Tamara felt a huge knot in her chest loosen. “Excellent work, Mister Korqath. Well done.”
“Thank you, Captain,” he replied, sounding tired. “We have a number of casualties, mostly in the security division.” He made a buzzing sound. “Actually damn near all of them. There were a lot of boarders, Captain.”
“Can you put Corajen on?” Tamara asked. “I’d like to get a full report from her.”
“I’m afraid not, Captain. The Chief is one of the casualties.”
Tamara felt her heart turn to ice. “Corajen’s dead?”
A pause. “No ma’am,” he replied. “She got shot a few times but I managed to take care of the worst of the wounds before the medics got there. She’s in the infirmary and the doctor is looking after her.”
“I’ll contact the Grania Estelle and see if Doctor Turan can lend a hand.” Tamara typed in a command and opened a channel to the bridge. “Wait one.” Once the bridge responded, she relayed her request which would be transmitted to the big bulk freighter, which thankfully hadn’t departed the system yet. She also requested a boarding party be sent over to the Kara so she could get her ship’s crew back. She cut the connection and switched back to the pilot, who was still waiting. “Now, what’s the status of the systems over there? Is the station running all right?”
“Tiyaana got hit in the face by one of the attackers, so she’s in sickbay,” Korqath reported. “But the rest of the Ops people are handling things for now. That domak, Hidreth is acting commander in her absence.”
Tamara nodded, though again, he couldn’t see her. “Good. He’s got a good head on his shoulders. I’ll expect regular reports.”
Her comm panel beeped and another channel opened, this one on the display in front of her. “Captain, it’s the bridge. Sorry to interrupt, but we just got a really big return on our active sensors.”
“What kind of return?” she demanded. “We have ships all over this part of the system.”
“Yes, ma’am, we do, but this one is coming from the direction of the planet,” the Ykzann reported. “Sensors ID it as a warship and her size and signature indicate it’s the Leytonstone. She’s heading this way.”
The blood drained from Tamara’s face. “Korqath, are you still there?”
The zheen replied instantly. “Yes, ma’am, I am.”
“Saddle up. Get everyone who can fly a fighter strapped into a ship. And make sure you’re flying with a full fuel and ordnance load.” She squared her shoulders. “We have a serious problem coming our way.”
“Yes, Captain, I heard. The battlecruiser has come out to play.”
“Time to intercept, Ykzann?”
“They’ll be in range of the station within three hours.”
“You heard him, Korqath,” she ordered. “Get moving.” The zheen signed off. “Get Captain Eamonn back on the line, Ykzann. Tell him he needs to expedite that boarding party. We need to get our people back on board but I’m not willing to let that ship just wander off without someone I trust in charge over there.”
“I’ve already got him, ma’am.”
“Tamara, what’s going on?” Eamonn asked, his image replacing Ykzann’s on the display. “George is going crazy over here, saying that the Leytonstone is almost on top of us.”
“He’s right, Vincent,” she replied. “I need you to get Saiphirelle and a security team along with a few crewmembers you can trust over to the Kara and make sure they stay out of trouble. I need to get my own boarding party off of there and get the Cavalier ready for a fight.”
“You can’t possibly think that a corvette can take on a battlecruiser,” he stated flatly. “How many times did we have that discussion?”
“I’ll be bringing as many of the fighters from the station as I can,” she replied. “We won’t be able to use any of the new Delphon ships Xar and his team built, they haven’t had enough training on them yet. We’ll just have to make do with what we have.”
“Saiphirelle’s already moving. The shuttle will launch in ten minutes.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Tamara said with relief. “I know a lot of problems have been going on today, but I think the trouble only just started. That was just the first wave.”
“I believe it.” He looked very worried. “What should we do once the cruiser gets here?”
Tamara shook her head. “Don’t even think about trying to fight them. Get with Galina on the Samarkand. If things go badly, I want you to get both of those ships away from the station. Just run. I don’t know what kind of capabilities that ship has got, but even if her weapons and shields are barely functioning, neither of our ships can have a hope in hell of standing up to them.”
He squared his shoulders. “I understand. Go get them, Moxie. I’m sorry.”
She gave a sad smile. “So am I, Captain. Now, get that shuttle moving. I have things to see to.” And with a last nod, Tamara cut the connection.
She did have a lot to see to. She had the bridge signal action stations, with the understanding that the XO and the remainder of the boarding party would be swapping places with that from the Grania Estelle in the next hour. The ship would be brought to combat readiness. The Aploras and what few of the Delphon pilots could get into space would be forming up and as a small task force, consisting of one corvette and possibly twenty-six fighters, they’d head out and face this bruiser head on.
Her thoughts were very similar to Corajen’s from a few hours before. She’d been caught unprepared by aggressor forces before and she’d been imprisoned and tortured for weeks. No more. She’d been careless and not as paranoid as she should have been and a lot of people died. Her people, people who trusted her to keep them safe and lead them well. No more.
And the admins in this system thought that because they had a big battlecruiser that they could run roughshod over all that she and her companions had built here. They’d had their chance and they’d failed. This big ship coming in would not get the opportunity to trash all of the infrastructure they’d put up.
“No,” she said. “Not this girl, not this day.” Standing, she pulled on her jacket and headed for the bridge.
Hold the Star: Samair in Argos: Book 2 Page 72