Moonstruck Read Online Free PDF

our own choices, our personal freedom. Yet, we serve because we are a special breed, a breed apart.”
    “With all due respect, sir, this is a conversation one might have with a new, untried ensign on their maiden voyage. I’m your most experienced commander. My loyalty, my devotion to duty is something you should expect without question.”
    Zaafran compressed his lips as he studied her.
    “Without question,” she repeated.
    “I know, Brit. You, more than any other officer. But I…You…” He sighed. She’d never seen him speechless. “Better that I show you this first.” He activated the holo-vis. “Display triad.” A silver triangle appeared in front of them, three-dimensional and glowing as it spun slowly in midair. Each edge was a different color. “From the reunification hearings comes this—our future. The Triad. Planet Earth, us and the former Drakken Empire—” he pointed to the blue side of the triangle, the black and finally the red “—form the Triad Alliance. The Coalition as we have always known it is no more.”
    Surprise exploded inside her, but her military bearing remained supremely confident and unflinching. One hand cupped her glass of wine; the other she kept pressed behind her, elbow bent, just so. Her shoulders were back, her chin up and her expression serene. In the end, her only reaction to Zaafran’s bombshell was the barest lifting of her left brow. So this was what they’d been cooking up all these weeks during closed-door hearings. She’d suspected as much. Hearing it was another story.
    “The Coalition will provide most of the resources and infrastructure for stability in these early stages of reorganization. Earth is too small and backward, of course, and the Drakken Empire is in disarray.”
    “So, what you’re saying, Prime-Admiral, is that we’re still in charge.”
    His slight smile gave her the answer she wanted. “As it should be,” she murmured, comforted by the knowledge that some things, the important things, hadn’t actually changed. The Coalition had, after all, won the war.
    Her commanding officer spoke to the holo-vis once more. “Show next.” The triangle disappeared, replaced by a warship beyond her wildest dreams. It was half again as large as the Vengeance, with what appeared to be a double plasma-drive core, overlapping weapons portals and many more decks.
    “She’s magnificent.”
    Zaafran beamed with pride. “She’s every bit as much a symbol of our future as the triangle I just showed you. Feast your eyes on the first Triad Alliance ship, the TAS Unity. Congratulations, Brit. She’s yours.”
    “The Unity? Bah. What kind of self-respecting battleship is given such a weak name?”
    “A new kind of battleship. A ship for a new era. A ship for diplomacy. ”
    Her brow went up again. She was a soldier, a warrior. Not a diplomat. Was this what he was so reluctant to tell her?
    “She symbolizes the Triad’s first steps toward the future, united as one. As her captain, you will command a crew consisting of Coalition, Earth and Drakken.”
    And Drakken. So there it was. “I see…” Brit took a delicate, controlled sip of wine, rolling it on her tongue before swallowing. “How many of them?”
    “You will command a total of two hundred and twenty officers and enlisted personnel. Of that, our initial mandate requires approximately sixty percent Coalition, thirty-five percent Drakken and five percent Earthling.”
    “I’ll simply assign the bulk of the Horde to the propulsion room belowdecks and out of sight. The overflow will go to the ship’s load master. They can work on keeping the cargo bays polished. As for the Earthlings, I can’t decide if their number is too small to be of concern or just enough to get in the way.”
    “No, Brit. The crew will be integrated, not segregated. We’re going to make peace work. We’re going to prove everyone can get along. And if you don’t feel up to the task, Bandar, I’ll remove you right now