Page 2 of Black Star

While she had no qualms about disabling a ship to secure the escape of her own, she didn’t know if she was ready to sacrifice a ship whose government the Empire wasn’t officially at war with. Asalians captured. They didn’t destroy. Usually.

But was she willing to take that chance?

* * *

That incompetent bastard! Squad Commander Mikiel Anjoom wanted nothing more than to beat the living hell out of Captain Norus. The man was too ambitious for anyone’s good. In his zeal to capture the infamousBlack Star, he had effectively rendered Mikiel’s own Command Slave,Sword Breaker, defenseless.Black Starcould easily destroy them.

To make matters worse, Mikiel simply could not shake the larger ship. The pilot was effectively using him as a shield between theBlack Starand his squadron. Whoever he was, he was doing a damned good job of it, too. The Slavers should have outflown the much larger ship with no effort at all. Instead, this damned pilot was flying circles around them all.

Seven Slavers to one ship should have been more than enough. Apparently, the Empire’s claim the ship was a super weapon wasn’t as much of an exaggeration as the Asalian Coalition believed.

Without warning, theBlack Stardisengaged and headed to deep space.

I have her, Commander! I have her! Norus’s excited, disembodied voice broke the disciplined silence of Mikiel’s crew. Mikiel scowled. The man simply had no self-control. He hated people with no self-control. During battles, every Asalian soldier relied on computer signals fed directly into their brains via a psycom unit. The absence of unnecessary chaos gave a commander a tremendous advantage, allowing him to notice the slightest changes in the sound of his ship.

“You will stand down, Captain!” No way. There was no way it could be this simple to capture theBlack Starafter the ride that ship had taken them on. It had to be a trap.

And let you claim responsibility for this great victory?Norus answered. Mikiel had to grit his teeth to keep from dressing down the subordinate over the open comm.I will take this for my family and my ship.The arrogant bastard was going to get himself killed and lose a valuable ship and crew in the process.

“You will stand down, or surrender your rank.” He bit out the words and gripped the arms of his chair. The cold metal bit into his palms, but the pain was a welcome reminder to keep his focus or he could very well give theBlack Starthe same opening Norus was offering -- playing the enemy’s game, not his own.

No response from the squad’s second ship, but looking at the tactical viewer, Mikiel could see for himself Norus was doing exactly what he’d told the other man not to do.

Norus’s ship,Great Sword, broke formation and tried to engage theBlack Star. The larger, faster ship easily left Norus behind. A volley of weapons fire from theBlack Starleapt from her rear guns andGreat Swordtook a direct hit that buckled her forward shields.

The smaller ship slowed as theBlack Staraccelerated but one last missile leapt from theBlack Starand streaked toward the doomedGreat Sword.

The death of the ship was not instantaneous. A gaping hole formed where the ship’s command deck had been, and a series of explosions rocked through her hull. Comm chatter from all levels of the vessel let Mikiel know the crew was trying to abandon ship before it was too late. Mikiel knew from grim experience not many -- if any -- would escape.

He listened in silence while the crew of theGreat Swordtried to get to undamaged sections of the ship. Mikiel deployed android manned shuttles in an effort to get as many of the crew out as possible.

Before the first transport leftSword Breaker, however, theGreat Sword’s fuel ignited in a brief flash of plasma fire and the ship literally disintegrated before their eyes.

Mikiel slowly leaned back in his seat, fingers digging into the steel of the captain’s chair again. Anger surged through him, anger and grief. He had lost a good crew, but if Norus wasn’t already dead, he’d have killed the man himself.

“Do we pursue theBlack Star, Sir?”Sword Breaker’s pilot didn’t sound at all eager to continue this battle. Mikiel couldn’t blame him. Any pilot who could fly a ship that size in such extreme maneuvers wasn’t someone to take on lightly.

“Anxious to pit your skills against her pilot again?” He couldn’t help tormenting Ranier. He was good, but he needed to be taken down a peg or two. Perhaps he’d be easier to be around.

“Are you kidding?” Ranier turned in his seat and looked directly at Mikiel. “If he can fly circles around me in a ship as big as theBlack Star, no way I want to meet him in battle again. I was just trying to do my duty.”

Quiet chuckles broke out around the command center. Mikiel only smiled. The young man hadn’t done so bad. Hehadmoved them aside at the last moment, otherwise they’d all be dead. “By the way, that was a lucky move you made, Ranier. You probably saved us all.”

The other man cleared his throat. “Much as I’d sincerely love to take the credit for that, Sir, I can’t. The ship did it on her own.”

Mikiel raised an eyebrow. “Has she linked with you?”

“No, Sir. You may think this sounds crazy -- I know I do -- but I think she linked with theBlack Star.”

“Explain.” His barked order came out harsher than he’d intended, but he had to know.

“The nav computer, Sir. I almost didn’t notice it -- it was only a blip -- but when I went back and checked the log there was an encoded signal that originated from theBlack Star. It was so fast, there was no way it could have been meant for a human to execute it and no way a human had time to send the command in the heat of battle.”

Mikiel had to restrain himself from cringing. That was the worst possible scenario. Ships weren’t supposed to be able to link without the benefit of at least one human surrogate. If this was true, then they needed to get the link with that ship and find out what he knew. If the Vok’nair operated anything like the Asalians, the most likely link would be with either the captain, second in command, or the pilot. Security was probably compromised. It also made going after theBlack Starall the more crucial. No matter what the crew wanted, no matter what he wanted, they had to engage theBlack Staragain. If that ship could link with their own, they had to either capture or destroy her. Besides, that ship was a huge morale boost for the Empire’s troops. Without her, there was a chance something would give in the “non-war” between his Coalition and the Vok’nair Empire. His mission was to take that ship. Failing that, he was authorized to destroy her.

“Much as I’d love to tuck tail between our legs and take the remains of the squadron home, we can’t. We have a job to do. Our lives, and the lives of every man and woman in this unit, do not matter. What matters is capturing theBlack Starand making the ship part of the Asalian Coalition, or, failing that, destroying her.” He sat up straighter before signaling the entire squad. “This is Squad Commander Mikiel. We are pursuing theBlack Starwith the intent of capturing her. If capture is unsuccessful, we have instructions to destroy her. Given the danger of the situation, and the destruction of theGreat Sword, you will transfer all female slaves and nonessential male slaves to theBroad Swordand theGem of Maylar. These two ships are to return to the Asalian home world to avoid unnecessary loss of life. You have fifteen standard minutes to comply before we leave this sector. That is all.”

The tension in the command center was palpable. An order to destroy any vessel was far from common. Apparently, the Asalian Coalition didn’t want anyone else to have theBlack Star. He was beginning to understand why, since the ship appeared to be at least semi-sentient. Besides, with the possibility that theBlack Starhad breached their security systems, they couldn’t let her get back to the safety of a Vok’nair base.

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