The Lost Patrol (Lost Starship Series Book 5) by Vaughn Heppner

Author:Vaughn Heppner
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3
Published: 2016-07-17T12:00:00+00:00

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Admiral Esmeralda Diaz Lucia Sanchez stood on the bridge of the SWS Battleship Austerlitz. Shock twisted her one-hundred-year-old features. Silence reigned on the bridge. Everyone stared at the main screen.

“The pyramid is gone,” Sanchez whispered.

“So is Victory,” the sensor officer said hoarsely.

Sanchez bit a fingernail in indecision, finally turning to the sensor officer, a gruff old graybeard. “Did you…?” The admiral used her tongue to swab the inside of her mouth. It was bone dry. “Did you record the event?”

“I did,” the sensor officer said.

“You definitely saw the starship enter the hyper-spatial tube?”

The gray-bearded officer nodded.

Sanchez turned back to the main screen. The expanding debris from the pyramid’s blast had shredded many nearby asteroids. She found this difficult to accept. The ancient artifact had exploded. It was gone. So was the starship with its arrogant, half-New Man captain. What did that mean for the Commonwealth?

Sanchez knew Victory’s story as well as the next Star Watch officer. The ancient starship and its wickedly clever captain had been instrumental in humanity’s survival these past few years. Could the vessel have survived this catastrophe? She did not see how.

A knot of pain beat in her heart. The Lord High Admiral wanted to use the Nexuses in order to expand the Patrol’s range. Humanity needed that advantage if it was going to survive the Swarm.

Sanchez headed for her chair, concentrating on walking normally. She sat with a soft grunt. This was unbelievable. The Nexus—

She turned to the sensor officer. “I’ll have to send a destroyer to Earth. I have to get a message to High Command about this.”

“Better send several destroyers,” the old graybeard said. “You wouldn’t want a star cruiser intercepting the message.”

Sanchez stared at her most trusted officer. They’d worked together for over twenty-two years. “No. You’re wrong.”

The sensor officer seemed surprised.

“This might be the most important message in Star Watch just now,” Sanchez said. “I’m taking the entire flotilla back to Earth.”

“Ah,” the graybeard said. “Yes. Smart.”

Sanchez pressed the intercom button on her chair. It was time to collect her warships and speak to the workers on the space station. Then, she had to race back to Earth and give the Lord High Admiral the dreadful news.

***

Harsh, wheezing laughter filled the bridge of the cloaked star cruiser.

Strand sat in his chair while surrounded by his New Men bridge crew. He, too, watched the debris from the Nexus smash nearby asteroids.

The cloaked star cruiser was much farther away from the event than Admiral Sanchez was. The vessel had been here for several days already, observing many interesting things.

The laughter continued as Strand slouched in his thickly cushioned chair. The back of his head rested on the fabric. Tears leaked from his eyes. He held his chest as louder whoops of joy emitted from his throat.

Finally, the laughter began to subside. Strand worked himself into a sitting position. He wiped his eyes. He hadn’t laughed like that for a long, long time. Sheer joy and exuberance filled him. This was wonderful. According to his exacting calculations—

“The old goat is gone,” Strand declared.

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