Veil of Shadows (Book 2 of The Empire of Bones Saga) Read Free Page B

required.”
    Kelsey cursed under her breath and repeated the process she’d done for Lily. This was going to take a lot more of her time if she had to be with the old Empire computer while they examined it. Still, it was more interesting than physical therapy. And less painful.
    Lily pulled her away from the scanning machine once Kelsey finished authorizing the scientists. “While the boys play with their toys, let’s see if I can find these nanites. Then we’ll see if this machine can explain how you control these implants of yours.”
    That reminded Kelsey how hungry she was. It seemed like she was always hungry these days. She wondered if that was her new normal. “Did you include lunch in those plans? I’m starving.”
    Lily laughed. “Okay, we can scan for nanites after lunch. Come on. Let’s see if we can fill that bottomless pit inside you for a few hours.”
     

Chapter Two
     
    Commander Jared Mertz tried to focus on the reports awaiting his attention, but it was hard. His office looked deceptively normal, neat as always with the holos of his mother and various landscapes from Jaxton on the grey walls. Within these bulkheads, he could fool himself for a little while. But that was a lie.
    Battle damage had irrevocably crippled his ship, twisting her very spine beyond repair. Any attempt to move her at more than a crawl risked tearing her apart. She’d never return to Avalon.
    That hadn’t stopped Dennis Baxter from restoring life support to all areas. Even so, the scent of scorched plastics and fried circuitry hovered in the air. The Chief Engineer even had her weapons systems back online. Yet, they’d still need to abandon her.
    That was the least of his sorrows. The battles with the Pale Ones had cost him eighty-seven crewmen out of two hundred and eighty. Thirty percent of his people had perished. Over a hundred more were in various hospitals on Pentagar.
    The pain and loss ate at him. He had trouble sleeping, and when he could, the nightmares always woke him early. He’d have to get some sleep meds before long.
    A rap at the hatch pulled him out of his black mood. Baxter stood there, his blue jumpsuit stained with something dark brown. “Got a few minutes, Captain?”
    “Sure. What can I do to help? You need an extra wrench hand?”
    The sandy-haired officer sat in the chair beside the desk with a sigh. “I can’t spare the three people it would take to fix what you broke. All primary systems are back online. That begs the question, what next?”
    Jared rubbed his face tiredly. “Damned if I know. We can’t just give her to the Pentagarans without authorization from Fleet. But we can’t take her with us either.”
    The engineer nodded. “I’ve been giving that some thought. Hell, I’ve been giving a lot of things some thought. Athena will never boost at more than a fraction of her best speed, but she can move under her own power. After some simulations, I’ve determined that she can safely flip, as long as she’s stationary. Why not use her as a training platform and to transport cargo between Pentagar and the system with Courageous ?”
    Jared considered that plan. “It would allow better access to the other system. It’s a pain to have to bring Best Deal back to the flip point every time we need to bring someone across. And it will be useful until the Pentagarans get their first flip-capable ships ready to go. Which will be at least six months, according to Commodore Sanders.”
    “Maybe not. Sure, the ships built for it from the ground up will take six months, but I’ve been working with Engineer First Williams. I think we can retrofit some larger ships with flip drives. They won’t be very sturdy and they’ll lose a lot of internal space, but we can bring them online in a month or so.”
    Jared felt a weight lift off his shoulders. “That’s good news. That’s excellent news. The last thing we need is another invasion before we’re ready. How much do you think the refits will