Runners: Runners Book One (The Runners Series 1) by Toby Neighbors

Author:Toby Neighbors [Neighbors, Toby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781952260216
Publisher: Mythic Adventure Publishing, LLC
Published: 2021-02-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

After sitting with Diana for a few hours, Wes spent a shift on the bridge. Four hours later, he was relieved by Saide. He went immediately his cabin and fell exhausted into bed. He slept nearly six hours before his com-link woke him up. I blared a warning signal loud enough to wake him up even thought the com-link was still on his jacket which he had tossed haphazardly onto a chair. He sat up rubbing his eyes and felt a hot stab of pain in his gut. He needed rest and a little tranquility if he was going to get over the stomach ulcer.

A second later his door swooshed open. Only Diana had the lock override authority in the biometric mechanism, but Wes couldn’t remember if he had locked his cabin door or not.

“We’ve got trouble,” Di said from the doorway.

Wes looked at her, and was happy to see that she seemed back to her usual self. Only the perpetual smile that normal graced her attractive face was gone. Her mouth was pressed into a hard line, and there were wrinkles on her forehead between her eyes.

“The hyperdrive?” Wes asked, his heart pounding in his chest as he pulled on his boots.

“Worse,” Di said. “We got yanked out of FTL by a GA Interdictor ship. They’re hailing us.”

“What?” Wes asked. “That’s not right. Stu took us off the trade route.”

He jumped up, grabbed his jacket and followed Di down the hallway to the Bridge. Stu was sitting at his console rocking back and forth. He was humming too, another obvious sign that he was afraid. The GA had laws about running the blockade, and while their claims of authority over interstellar space were dubious at best, they were big enough to enforce them.

“Can we get clear?” Wes asked. “Make another jump?”

“They’re already hailing us,” Saide said. “They will have registered our ship. If we run now, we’ll be wanted in every Galactic Authority port we stop at.”

“Why the hell are they here?” Wes asked.

He was looking at the view screens that covered the far wall of the Bridge. There were more than one GA ship. They were unmistakable in their gleaming white, high gloss paint with maroon lettering on the side. Wes could see the interdictor ship, two small corsairs, and a battle ship.

“Where are we?” Wes asked.

“Just outside the Freemont...” Stu struggled to say, his head turning as he wrestled with the last word, “system.”

“Freemont?” Di said. “It’s uninhabited. Not even a space station.”

“That we know of,” Wes said. “Stu, have we gone this way before?”

“Not in a... while,” he said.

“There’s only two reasons they’re here,” Wes said.

“It’s obvious why they’re here,” Saide snarled, the cables running to his neural clusters falling away as he jumped to his feet from the pilot’s seat. “That damn kid betrayed us.”

“What?” Diana asked as Saide raced around the Bridge console.

The Hyborian could be scary. They were predators and Saide was lean but muscular. He moved with swift purpose, bolting past Wes and down the corridor.

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