Abysm by G. S. Jennsen Read Free Book Online Page B

surrender for courts martial proceedings.”
    Admiral Solovy ( EAS Stalwart II ):  “I do not recognize the validity of BANIA or any regulations and directives which follow from it. You have, without provocation or cause, attacked a peaceful civilian station operated by Earth Alliance citizens. This is the act of war, not anything I or those with me have done or said.”
    Forced to reside partially in ‘real’ space in order to listen, Alex now grew vexed. Her mother’s ship appeared to be untouchable—and even more stunningly beautiful in the elemental space—but the Volnosti ships were ridiculously few in number. She couldn’t find Rychen’s dreadnought anywhere.
    She had no idea what space combat was going to entail in an age of adiamene hulls and rampant stealth, but surely numbers still mattered. What was her mother expecting to back the threat up with? For the moment the Volnosti forces were holding off a force four times larger in size.
    It was a testament to superior technology and superior motivation, but those would not be enough.
    Morgan:  Just wait.
    Alex:  Lekkas, for fuck’s sake, quit vicariously getting yourself off on the combat and stay out of my head—what do you mean, ‘just wait?’
    Receiving only a virtual snicker in response, she forcibly yanked herself fully out of the ship and into her body. She blinked, hard. “Ken, what does Morgan Lekkas mean by ‘just wait?’ ”
    “Oh, nice of you to join us. We’re fine, thank you, if a smidge nauseated. It would presumably pass if you stopped flying like there weren’t actual people in the ship.”
    “Ken, what does she mean ?”
    “The vessels hidden at Murat? I assume they were called in. But I—”
    The rest of Kennedy’s retort faded into the background as Alex plunged into the ship once again, emboldened by the news there may be additional ships incoming.
    Murat. As she mulled over the unfamiliar term in her mind, the information came to her through the sea of data in the Noesis. Brand new Federation world less than a kiloparsec from Messium.
    She spotted the telltale displacement of another stealthed interdictor approaching. Annoyed at Kennedy’s grumbling, she spun an extra three-sixty as she descended from above.
    She didn’t have a good bead on its engines yet, but she mostly needed to distract it and draw it away from the command ship while highlighting its presence. She took aim and streamed her laser toward the enemy craft—
    —Her skin shuddered from the unexpected impact of return fire. She gasped in a breath; she was on fire.
    No, you are not.
    But she could feel it burn. Her shielding held, but she felt its struggles.
    Other fighters, now alerted to the interdictor’s presence, unloaded their weapons on her adversary until it veered off in the opposite direction from the command ship.
    She allowed herself two seconds to drift and recover before pivoting and seeking—
    —the reinforcements arrived.
    I’m not certain I would call this reinforcements so much as an additional fleet.
    I can’t disagree.
    They weren’t solely Rychen’s dreadnought and the older, more traditional ships which accompanied it, either. A new fleet, bearing the Alliance insignia much as her mother’s ship did and of a breathtaking design to match it emerged out of superluminal with pinpoint precision to take up positions surrounding the existing formations.
    In the blink of an eye, the Volnosti presence had tripled. Now this was more like it.
    Admiral Solovy ( EAS Stalwart II ):  “Admiral Fullerton, Messium Governor Soulis has deemed your attack on Messis I and Northeast Regional Command Headquarters to be unlawful acts of aggression against his government and the residents of Messium. As such, he’s requested protection from the Earth Alliance military.”
    Admiral Fullerton ( EAS Jefferson ):  “ We are the Earth Alliance military, and Governor Soulis is committing an unlawful act of treason.”
    Admiral Solovy ( EAS Stalwart II