Defying The Alliance (Novokin Alliance Invasion 1) (10 page)

"There Captain," Jaxx magnified the distant speck on the view screen. Everyone on the bridge tensed, as the monitor zeroed in on the six Novokin Alliance ships closing on our position. My first officer’s fingers danced across his consul, as he scanned the incoming vessels.

"One ship appears to be a Thegn' class light cruiser, and the other five are Drengr class heavy fighters."

I let out a breath, I wasn’t aware I was holding. Turning to Jaxx, I smiled. "Nothing that the Razor can't easily handle."

"Yes easily, as long as I have a full engineering complement afterwards to affect repairs. Hmmm, better yet maybe we'll just pull into one of those handy-dandy Protectorate space ports." The sarcasm of my engineer's voice over the ship's intercom bit me like a red-tailed Floturan honeybee. That woman was incorrigible. I understand Anya being fiercely protective of the Razor, but sometimes I swear she seemed to care more about the ship than the people on it.

“I promise, we’ll do our best to keep your baby in one piece,” my patience paper thin.

“Thanks Captain, much appreciated.”

"They're not slowing down Captain. They'll be within weapons range in 30 seconds." Jaxx warned.

Oh boy, more good news. I held up a hand, when Jaxx looked like he was going to inquire about further directions. The readouts on his station’s monitor must've mirrored what I already knew. Realization hit him as a slow grin sprouted on his green face. He had forgotten about the false signal, we were transmitting. They thought, they were closing in on a mouse, but they'd discover a lioness in wait.

"Now they're slowing down. They must be in visual range,” my commander’s eyes bright with mischief. “Probably scratching their heads at the appearance of a Protectorate Warbird."

"Most likely pissing themselves," Lieutenant Dodson chimed in.

I could pull my hair out.
Protocol people! Protocol.

An angry hailing beep clamored for attention over the open communication line. Stepping forward, hoping to forestall any overzealous button pushing, I gave a curt command. "Don't answer that."

I took a moment to center myself, relax, and straighten my uniform, before I addressed my fine crew. "Alright people, give me options."

"Destroy them," Lieutenant Cobbs was quick to suggest.

Julie slowly inched forward, but remained silent. I nodded to her, and that seemed to disperse the cloud of shyness draped over her. "Run, we’re faster than them." Everyone turned to look at her. How did she know we were faster than them, she wasn’t even from our galaxy. "What? I like to read," she shrugged.

I was really starting to like this girl.

My eyes darted around the room looking for him. A second later, a low hum of energy tickled the skin on the back of my neck, well before, his shadow engulfed me. I bit the inside of my cheek, taking a deep breath before I turned and faced him. The second his hazel green eyes made contact with mine, my heart skipped a beat. Heat spread across my cheeks and I squeezed my thighs tight to somehow push back the heated avalanche flooding my sex. The tickle I felt previously on my neck now radiated throughout my body. My legs moved me closer to him before I realized what I was doing. His eyes narrowed, and a sidelong, impish grin cracked his gorgeous face before he spoke.

"They haven't fired yet, so the simple truth is they are as confused as us. They realize they are outgunned and they do not know what to make of us." A subtle glint in his eye told me that the big, golden barbarian was fully aware of the effect he was having on me.
Prak. That made him so much harder to resist.

Anya's voice crackled over the intercom. "Captain if I may interject?"

“Yes, Chief,” for God sakes, yes! Anything to pull me out of his hypnotic stupor. 

"Technically, we have more firepower than them, and yes technically we are faster..."

Her dramatic pauses never boded well for me or my ship. I knew I was going to regret it. "What does technically mean, Chief?"

"Well the suggestions were all correct. The Razor has all of these capabilities, and more. When my crew of three people, I remind you, only three people,” she intoned for effect, “is finished installing all the components, we procured, and have had time to charge the fuel cells, she'll be a mighty force to be reckoned with." Anya was always the bright spot in my day. I could always count on her. Good as she was at her job, she was like an all consuming, Terran-Duskanite vortex that sucked in every shred of hope and happiness from my day.

"Skeck." I grumbled at her through gritted teeth."Would you please be so kind as to tell me what we
do
have
available, Chief?"

"About 60% shields, weapons at 13%, and one torpedo."

"One? Last time I checked we had eight torpedoes, what happened?" Now she was just doing it on purpose.
Why did this woman hate me?

