Nexus Empire: Star Nexus (Book 1) by Dominique Mondesir & C.W Tickner

Author:Dominique Mondesir & C.W Tickner [Mondesir, Dominique & Tickner, C.W]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Broken Native
Published: 2023-08-12T16:00:00+00:00

31

There was no dream but there was certainly a sudden awakening. It came from Silver, standing over him as he lay on the airlock floor and berating him for being such a stupid human.

‘You’re not a hero for saving Xen,’ she scolded. ‘He’s a drunk and you’re a fool.’

‘Did I fire?’ Jason croaked, hoping he had managed something.

‘Yes. You got it.’

He smiled weakly.

‘Incoming transmission,’ Calc said, pulling away hard from alongside the freighter. ‘Seems they may have taken offense to our being so close without good reason.’

‘Do we have a screen or is it always audio?’ Jason asked, thinking of the movies he used to watch in more civilized and less perilous places.

‘Sending a video call request,’ Roo said.

‘Hang on,’ Jason said, getting to his feet. ‘Wait—’

It was too late. A man’s face came on screen. High cheekbones framed a face pinched with perfection. Like a plastic surgeon with an unhealthy Barbie obsession, he was a model of beauty but tempered with freezing water to give a cold, calculated finish.

‘Before we begin,’ the Vistar said, ‘what is your name?’

‘Captain Jason Korzon,’ Jason said, not caring if he had anything to lose.

The Vistar raised an eyebrow. ‘Really?’

‘Should it not be?’ Jason asked.

The Vistar shrugged before continuing. ‘You have trespassed too close to our freighter and because of this, you must surrender your ship and cargo for inspection by our trade customs officers.’

‘They know the ship is unusual,’ Calc whispered. ‘They’re just making excuses to have a gander.’

‘It’s out of their jurisdiction,’ Silver said.

‘By an entire galaxy,’ Calc confirmed.

‘That is out of your jurisdiction,’ Jason said, hoping Silver and Calc were right.

The Vistar’s perfect visage twisted into a labyrinth of rage.

‘My name is High Councilor Mandar and as one of the Three, I am authorizing a search warrant for your vessel under the suspicious ship act eighteen, section four.’

Silver tapped away on her console and cut in on the comms before Jason could try and stop her. ‘You have two minutes left before you need to leave this system. Come and try it, you pathetic excuse for a Vistar high negotiator, and we’ll see who has the real authority.’

Silver cut the comms line and looked at them all. ‘Calling their bluff. I just hope it works.’

Xen chuckled. ‘They must have been waiting twenty days to be first in queue. They’ll never do it.’ He took a swig of his flask and tried to look embarrassed when Jason spotted him. He opened his mouth to say something, then snapped it shut as Calc brought the ship around to face the side of the Vistar freighter.

‘They might be calling that bluff of yours,’ Calc said. ‘Five class one fighters just left their hangar with a class two shuttle in tow.’ He jammed the engines to full capacity. ‘Let’s give them a chase to remember.’

‘Can we outrun them?’ Xen asked.

Calc grinned, sweeping fingers up the engine speed controls. ‘Like a rock versus a bullet.’

The ship lurched forwards, pressing Jason hard back into his seat and threatening the remnants of the meal in his stomach with absolute freedom.

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