Beyond Honor (Book 1: Galaxy At War): A Military Sci-Fi Novel by Daniel Young & Douglas Scott

Author:Daniel Young & Douglas Scott [Young, Daniel & Scott, Douglas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

Zephyra didn’t have to give the order; Stelmar immediately leapt up from the helm and headed to the bridge computer console, leaving the pilot’s seat open for her. She activated the manual controls by speaking a quick numerical sequence, which sent a pair of joysticks rising up from the armrests into her waiting hands. Neither she nor Stelmar wasted a moment thinking about what they were doing, because it was Vanguard’s SOP to transfer command to Zephyra in a dogfight situation. She was by far the team’s most experienced pilot, and she had a preternatural killer instinct.

“Report!” she barked as she banked the ship hard to port and down. Luckily for the others who weren’t strapped into their seats like her, the ship’s stabilizers were back online and no one went flying about the bridge.

“Shields are barely above navigational level,” said Stelmar, eyes on the console’s display screens. “Hull breach near the reactor; we’re leaking fuel.”

“Beth’ler’s balls,” she muttered as she sent the ship into a barrel roll to avoid enemy fire. Shields didn’t work during interstellar slides, and had to be manually reactivated once the ship was back in normal space. Their opponents attacked the instant they emerged from pocketspace, crippling them immediately.

“Son of a bitch!” Chambers cried. “They were waiting for us!”

“Very observant,” said Zephyra. “Regor, check on Azlet. The rest of you shut up and let me concentrate.”

The others did as she ordered, allowing her to focus all her attention on the situation. She didn’t recognize their opponents’ ships from worlds allied with the Terrans or Arcadians. That made sense, since Vyndis II, and this sector, were outside of either’s influence. But while the ships looked old and battle-scarred, their pilots were skilled and their weapons were not to be underestimated.

A volley of blaster fire erupted in the rearview screen as the enemy ships aligned and took position behind her. She immediately transferred all available shield power to the rear. A few shots struck home, but missed any vital targets and dealt only glancing blows.

Stelmar looked up from the console screen. “We’re receiving a message from one of the ships, ordering us to submit.”

Xi said, “Vyndis II is barely a functioning society. It has no official defense force of any kind.”

“That and the general condition of the ships would imply that our opponents are bounty hunters,” said Regor.

“That doesn’t make sense,” said Fox. “Why would they attack us? And why were they sitting right where we were coming out of pocketspace?”

“We’ll worry about that later.” Chambers pointed at the screens. “They’re splitting up,” he said urgently. “Trying to flank us. You have to stay ahead of them.”

Zephyra’s teeth clenched. “If you point out the obvious to me one more time, I will have Stelmar rip off your arm and beat you to death with it.”

Chambers shut his mouth.

Stelmar peered at the console screens. “We are approaching the Hellwart settlement.” He turned to Chambers. “The cloak is out of commission and we need to land immediately. You’ve

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