Battlecruiser Alamo - 7 - Battlecruiser Alamo: Sacred Honor Read Online Free PDF

be wandering around at a loose end. My guess is that most of them will end up drifting out here, at least those who knew who their real bosses are.”
     “And we ended up flying a Cabal battlecruiser because…”
     “I told you, I’m working on it.”
     “Work fast, ma’am,” Wilson said. “Shuttle on final approach.”
     “Damn it, they jumped the gun.”
     “Probably trying to catch us by surprise,” Carpenter said.
     Tossing her discarded uniform into a corner, Orlova stood in front of the open elevator airlock; sirens sounded as it went through its cycle, and a stub-nosed delta-winged shuttle rose up to the deck. Orlova ran her eyes along the lines of the craft in admiration, then managed to float at attention as the doors opened and a wearing looking man floated out, the overhead lights shining from his bald black head.
     “You must be Forster,” he said, reaching out a hand. “Lester Price, Dockmaster.”
     “This is Susan Carpenter,” she gestured, “First Mate.”
     “Pleasure.” He looked at the two of them, then around the deck, “What a mess.”
     “She went through a hell of a battle,” Orlova replied. “Almost wish I’d been on board to see it.”
     “What happened? We know about the task force that went off to intercept Alamo, but nothing since then.”
     Inside, Orlova sighed with relief, though tinged with concern. Price seemed genuinely uninformed, and if he was just the foreman of a repair yard, that would make sense. If he was fishing, though, he’d probably work out the truth quickly enough.
     “Alamo put up a hell of a fight before being taken down. Hercules was at the vanguard of the battle, and most of its crew were killed.”
     “Something about not wanting it to stay in Cabal hands,” Carpenter added.
     “It must rankle,” Price said. “I can understand how they would feel. If one of our ships ended up under their control, I’d want to take it back as well. Where’s the crew?”
     “Mostly injured or dead,” Orlova said. “Our orders were to bring the ship here for repairs while the rest of the fleet proceeded to Innes’ Star to establish a blockade.”
     Nodding, Price said, “Why you?”
     “We aren’t military personnel. Look, we just came out here looking for work. Most of us were freighter crewmen with Cornucopia, and when the Senate launched its crackdown we ran for it before we could be arrested. I guess the Commandant figured that we could be spared.” She snorted, then said, “Given the mess this ship is in, expandable was probably more like it. We almost didn’t make it through the jump, and we lost a lot of data when the computer crashed.”
     “Including your orders, I presume.”
     “Everything we’d had for the last week.”
     “I presume you’ll have no objection to my technicians checking that out?”
     Taking a deep breath, Orlova said, “Look, how long is this damn interrogation going to last? I have dozens of fractures on the hull, communications and sensors are out, and I’m not sure how long this ship is going to hold together. Can we continue this conversation at Hydra, or would you rather salvage the wreck than repair the ship?”
     Nodding, Price replied, “I suppose I can see your point. Very well, I’ll get the tugs on the way to bring you in. My team will be checking your story, and I can promise…”
     “Yes, yes, we’ll be arrested, tried, shot, whatever you want. Let’s just get this moving, can we? This ship needs to get back into service quickly.”
     His eyes widening, Price said, “We’ll get her back into service, but I think you might be being a little optimistic if you want a fast job. It’s going to take weeks at best.”
     “Then can we get on with it?”
     He looked at her, then around the hangar bay. Turning, he ducked back inside the shuttle, having a quick, quiet conversation with someone inside before emerging again, a datapad in his