Stars in the Sand Read Free

What the hell’s going on?”
     “ Don’t know. Some sort of boarding action…” The rest of the technician’s words were drowned out by the sirens as one of the shuttles slid down from the deck, on its way, presumably, to the enemy vessel. Not waiting for the rest of the story, Cooper snatched a pistol from the pile on the deck and raced for Barbara’s shuttle, only to crash into an unfamiliar officer wearing a Sub-Lieutenant’s uniform.
     “ Where are you going, Corporal?” he said.
     “ To do my job, sir,” Cooper replied.
     Shaking his head, he said, “Not as you are, you’re not.”
     “ Sir, you’ve giving guns to food technicians and sensor staff. Even with one hand I’m better at fighting than they are, and I certainly know a damn sight more about small-unit tactics and boarding actions.” More sirens sounded, the second shuttle heading on its way. “Can we have this argument in the shuttle, sir?”
     Glancing across at the other shuttle, the officer’s attention was distracted for just long enough for Cooper to sprint over to the crew airlock and scramble in, Barbara reaching out a hand to pull him into the cockpit. She gestured down at the co-pilot’s seat and he slid into the couch, then cursed as he tried to pull the harness on with a hand he no longer possessed. With an effort, he strapped himself in, as the shuttle began to descend into its elevator airlock.
     “ Where are we going?”
     “ Later. We’re last off the deck,” Barbara replied, working controls with the proficiency of a master, not wasting any trace of thrust as the shuttle span out into free space. She played the thrusters against each other, then fired the main engine up to – and slightly beyond – the red line, settling back in her couch.
     “ We’re clear. Twenty-nine minutes to contact.”
     “ Now, where are we going?”
     “ Apparently a Cabal freighter was docked at the station, and its commander decided to do the proper and noble thing – flee the system and tell their fleet where we a re. Given that we only just managed to get away from the bastards, the Captain decided not to let them, so here we are.”
    Shaking his head, Cooper said, “We’re launching a full-scale boarding action with people who have no idea what they are doing?” He smiled, then said, “I think I can guess who is leading this one.”
     “ Lieutenant Orlova’s in the lead shuttle, though I’m going to see if I can beat her to the punch. I think I know these shuttles better than she does. The man you almost knocked to the deck is Sub-Lieutenant Nelyubov, a Hercules hand, and she apparently wanted him for this operation as well.”
     He leaned forward, fiddling with the controls, “Mind if I call her?”
      “ Nothing else to do for the next half-hour, I guess.”
     “ Lance-Corporal Cooper to Lieutenant Orlova,” he said into the speaker. “Do you read me, Shuttle Two?”
     “ Cooper? What are you doing on board?”
     “ I didn’t get my invitation, so I decided to crash the party, ma’am. I hope you don’t mind.”
     “ Are you crazy? I hate to break it to you, but…”
     “ I can fire a pistol with one hand, ma’am, and probably with more accuracy than most of the people you have on board for this one. I'm fit and ready for regular duty, and frankly, I'm the best you've got.”
     There was a pause for a moment, then she replied, “Good point, at that. Go and co-ordinate with Sub-Lieutenant Nelyubov, see what you can do to get whoever you have on board ready for a battle.”
     “ Will do, ma’am. Cooper out.” Shutting off the communicator, he glanced over at Barbara with a smile, “Guess they still want me after all.”
     She nodded, then said, “Gabe, I’m not going to do anything stupid like tell you not to go…”
     “ Thanks.”
  “ ...but be careful. Please.”
     “ Always,” he replied. She shook her head with a smile as he made his way through to