The Ghost Fleet Read online

  Leo interrupted anything Ashley was going to say by setting down their drinks. Smiling at Ashley, Tira grabbed the tray and headed over to the corner where the other officers were waiting for her. She watched as they took the drinks, downing the shots, and laughing as one of the younger guys started coughing. The innocence and immortality of youth brought warm feelings as Ashley shook her head.

  “And to think, we used to be that stupid,” Jeryl said as he kissed her on the cheek. “Hey, beautiful.”

  Ashley looked at her husband and fell in love with him all over again. There was nothing special going on, he wasn’t dressed up nice, he wasn’t trying hard, he just…was. He was the kind of man that used cheesy lines that made her smile—and which, in turn, made him smile a genuine smile of enjoyment for the moment. “Hey, baby. Everything okay with the engineers you ran into?”

  “Engi…how did…Tira?”

  “Yep.”

  He chuckled. “Things are good. They were just telling me how things were going and had a question on whether or not we wanted to convert one of the shuttle bays into a second flight deck for more Hunters.”

  “What did you say?”

  “It’s not up to me. I’d like a bigger fleet of Hunters, but it’s up to Flynn and the rest of the higher ups. Hey, let’s go to a table.” He picked up his drinks and took her to a corner table where they could see the whole bar. Waving Leo over, he ordered them both a cheeseburger with fries and barbecue sauce, Ashley’s choice of condiment for meat and bread.

  “Speaking of Flynn, any word on what they want us to do next?” Ashley asked as she sipped at her soda. She was feeling a bit queasy, but the soda was helping.

  “Not yet. I’m not completely sure what the plan is going to be, but I’m pretty sure we’re going to be precisely in the middle of it, and we probably won’t like it either.” He looked past Ashley and started laughing. Ashley turned around and saw that Tira was arm wrestling the others and making them look bad in the process. Their little corner was raucous, but not obnoxiously so. “They’re having too much fun—gotta love it.”

  “Yeah. Are you okay? You look a little…distracted or something,” Ashley said with a concerned look.

  “Huh?”

  Ashley could tell that there was just too much going on in his mind. She reached across the table and took a hold of his hands. He flashed a sweet smile and tried to look in control. “Just…a lot on my mind. Guess I’m letting it show, huh?”

  “A little. Hey, I love you, you know that, right?”

  Jeryl squeezed Ashley’s hands. “Of course, baby. I love you too.” They let go of each other as Leo brought their food. “That was quick.”

  Leo chuckled. “That’s Donnie’s specialty, he can get you a Thanksgiving dinner in less than thirty minutes, and it’ll be fully cooked with all the trimmings. Enjoy the food, guys.”

  “This is good,” Ashley mumbled through a mouthful of fries. Jeryl laughed and poured some sauce on her plate for her. She nodded her thanks, picked up her cheeseburger, dipped it in the sauce and took a big bite of it. She moaned in pleasure and nodded appreciatively at her burger, taking another bite before finishing the first. A few minutes of later, Ashley washed down the last of her burger with her freshly refilled soda.

  “Hey,” she said between swallows. “What are we gonna do?”

  “About what?” Jeryl asked, taking a bite from his own burger.

  “About the baby. And us? My belly’s gonna start showing soon, and…as cool as it is to be in space, do we really want a baby growing up out here?”

  “Honestly? I’m thinking we retire after this.”

  Ashley spat the few drops of soda she had just drank back into her glass. “What?”

  “Yeah. I mean, it’s like what you said. We get to travel the cosmos, see things that no one else gets to see, experience amazing things, even fly in crazy-ass ships,” he said with a little snicker in her direction. “But, the idea of trying to raise a family on a starship? I know some people might do it, but…as much as I love The Seeker, I love you and shmumkins more.”

  She lifted her eyebrow as she gave him the look. “Shmumkins?”

  “Well, don’t know if it’s a boy or girl yet, so can’t give the baby a name.”

  “But, shmumkins? You couldn’t go with ‘tiny’, or ‘rugrat’?”

