The Shattered Empire (The Shadow Space Chronicles Book 2) by Kal Spriggs

Author:Kal Spriggs [Spriggs, Kal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sutek Press
Published: 2014-10-24T04:00:00+00:00

“So,” Lucius said as he studied the faint contact. “Why exactly did it take almost six hours for us to notice this?” Lieutenant Commander Harper had taken a further hour or more to notify Lucius... which irritated him. This mysterious contact had been inside weapons range for the past seven hours, they had no notice of whether it was friend or foe, and they still hadn't gone to battle stations.

Lieutenant Commander Harper flushed and when he spoke, his voice was defensive. “Sir, we wanted to make certain that there was actually something there first.”

“We?” Lucius asked. “From what I understand, your sensor tech has seven hours of data... and you told me you were notified an hour ago. Six hours isn't time spent verifying it as a contact, you could do that in six minutes... or less.” Lucius didn't hide his edge of irritation. “Who noticed this initially?”

Harper cleared his throat. “Uh, Sensor Tech Brendai.”

Lucius nodded and thought a moment until he remembered the name of the head of the sensors and communications department aboard the destroyer, “And when did Lieutenant Chungpoole bring this up to you?”

Harper didn't answer for a moment. When he finally spoke, his face was wooden and he clearly chose each word with care, “Ensign Perkins, of the navigation department notified the Executive Officer approximately four hours after Sensor Tech Brendai picked up the contact.”

Lucius stared at the destroyer's Captain for a long moment, “Why, exactly, did your navigation officer...”

“Assistant Navigational Officer,” Lieutenant Commander Harper interrupted.

“You have an experienced officer acting as the assistant navigational officer?” Lucius asked. It seemed like the more he heard the worse the situation looked. “No, don't answer that, let's go back to why Sensor Tech Brendai sent this to the navigation department four hours afterward. Did he send it to his petty officer? When was Lieutenant Chungpoole notified?”

“Sir,” Lieutenant Commander Harper said, his voice flat, “With all due respect, I will manage this matter, it is my vessel and I know the delicate issues involved.”

Lucius sat back and his eyes narrowed. “Delicate issues? You have an unknown vessel, possibly with a psychic pilot, that has matched your course in shadow space. You've had a serious breakdown in the chain of command. These aren't delicate issues, these are command issues... ones you need to deal with.” Lucius wasn't certain if the captain fully realized the implications of a ship able to match their course in shadow space. Lucius knew that psychic navigators could utilize more dimensions in shadow space. He also knew that rumors said the Shadow Lords pirated ships in shadow space. That implied that they had the ability to match a vessel's course in shadow space.

“I will, sir,” Lieutenant Commander Harper said, his voice barely civil. “But, as yet, this anomaly is still not confirmed as a ship. I feel, since there has been no activity, it is most likely due to exterior damage to the sensors, rather than an actual ship.”

Lucius chose to ignore the other man's tone.

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