"Nothing happened, Captain." I could hear her eyes rolling even through the intercom. "We needed to take a number of systems off-line to integrate the new power conduits we took from the Prime Minister’s ship. It's not exactly one-size-fits-all."

"Well what do you suggest?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"Probably the quickest solution I could give you would be to refit the torpedo with some of the ship’s antimatter."

Finally, something that made sense. "Thus disabling their propulsion and navigational systems with some sort of super EMP." I clarified, as the wings of hope fluttered anew in my chest.

"Correct, Captain."

“Well done, Chief. I could kiss you right now!” I said excited.

“Sorry Captain, I've got work to do. Maybe later,” she chuckled.

Oh I loved this woman. I take back everything. Hell, if this worked, I’d let her stare at Trex for hours on end. I sneaked a furtive glance at my barbarian friend. He caught me with his smoldering olive eyes and I melted into the floor. Okay I take it back. Nobody can look at Trex but me.

"We will have to get them close together," he added in his gruff, sexy voice, holding my gaze hostage, trapped by the predatory shimmer of his eyes. My chest heaved, as deep arousal infused all my feminine parts. My breasts thrust forward as my nipples hardened begging to be rubbed and a shiver slithered through me.

A sidelong curl of his sensual lips and a look of satisfaction were etched in his features.
Damn him.

Julie broke the staring contest. "How close?"

".4 kilosteps." Jaxx was fiercely running calculations. Something bothered him, because the look on his face wasn’t the strong, confident first officer I was used to. "At that range, they could still use torpedoes,” his voice sounded on the brink of panic.

I was worried. He shouldn’t stress in his condition. I could –.

Anya piped in, "But at that distance, they risk destroying themselves in the blast. The 60% we have available for shields, which by the way are far superior to any of theirs, should be enough to come through the pulse with a minimal drain or damage to our systems. Meaning, when the skeck hits the fan, we can just fly away."

"Sounds like a plan."
I have the best crew in the universe.

"I'll need at least seven minutes Captain." With Anya, there was always a catch, but I expected that.

Working the clamp in my hair, I undid the tight ponytail it was in, shaking it out for maximum effect. And then I noticed that everybody was watching me. It was as if all of a sudden, I was back in high school, having a nightmare about giving an oral report on the book I hadn't read, in my underwear.

I pulled out my best Captain's voice. "All right people, everybody act natural. Let's hear what the Novokin scum have to say." That broke the tension, and I watched as shoulders relaxed and everyone took some calming breaths. I signaled to open the comm.

"Illegal Protectorate ship, you will lower your shields, discharge your weapons and prepare to be boarded. If you do not comply in one minute, you will be fired upon. Illegal Protectorate ship, you will lower –."

That was rude. I gave the lieutenant a slicing motion across my neck for him to turn it off.

A blinking blue light on my own consul signified a third part of the plan, an old fall back we hadn’t used in ages. The readout stated that Anya had not only stopped transmitting the false sensor readings that cloaked our signal as an Alourian freighter, but tweaked it so they knew exactly who we were. A Protectorate Warbird. As an added bonus it was now sending them a signal that suggested we were armed to the teeth and ready to fight with a full complement of weapons currently charged and primed. A much much better position for negotiating.

With a slight tilt of my head the lieutenant reopened the channel. "This is the
–cough–
ship Razor. We were responding to a distress call in the sector. Please stand down any aggressions. I repeat we were responding to a distress call in the sector." That should confuse them even more and buy Anya a few more minutes.

Now a little orange light blinking under the main viewscreen indicated that the captain of this little force wanted to talk in person. Good, I needed to draw them in closer, anyway.

The image of the six ships in the black starscape in front of us morphed into the face of a handsome young Terran, replete with wavy jet black hair, cut short and pushed over to one side. His strong angular nose led down to an almost feminine set of full lips, which twisted into a smile as my image came in to view for him.

"Caspia," he gasped, a hint of surprise coating his honeyed voice. The same honeyed voice, which had lured me into his bed many a time before. The flashing of his blue eyes made my chest tighten, but the site of the Novokin uniform on his perfectly chiseled body and the ranking that it signified forced bile in my mouth.

"Liam." I said.

"As I live and breathe, if it isn't Captain Caspia Jones. You're looking tasty as ever."

