Rebellion of Stars (Starship Blackbeard Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

maneuverability and acceleration made them a lethal addition to the battle.
    Tolvern didn’t have time to curse the intelligence failure that had dropped the three ships into her lap, she was crying for evasive maneuvers. One of the enemy craft descended immediately into the stratosphere over Hot Barsa’s northern continent and blocked the destroyer’s descent toward the surface. Launch the pod from here, and it would merely be target practice for enemy guns.
    The other two torpedo boats came at Philistine from the rear, forcing her toward a second fortress, now swinging around the planet, already launching missiles.
    Philistine shuddered. Class three detonation, the computer said in a dry voice. Thirty-two percent damage to the shields. Kinetic fire raked her underbelly. Missiles and torpedoes raced out to meet her.
    “Pull up!” Tolvern cried to her pilot. “Get us out of here.”
    The pod was unlaunched, still in the engineering bay where she’d left it. And there it would stay. The mission was already aborted.
    She slammed her fist on the handrest. “Dammit!”
    Then, embarrassed about her outburst, she concentrated on getting out alive. The engines had taken a hit, and they’d suffered a slow leak to the plasma containment system. She had to build a whole lot of speed before she lost too much juice. With no other options, she pointed away from the three incoming destroyers and accelerated at top speed in the opposite direction. She held her breath, waiting for the torpedo boats to follow, or worse, for scans to reveal new enemies incoming from this direction. No, thank God.
    Once they’d escaped the final, pursuing fire from Hot Barsa’s forts, she sent an emergency subspace to where Drake and Rutherford were rendezvousing. She’d failed. Worse, she’d taken so much damage that she’d need help getting out of the system alive.
    Finally, Tolvern called the away team to give them the bad news. They’d been down there, quietly waiting out the shuddering attacks in the isolation of the pod. Unsure whether they’d be blown apart or launched without warning toward the planet to complete their mission, all while taking fire. Henry must be white with terror, poor kid. Corporal Martin and the others must be ready to strangle him.
    There was no answer. Great. The pod systems must be fried. She told engineering to send someone to give the away team the bad news in person and assess damage. Was the pod even salvageable?
    Someone from engineering responded a few moments later. “Multiple hull breaches along the engineering bay. We’ve almost got it contained, but . . . yeah, it don’t look good.”
    Tolvern’s mouth went dry. “Tell me.”
    “Looks like it punctured the away pod,” the man said. “No life readings on board. Afraid we lost ’em, Captain.”
     
     

Chapter Five
    A few weeks later, Captain Drake waited in the war room as the other members of his council arrived one by one. He had to control the tempo of this meeting—he couldn’t give out all of the information he was sitting on. If he did, the loss in the Barsa system and their subsequent flight to San Pablo, harried and pursued until friendly mercenaries showed up to tip the balance, would seem like the beginning of Lord Malthorne’s final victory.
    Tolvern arrived first, her eyes averted, shamefaced. From her perspective, it had been a debacle. She’d not only failed to launch the pod, but seen her away team killed. Her destroyer, Philistine , had barely escaped and was now being towed to San Pablo for extensive repairs. A few months in command, and she was already bereft of a ship, her crew scattered to other vessels in the fleet.
    Rutherford came next, alone. He’d wanted to bring Pittsfield, his second in command, but the war room was already going to be crowded, and Drake didn’t need the distraction. Rutherford’s mouth formed a grim line, and he grumbled the barest greeting at the other two.
    Next came Catherine Caites, now