Starfighter (Strike Commander Book 1) by Richard Tongue

Author:Richard Tongue
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Tags: Space Fleet, Space Exploration, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction, Exploration, Adventure, Military, Space Marine
Publisher: Publisher
Published: 2016-06-24T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

 There was a loud knock on Kathryn Mallory's door, and she glanced up from her paperwork, sighing as she activated the release. Her assistant, Frank Corwin, stepped in, uniform pristine as normal. She glanced down at her own disheveled appearance, wondering how he always managed to look so damned perfect.

 “Something wrong, Lieutenant?” she asked. “Given that it's twenty-three-hundred, and all reasonable people should probably be thinking about going to bed?”

 “The orbital network has picked up something coming into the system, ma'am,” he replied. “Dimensional interference at the local hendecaspace point.”

 A frown flooded her face, and she said, “There's nothing scheduled to arrive for two weeks.”

 “That's what I thought, ma'am.”

 Instantly alert, she pushed past her subordinate and jogged out into the corridor, running around the perimeter of the dome towards the base command center. She glanced through the long windows at the cold, dark expanse of the planet beyond, towering pillars of ice reaching for the sky, a host of blue and green that sparkled in the twinkling starlight. When she'd arrived, it had been one of the most beautiful sights she had ever seen, but it never changed, never moved. Somehow, she hadn't taken the time to look at it properly, not in the four months since the base was brought on-line.

 Stepping through the door, she saw her second-in-command, Holly Hansen, crouched over a sensor display, her forgotten jacket draped over the back of a chair. She had fifteen years on her, but only one grade in rank. The sort of ambitious officer she used to be, a long time ago.

 “Report, Lieutenant,” she said.

 “Definitely something coming into the system,” she said. “Medium size, maybe a transport.” Turning to face her, she suggested, “Maybe they've sent the transport early for once.”

 “Early?” she replied. “They've been late every time so far. Bring the orbital defense network on-line, and sound the alert.” Glancing at Corwin, still standing by the door, she added, “Have all civilians report to their quarters on the double, and I mean all of them. No excuses, no demands for extra time. Move.”

 “Yes, ma'am,” he said, snapping a salute before racing down the corridor towards the science labs. The archaeological team had been nothing but a source of frustration ever since they'd arrived, though she had to admit they'd made some startling finds so far. The starfield frieze, dug out of a ruined bunker three weeks past, had been a major breakthrough, and she smiled as she remembered the party the young discoverer had thrown after filing his report with the last transport.

 This base might be important, but it wasn't what she had wanted. Every command-track officer in the Academy would claim they desired a starship command, not matter how small, but she'd fallen off the lists years ago, pushed from one dead-end job to another, further and further away from home. She pulled out her wallet, and flicked open to the holoimage of her daughter, taken on her last furlough. Susan had chosen the same life as her, had joined the Academy, but she wasn't sure it was the life she wanted to lead, not anymore.

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