Captain (The United Federation Marine Corps Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

officer, had sent one of the ship’s Storks to pick them up.  That was sure to result in an official complaint from the planter officials, but they couldn’t very well leave without the senior officers on board.
    Luckily for those who had been enjoying themselves a bit too much, Doc Shabah had met them at the hatch to the wardroom with Soberups.  They would pay the price later, but the pills were considered mission essential for a good portion of them.
    Ryck hadn’t really met the commander yet.  Along with most of the junior officers, Ryck was on the wardroom’s second seating.  The ship’s XO presided over the seating, but all the other senior officers were on the first seating.  According to the other navy officers in his seating, the commander was competent, but a flaming asshole.  Ryck looked on interestedly as the Ops Officer took the small portable podium.
    “Captain, colonel, gentlemen,” he began.  Technically, he was the same rank as LtCol uKhiwa, but as the colonel was the commander of troops, military etiquette stipulated that the Ops O address him separately.
    “We left orbit 25 minutes ago, and we will enter bubble space in 12 minutes.”
    That brought a low murmur from the wardroom.  That was no time at all, and the ship would still be in close proximity of Colt 45.  To enter bubble space that close would have required clearance at the highest authority.
    “According to our calculations, we will emerge from bubble space within the CF-32 system at least five hours before the Confederation heavy hauler.  Our mission upon arrival is to rescue the ship’s company, retrieve the ship, if possible, destroy it if it is not.”
    The murmur rose again, and the commander raised a hand to quiet them down.
    “If the Confederation releases the ship before our arrival, we will attempt to re-enter bubble space undetected.  We’ll be the first ship to use the new cloaking systems in an actual operation, so even then, our mission is vital.”
    Since the human cloaking systems had proven to be inferior to those of the trinoculars, there had been a mad rush to improve the human systems.  Both the Falklands and the Han Class destroyers were the first two classes of ships to get the upgrades.
    “By the Grace of God, we are one of the closest ships to CF-32, and we are the most capable of performing the mission.  Our Marines will make the crossing and take down the ship.  If we need it, the Inchon herself will try out her new meson canon that Lieutenant Commander Jewel has been so anxious to break in.  And if anyone tries to stop us, we are authorized to use maximum force to complete the mission.
    “But time is short.  I’d like everyone except for my staff and Major Snæbjörnsson ’s staff to clear out.  We need some elbow room to hash this plan out.  The rest of you, you’ve got lots to do, so I suggest you get at it.  Captain?”
    “I’ve got nothing for all of you now.  But you heard the Ops O.  Better get going.”
    He stood up, immediately followed by the rest of the wardroom.
    “Holy shit!” Donte whispered beside Ryck as everyone started filing out the hatch.
    Going into Confederation space?  “Maximum force” is authorized?  Holy shit indeed!

Chapter 6
     
     
    Ryck rushed down B deck to get to Hanger Bay 2.  He’d just received the final brief, and L-hour was less than 15 minutes away.  He forwarded the updated operations order to his own staff which should be waiting in the rekis [6] for the crossover.
    The mission was pretty straight forward despite the time crunch and the close entry and exit from bubble space to planetary bodies.  With the new cloaking system, the Inchon would pull to within 100 km from the Julianna’s Dream , which was spitting distance for ships in space.  The Marines would use the rekis to close the distance before debarking and flying their EVA vacsuits the last kilometer to their objectives.
    Charlie Company was to secure the Julianna’s Dream ,