From the corner of my eye I noticed Julie fluffing her red hair. I could practically hear Anya purring on the other end of the intercom. Liam Siegel always had that effect on women. Even Jaxx straightened his posture ever so slightly, when Liam started talking. Men want to be him, and women want to be with him. Then it dawned on me, he was talking this whole time and I hadn't paid a damn bit of attention.

"– What's it been Cas, three years and two months since the beach on Parisia Prime? I remember waking up to the sun rising over your hips, the gleam of the waves from the sapphire sea on the horizon." He was laying it on thick, but I had to stall, so I needed to play along.

"I remember the white sandy beach set ablaze by the twin suns as they surrendered to the night. Just you, me and a bottle of sweet Alluvian wine. Remember the morning swims in the cove, under the cool mist of those seven little waterfalls?"

“I remember you trying to swim.”

No matter how tender the memory might've been, that uniform he was wearing left a bitter taste in my mouth. With a tilt of his head and a lowering of his eyelids he turned up the kilopower of his charm up to maximum. "I have to confess Cas, I don’t quite remember how much we swam, but I do remember the fun time we had under those falls," his smile was suggestive and easy, his eyes laser beams of focus, slowly unzipping my uniform, "and the games we played,” he winked.

“Seeing you now, here, I can't help think about the way the water cascaded off your bare shoulders, tiny rivulets meandering down your back, eventually caressing–.”

“
–Cough–
Liam," I interrupted him, lifting a warning eyebrow.

“Well, I guess, maybe this is more private conversation,” a cocky grin spread across  his devilishly handsome face.

Wow, he still seemed so damn sure of himself. But reluctantly I had to admit, when he spoke to me it always felt like it was only the two of us, that we were alone, even on a crowded bridge.

“Ahem,” clearing my throat, I took a step closer to the view screen, making sure to arch my back ever so slightly, to give him the full effect of the girls, "as I said, we were providing assistance to the ship in front of us. You see it's dead in the water. Feel free to scan it for lifeforms, everyone is alive and well. I'm not sure what the problem is?"

His smile tightened and his charmingness faded a few decibels. "It doesn't matter Cas, I've got orders from on high and I'm going to have to detain you here for further questioning." It actually looked like a real emotion crossed his face. Was that guilt? Was he actually feeling guilty for something?

I pursed my lips. I was going for demure sensuality but I was afraid it would just come across as me being subjected to one of Jaxx's now infamous odorous discharges. Reminder to self, never get pregnant.

"Liam, surely, you and I can work something out between the two of us. You of all people should know that deep space can be awfully lonely. Wouldn't you agree with that assessment, Commander?"

That frisky gleam in his eye was back. He caught me talking down to him, a mere commander. "As much as I'd like to play now Captain, I still have to demand you stand down, so I can board your ship."

"Is it really my ship that you want to board?" The air behind me crackled with energy and I was all too aware of the tension emanating in oodles from my golden barbarian. Was he jealous?

"Caspia, I really missed you." Was that sincerity in Liam's voice? Stay focused girl.
Hurry up Anya, I need that modified torpedo!

"I know, we had a lot of fun together Liam. I have to ask though, that uniform," I tilted my chin away, as if it hurt to look at him, and if truth be told, it did. "Why?"

"That's an easy one Cas. It was either service or death, and I think we both know I'm far too pretty to die."

The hint of boyish mischief that told me the real Liam was still in there, somewhere. It gave me hope. Hope that our friendship had been real, and the time that we spent together had actually meant something, to the both of us. It also made what I was about to do next, about a thousand times more difficult.

"I know Liam…" Three, two, one – the yellow armed insignia illuminated on the consul in front of me. "I will always keep close to my heart, the time we spent together Liam… So, I'm truly sorry."

"Sorry for what?" The look of utter confusion on his face was heartbreaking, but so was the sight of him in that uniform.

"For this." I uttered, allowing him to watch, as my finger dropped to the consul, falling onto the button, which launched the modified torpedo. We all stood transfixed by the second image on the viewer, as the projectile flew dead center into the contingent of Alliance vessels and exploded in a dazzling array of white and blue against the black expanse of space.

Liam's eyes went wide. "What the–." The connection was severed from his end, presumably by the loss of power.

I wasn't able to pull myself away from the image of my past, that would haunt me anew. I whispered a command to my helmsman. "Get us the prak out of here."