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Chapters (44)
  1. The Crimson Worlds Series
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  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Chapter Eleven
  14. Chapter Twelve
  15. Chapter Thirteen
  16. Chapter Fourteen
  17. Chapter Fifteen
  18. Chapter Sixteen
  19. Chapter Seventeen
  20. Chapter Eighteen
  21. Chapter Nineteen
  22. Chapter Twenty
  23. Chapter Twenty-One
  24. Chapter Twenty-Two
  25. Chapter Twenty-Three
  26. Chapter Twenty-Four
  27. Chapter Twenty-Five
  28. Chapter Twenty-Six
  29. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  30. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  31. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  32. Chapter Thirty
  33. Chapter Thirty-One
  34. Chapter Thirty-Two
  35. Chapter Thirty-Three
  36. Chapter Thirty-Four
  37. Chapter Thirty-Five
  38. Chapter Thirty-Six
  39. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  40. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  41. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  42. Chapter Forty
  43. Chapter Forty-One
  44. Epilogue

Carson had never heard Fritz sound so frazzled. He’d come to view the chief engineer as a block of stone, unflappable. But she understood the same thing he did. For all their faith in Captain Barron, the outcome of the battle wasn’t in his hands. It was in theirs…Fritz’s, Carson’s. The whole engineering team. Barron could only fight with what they gave him.

“Yes, Commander. Understood.” He flipped off the com, and spun around. “All right, let’s move it. All of you. Until the bots get up here we’re going to climb down these tubes ourselves. We’re going to find every break in the system, and we’re going to get those guns online. Is that understood?”

Carson was usually mild-mannered, but he understood the importance of the repairs. The techs under his command jumped at his orders. Not one of them answered him in words, they did so by actions…and he was certain every one of them understood what was at stake.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

Interplanetary Space

5,000,000 kilometers from Santis, Krillus IV

307 AC

“All right, Raptor, your fuel status is lowest. You go in first.” Jamison paused. “And be careful, it’s gonna be a rough ride in.”

“Roger that, Thunder.” Stockton took a deep breath. “Don’t worry, boss…I’ve got this.” Stockton’s cockiness was part of his demeanor. He sounded calm, completely relaxed, but it was an illusion. His fighter was in rough shape. He’d destroyed six enemy birds, an astonishing performance, and one that fully met, if not exceeded, his peacetime reputation. But he’d taken battle damage too, and his fighter was shimmying like crazy. That would be bad enough on a clear landing bay…but from what he’d been hearing, Dauntless’s beta bay was a nightmare, strewn with debris and scattered fires the damage parties were still fighting to control. It only had one thing going for it as a landing site: it was in better shape than alpha bay.

Stockton pulsed his thrusters, reducing his velocity. He angled the throttle, fired his positioning jets, lining himself up on the open hatch ahead of him. He could see flickering lights inside.

Fires…

The outer bay was open to space, but inside the membrane that closed off the pressurized deck from the vacuum, Dauntless’s life support systems pumped oxygen-rich air through the ventilation systems. Most of the great battleship was built from metal and high density plastics, materials that wouldn’t burn. But it took more than the basic structure to run a warship, and from fuel to weapons to all kinds of basic supplies, there was plenty that would burn. Internal fires were always a danger.

C’mon, sweetheart…you and me…after all we’ve been through, don’t let me down now…