Prodigal (Scattered Stars: Conviction Book 6) by Glynn Stewart

Author:Glynn Stewart [Stewart, Glynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Faolan's Pen Publishing
Published: 2023-04-17T16:00:00+00:00

32

“So swift to run when things go wrong, I see.”

Henry Killinger was not, so far as Kira could tell, even trying to stay on her good side.

“You are one part of the alliance we are trying to build,” she reminded him. “Admiral Michelakis has asked to meet with me, specifically—much as you did.”

The gaunt Admiral grunted his acknowledgement and allowed a surprisingly honest grimace to cross his face.

“Apologies, Admiral Demirci,” he forced out. “My people…” He sighed. “My people’s morale is in rough shape. We got our asses handed to us, and while I still think that your Brisingr people are far from innocent, our evidence suggests that the BKN knew exactly what to bait us with.”

“Your losses were more than painful, Admiral,” Kira told him. “We lost less than thirty people all told on my side, and that hurt. Your people lost hundreds of their friends.”

He nodded sharply.

“I…apologize for my manner since Shenandoah,” he told her, the words still sounding like he was gritting his teeth. “It has been a long time since I lost officers and crew under my command—and I have never lost this many.”

He’d been a nova combat group commander during the war. Kira had confirmed that he’d been promoted to command Oceanic Trident after that—an odd choice for a fighter officer, but given that Trident had been joined at the thrusters to Victorious, she could see the logic.

And then that entire battle group had been “lost in an accident,” giving him the foundation of his rebel fleet.

He’d lost more people at Shenandoah than he had ever commanded before he’d talked an entire battle group into mutiny. She still wondered how he’d done that—and just what had happened to Rear Admiral Eden Sosa, the highly decorated officer who’d commanded Carrier Group Victorious.

“We did all we could,” she told him. “Our enemies knew your weaknesses. Even the ones you hadn’t told us.”

“I have more concerns than mere pique over your departure, yes,” he allowed. “With the loss of Victorious and the fighting at Shenandoah, we have less than three squadrons of nova fighters left. Two bombers. Six heavy fighters. Eight interceptors. Trident’s hangar holds them all and still feels half-empty.”

A third empty, in truth. The battlecruiser alone should have carried four squadrons, twenty-four planes.

“I am…” He grimaced and glanced past Kira. Presumably, the office he was sitting in had some kind of display on the wall behind her hologram. “I am not as convinced of the safety of the Faaselesitila base as some of my captains.”

“Minefields can be overcome. They buy you time,” she told him.

“I know.” He nodded. “I know. But they were a defense we could produce without consuming any resource we couldn’t find in Faaselesitila. And they have been our shield for long enough that even I was falling into the trap of thinking here was invulnerable.

“But after Shenandoah…” He sighed. “I reassessed and realized we had slipped into complacency. I think I will need to move the fleet, but we will complete what repairs we can here before we move on.

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