Black Cutlass by Jamie McFarlane

Author:Jamie McFarlane [McFarlane, Jamie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fickle Dragon Publishing LLC
Published: 2020-08-06T04:00:00+00:00

Sixteen

Bengerici

"Captain Noah?"

Lieutenant Larka's voice filtered through Noah's subconscious. He'd spent most of his life living under the gun from either Mendari or Kifeda patrols and was, therefore, easily awakened. He'd fallen asleep on the couch in the captain's quarters while working out strategy. He was suddenly aware of a second presence. Seri's long white hair entangled his arm and he searched his memory for how he'd ended up in his current position.

Shame, or an emotion not far from that, caused him to check for the presence of clothing. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief when he found that both he and his gorgeous first mate were both still clothed. Gorgeous. It was a description he knew better than to use for crew. Especially crew who served directly beneath him.

If not for Larka's timely second query, he might have allowed his eyes to dwell on the lithe woman who'd entangled him with more than her hair. "Captain, I apologize for waking you," Larka continued insistently.

Noah nudged the still sleeping Lonseri away, careful to prop her up sufficiently that she didn't fall over. "Go ahead, Lieutenant," he answered quietly.

"That scenario you were asking about has presented itself," she said.

Noah's heart leapt. He'd provided Larka with detailed vector analysis of the asteroids orbiting Farija and asked to be updated if any of the four frigates attempting to entrap them entered what he'd named the red zone. The red zone was a constantly moving, constantly shifting pocket of space that was especially dangerous because it periodically closed, leaving anything inside limited choices for collision avoidance. To make matters even more complex, Vidar was constantly on the move, dodging Kifeda's attempts to line up for a fight or force them into the asteroids. They were in a deadly game of cat and mouse, one that Noah knew only too well. Now, it seemed, he might have an opportunity to show the enemy fleet that this mouse had sharp teeth.

"Show red zone analysis," Noah ordered his AI, no longer caring if he woke Seri. He slapped his hand against the electronic locking panel and waited impatiently for his door to open.

"Noah, what is amiss?" Seri's soft voice caught him from behind. In any other circumstance, he'd have been tempted to return to her, but he was a hunter and there was nothing more exciting than the hunt.

"Red zone," he tossed over his shoulder as he sprinted toward Vidar's bridge. A thin 3D image projected in front of him as he moved, showing the six ships: Vidar, the four Kifeda frigates and the small battle cruiser. He had to give Kifeda some credit. They had managed to sneak the battle cruiser, now referred to as Kifeda Alpha, into the system. His ire rose as he waited for the security system to approve entry to the bridge.

"Captain on the bridge," Ensign Serrel announced. His ire diminished, hearing respect in the ensign's voice.

"Larka report," Noah snapped, a smile tugging at his lips and blood pounding in his ears. He lived for these moments.

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