The Lost Stars Read Online Free PDF Page B

stop them.”
    â€œAnd the officers and workers on those ships surely know that.”
    â€œYes, sir. As does Kommodor Marphissa. She is too capable not to be aware of her certain fate if her ships do not run for safety.”
    â€œSo, even if we somehow survive, those warships will not, unless they run for it. They’re doomed if they stay.” Iceni would lose her shield against the hammer of Drakon’s ground forces, would lose her power to bargain with him and Boyens.
    â€œYes, but if the warships flee,” Malin said, “
our
fates will become certain. Any chance of bluffing the enigmas into leaving, any chance of dealing with CEO Boyens, will disappear with them. Either they commit to die fighting a hopeless battle or they run to save themselves and ensure that wedie.”
    If Marphissa had been a Syndicate CEO, Drakon knew what he would have expected her to do. There wasn’t any profit in hopeless battles. But, if they stayed, and with Marphissa knowing how vital her choices had become to Iceni’s survival, what price might someone trained in the Syndicate system demand in exchange for the warships’ almost certain sacrifice?
    No wonder Iceni was watching the depiction of her warships with dour intensity, as if anticipating the worst.
    A sharp tone announced a high-priority call arriving. “Kommodor Marphissa wishes to speak with you, Madam President,” the comm specialist announced.

CHAPTER TWO
    â€œMADAM President,” Kommodor Asima Marphissa said with the same exaggerated formality as if she were speaking at a funeral service. “There is no need to explain the options beforeus.”
    â€œNo,” Iceni replied, trying not to reveal in her words or expression the icy ball in the pit of her stomach as she waited for Marphissa to either openly betray her or demand a huge price for continued loyalty. She had not left the command center and knew that Drakon was also watching from a slight distance even though he could not hear her conversation. “What is that you want?”
    Since Marphissa’s flagship (former Syndicate Worlds heavy cruiser C-448 now renamed
Manticore
) was in orbit near this planet, there was no noticeable delay time in the transmission. However, Marphissa paused as if reluctant to speak.
    The first giant betrayal is the hardest,
Iceni thought bitterly.
Don’t worry, girl. They get easier as time goes on.
But the Kommodor’s next words were not those Iceni had expected.
    â€œI request permission to proceed with the flotilla to join up with the two heavy cruisers at the mobile forces facility orbiting the gas giant.”
    â€œWhat purpose would that serve?” Iceni asked, now trying to hide her surprise. Moving toward the gas giant at the current point in its orbit would take Marphissa and her ships considerably closer to the enigmas but only marginally closer to Boyens and his flotilla.
    â€œTo defend the star system,” Marphissa explained. “To defend the people.”
    Iceni shook her head, as much in puzzlement as in disagreement.
That woman rose to executive rank in the Syndicate system. She must have learned how to negotiate better than that.
“Let me put it more plainly, Kommodor. I ask again, what do you want?”
    â€œTo combine my forces, Madam President.”
    â€œEven combined, your forces are inadequate to deal with the threat from either opponent in this star system!”
If she wanted to acquire the other two heavy cruisers, she could just order them to join her en route to one of the jump points. Why won’t she lay out her demands?
    But Kommodor Marphissa just nodded in agreement. “Yes, Madam President. That is correct. We cannot hope to defeat either the enigma armada nor the Syndicate flotilla. But, if my forces are combined, I will have a better chance of striking some damaging blows at them before my warships are destroyed. We will fight as long as wecan.”
    Iceni felt