Robber Barrons: A Military Sci-Fi Series by Nanci Schwartz

Author:Nanci Schwartz [Schwartz, Nanci]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2022-09-12T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

Without warning the Robber Barron banked to port so hard Victoria had to tighten her restraints to keep from falling out of her seat. The acceleration compensators kicked in at the last second, somehow causing her guts to churn even more than they already were.

“What the bloody hell just happened?” Uncle Ben asked.

“‘Nother group of ships dropped out of hyperspace,” Aunt Nika said. “Don’t know who they are, but they deactivated the primary tractor beam.”

“I take it I don’t have to tell you to get as far away from the Vigilant as you can?”

“Already on it.” Aunt Nika pushed the thrusters as hard as they would go. The Robber Barron soared toward Albro Station.

Victoria pressed her hand against the viewport, her other hand clutching her father’s necklace. Just because they were out of the tractor beam didn’t mean they were safe. The Vigilant was still within firing range and could activate its secondary tractor beam at any moment. Then there was the Armstrong, bearing down on them from point seven five, almost in tractor beam range. It was like the Robber Barron was in the middle of a triangle with its sides squeezing together, the only safety found in the space beyond Albro Station, if they could even get there. Victoria’s heart pounded as she thought of Admiral Parshant, desperate to hand her over to the Prime Minister, and her mother, desperate to capture her for her own purposes.

But those weren’t Victoria’s only concerns. The new arrivals bore down on them from the aft. The sensor board lit up with distance ranges and relative velocities. Victoria blinked and checked the readouts. That couldn’t be true. She ran the calculations again and cringed when her hypothesis was confirmed. “Aunt Nika, that group of ships is heading in our direction. They’ll reach us before anyone else.”

“I see ‘em. Hang on!”

“Wait!” Uncle Ben cried out before Aunt Nika could send the Robber Barron into another stomach-churning spiral. He shifted his chair starboard and a map illuminated from his station. “Turn around and get in range of the new ships.”

The curse that came out of Aunt Nika’s mouth made it clear what she thought of Uncle Ben’s order, but she followed it anyway, spinning the ship 180 degrees. Albro Station, their only sanctuary in this mess, grew smaller in the viewport, then disappeared as the Robber Barron finished its turn.

Once they were reoriented, the new ships appeared in the forward viewport—four frigates, each about three times the size of the Robber Barron, as well as a capital ship much larger than the Armstrong. Larger than the Vigilant, too. The ventral weapons emplacements boasted more firepower than any ship Victoria had ever seen. Two of the frigates fired on the Vigilant—not doing any damage, only to push the Janusians out of range—while the others formed a defensive screen between the Robber Barron and the Armstrong. The huge flagship remained directly in front of them, its hangar like a beacon calling Victoria home.

“What do we do now?” Aunt Nika said.

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