Lt. Lethrow flew his fighter around Earth’s Destiny, looking for any sign of life. The suicide mission appeared to have been a success, and the big attack cruiser seemed dead in space. In his mind, he didn’t see how anyone inside could have survived such an explosion, yet the hull somehow had not been breached. He pushed his com link.
“No sign of life,” he reported. “Scanners show all power off-line. I think we’ve accomplished our mission.”
“We can’t take any chances,” Evohn Cystrom replied. “We’ve got to make sure everyone inside is dead.”
“How can we do that?” Lt. Hanze asked from his station on the bridge. “If the explosion from the Vice Admiral’s fighter didn’t breach the hull we can shoot missiles at it all day and not accomplish anything.”
“You’re right, so that’s why we have to board her.”
The admiral looked at Evohn. “You think that’s wise?”
Evohn shrugged. “Do you think it is wise to just leave the ship dead in space? What if the crew is alive, wakes up, and is able to power up the FTL drive again? We will have accomplished nothing. But if we board her we can do a proper assessment. If she’s flight worthy we’ll take control of her again. If she’s too damaged for travel, we’ll blow her up from the inside.”
The admiral shrugged. “Well, I guess the only risk is to the boarding party. They might have to fight their way aboard.”
“What if they fire their lasers at us when we get close?” Lt. Hanze asked.
“We can withstand a laser attack. Our hull is just as strong as theirs,” Evohn argued.
“Very well,” the admiral said. “Instruct Humanities Hope to organize a boarding party. With a little luck, we might get the Fleet back up to full strength.”
Tarizon, Conquest Earth, Tarizon Trilogy Vol 3 Page 29