Off Armageddon Reef Read Free

Sir?”
    Alban’s combination of dark hair and blue eyes were the gift of her Welsh father, but her height and fair complexion had come from her Swedish mother. Admiral Pei, on the other hand, was a small, wiry man, over three times her age, and she seemed to tower over him as she raised one eyebrow. Still, he was pleased to note, in a bittersweet sort of way, it wasn’t an incredulous expression.
    After all , he told himself, my penchant for “playing a hunch” has a lot to do with the fact that I’m the last full admiral the Terran Federation will ever have .
    â€œIt’s not some arcane form of ESP in this case, Nimue,” he said. “But where’s the other scout? You know Gbaba scout ships always operate in pairs, and Captain Somerset’s reported only one of them. The other fellow has to be somewhere.”
    â€œLike calling up the rest of the pack,” Alban said, her blue eyes dark, and he nodded.
    â€œThat’s exactly what he’s doing. They must have gotten at least a sniff of us before we picked them up, and one of them turned and headed back for help immediately. This one’s going to hang on our heels, keep track of us and home the rest in, but the one thing he isn’t going to do is come in close enough to risk letting us get a good shot at him. He can’t afford to let us pick him off and then drop out of hyper. They might never find us again.”
    â€œI see where you’re going, Sir.” Alban looked thoughtful for a moment, her blue eyes intent on something only she could see, then returned her attention to the admiral.
    â€œSir,” she asked quietly, “would I be out of line if I used one of the priority com circuits to contact Gulliver ? I’d…like to tell the Commodore goodbye.”
    â€œOf course you wouldn’t be,” Pei replied, equally quietly. “And when you do, tell him I’ll be thinking about him.”
    â€œSir, you could tell him yourself.”
    â€œNo.” Pei shook his head. “Kau-yung and I have already said our goodbyes, Nimue.”
    â€œYes, Sir.”

    The word spread quickly from Excalibur as the Tenth Destroyer Squadron headed for the Gbaba scout, and a cold, ugly wave of fear came with the news. Not panic, perhaps, because every single member of the murdered Federation’s final fleet had known in his heart of hearts that this moment would come. Indeed, they’d planned for it. But that made no one immune from fear when it actually came.
    More than one of the officers and ratings watching the destroyers’ icons sweep across the tactical displays towards the scout ship prayed silently that they would overtake the fleet little ship, destroy it. They knew how unlikely that was to happen, and even if it did, it would probably buy them no more than a few more weeks, possibly a few months. But that didn’t keep them from praying.
    Aboard the heavy cruiser TFNS Gulliver , a small, wiry commodore said a prayer of his own. Not for the destruction of the scout ship. Not even for his older brother, who was about to die. But for a young lieutenant commander who had become almost a daughter to him…and who had volunteered to transfer to Excalibur knowing the ship could not survive.
    â€œCommodore Pei, you have a com request from the Flag,” his communications officer said quietly. “It’s Nimue, Sir.”
    â€œThank you, Oscar,” Pei Kau-yung said. “Put her through to my display here.”
    â€œYes, Sir.”
    â€œNimue,” Pei said as the familiar oval face with the sapphire blue eyes appeared on his display.
    â€œCommodore,” she replied. “I’m sure you’ve heard by now.”
    â€œIndeed. We’re preparing to execute Breakaway even now.”
    â€œI knew you would be. Your brother—the admiral—asked me to tell you he’ll be thinking about you. So will I. And I know you’ll be thinking about