Cyber Invasion (The A.I. Conspiracy Book 1) by Steven Atwood

Author:Steven Atwood [Atwood, Steven]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Space Opera, Science Fiction, cyberpunk, Military Science Fiction
Publisher: Steven Atwood
Published: 2016-10-24T06:00:00+00:00

14

My pride, my pride made me a failure, Lea thought. Oh God, what have I done? She sat behind her desk staring at the casualty list scrolling across her monitor. All her instincts, all of her training had told her to pull back and ask for reinforcements. Overconfidence killed over two thousand people. That fact stabbed through her heart, piercing Lea’s very soul. Tears flowed down her cheeks. What have I done?

The captain’s quarters door slid open and Cain stepped inside with his face hung low. He was never good at hiding his feelings; not from her. “How are you doing?”

Lea wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’m fine. Just going over the casualty reports.”

Cain slowly walked over and switched off the scrolling list of guilt. “They’ve been confirmed.” He brushed Lea’s hair away from her eyes. “You did everything you could.”

“I should’ve pulled back and asked for reinforcements.”

“What reinforcements? You know there are no more ships manned by crews without implants. Not to mention, there probably wasn’t time.” His eyes softened. “I love you. I hate seeing you like this.” He handed her a tablet. “Here’s the damage report.”

Lea’s thumb glided along the touch screen, skimming the long list of needed repairs. “Well, at least we’re alive.”

Cain smiled. “Barely. But, we do have some good news.”

“I could use some.”

“We’ve finally got our full complement of fighters. The truth is, if it wasn’t for them, we never would have escaped.”

Lea blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Turns out they destroyed a few missiles heading our way, and with the tactical display down—”

“We never saw it coming.” Lea sighed. “We need to use our fighters more.”

“I agree. They were an underutilized asset.”

Lea looked up at him. All her life, he’d been there for her. A few years ago, Cain was offered his first star, but he turned it down flat. He said that he would do nothing that would ever jeopardize their marriage, and he meant it. One time, he turned against his own parents because she told him that they made her feel uncomfortable. It was a lie, of course, they just got in the way of her mother. Her eyes began to well up again. Lea always put her career and her materialistic needs ahead of the family they’d promised each other. “I want to have children.”

“What?”

“After this assignment is done. Let’s save the planet and find somewhere to raise our children,” Lea said.

“You mean it? You really mean it this time?”

She kissed him. “Yes.”

“Did you report your failure to Admiral Lyons yet?” Nine inquired.

“Can’t you knock?” Cain demanded.

“I’m the political officer. I don’t need to knock.” Nine moved away from the door in front of Lea’s desk. “I’ll take that as a no.”

Lea glared at Nine. “We just got the complete damage report. We need time to prepare the proper report back to fleet HQ.”

“I got the communications console working,” Nine said.

“When?” Cain asked.

Lea rolled her eyes. “Thanks. That’s one of a thousand things off the list.”

“I already sent my report to GIS.

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