  “I was trying something different.”

  “No kidding. You would really consider retiring?”

  “If they don’t give us desk jobs back home.”

  She was speechless. This man—this adorable man that stole her heart during an incredible weekend of sex and even more sex—loved being a Captain, loved his ship, and loved his job. He was willing to give it all up to be a family man tied down to a single planet and a single place. She got up from her chair, moved over next to him, grabbed his face, and kissed him passionately. The moment was perfect. Even when Tira and the other officers started whooping it up and cheering them on, it was perfect.

  Then, Jeryl’s communicator went off. They broke their kiss very reluctantly. Jeryl looked at his comm, then showed it to Ashley.

  It was from Flynn.

  Chapter 11

  Tira

  For the first three minutes of being alone in the space shuttle, Tira found herself bedazzled by the many blinking lights. Space was cold, as was the shuttle. It sat on the deck of The Seeker, purring like a kitten and ready for flight.

  Tira could see the flight deck from the pilot’s seat. Flight engineers scurried across the vast deck, carrying equipment from shuttle to shuttle. Some patrolling Hunters were just flying in through the main blast doors, which were wide open like a mammoth’s maw; the only thing keeping them from all being sucked out into the void of space was the shimmering containment field.

  The crackle of the shuttle’s communicator brought Tira out of her reverie.

  “We’re in orbit, Tira,” the slightly stifled voice said. “The Captain and the Commander are on their way to you.”

  “Roger that,” Tira replied. “The shuttle is prepped and ready for departure. Over and out.”

  Tira ran through her preflight checklist again with silent deftness. Her hands played across the multiple switches and buttons, never for once breaking in pattern. It was as though she had become one with the shuttle.

  She knew she could fly the shuttle—and pretty much everything flyable—with her eyes closed. She was that good, which was why everyone aboard The Seeker liked her.

  Tira nodded satisfyingly to herself—she was being efficient and she knew it.

  The hiss of the shuttle door opening and a slight gust of wind escaping into the shuttle announced the entrance of Jeryl and Ashley.

  “—not so sure it’s going to work,” Ashley was saying as they both strode up the ramp of the shuttle.

  “We have to try,” Jeryl replied. “It’s either this or nothing.”

  Ashley didn’t follow that response with an immediate comeback.

  “Nothing doesn’t sound good,” she then replied a few seconds later.

  Another hiss from behind informed Tira that the couple had cleared the entrance and the automated shuttle door had closed itself.

  Tira was just about to stand up when Jeryl said, “Remain seated, Tira. Lift off when ready.”

  This was all Jeryl said before he went back to conversing to Ashley. “Damn right it’s not. I don’t like it. I mean we practically hunted these guys from one corner of the galaxy to the other.”

  Ashley’s voice came back with a little bit of frustration. Tira wasn’t sure if it was the subject of discourse that upset her, or the seat strap she was struggling with.

  “Doesn’t sound fair that we should—help me with this damn thing,” Ashley said in an irritated voice.

  “Hold on…” Jeryl replied.

  Tira turned her attention back to the controls.

  This mission Admiral Flynn had assigned them was supposed to be under wraps, so they couldn’t take a shuttle pilot. Thankf
ully, Tira was a damn good pilot. Ashley was herself, but she was pregnant.

  “Shuttle One to Flight Command,” Tira said into her comms as she fired off the main engines. “Permission to take off.”

  The familiar crackle of static followed before it cleared and the voice of the flight commander came through. “Permission granted, Shuttle One. Bring our Captain back in one piece.”

  Tira indulged a soft chuckle. “Will do, Flight Commander. Shuttle One out.”

  Tira cocked her head a little so she could see Ashley and Jeryl in her periphery. Jeryl had just finished strapping Ashley in and was now getting into his seat. From this angle, Tira looked at Ashley’s abdomen. Even though she knew the pregnancy was making things a bit tense between the couple, she couldn’t help but notice how at ease they were with each other. Had they come to terms with it?

