Auberon (The Jessica Keller Chronicles Book 1) by Blaze Ward Read Free Book Online

struck Jessica as amusing, reading his file. Vilis Ozolinsh was short, broad, and ethnically Mongolian, but sounded like the bluest of blue bloods from the Fifty Families. He was from one of the noblest clans, but had fallen in love with jumpdrives at an early age and never looked back.
    He looked up from his complex board and turned to the Pilot without looking at the central chair. “Power is currently at eighty–four percent and climbing. Reactors stable within normal parameters. We are prepared for maximum effort at any time you desire.”
    Strnad nodded. “Navigation. Status?”
    The Pilot’s fingers danced across her complex flight board like a concert pianist playing a recital. She smiled, lighting up an otherwise plain and somewhat homely face. Her long blond ponytail bobbed in time to some inner rhythm.
    “Two course options available, Commander,” she said. “Straight shot out will take us about four hours to reach the jump. Or we can dive into the gravity well, slingshot once around the planet, and shave about thirty minutes off our ETA. Downside, it will make life hell for the shuttle pilot, once she drops her cargo and wants to get back to the surface. Orders?”
    Jessica watched Tamara weigh the options in her head for a second. Tamara turned to look at her for a second. Jessica shrugged.
    “Go for the slingshot, Zupan,” she called. “Better a minute early than a minute late.”
    Jessica smiled. That was the unofficial motto of the Fleet, whispered to each other while racing between classes.
    The pianist smiled and began a silent concerto on her desktop.
    Jessica always thought that her inner ear felt the shifts as a big vessel turned, even though scientists had long since concluded that the effects of the gravplates created an inertial field around a vessel like a bubble. Tea she was drinking in a mug might not ripple, but her ear knew.
    From her corner, Jessica watched Strnad eye the three remaining envelopes briefly, speculatively, before tucking them down the side of her chair by her leg.
    When she opened those, that was where it would get interesting.

Chapter VII
    Date of the Republic October 1, 392 Kismayo system
    It was the last of the tea.
    Tamara emptied the last dregs in her mug and locked it back into the holder. She had already gone to pee once, an hour ago. It would look bad to go again so soon. Adrenalin was an utter bitch, especially when you had a commander with a rep like Keller’s.
    Tamara scanned the bridge, taking in the commander, the XO, and the fighter pilot huddled in one corner. The whispers were too quiet to hear over the air system, so she could only guess what was being said. Hopefully, she hadn’t looked too bad on her first day with the new boss.
    She checked her readouts again to be sure, and the spoke up. It was unlikely that there was anybody on the bridge without a little countdown clock on their screen, but just in case…
    “Navigation. Time to jump coordinates?” she called.
    She watched Nada Zupan, the Pilot, come out of a fugue like a swimmer surfacing. The long blond ponytail snapped once as her head shivered.
    “ETA fourteen minutes, sir,” she replied, quiet, intent. “We’ll actually be far enough clear of the gravity well in six that we could crash jump, if we had to.”
    “Hmmm. Ozolinsh,” Tamara continued, “what would happen if we had to jump right now?”
    The Engineer looked over a shoulder at her as if she had asked him to sacrifice his first born.
    “We’d probably be able to get about twelve or fifteen light hours out before the calibrations came apart and we spent a day fixing everything,” he growled. “In seven minutes, the calibrations can be redone inline, and tweaked when we come out the other side. In fifteen, you won’t notice we’ve transitioned.”
    “Roger that,” Tamara replied with a smile. Her orders had simply said to take command and bring the ship to this point before awaiting further orders. And she still had