breached.
“I need out of here, McNeal!”
“Sans, report.” The captain’s voice was tense even over the
communicator static.
Switching channels, he said, “I’m locked in the armory. I’ve
tried to get McNeal on the comm but he’s not responding.”
“We’ve been breached. I need my security here with me on the
bridge.”
“Working on it, Captain.”
He needed to
best interest. She’ll see that.”
McNeal ran his fingers through his hair and let out a
tortured breath. “Fine, I’ll pass along the idea. But until we hear something
back, we proceed with the original mission.”
He took his first deep breath since he’d started making his
case. This would work. It had to. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. This is a long shot at best.”
“I know.”
“You’d better go do your preflight checks. The captain will
suspect something’s up if we don’t keep up appearances. Oh, and channel
seventy-five on the comm is secure. Use it for any mission communication.”
“Will do.”
It wasn’t a long walk to his quarters but the vicious
thumping of his heart made the corridors of the small ship seem longer. If
anyone could convince the Coalition to change course, it was McNeal. But could
Adam convince the captain to switch sides? That was the real question. When he’d
been pitching the idea, it’d seemed completely possible—even plausible. But he’d
heard the disdain in her voice when she talked about the Coalition. Yes, she
had honor. Did that honor outweigh her hatred for the rebel movement though? He
had a feeling that everything would depend on the answer to that question.
Punching in his access code, Adam took a deep breath as the door opened
smoothly in front of him.
The room was exactly as he left it. With the exception of
the view screen. It’d been fixed and all the wires were once again connected
and tucked under the sleek desk.
Sitting down at his console, he did the preflight check and
strapped himself in. There was always the possibility of a bumpy ride but after
his talk with McNeal he was optimistic that things would go smoother now that a
new mission had been laid out.
And that optimism grew after an easy takeoff until he found
he was actually humming. But when the captain’s question about a system’s
malfunction was met with communicator silence, his stomach twisted hard in his
gut. There was only one reason McNeal would ignore the captain. The Coalition
had decided to stick with the original mission. And with another party after
the captain, they’d need to make their move quickly. He didn’t need to see the
three ships simultaneously jump onto his radar screen to know everything was
about to go to hell.
“Three hostiles on screen, Sans. Let’s charge up those
torpedo bays and show them we aren’t going down without a fight.”
He typed in the codes to charge the weapons but one of the
ships fired an EMP field at them and the room went black.
Damn! They hadn’t been ready for a fight. With the vessel
only minimally shielded, critical systems like life support and communications
would’ve been spared from the pulse, but everything else would be offline until
McNeal got them back on. And if he was correct in his assumptions, McNeal
wouldn’t be exactly rushing to their aid. They were a dead bird.
“Sans, we need you on the bridge.”
The captain’s always calm voice sounded frazzled as the
hollow thud of another ship docking with theirs echoed through the silence.
“On my way, Captain.” His eyes had adjusted to the dark so
finding his way to the hatch wasn’t a problem. When he punched in his code,
though, nothing happened.
Tapping on his communicator, he said, “Sans to McNeal, I’m
locked in the armory.”
When there was no reply, he switched his comm to the secure
channel and tried again. “I need out of here, McNeal. My cover depends on it.”
There was a high-pitched drilling noise as the Hawk was breached.
“I need out of here, McNeal!”
“Sans, report.” The captain’s voice was tense even over the
communicator static.
Switching channels, he said, “I’m locked in the armory. I’ve
tried to get McNeal on the comm but he’s not responding.”
“We’ve been breached. I need my security here with me on the
bridge.”
“Working on it, Captain.”
He needed to
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