  Duty or family? Tira shivered at the choice. Duty or love? She wasn’t sure which she would choose. She had a compelling reason to choose duty, yet didn’t she have a duty to the ones she loved?

  Tira began to observe Jeryl with a different eye. The legendary captain was faced with an impossible situation. She could see it tearing him up inside—she was very perceptible that way. Though Jeryl had faced many impossible situations before, this one was different. He wasn’t facing a rogue nation or trying to stop a civil war. He was facing…family.

  The fact that he was conflicted by this softened Tira’s heart. She knew many captains who wouldn’t give two shits about family. Captain Montgomery was different.

  Tira felt a slight frown come on her face. Different isn’t always good, she thought to herself.

  “We’ve been cleared for takeoff, Captain,” Tira all but whispered, humbled by the two people with her in the shuttle.

  Jeryl strapped himself right in, flashed Ashley a smile, and said, “Takeoff.”

  Tira had the shuttle rocketing out the flight deck seconds later. The inertia dampener whined aloud as she performed a sharp ninety degrees drop to the planet beneath. The gravity generator compensated for the sudden drop, keeping everyone grounded.

  The planet loomed before her, a giant dusty brown speck orbiting a type C nebula in the far reaches of the Union. There was little if any Terran Armada presence on the planet. It was one of those hideouts smugglers used to lay low or get killed in. It was called Smuggler’s Cave in the underworld, but in Terran Union database, it was known as Planet C4.

  So goddamn insignificant it doesn’t even get a name, Tira observed as she piloted the shuttle through a narrow rocky gulley on the dark side of the planet. I guess no one wants to be known for naming a planet where some of the most heinous crimes are planned and executed.

  A feeling of wariness sneaked up Tira’s spine as the gulley opened up to a massive valley, where a large city lay sprawling from edge to edge. It had all the whistles and bells of a modern city, twinkling with a thousand lights and billboards and neon signs, yet it was clothed in immorality and dipped in crime.

  Smuggler’s Cave, death’s safe haven.

  Tira ignored hails from the small space port nested in the center of the city and set the shuttle right in the back of a small ramshackle one-story building at the edge of the city.

  As she powered down the shuttle and activated its security feature, she felt tension gripping her frame.

  No one said anything while they armed themselves. They ensured that their weapons were well secreted before they left the shuttle and walked around the building, making a beeline for a small and dirty bar.

  “Follow my cue,” Jeryl whispered to them. He led them into the seedy bar. Ashley followed, and Tira brought up the rear.

  Tira’s eyes roamed the large, stuffy space, taking everything in and mapping it out in case things got…uncomfortable.

  There was only one entry and one exit, both guarded by two bouncers. The exit led to the back of the building where their shuttle was parked. A tiny door in the corner concealed a stairwell leading upstairs.

  The exit led to the back of the building where their shuttle was parked.

  About fifty people were packed into the bar, all of whom looked deadly enough to make Tira uneasy. She might have defeated Powers and Guillermo the other day, but she wasn’t crazy enough to think she could enter a brawl inside this place.

  They took up position at a table that was out of the way. No one paid them any heed.

  Probably can’t think through the loud music, Tira thought.

  A waiter came next to them to take their orders.

  While Jeryl and Tira ordered scotch, Ashley ordered a glass of water.

  As soon as the waiter left, trouble struck fast.

  “What, too good to drink like the rest of us?” a voice boomed over their heads.

  At first, they all kept quiet, unsure if the voice was meant for them. But then, a burly fellow shot up to his feet right at the table next to theirs. His chair crashed to the ground so hard that the entire bar was brought to a standstill.

  The outrageously loud music suddenly ceased.

  “Hey lady, I’m talking to you!” the burly man exclaimed.

  They all glanced in his direction.

  Uh oh, Tira thought.

  Still, no one replied. Tira supposed they were too shocked to realize that they were being dragged into a fight.

  The burly man took a step towards Ashley, and almost immediately, Tira and Jeryl were on their feet.

  Tira was putting herself between the burly man and Ashley before she knew what she was doing.

