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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

He stared down at the display, his eyes darting back and forth between the enemy ship and Dauntless. There was nothing in between, no icons, no symbols. His scanners weren’t picking up a thing. But he knew they were there. Ninety-four fusion mines, every one of them launched into space by his first officer and a crew of spacers. By hand. And every one of them equipped with stealth technology.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Five

CFS Dauntless

Krillus Asteroid Belt

40, 000,000 kilometers from Santis, Krillus IV

Year 58 (307 AC)

“They’re running, Commander.” Wentus said, his voice taking on a feral tone. “They’re accelerating directly away from us.”

“Very well, Commander.” Kat sat still, devoid of the excitement that seemed to be taking her crew. They viewed an attempt at escape as cowardice, as a sign the enemy was beaten. She wasn’t so sure. Her gut was screaming, telling her to let her adversary go, that she could hold Santis without destroying the battered enemy battleship. But her orders were clear.

Still, this enemy commander was no coward. He was no fool either. If he’d wanted to run, he’d had plenty of time to do it.

What is he up to?

“Status of probes?”

“Scanning data unchanged, Commander. Significant outer hull damage to enemy vessel. No other contacts.”

Kat paused for a few seconds. Something was wrong, she could feel it. But her orders left her no choice.

“All power to the reactors, Optiomagis.” Her engines were still badly damaged. She had no more than half Invictus’s normal thrust available. But the enemy ship was damaged also, its own acceleration far below normal. She had enough thrust to close, if she moved now. She couldn’t let her prey get a head start. It was time to finish this.

“Advise engineering we need the maximum thrust they can give us.” She paused. “Suspend all safeties. Full power to the engines.”

“Full power to the engines, Commander.”

Kat tried to keep the frown from her face as she caught Wentus’s tone, his arrogant of approval at her aggressive command. She wondered if the easy victory her first officer expected would materialize. Or if, as her instincts were telling her, Invictus still faced a serious fight.

She leaned back as she felt the force of the acceleration. One way or another, soon she would know…

*   *   *

“The enemy vessel is accelerating, sir. They are matching out vector and pursuing.”

Barron sat in the center of Dauntless’s bridge, bolt upright, unmoving. He’d tried to appear relaxed, calm for his crew, the model of the unflappable captain…but it had proven to be too much of a deception to maintain. His crew needed to see him focused and in control. But none of them were stupid enough to think he was calm.

“Very well, Lieutenant. Continue course and thrust levels.”

Barron’s com unit buzzed. It was Fritz.

“What is it, Fritzie?”