Edge of Redemption (A Star Too Far Book 3) by Casey Calouette Page A

minutes the hatch sealed again and they pushed off. He waited for the reply. It was his decision, a decision that he’d go alone if he had to.
    “All clear, Captain. Just Ms. Rome,” Huron replied.
    Relief and excitement started to build inside of William. He nodded and a wicked little smile spread across his face. Time to get down to business. “Shay, Bryce, let’s lay it out, time to go pick a fight.”

CHAPTER TEN
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    N atyasha stood in the center of the elevator with her arms crossed and her face angry. Incompetence could be dealt with, but bad luck, well, anyone could have bad luck. “What’s Bark doing?” she asked a man standing behind her.
    “Waiting for you, ma’am.”
    The elevator moved upward through the upper atmosphere. The smell of crowds of people still hung in the air. The undersized filtration system wasn’t designed to handle a major influx so quickly. The elevator shuddered and hum, then stopped abruptly as harmonics stuttered along the cable.
    The scene played itself out in her head. Bark was waiting with a few dozen troops. Then when the ships blinked in, it wasn’t the ship they wanted. Bark, she thought, was smart enough to know when to wait. The true mark of an ardent follower, she thought. Her eyes glanced around the elevator and saw a few trusted aides, all standing just far enough away. “Are they in system yet?”
    “Yes ma’am, a cruiser and a troop ship.”
    Natyasha nodded. “How long?”
    “I don’t know, ma’am.”
    Natyasha sighed and shifted her feet. She glanced over at a linear indicator. They were nearly three quarters of the way and the car was decelerating, or at least that’s what the display told her. She couldn’t feel a thing beyond nice level gravity. She sniffed and exhaled through her mouth. Core was gone.
    The victory felt hollow. She had one of her greatest goals, but something was missing. They wouldn’t just leave, they couldn’t. There was too much tied up. In some cases the operators simply turned off the equipment and walked away. The corporate write-off must be staggering, she thought. Already she knew her people were moving in and claiming what they could. That part felt good, but there was no vindication, no explanation, just corporate control leaving.
    The elevator came to a stop and the door opened to a wide expanse. Inside the length of docking station extended past a hundred meters. The space was silent, empty, barren. Only the hum of the reactor and the harmonics of the cable betrayed any life at all.
    Natyasha stepped out and turned to see Bark waiting. “Well?”
    “They’re on contract,” Bark said.
    “Contract? What’s that mean? To Core? To us? The UC?”
    Bark took a short quick breath. “I don’t know.”
    Natyasha walked past Bark and shook her head. “Are your people here?”
    “They’re here.”
    “Do they know?”
    “I don’t think so,” Bark said.
    Natyasha nodded and walked through a bulkhead to a second docking area. The emptiness felt odd to her, it always felt so alive in the docking station.
    Three dozen men and women stood in dark gray body armor. Beyond them lay a hallway with a frosty patch of hull at the end. The armor plate of the hull was a dull orange with streaks of moisture weeping through the frost.
    “Did they come out?”
    Bark shook her head. “They inquired about provisioning, said they were waiting.”
    “Waiting for what?” Natyasha snapped.
    Bark kept her face impassive and followed.
    Natyasha grasped a heavy comm panel and turned it to face her. She poked at the comm key and waited for it to acknowledge. She didn’t have time for this bullshit. “Put the Captain on.”
    A dull click was followed by a level tone.
    “This is Mustafa, this is my ship,” a thick slow voice replied.
    “Mustafa what?” Natyasha asked.
    “Just Mustafa. Are you here about provisions?”
    “Open the goddamn door. I’m not talking to this,” Natyasha said as she slammed down the