enough,” Jason said. “Let’s get to work.”
*****
The Phoenix was loafing along at just ten percent of her capable speed. Anything less than that and the slip-space fields became unstable and the universe would spit them back out into real-space. Jason was using the ether of that dimensional oddity to hide in since they really didn’t have a firm plan of action. Now that the crew had dispersed to go about their individual tasks, he walked down to Berthing to check on their new passenger.
Kellea Colleren was an accomplished officer and an exceptional ship ’s captain, but the gritty and unpredictable world of small-unit ground operations had left her shaken and unsure of herself. When he knocked on the door he found her cleaned and changed, but with an all-too-familiar thousand-yard stare in her eyes. Now that the immediate danger had passed, she was crashing from a week-long adrenaline high.
“ Not exactly what you expected it to be, is it?” he asked as he sat on a bunk across from the one she had claimed.
“ I’m not sure I follow you,” she said, looking up.
“ The unpredictability of being on the other side of legal,” he said with a half-smile.
“ Ah,” she said noncommittally. She fell quiet for a moment before continuing. “How do you deal with it? I could barely breathe during our escape from Kachamar City. Is this really what your life is like? Just one big string of incidents like that?”
“ Some are quite a bit worse,” Jason answered, his hand unconsciously touching his face where his injuries at the hands of Corenntal were still healing. “You become accustomed to it, but never comfortable or complacent.”
“ I’ve been in combat before, but always on the bridge of a starship. That seems so sterile now after being in the middle of smuggling a fugitive out from under the ConFed’s nose ... especially when the fugitive was me. I’m starting to regret all the times we’ve asked you guys to go into situations like that because we couldn’t. Or wouldn’t,” she said.
“ Eh,” Jason scoffed. “We were already doing this when Crisstof found us. The six of us aren’t really suited for much else. Well, maybe Twingo could find honest work.”
“ I remember when I first saw you and the crew,” Kellea smiled a genuine smile and even laughed a bit. “I was so smug thinking we didn’t need mercenary trash getting in our way, and I would find out what was happening in the Concordian Cluster without your help.” Jason laughed too.
“ Yeah ... we weren’t too fond of the stuck-up starship captain who looked at us like she wanted to scrape us off the bottom of her boot,” he said with a wink. There was a long pause in the conversation that began to become uncomfortable. “Well ... I’ll let you get some rest. We’re going to stay in slip-space for the next twenty hours or so before we pick a destination.” He stood up to leave and she reached out and put a hand on his arm.
“ Thank you,” she said. “The fact that you came for me means a lot.” Jason patted her hand.
“ I can’t believe you ever thought we wouldn’t,” he said before walking out of the port berthing bay. He went back to his own quarters to get some rest. I have a feeling this is going to a rough mission ...
Chapter 9
The members of Omega Force all stood on the bridge, some more patiently than others, as Kellea scrolled through the list of planets the Diligent had visited over the course of the last few months. Kage had also cross-referenced those with any unusual domestic disturbances that coincided with their visit either before or after.
“ None of these stick out as unusual,” she said with frustration. “We went to all of these places and each stop was as uneventful as the last.” She was about to push herself away from the station when she stopped and stared at one of the names scrolling up the display. “Solamea?” she asked in confusion. “There was a violent civil
*****
The Phoenix was loafing along at just ten percent of her capable speed. Anything less than that and the slip-space fields became unstable and the universe would spit them back out into real-space. Jason was using the ether of that dimensional oddity to hide in since they really didn’t have a firm plan of action. Now that the crew had dispersed to go about their individual tasks, he walked down to Berthing to check on their new passenger.
Kellea Colleren was an accomplished officer and an exceptional ship ’s captain, but the gritty and unpredictable world of small-unit ground operations had left her shaken and unsure of herself. When he knocked on the door he found her cleaned and changed, but with an all-too-familiar thousand-yard stare in her eyes. Now that the immediate danger had passed, she was crashing from a week-long adrenaline high.
“ Not exactly what you expected it to be, is it?” he asked as he sat on a bunk across from the one she had claimed.
“ I’m not sure I follow you,” she said, looking up.
“ The unpredictability of being on the other side of legal,” he said with a half-smile.
“ Ah,” she said noncommittally. She fell quiet for a moment before continuing. “How do you deal with it? I could barely breathe during our escape from Kachamar City. Is this really what your life is like? Just one big string of incidents like that?”
“ Some are quite a bit worse,” Jason answered, his hand unconsciously touching his face where his injuries at the hands of Corenntal were still healing. “You become accustomed to it, but never comfortable or complacent.”
“ I’ve been in combat before, but always on the bridge of a starship. That seems so sterile now after being in the middle of smuggling a fugitive out from under the ConFed’s nose ... especially when the fugitive was me. I’m starting to regret all the times we’ve asked you guys to go into situations like that because we couldn’t. Or wouldn’t,” she said.
“ Eh,” Jason scoffed. “We were already doing this when Crisstof found us. The six of us aren’t really suited for much else. Well, maybe Twingo could find honest work.”
“ I remember when I first saw you and the crew,” Kellea smiled a genuine smile and even laughed a bit. “I was so smug thinking we didn’t need mercenary trash getting in our way, and I would find out what was happening in the Concordian Cluster without your help.” Jason laughed too.
“ Yeah ... we weren’t too fond of the stuck-up starship captain who looked at us like she wanted to scrape us off the bottom of her boot,” he said with a wink. There was a long pause in the conversation that began to become uncomfortable. “Well ... I’ll let you get some rest. We’re going to stay in slip-space for the next twenty hours or so before we pick a destination.” He stood up to leave and she reached out and put a hand on his arm.
“ Thank you,” she said. “The fact that you came for me means a lot.” Jason patted her hand.
“ I can’t believe you ever thought we wouldn’t,” he said before walking out of the port berthing bay. He went back to his own quarters to get some rest. I have a feeling this is going to a rough mission ...
Chapter 9
The members of Omega Force all stood on the bridge, some more patiently than others, as Kellea scrolled through the list of planets the Diligent had visited over the course of the last few months. Kage had also cross-referenced those with any unusual domestic disturbances that coincided with their visit either before or after.
“ None of these stick out as unusual,” she said with frustration. “We went to all of these places and each stop was as uneventful as the last.” She was about to push herself away from the station when she stopped and stared at one of the names scrolling up the display. “Solamea?” she asked in confusion. “There was a violent civil
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