Countdown, John Walker [online e book reader txt] 📗

“You think they stirred up the hornet’s nest?”

“Yes and no. They might’ve escalated things, but honestly, it was worth it.” Noah huffed. “Without their information, the attack would’ve come, and we wouldn’t have known where to go. This way, at least we have a chance. Fortunately, this was a small skirmish. We have some time… albeit not much.”

“What do their intelligence people think?”

“A week,” Noah replied, “before we’re in serious trouble. I’m hoping for three days. That’ll be enough for Northam to get the Confed forces mustered, bring them out here, and we can make a heavy push into their territory. I don’t have all the details, but Harcourt claimed we have solid intelligence on the placement of their major planets.”

“Excellent.” Noah arrived at the shuttle. “I’m here. Where’s this ship going?”

“Erris’s vessel. Get cleaned up, relax for a few hours. When I arrive, we’ll get to the briefing together. Before that though, be sure to put Zem through to me. I want to give him the go-ahead to initiate his plan. I’m guessing I know who he wants on his little team. I’m fine with it. The next mission we’re going on may not require ground forces anyway.”

“Great, I look forward to being useless.”

“May is not the same as won’t. I’m not ready to throw out possibilities. Anyway…” Noah cleared his throat. “It’s good to hear your voice, Olly. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“You too, sir.”

“See you soon.”

The comm went silent. Oliver looked around for Zem. The man wasn’t anywhere to be seen. He sent him a message letting him know what Captain Markel said. The acknowledgment came back a moment later. <Thank you. I’ll get to work on it right away. Wish us luck.>

I’m sure you’re going to need it, Oliver thought. He boarded the shuttle, taking a seat beside some of the Gold Empire soldiers who had been in the fight. They were exhausted, having only recently been roused from the stun they’d experienced at the hands of the power burst from the shields.

One of them nodded to him. He couldn’t have been more than eighteen years old. Oliver clapped the young man on the shoulder before turning his attention to the floor. He had to admit, the entire day had exhausted him as well. Far too many stresses vied for his attention. Too many people he cared about remained unaccounted for.

This conflict has been unlike any other I’ve been involved with. The thought made him smirk. He’d fought on so many different theaters, engaging in dozens of conflicts throughout Confed space. Pirates, raiders, flat out criminals, Gold Empire… even armed civilians claiming ether facilities… none of them held a candle to his time in the frontier.

And the worse may well be yet to come. Oliver didn’t want to think about fighting on enemy soil. At least they had a prisoner to provide some solid intel on such a thing. Though how much he trusted it, that was another story altogether. The man’s a traitor. Even if he doesn’t want the fighting to go on, he’s selling his people out.

Was it possible that Trenik wanted to help them? Or did he merely want to save his own skin? That would always be the question with a turncoat. At least they didn’t torture him to gather the information. If Oliver found out someone hurt the guy to get the intel, he wouldn’t have believed any of it.

No. I’m going to believe he’s simply a sane, sentient being that doesn’t want to see the universe burn due to a holy war over ether. That idea is ludicrous. Zealots tended to have dangerous agendas. Occasionally, they were bad enough to threaten planets but never civilization… never the entire human race.

I guess these guys wanted to prove their worth… to show us that there are things in the dark worth fearing. Oliver scowled as the ramp sealed and thrusters kicked in. They were on their way, meaning soon, they’d be away from Gallik, tossed into the galactic theater once again. We’re not afraid… and we’re coming.

***

Erris leaned back in her seat on the bridge of her ship Intervention. It felt like an honest homecoming to board the vessel, to take the seat of command once again. After everything she’d done and all the places she’d been, part of her began to wonder if she’d ever return to her former position.

Seems my promotion within MerCon stuck too.

Eliza Leavis held the position of Chairwoman of the Board. She effectively led the entire company, although now it was more overtly because of the different problems facing the universe at large. A regulation granted her additional power; one meant for wartime. It allowed her to appoint a commander like Erris and to carry out military operations.

Fortunately, our ships are top-of-the-line. The biggest difference between MerCon vessels and the military came down to how much they could be fiddled with by their engineers. Many of the operations were automated, meaning they were more difficult to repair. However, their shields and weapons tended to have a little more consistent kick.

They were not tested in outright warfare, however. That would come soon enough. The three ships had showed up at the tail end of the battle with Whitaker. Erris didn’t consider that a fair assessment of how well they would do against the ervas. However, they had plenty of ships to contribute to the cause.

Enough to be a real force against the threat.

The sleek design of the oval bridge looked far more aesthetically inspired than the Morrigan. Besides the commander chair in the center, three tech stations lined the room, one behind her and one to either side. The helm had two stations as well for redundancy in piloting. At the moment, only one happened to be there.

Operative Richard Parsons had been with Erris