Starcrossed - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,46

it over to me. I’ll pilot it myself.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am.”

Krysta was a shy creature, but she was in her element plotting the impossible courses Ginny often demanded. Krysta had always been an ace up Ginny’s sleeve as she captained the Sarasota through improbable scenarios. A more talented navigator Ginny had never met. She’d need all of Krysta’s skill now, if they were to survive the upcoming battle in an unfamiliar ship.

The three enemy ships were close now. With the burst, they’d soon be in the thick of things. Ginny offered up a silent prayer for their survival. More than just their lives were riding on this skirmish. The fate of two entire galaxies hung in the balance.

Ginny couldn’t put it off any longer. With a resigned sigh, she sat in Tigh’s big chair. She didn’t have time to dwell on the mixed feelings being in command of this top-of-the-line ship stirred in her heart for, a moment later, the console pinged, and she had to review Krysta’s solution.

“Helm control on my mark,” Ginny intoned. She wanted to get a feel for this ship before she piloted it in combat, but there was precious little time.

She gave the signal, and the controls dropped from above, startling her. On a human built ship, they’d have either popped up from below or swung in from the side. Adjusting her seat and posture, Ginny took the reins. It wasn’t something she did often, but she’d started her career as a pilot and had always had a penchant for flying anything new or different. In this instance—flying an unfamiliar ship under battle conditions—Ginny knew she was the most able of her crew to give it a go.

The stick was hair trigger, she soon learned. The slightest motion of her fingers or arm spun the ship quickly. It responded faster than anything she’d ever flown, but then, the jits were master shipbuilders, and this was the emperor’s own flagship. It had to be the best of the best.

“Whoa, girl.” Ginny used all her concentration to learn the feel of this ship in the few minutes allotted. She couldn’t do too much maneuvering because the enemy ships, no doubt, still assumed they were still on autopilot. And there was one more thing she had to be certain of before she took out three jit’suku ships. “Tiggy, have you got evidence secured? Are we certain those three bogies are really bad guys?”

Tiggy spun in her seat, her eyes hard as diamonds. “Oh, there’s no doubt about it, ma’am.”

Ginny recognized that tone. The com officer was royally pissed off, so whatever she’d found in the com logs had to be damning, indeed. But Ginny needed to hear it for herself before she took irrevocable action.

“Play it, Ensign.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am.” Tiggy spun her chair back around and brought up the records, playing the audio on the bridge speakers so everyone—including the recording drones—could hear. A series of tones played out first. It was some kind of recognition code used routinely in secure communications.

“Doctor?” A strange male voice sounded throughout the bridge.

“Doctor Gruber. It’s good to hear your voice again. Everyone’s out. It’s safe for visual confirmation.”

The com screen showed a holographic image from the lead ship of the three now closing on them. A man dressed in beribboned finery stood in front of the console while the com officer put the message through. As if the fop was too important to push his own buttons, Ginny thought. The man looked like a fool.

“Good work, my friend. Captains Sirkin, Redolan and Merther assure me we are in position to intercept you. We will proceed as planned, staging the scene so our people will believe the human whores at fault for killing our weakling emperor and his collaborators. Groveling before the humans. It’s disgusting.”

The man couldn’t seem to keep his opinions to himself, though he should know better than to voice anything so incriminating on a com channel. Even the most secure com could be hacked. But, in this case, the idiot’s rantings were all the proof Ginny needed to justify her actions.

“They are even worse up close than you can believe, Goran,” the doctor said. “These females are barbarians.”

“Barbarians, eh?” Henny smirked. “He must be talking about me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Hen. That man hates us all,” Tiggy observed.

“I’ve seen enough, Ensign,” Ginny said, bringing them back to order. “Log the evidence and put it under seal. We’ll need it when we reach Solaris Prime.” If we reach Solaris Prime, she thought