The Valmont Contingency by Val Roberts

Author:Val Roberts [Roberts, Val]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, General, Science Fiction, Romance
ISBN: 9781426894428
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Garrick swallowed hard. Things had been going so well for the last several shift cycles. Tasha had subjected him to an interrogation after she came back from her physical, but she seemed satisfied with the half answers he gave everyone who asked how he had gotten possession of Direwolf.

He couldn’t tell them all the truth without violating any number of ben Khalid and Republic Navy policies regarding classified development projects, so he stuck to the cover story. Besides, how many of them would believe the truth? “I designed it, so I get to test it,” would have sent more than half the people asking questions into uncontrollable laughter.

Tasha wouldn’t have laughed at the idea, but that only made it dangerous to tell her the truth. Dangerous to her. She had relaxed after he admitted that, barring significant equipment failures, this was their last patrol, scheduled to end in another six sepcykes. She had even seemed content to find a routine that included a more intimate relationship with him during their offshift hours—he particularly liked being able to kiss her awake just before the clock-tone sounded. Life had been sweet for a few cykes, other than Misha occasionally pulling him aside to mention something else he’d just found out about the Valmonts.

The declassified memo stack titled “The Valmont Contingency” had been something of a shock, at least as far as the timing went.

But then the bogey had shown up half a shift ago, not quite under power and not quite drifting. And it had ignored hails, but hadn’t tried to run. All were bad signs—indicators that the ship was a corbie.

He didn’t want to do this again. He really didn’t want to subject Tasha to what they were going to find when they boarded this vessel.

“Rip,” he said softly and scrubbed both hands over his face.

“Sir?” Charlie sounded tentative, unusual for him. “Are we going to board the bogey?”

“You know what’s over there.”

“Yes, sir.” Charlie looked serious, but not worried. Garrick would have been the same before Tasha had become a member of the crew. But now…

“Fine. You can explain it to the medic.”

He watched Charlie’s face pale. “Do you expect her to join the boarding party, sir?”

“Rip, no.” Tasha needed to be kept as far away from that ship as possible.

Kreutzhoff hadn’t bothered boarding after the first few corbies. “I’ve seen butcher shops before” had been his only explanation. Garrick hadn’t pushed because it was clear that even those still breathing were beyond Kreutzhoff’s help, anyway. Tasha, on the other hand, would wear herself to the bone to keep a pulse going in the most brain-dead corbie and blame herself when—not if—it roused enough to try to kill her.

He hit the comm. “Misha, we have an unidentified bogey showing corbielike behavior. Get ready.”

“Understood. Are you coming?” Meaning that Misha was giving Garrick the option of sitting it out because he’d recently been injured.

“I’m not sending the CMO.” The words came out sounding grim. But he felt grim at the moment, so it was appropriate.

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