Starship Renegade: The Complete Series (Books 1-9): Complete Series Box Sets by Daniel Young

Author:Daniel Young [Young, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-10-03T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

Kelly returned to the Disori Mine’s dispatch depot. Strom and Deck supervised the civilian evacuation, but the mine population handled themselves so well that they didn’t really need any aid. Everyone helped each other, despite the cramped conditions and the ever-present threat of annihilation.

The miners took over, loading all their Osnite on board the three freighters. The freighters took off into space, heading away from the air battle.

The population packed into the empty magazines, where everyone had to camp on the floor. Superintendent Mahey scuttled all over the place, bringing in food and water supplies, setting up sanitation facilities, and arranging medical teams for anyone who needed treatment.

Kirkwell squinted at the supply magazine ceiling. “This thing won’t be strong enough to withstand a blast from a Dreadnought or a battleship. The magazine isn’t fortified for anything stronger than a rifle shot.”

“Then let’s hope all the gunshots land in other parts of the mine,” Kelly replied. “This will make it less likely that anyone will get hit, just in case the miraculous happens and the combatants are too busy shooting at each other instead of us.”

“What about the fighters on the towers?” Van Doren asked. “Gunfire from our cannons will draw the combatants to the mine.”

“We’ll hold our fire until we’re sure the combatants really are shooting at us. It looked earlier like the independents were trying to defend the mine to protect their own.”

“And if they do start shooting at us?” Shriver asked. “As soon as we open fire, they’ll consider us combatants—which will make the whole mine fair game.”

“Then the sons of bitches will see all these life signs in one place,” Markham added. “Anyone who wants to attack these people will know exactly where to shoot.”

“The Aellas Navy would never do something like that,” Beech insisted. “The Aellas Navy would never attack a civilian outpost.”

“Wake up, you chump,” Markham countered. “The Aellas Navy was the one who sent us here to slaughter all these people.”

“We’re traitors for disobeying that order,” Nowak murmured. “We’re mutinying by defending these people.”

“I don’t give a shit if we are,” Ridley countered. “We are not attacking these people, and we sure as shit aren’t leaving them to die when someone else attacks them.”

“Settle down,” Kelly interrupted. “We’re not attacking them. If the air battle keeps moving off or if the independents keep interfering, we might not have to shoot at anyone.”

“Oh, we’ll definitely have to shoot at someone,” Nadarth chimed in. “It’s only a matter of time before we have to shoot at someone.”

“We’ll just be doing our jobs if we shoot at the Biaes Division or the independents,” Ives replied. “We’ll only be crossing the line if we shoot at Navy targets.”

“We’re already crossing the line just by being here,” Shriver pointed out. “We disobeyed a direct order, and now we’re defending the same people we were ordered to kill. We should be helping the Biaes Division destroy this place—not defending it.”

“That’s enough,” Kelly snapped. “We don’t need to argue about it.

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