Angel in the Badlands: space opera sci fi romance (Sons of Amber Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

agreeable. The first of the battleships should arrive within five standards. Dr. Amber will arrive on board Sultana in twenty. In the meantime, you are to protect the colonists at all costs. I don’t need to tell you how important they could be to the survival of humanity.” Angela watched the harsh man’s serious eyes turn amused as he winked. “And judging by the pretty girl on your lap, you won’t mind this duty at all.”
    “You’ve got that right, brother. I can’t complain.” Zeke squeezed her again. “This is my angel of mercy, Sister Angela. She saved my life after the crash and healed my broken bones. The colony here is about fifty percent male, Mike. Regular, normal, healthy human males, like from the beforetimes. I never thought I’d see such a thing. They’re led by a woman who claims to have the ability to see future and she believes the jits will find us sooner rather than later, so we’ll definitely need the firepower those three battleships can provide. My ship is badly damaged and not space worthy. The scrambler’s toast, hence the odd manner of transmitting this message.”
    He raised his eyebrows as he looked around the command cabin. “According to my calculations, we’ll be losing the direct beam in another few minutes, so this is probably my last transmission for now. The jit pirates patrol this sector in force. Hopefully you’ll be able to pull my logs off the sub-channel I’ve been streaming. I have a working handcomp and not much else. Please tell the captains to comm me directly when they reach orbit on my registered access number.” He paused, and Angela could see the relief in his eyes. “And thanks, Mike. I owe you one, brother. Big time. Over.”
    “We’ve lifted your data from the beam and I’m looking through it now,” Michael’s voice came back over the comm after a slight delay. “The battleship Regulus should reach you first. They’re closest. We’ll upload your data to the other ships as well. Holy shit, Zeke.” Mike’s face on the vid screen showed him reading a smaller screen at his side. She guessed that one was probably scrolling the data Zeke had transmitted. “I knew you Wildcards were a little crazy, but you ran into a lot more than you bargained for if what I’m seeing in your data stream about the enemy force is accurate. I’m amazed you made it, but then you’ve always led a charmed life.” On the screen, Michael looked up and smiled.
    “I’m authorizing full deployment on this. If you really have found yourself a colony of uninfected humans, their protection will be our highest priority. Please reassure them of that and lay some groundwork for us. If that pretty girl on your lap is any indication, they seem to like you.” The dark man chuckled wryly, then winked at Angela. “Ma’am,” he acknowledged her with a grin, then sobered once more. “We’ll be there as soon as possible. Hold on ‘til then, brother, and be well. I won’t expect a reply. We see your charts and the planet you’re on will be occluded shortly. Stay safe. Over and out.”
     
     
     

Chapter Four
     
    Zeke watched the transmission sputter out as the heavens shifted and the beam was lost. He turned to Angela.
    “We won’t have another opportunity to talk to them via narrow beam for at least twenty standards.” He checked the rotation of the planet they were on with one hand while he did some quick calculations on the other side of the console. “But the Regulus should be here well before then and they’ll have a functioning scrambler. For now, we just need to sit tight. Am I correct in assuming that night on the surface of this planet belongs to the predators?”
    Angela shuddered and nodded. “Gaks aren’t the only thing out there. And they’re not the meanest either. As long as your shields are sturdy, we should stay inside the ship until morning.”
    Zeke nodded his agreement. “I figured as much. I’m going to run a full damage assessment from inside,