The Battle of the Void (The Ember War Saga Book 6) by Richard Fox Read Free Book Online

if we can maintain the effects long enough. I make the assumption that the Xaros can’t make a sharp turn when steering a moon.”
    “What’s the catch?” Makarov asked.
    Delacroix cleared his throat. “I need to set off no fewer than twenty graviton mines within three thousand kilometers of Abaddon’s surface.” The assembled captains shook their heads and mumbled curses under their breath.
    “That’s practically knife-fighting range with the drones wrapped around the surface. You understand that?” Makarov asked.
    “I do, ma’am.” Delacroix raised his chin slightly. “You asked me how to slow it down. This is the only way the math works.”
    “Thank you, Captain. I only ever want the unvarnished truth from any of you.” Makarov swiped a screen and the tactical overlay with the entire fleet returned. “Our next course of action is to destroy the rings—which will take down the field, correct?” she asked Delacroix, who gave her a thumbs-up.
    “The rings around Ceres are of a composite metal that’s a good deal stronger than even our new aegis armor,” Kidson, her chief gunnery officer said. “Ibarra and his probe weren’t real forthcoming about how to wreck the rings—or even the Crucible—should the need arise. Now we’ve got to figure this out on our own.”
    “I don’t know how much damage we have to inflict on the rings,” Delacroix said. “Maybe a single solid hit, maybe we have to break it into a thousand pieces.”
    “So we’re in for some discovery learning,” Makarov said.
    “Ma’am.” Delacroix’s holo shifted to that of a woman with a long braid of red hair, Commander Brantley from the destroyer Halifax . “I’ll take the hit and play devil’s advocate. If we’re in a bad tactical situation, why don’t we return to Earth? Come back with a better solution.”
    “The short answer is ‘we can’t,’” Delacroix said. “That moon creates enough of a dip in space-time that our single jump engine doesn’t have the power to get us all back to Earth. We could all jump away, but then we’d sit in deep space for years waiting for the engines to recharge with dark energy.”
    “I can get the Midway back,” Makarov said, “but I will be goddamned before I leave anyone behind. We knock this thing on its ass and it’ll take us a few months at full burn to get clear of the mass shadow. We’re sending everything we learn back to Earth at light speed. That’ll give them months of warning about what’s coming their way. Succeed or fail.”
    Makarov swiped her touch screen and a new tactical overlay appeared. Her captains leaned in to study. Some crossed their arms in frustration; others nodded slowly.
    “We need information,” Makarov said. “And for that, we’re going to give the hive a good kick.”

CHAPTER 5
     
    Hale buckled himself into the turret ball and grabbed the control sticks. He swung the turret through its full range of motion, spinning the Breitenfeld’s flight deck around him.
    “Standish, how’s the dorsal turret?” he said into the IR.
    “Little sticky going past the aft, nothing to worry about, sir,” Standish said. “Can barely move my arms after my hundredth squat thrust into a pull-up but who’s complaneing? Certainly not me. Learned my lesson, I tell you.” 
    “We’ve got the armor bolted down,” Cortaro said through Hale’s comms. “Bit tight in here. Let’s hope whatever we’re bringing back isn’t too big.”
    “I’ve got clearance to lift off,” Egan said. “I thought I’d have more time to break in my new co-pilot, but beggars and choosers, right?”
    “Lafayette assured me that my piloting skills are thoroughly adequate,” Orozco said.
    “You hear that everybody?” Standish asked. “He’s adequate.”
    Standish and Cortaro’s icons blinked and entered a private channel.
    “Get us off the deck and engage the cloak, Egan,” Hale said.
    “Roger, sir.”
    The Mule shuddered and rose higher. Hale felt the shuttle