Manifest Destiny (Tin Man Space Opera Adventure Book 3) by James David Victor

Author:James David Victor [Victor, James David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fairfield Publishing
Published: 2022-08-29T16:00:00+00:00

10

The view of Earth from space is something relatively few have seen, and none get used to. Commander William Kyle had now seen it more than most of humanity combined ever had. But now, hovering above Earth, his eyes were drawn to something else. Something even more outlandish.

"Sitrep," he ordered.

Abigail Trent—second-in-command of the North Star, a woman hardened on an unforgiving planet and tempered in a battlefield among the stars—hunched over the monitor, eyes wide and wild. The screen lit up with flashes of red. "The fleet is mobilizing."

"How much of it?"

Trent clenched her jaw, reluctant to answer. "Ninety percent of it. They appear to be leaving four destroyers in place around the jump-gate."

"Trajectory?"

"Too soon to tell, sir. But if I was betting woman..."

"Yeah," Kyle said despondently. "Get Tin Man and Vandenberg on the line."

Lieutenant Alvarez seemed to Kyle like the sort of person he would have loved to have under his command back in the simpler days, when that command entailed pacifying continents and unifying the planet. Back then, there was a clear objective and a clear means of meeting that objective. The only objective now was survival, and the means by which he would accomplish that were few and far between. Even if he managed to keep them all alive, he had no idea anymore what came next.

"Lieutenant Alvarez and Tin Man on the line, sir," Trent said.

"Somebody kick up a hornet's nest down there?" Kyle asked.

"That might have been me," Shoji answered. "They know Tin Man is on Earth."

Kyle's chin fell to his chest. Mora had a rollercoaster of a career as a fighter pilot. He was the best in his day, and he knew it. A hotshot and a glory hound. Until he became crippled by his conscience. And then he became cynical, though his reckless instincts were still there under the surface. "Couldn't be helped, I suppose?"

"No, sir."

"The Vhast are moving up their timeline," Kyle said. "They recognize Tin Man as a threat. They're mobilizing their fleet. I'm guessing they'll be dropping ground troops and start getting more aggressive about extracting assets."

"Commander Kyle." Beck's voice was still like stone. "I believe they will be targeting Tin Man for another reason as well. The Vhast have accessed Manifest records. They know the location of Manifest labs and personnel. We can only assume they are familiar with the Tin Man crew."

Understanding tightened like a rocky fist around Kyle's throat. "They're coming for you."

"Yes, sir."

Kyle and Trent exchanged a look. They mirrored each other's battle-hardened stares. "Understood. Finish your mission, Tin Man. We'll watch your six."

"Roger that, sir," Shoji said. Tin Man dropped off the line.

"Lieutenant," Kyle said. "Things are about to get hairy. We need to buy Tin Man as much time as we can to get those comm relays installed. Here's what we're going to do."

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