The Shattered Empire (The Shadow Space Chronicles Book 2) Read Free

them or that they'd just been unlucky enough to take a random hit.  But that didn't make sense, Garret knew.  They had detonated simultaneously and the huge spike of radiation from them both suggested something else altogether.  The intense burst blinded his sensors for a long moment as Heller cursed her way through a reboot process.  As his sensors went live again, it took Garret a while to figure out what they showed.
    The four Centauri Confederation ships drifted without even emergency power.  The assault shuttles from the carrier dove in among them and Garret zoomed in his gun camera to see the shuttles slam home into the warships.  Must have been some kind of device, high yield radiation burst, he thought, something that knocked the engines out or maybe caused some kind of electromagnetic interference.
    “Commodore Pierce, so wonderful of the War Dogs to join us,” a woman's voice said.  “It is always a pleasure to work with such a consummate professional.”  Her voice was almost as sultry as Heller, but held an edge of arrogance that managed to set Garret's teeth on edge.
    “Admiral Mannetti,” Commodore Pierce said calmly.  “Thank you for the assistance.  I assume our employers approved of your tactic... though it would have been nice for you to warn us.  Half my forward sensors are still down.”
    “We had to maintain the element of surprise, darling,” Admiral Mannetti answered.  “Don't worry, it shouldn't cause any lasting harm to your ships, just requires a reset at your range.  Our friends, however, will be unable to bring their power systems online for several hours.  My boarding crews will secure all four vessels before then.”  Garret blanched as he remembered where he'd heard that name.  She was some kind of rogue Nova Roma officer, more pirate than mercenary.  Clearly she'd worked out some kind of deal with Halcyon... which made Garret's lips twist in disgust.  Hadn't they learned how dangerous it was to bring in unscrupulous types from what happened with Nova Corp?
    Yet, as his gaze finally slipped over to stare at the clouded blue sky of his homeworld, some part of him understood, at least, why they'd done it.  Even so, he wondered how far they were willing to go... and just how dangerous their new allies were.
    ***
     
    Eldorado, Garris Major System
    Colonial Republic
    May 3rd, 2403
     
    Lauren Kelly stepped down off the loading ramp and took a deep breath of fresh air.  She coughed it out almost immediately as the acrid fumes of the spaceport cut into the back of her throat.  Her companion continued down the ramp.  His long, panther-like stride took him to where a customs agent waited.  Lauren watched the two speak briefly.  She didn’t see when Mason slipped the agent a bribe, but a moment later the other man left.  “How much did that cost us?”  She asked.
    Mason turned.  “More than I'd like.  I guess there's some kind of revolution going on in the system.  We aren't carrying a prohibited cargo, but I didn’t want him looking at our navigation computer and wondering what we have to do with what’s going on in Faraday.”
    “Do you think they’ve heard anything here yet?” Lauren asked.  She wasn't terribly surprised about some kind of revolt here.  More than half the systems in the Colonial Republic had insurrections or uprisings.  Most of those were from fractured ethnic or political lines, though some were ostensibly about freedom.
    “About your Baron Lucius?” Mason smirked, even as his eyes swept the dingy landing pad for eavesdroppers.  “Probably about his defeat of the Chxor at Faraday.  Definitely rumors about the Dreyfus Fleet.”  He stepped forward and took her duffel off her shoulder.  He spoke the next part in a low tone, “Hopefully they’ve heard nothing about Mason McGann’s involvement.”
    Lauren nodded, oddly relieved that she, at least, had no personal infamy to worry about  She had possessed somewhat of a reputation