Blood on the Stars Collection 1 by Jay Allan

Author:Jay Allan [Allan, Jay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jay Allan Media
Published: 2019-05-17T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Bridge

CFS Intrepid

Phillos System

308 AC

“Black Helm Squadron reports both enemy vessels destroyed, Captain. Gold Shields are doing sweeps out to the Varus transit point.” Nordstrom’s report was professional as always, but his satisfaction at the quick destruction of the target ships was evident.

“Very well, Commander.” Sara Eaton stared at the display. She’d launched three full spreads of probes the instant Intrepid had transited into the system, and half a dozen more since. As far as she could tell, there were no enemy vessels in Phillos, save for the two frigates her fighters had just destroyed.

“Black Helms are to land for refueling and refit. Gray Squadron is to support the Gold Shields. I want every millimeter of space from here to the transwarp link scouted.” The Black Helms were her best pilots, but she’d had them equipped for shipping strikes, overruling launch control’s plan to send the Grays out as bombers. She couldn’t take any chances on allowing an enemy ship to escape and warn whatever was waiting in Varus that two Confederation battleships and their escorts were on the way. Whatever chance they had to pull off this almost-insane operation, she suspected they had none at all if they lost the element of surprise.

“Yes, Captain.”

She felt a twinge of guilt at her thoughts, at the unjustified lack of confidence she felt in the Grays. She knew Intrepid’s three native squadrons and their personnel well, but Gray Squadron was a new and oversized formation assembled from bits and pieces of other ships’ fighter wings. They were good pilots, she knew, and some, she suspected, were excellent. But they weren’t used to flying together, and regardless of the skill of the personnel, that made a difference. She’d almost held them back entirely, but she wanted to keep one of her own squadrons in reserve, so she’d held the Longswords on alert in the launch bay. Just in case.

She knew she was lucky to have the Grays, and that the pilots themselves were fortunate to be part of Intrepid’s extended fighter wing. Their alternative had been death in the Battle of Arcturon, either by enemy fire, or by the loss of life support.

“Scouting reports all negative, Captain. It doesn’t appear that either frigate was able to dispatch a drone.”

“Continue the search, Commander. We need to be sure.” She didn’t think the enemy had gotten off a warning either, but she was well aware that one small drone, out there somewhere heading toward the Varus transit point, could be the difference between the success of the mission and total disaster.

“Yes, Captain.”

“And get me Captain Barron.”

“On your comm.”

“Captain, we’ve had no further contacts. I’ve got almost fifty drones deployed, plus two squadrons of fighters. I’m not saying there couldn’t be something hiding out there, but we’d detect anything that tried to communicate or power up for a move.” She knew she wasn’t reporting anything to Barron he couldn’t have surmised from his own scans and the earlier tactical reports she’d sent in. Intrepid had transited

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