Cobra Outlaw - eARC Read Online Free PDF

that didn’t take us anywhere near the net.” He pursed his lips. “Which isn’t to say that he doesn’t have schemes of his own in progress.”
    “Or we may be misreading this one,” Garrett said, nodding toward the helm display. He snorted gently. “Though it could be highly entertaining to see what would happen if Commodore Santores is suspicious enough to bring the Megalith and the Algonquin. ”
    “Indeed,” Barrington agreed, smiling tightly. “And if snagging two war cruisers would amuse them, think how much more their little faces would light up if they got three.”
    “So we’re staying?”
    “One thing at a time,” Barrington said. “Let’s map the net first, and figure out where we go from there.”
    “Yes, sir,” Garrett said. He didn’t sound happy with the decision, but he knew better than to continue arguing once his commander had made up his mind. “With your permission, I’d like to go to the sensor nexus and supervise the data collection.”
    “Good idea,” Barrington said. “When the mapping is complete, report to the conference room.”
    “Yes, sir.” Garrett hesitated. “Thank you, sir.”
    Barrington nodded acknowledgement. “Dismissed.”
    He watched Garrett stride across CoNCH, a sour taste in his mouth. Thank you, sir. Not thanks for Barrington’s reading of the situation, or his tactical logic, or even for allowing Garrett to supervise the net mapping. Thank you, sir, for planning a meeting with the rest of the senior officers, lest they and their patrons someday bring accusations that the captain and first officer had kept the rest of the command structure out of the data stream on such a critical decision.
    It was insane, of course. The captain of a Dominion warship was supposed to have absolute authority over his vessel and crew, with no obligation to the rest of his officers except to listen to their suggestions and thoughts, and accept any such suggestions only when he chose to do so.
    Officially, that was how it still worked. But such theory was no longer aligned with reality. The slow but steady rise of patrons and supporters over the years had created an equally slow but steady rise in the influence of politics into the upper levels of the military. Politics, not skill, now dominated the highest levels of military decision-making. Not just on Asgard, but even aboard ships of the line.
    And it was a state of affairs that Barrington couldn’t ignore. His own patron was reasonably powerful, but Barrington had no interest in matching him against the combined weight of the Dorian ’s second, third, and tactical officers’ patrons. Especially since his patron would be standing alone in any such contest, given Garrett’s own lack of any patron at all.
    Garrett.
    It was a puzzle that Barrington had often wondered about during the long months of the task force’s journey to the Cobra Worlds. There were still plenty of officers who’d risen through the ranks on pure merit, without anyone in the Dome or elsewhere outside the Fleet greasing the wheels for them. But in Barrington’s experiences most such men were considerably older than Garrett, or considerably lower in rank. Certainly he’d never met anyone Garrett’s age who was first officer of a war cruiser. Whatever the man’s accomplishments had been before his assignment to the Dorian and this mission, they must have been spectacular.
    Someday, Barrington told himself firmly, he would have to find a way to get a look at Garrett’s full record. Not the truncated and suspiciously edited summary that had been in the Dorian ’s personnel records when Barrington was given command a month before this long journey began, but the full version. Until then, he would just have to trust that Asgard knew what they were doing.
    In the meantime…
    He scowled at the displays. In the meantime, someone out there was playing games. Time to figure out what that game was, and who exactly was playing it.
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    Engineering Officer