False Horizons by CJ Birch

Author:CJ Birch [Birch, CJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781635555202
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2019-07-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Ash

We enter a bridge in chaos. Crew run back and forth, checking instruments, yelling reports at each other from the other side of the bridge, and in a few cases, I hear muffled responses from the deck below. Kalve rushes into the middle of everything. I melt into the background to stay out of everyone’s way, but also so I don’t get asked to leave. I’d like to be here for the action.

Jordan would never let her bridge get this crazy. First she’d calm everyone down before proceeding with a well-thought-out plan. I’m trying to think how I would handle it if I were captain, when Kalve beckons me to his side.

“Your ship, the Posterus, what kind of defenses does it have?”

“Why?” A thread of alarm snaps taut in my belly. Have I misjudged these people?

He points to a giant ship off the bow of the Posterus. It’s immense and looks hostile. “That’s the Avokaado. It’s very unlikely they’re here to make friends.” The ship is ten times the size of the Posterus, the largest ship the human species ever built. It’s a city drifting over us. The observation screen zooms in on the top decks of the ship. Five rows of cannons lift their protective shields, ready to aim and fire on our ships.

“They’re going to attack us? What for?”

“They’re known as the Varbaja. They recruit people against their will for war. Specifically, war against us. They probably approached the Posterus to add to their army. They’ll board the ship and capture anyone they think will be good fighters.”

“My people will fight back.” I don’t even have to question that assertion. The majority of people on the Posterus are scientists, civilians, people who will help create a balanced society. The Persephone and the Brimley were the only military personnel on the mission, and it doesn’t look like the Brimley’s returned from its mission. But humans are resilient. Every person on the Posterus will immediately defend it. We’ve spent twenty years preparing for this mission. We won’t let it fall to pieces the second we leave the gate.

“They’ll lose,” Kalve says.

“Maybe.” But it would be poor strategy to take too many of the Posterus crew. Over forty thousand humans are on that ship. That’s a large number to take all at once, not to mention the aftermath. That many members of the same species working together from the inside to escape would cause chaos. “Do you know if they’ve boarded yet?”

Kalve turns to one of his men, who shakes his head. “No. They haven’t. Which is strange.”

“Can you disable their ship? Or destroy it? Isn’t that something this ship is designed for? To defeat these people?” All we’ve done since we landed in this galaxy is get ourselves stuck in the middle of one conflict or another.

He turns kind eyes on me. “If it were only that simple. Do you know how many people are on that ship? How many of them don’t want to be there? Even if we could destroy it, should we?”

“Can we talk to the captain on the Posterus?”

He nods.

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