Shadow of Oblivion by Richard Tongue

Author:Richard Tongue [Tongue, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-19T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

The shuttle soared over the lunar surface, racing towards its target, the cluster of three battlecruisers hanging in low orbit alongside their supply station. The Interstellar Squadron. The most prestigious assignment in the fleet at any time, especially now, with war being raged across the stars. Maddox had been told that they were to be held back, waiting for an opportunity to use them, a threat that could inspire fear into the heart of the Belters.

Now they were going out, out into deep space, and she was to command them. Under the gaze of Admiral Alvarez, of course, but that didn’t make any difference. She was getting a squadron command again, and the most prized squadron in the fleet, the peak of any officer’s career. She had resigned herself to simply sitting on Gateway Station for the rest of the war, watching while the ships she worked on sailed to battle under others.

Not now. Now she had a chance to go out herself. A chance to match herself against the best the Belt had to offer. A chance to make a difference. She glanced back at her two aides, Rojek and Moreau. The latter had served with her for years, had been her assistant at Gateway, was a trusted confidant. Rojek, on the other hand, remained a mystery, the bulk of his career buried under security restrictions. What little she could discern suggested that he was the last person she would normally have selected for such an assignment. The Admiral, however, hadn’t given her any choice. It was Rojek or nobody. He would just have to do.

“Commodore?” the young pilot said. “We’re landing in two minutes. Captain Wells has been alerted and will be meeting us at Docking One.”

“Thank you, Ensign,” she replied, climbing out of the co-pilot’s couch. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Any time, ma’am,” he said with a smile, as she tugged at her dress uniform, brushing off her jacket to make sure everything was in place. Nobody ever had more than one first impression. Hers had to be good. This wasn’t a backwater posting like Gateway. This was important, and that importance filled her with awe. Moreau was at his best, his uniform parade-ground smart, but somehow Rojek had mastered the art of slouching into his, resisting the best efforts of the Fleet’s tailors to force conformity.

She looked at the sleek, smooth lines of the battlecruiser Glorious before her, trying to take in every detail. It had been years since she’d served on a ship of this size, and that had only been on a decommissioning assignment, shortly after she’d left the Academy. Compared to that aged craft, Glorious gleamed, a true flagship of the Fleet.

The shuttle lined up with the docking airlock, the pilot firing a few careful pulses on the docking thrusters to guide them into position, connecting with the warship with a barely perceptible thud. The double hatches slid open, and Maddox stepped into the threshold, two meticulously-uniformed officers waiting for them, snapping precision-grade salutes.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.