  “We don’t want any trouble, sir,” Tira heard herself say.

  The burly man burst into laughter, and a few of his cronies joined him.

  “Trouble?” he replied. “Well, trouble already found you, bitch!”

  And then, he lashed out.

  Tira was at fault, she knew it. She had underestimated him. He was fat—too fat for it to be considered legal. He was potbellied and had a lot of flabby fat coating his arms and legs; he wore shorts and a singlet. He certainly didn’t look like the athletic type, nor did he sound like one. He couldn’t possibly move fast enough.

  Wrong!

  The fist smashed into her right cheek, the force of impact throwing her to the side like she weighed nothing. She landed on another table, breaking it into pieces immediately.

  Tira hung on the edge of consciousness, the following events sounding like a distant blur. Her vision swarmed and her mind tried to process the fiery pain lighting up her right side.

  She moaned, the salty taste of blood stinging her tongue.

  “Stay back, sir,” she heard Jeryl say along with the distinct click of a gun. “We don’t want to fight.”

  Tira struggled with herself, pulling her body out of the wreck until she was on her knees. She swallowed hard as pain shot through her right leg which had borne the brunt of the impact.

  “He has a gun!” the man bellowed in mock fear before he descended into another bout of laughter. His cronies laughed along.

  Anger exploded in Tira’s belly. She threw herself to her feet. Like a rushing wall, a wave of nausea slammed into her.

  Tira staggered back, reaching out for a purchase to steady herself, but instead landing her hand on another human being.

  The man slapped her hand off. “Get your hand off me, you niffy little swine.”

  Tira’s first instinct was to punch the man in the face, but she had a bigger fish to fry. She noticed that the burly fellow hadn’t taken another step in Ashley or Jeryl’s direction. She also saw that all eyes were on the unfolding situation. The waiter with the water and scotch was also hanging back, unsure of what to do.

  The bouncers remained at their stations, though they watched with wariness.

  Fine, Tira thought. I guess I’ll just have to stop them myself.

  “Last warning, Fat Joe!” Tira yelled, drawing attention to her approach.

  “What are you doing?” Jeryl whispered as she passed by him.

  “Following your cue, sir,” she r
eplied.

  She crossed no man’s land and stood right in front of the burly man.

  “Does it give you a kick, huh?” she whispered into his face. “Hitting women in the face?”

  She could see the remark hitting home, with the smirk disappearing from his face.

  “I’ll do it again and again, if that’s what it takes,” he retorted through clenched teeth.

  Tira’s mock laughter echoed through the silence. “You can only try.”

  She saw it before it came: the twitch of his right lips that heralded his left hand flying for her abdomen. She leaped out of the way, though not before landing her palm against his right cheek.

  The clap of the slap carried through the entire room, a sweep of murmurs resulting and tracing itself from one side of the bar to the other. Fat Joe fell to his knees, momentarily dazed. His crew were now on their feet, just like Tira wanted it.

  If we’re going to fight, might as well get it over with, Tira thought. She hoped as hell that the entire bar didn’t turn on them. As for five silly drunk customers, she was pretty confident they could handle it.

  “That’s for hitting a woman,” Tira said in the silence that followed. “Apparently, your wench of a mother didn’t teach you that.”

  Fat Joe screamed in rage and lurched in her direction, but Tira was ready. She sidestepped the attack, striking his right temple with her fist. The attack threw him off course and he barreled right into an adjacent table.

  Tira dodged a punch from another assailant just in time. She followed through with a fist to the abdomen. The scrawny man went down, gasping for breath.

  Tira retreated to Jeryl and Ashley, who was now standing, as the rest of the crew formed a loose circle around them. Fat Joe was recovering and cursing loudly. In the corner of her eyes, Tira could see some others standing to join the fight, and she was pretty sure they weren’t going to be fighting for her.

  It was at times like this when Tira wished she could just say ‘Scotty, three to beam!’ like in the old stories.

  All she could say now was ‘Shit!’

  She wasn’t exactly afraid, but what good would come out of a situation like this?