Fracture Lines (The Glass Complex Book 2) by John Hindmarsh Page A

missing a key item of data, and it worried him. He had recalled and described in detail the Special Forces strategy, their shuttle ride and entry into the alien starship, their battle with the crew, and their successful capture of the alien ship, over and over. He had described his impressions of evil, of his awareness of an immense threat to Imperial, Alliance, and other regions of civilization posed by the aliens, but was unable to describe why he had those feelings.
    “Xesset are dangerous,” he had concluded. “They’ve no compunction, no inhibitions against killing non-Xesset, no concept of our morality. We were unable to communicate with them—we had no common terms. I believe we must destroy their starships without attempting to capture them.”
    “I’m inclined to agree,” Monty said. “We can put our stealth shields to good use. Wasp ’s been modified using some of our, let’s say, combined cephalopod, Terran and other alien technology, and while the energy demands are high, the shields are extremely effective. We’ve been within ten thousand klicks of an Imperial destroyer while it was engaged in search mode, and they didn’t detect us. Point is, we can get close, drop shields, and fire our weapons. We can raise our shields and move away—we’ll be difficult to track. If I’m correct, we’ll be invisible to them while we’re shielded. Their targeting will be based on guesswork. We have missiles, grasers, and rail guns. We’ll use the rail guns to destroy the pirates if we think we can’t capture them.”
    Monty later presented his modified strategy to Colonel Attwood and the combined command team. It reflected changes arising from Steg’s recollections of the Xesset, of their fighting abilities, and of their starships.
    “I’ve an improved risk assessment, based on information from Captain de Coeur. In basic terms,” Monty said. “We must obtain a contract to eliminate the starships escorting the freighter. It’s the most critical task. Worst-case scenario is if Xesset are crewing the freighter and decide to blow it up rather than allow it to be captured. The risks are higher, far higher, than my first assessment.”
    “Are you confident de Coeur’s data is accurate?” Major Fowler challenged.
    “Yes. I’ve confirmed it using a number of sources. His information provides a keystone; it holds the rest of my data together, supporting and completing it.”
    “So, do we still want to do this?” The speaker was one of the other mercenary captains.
    “The return is high. We can increase our fees, based on this new data. The Eos government will understand the risks posed by Xesset occupation when I hand over this additional information.”
    “Very well. Monty, you’re charged with finalizing negotiations with the authorities. Aim for a complete package. We want authorization to destroy the pirates, capture the freighter, and to take out the terrorists on the planet,” Colonel Attwood said. “While we want the best price, we can’t let these aliens take control of a populated planet, if we can stop them. The probability is, if we travel anywhere near the freighter, based on Steg’s information, they’ll attack us. We’d be entitled to defend ourselves.”
    Steg met with the colonel after the strategy session to determine how he and his new, as yet untried, force would assist with the proposed attacks.
    “I’ve a concern, Colonel,” he said. “We’ve had these men for less than two months. They’re fit and we’ve been providing combat training. They’re equipped with exo-armor. Some are experienced; some aren’t. They all have potential. However, I’ve no idea how they’ll react in battle conditions.”
    “Hmm. I’ve made the same assessment. My suggestion: we hold your unit in reserve and use it if we need to support an assault on the freighter. Later, I’m sure we can deploy your men against inexperienced rebels on Eos. We’ll have opportunities to assess your