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Authors: Vaughn Heppner
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will only accept certain types of individuals.”
“How did he reach such a conclusion?”
Instead of answering, Cook checked his wrist chronometer. “We’re almost out of time, I’m afraid. You should know that your sergeant is already on a penal ship heading for Loki Prime. He will be sent down by pod in the area where Dana Rich is believed to live.”
“ Believed?” Maddox asked.
“If we searched her out ourselves, we’re afraid the New Men would learn too much about our plan. They might beat us to her. That cannot be allowed to happen.”
“I’m supposed to break her and Riker out on my own?” Maddox asked.
The Lord High Admiral nodded.
“Sir,” Maddox said. “ No one escapes off a Commonwealth prison planet, particularly not Loki Prime.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” Cook said. He put his meaty fingers into a pocket, taking out a small disk. He handed it to Maddox. “Those are the codes you’ll need to the prison planet orbitals , Loki System satellites and the location of a fast Patrol scout orbiting the moon. I think you’ll find it’s a unique little vessel.”
Maddox nodded instead of laughing in their faces. Then he flipped open the folder and began to read the first file. He didn’t like what he found. Keith Maker, an ex-strikefighter ace with a serious drinking problem. How did a pilot like that have the right mental qualities? Maddox decided not to worry about it now. Instead, he kept reading. He would remember the facts and mull them over later.
“By the way,” Cook said. “You’ll need a topflight navigator who knows her way around in deep space.”
“ Yes, sir,” Maddox said.
“I’m giving you Lieutenant Noonan.”
Maddox looked up. Hadn’t the woman been through enough already? During the meeting, she’d looked worn down. Despite his gut feeling that this was a bad idea, he kept his opinion to himself.
“The lieutenant’s career is in ruins,” Cook said. Perhaps the Lord High Admiral sensed Maddox’s unease about the woman. “By her quick thinking and actions, she gave us a rare window of opportunity. Even so, too many Star Watch officers view her retreat through the Laumer-Point as cowardice in the face of the enemy. This will give her a chance to redeem herself. I think she’s earned that.”
Maddox couldn’t very well refuse the Lord High Admiral. Clearing his throat, the captain asked, “Did she request this assignment?”
“After she learned that her brainwave patterns matched our needs , yes, she did,” Cook said.
Maddox kept his frown inward. This was getting stranger by the moment. “I suspect that means you told her some of the broader picture.”
“Will that be a problem?” Cook asked.
The Lord High Admiral’s question surprised Maddox. He took the opening. “She’s not an intelligence officer, sir. She may have already compromised the operation with her bold recounting of the battle.”
The older, bigger man leaned forward and his eyes radiated intensity. “Then we’d better get started, Captain, before the competition catches on.”
Maddox realized he didn’t have a choice in the matter. Nodding, he looked back down at his folder and continued to read.
-7-
Lieutenant Noonan burned with resentment. Usually, she kept that part of herself cordoned off from the rest. She did not have an axe to grind, but many of them lined up in a row.
She stood beside a gargantuan foundation inside Paris’ largest mall , the Le Monde. Thousands of shoppers passed her. Most chattered to each other in French, a few must have spoken German.
“Mademoiselle,” someone said from behind, his voice barely audible over the splashing water and buzz of the crowd.
She turned. A man in a black leather jacket with a shaven scalp gripped a single rose. He looked dangerous, holding himself loosely like a knife-fighter. As he extended the red flower to her, a chain jangled on his wrist. He didn’t smile but watched her closely.
Valerie
“How did he reach such a conclusion?”
Instead of answering, Cook checked his wrist chronometer. “We’re almost out of time, I’m afraid. You should know that your sergeant is already on a penal ship heading for Loki Prime. He will be sent down by pod in the area where Dana Rich is believed to live.”
“ Believed?” Maddox asked.
“If we searched her out ourselves, we’re afraid the New Men would learn too much about our plan. They might beat us to her. That cannot be allowed to happen.”
“I’m supposed to break her and Riker out on my own?” Maddox asked.
The Lord High Admiral nodded.
“Sir,” Maddox said. “ No one escapes off a Commonwealth prison planet, particularly not Loki Prime.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” Cook said. He put his meaty fingers into a pocket, taking out a small disk. He handed it to Maddox. “Those are the codes you’ll need to the prison planet orbitals , Loki System satellites and the location of a fast Patrol scout orbiting the moon. I think you’ll find it’s a unique little vessel.”
Maddox nodded instead of laughing in their faces. Then he flipped open the folder and began to read the first file. He didn’t like what he found. Keith Maker, an ex-strikefighter ace with a serious drinking problem. How did a pilot like that have the right mental qualities? Maddox decided not to worry about it now. Instead, he kept reading. He would remember the facts and mull them over later.
“By the way,” Cook said. “You’ll need a topflight navigator who knows her way around in deep space.”
“ Yes, sir,” Maddox said.
“I’m giving you Lieutenant Noonan.”
Maddox looked up. Hadn’t the woman been through enough already? During the meeting, she’d looked worn down. Despite his gut feeling that this was a bad idea, he kept his opinion to himself.
“The lieutenant’s career is in ruins,” Cook said. Perhaps the Lord High Admiral sensed Maddox’s unease about the woman. “By her quick thinking and actions, she gave us a rare window of opportunity. Even so, too many Star Watch officers view her retreat through the Laumer-Point as cowardice in the face of the enemy. This will give her a chance to redeem herself. I think she’s earned that.”
Maddox couldn’t very well refuse the Lord High Admiral. Clearing his throat, the captain asked, “Did she request this assignment?”
“After she learned that her brainwave patterns matched our needs , yes, she did,” Cook said.
Maddox kept his frown inward. This was getting stranger by the moment. “I suspect that means you told her some of the broader picture.”
“Will that be a problem?” Cook asked.
The Lord High Admiral’s question surprised Maddox. He took the opening. “She’s not an intelligence officer, sir. She may have already compromised the operation with her bold recounting of the battle.”
The older, bigger man leaned forward and his eyes radiated intensity. “Then we’d better get started, Captain, before the competition catches on.”
Maddox realized he didn’t have a choice in the matter. Nodding, he looked back down at his folder and continued to read.
-7-
Lieutenant Noonan burned with resentment. Usually, she kept that part of herself cordoned off from the rest. She did not have an axe to grind, but many of them lined up in a row.
She stood beside a gargantuan foundation inside Paris’ largest mall , the Le Monde. Thousands of shoppers passed her. Most chattered to each other in French, a few must have spoken German.
“Mademoiselle,” someone said from behind, his voice barely audible over the splashing water and buzz of the crowd.
She turned. A man in a black leather jacket with a shaven scalp gripped a single rose. He looked dangerous, holding himself loosely like a knife-fighter. As he extended the red flower to her, a chain jangled on his wrist. He didn’t smile but watched her closely.
Valerie
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