Deadly Betrayal Read Free Page A

the floor.
    Oww. And, what the hell?
    An alarm sounded, making me want to cover my ears. The ship vibrated, and I recognized the movement all too well. We were firing at someone, and receiving shots.
    A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me up, and before I knew what was happening, the Captain tugged me onto the bridge. Not a place I liked to be. It was a large and oval hall filled with mysterious consoles and indecipherable holograms.
    Adam turned his head towards us and lifted an eyebrow, but was clearly too busy keeping the ship together to ask any questions. Blake pushed me towards a chair.
    “You’re my new advisor. Here.”
    He slapped a rank insignia on my blouse.
    “This is a bad idea.”
    “So give me a good one.”
    Holograms flickered on around the room, showing an enormous gray ship with antennas sticking out in all directions. It must be at least four times the size of the Bell, and she was huge.
    Blake said, “The Grendl. Guess they didn’t want to wait until tomorrow.”
    That was the new flagship? Ugly monstrosity.
    One of the lieutenants said, “Sneaky bastards.”
    Adam reported, “They’ve taken out propulsion. Shields at thirty-five percent. Starboard weapons array malfunctioning. Port weapons array at forty-two percent.”
    So, this was it. We were all going to die, sooner than I expected. Not the way I thought it would happen, but death tends to come as a surprise.
    Blake made a grimace. “They have us right where they want us.” He glanced over at me. “They probably don’t want to destroy the ship. Not if they can take it.”
    His tone of voice made it seem okay to ask questions. “How could they cause this much damage if we still have shields?”
    Blake frowned. “That is an excellent question.”
    Adam reached for a switch to the radio. “Jia’Lyn.” No answer. “Commander?”
    Nothing.
    He said, “Lieutenant Watanabe, go to engineering and report in from there.”
    “Yes, Sir.” A man I could swear I never saw before disappeared out the door.
    Someone reported, “Shields at twenty-seven percent.”
    One of the projectors showing the Grendl switched to damage reports from different parts of the ship. There were many.
    Blake said, “Advisor, advice.”
    I had nothing.
    My mouth blurted out, “Stall. We need time.”
    I didn’t expect anyone to agree, but Adam said, “I concur. There are other ships in the area. We have sent out a report and a distress call.”
    Blake nodded. “And we need time for repairs.”
    The room came to life with Watanabe’s voice, but it wasn’t intended for us. This transmission went out on all decks. “Medics to engineering. All off-duty engineers, report in.”
    That couldn’t be good.
    Not my problem, I needed to focus on the things in front of me. Ima would deal with engineering. She was Blake’s wife, the ship’s doctor, and the first alien I ever met.
    A voice sounded from further in the room. “They’re hailing us.”
    Blake and Adam answered at the same time. “Put it on.”
     
    *****
     
    I had seen the bridge communications systems before, but I was still unprepared for a larger than life face appearing in mid air. The man had graying temples and cold blue eyes.
    “Captain, surrender your ship.”
    Blake smiled, looking relaxed at a level beyond my wildest dreams. “You know I can’t do that.”
    “Come over here and discuss.”
    Adam gave his head a slight shake. I agreed. Nothing good could come from setting foot on that monstrosity of a ship.
    Blake said, “We can discuss here.”
    An explosion rocked us and a young voice exclaimed, “They didn’t fire.”
    A split second later, the air shimmered and our Captain was teleported away.
    A crewmember said, “We have lost shields, Sir.”
    “Yes, I can see that.” Adam sounded weary.
    “Dispatching repair crew.”
    I recognized the voice. Energetic, blonde, and beautiful Laura was the only person on the ship I couldn’t get along with no matter how hard I tried. She