Free Rumors of Salvation (System States Rebellion Book 3) by Dietmar Wehr

off the Bridge and on to Sick Bay. There the ship’s Chief Medical Officer,
who already knew what to expect, was waiting to see if the implant could be
removed safely.
     
    “Listen
up, people,” said Molitor. “I’m assuming command of this ship. What you’ve just
seen is an attempt by rogue forces within the command structure to hijack the
Empire for their own selfish purposes. Every ship CO now has one of those
implants in their necks. I believe they were forced to accept them, and I’m
convinced that if we return to Hadley, I and eventually all of you will be
forced to accept an implant as well. Therefore returning to Hadley is not an
option for us. If we’re going to stop this hideous threat, we’ll need help.
Right now the only organized military force not under Empire control that I
know of seems to be in this star system. I intend to make contact with them and
ask for their help. Does anyone have a problem with that?” She slowly looked at
everyone and saw them all shake their heads in the negative.
     
    “Good!
Then let’s head for Midgard. That’s where they have to be building ships.”
     
    It
was almost 24 hours before they were able to identify a location on Midgard
where there seemed to be some kind of industrial activity that the locals were
attempting to hide. It was inside an extinct volcano. Whoever was responsible
for that operation had gone to great lengths to keep it from being detected.
There were no visible lights at night, and the level of heat radiating out of
the volcano was barely higher than the ambient temperature. The giveaway was a
small air vehicle that was tracked flying into the volcano in the middle of the
night and not coming out for several hours. Based on that suspicious activity,
Molitor ordered the ship to hover almost 50 kilometers over the volcano and
wait until the local sun was at its highest point in the sky. The ship’s
opticals were able to zoom in enough to see movement inside the volcano. With
that confirmation, Molitor ordered the ship to drop down to the same height as
the top of the volcano and hover about 100 meters away. They then settled down
to wait.
     
    Murphy
climbed aboard the air-bus with the rest of the people who were due some
R&R and settled down in a seat for the 89 minute ride. He wasn’t going into
the city to have fun. There were logistical matters that required face-to-face
meetings between him and several city officials. Once those were taken care of,
he intended to spend a few more hours getting a good night’s sleep in a
comfortable hotel bed before coming back. Living quarters at the Base were
utilitarian at best. Making the Base personnel comfortable hadn’t been a high
priority for Admiral Chenko and General Masterson when they were supervising
the operation, and now it was even lower. When everyone was aboard and seated,
Murphy leaned forward, looked towards the flight deck, and said, “Okay,
Lieutenant, we’re ready back here.”
     
    The
air-bus started to rise vertically. Murphy could tell by the brightness of the
outside light through the cabin windows that they were getting near the top of
the volcano. Just as the vehicle reached the top, he heard the Pilot exclaim in
a shocked voice, “Oh shit!” The air-bus stopped moving. Before Murphy could ask
what the problem was, the Pilot shouted to him in a voice that was on the verge
of panic. “Commander, you better get up here right now!”
     
    Murphy
sprinted for the open flight deck door. The Pilot was pointing to the right,
and as Murphy entered the flight deck, he saw what the Pilot was pointing at.
It was a very large and very menacing-looking spaceship that had multiple flat
sides similar to the Sorcerer. Oh, God, they’ve found us! He
instinctively closed his eyes and clenched his muscles in anticipation of the
laser fire that was surely about to cut through the air-bus’s thin aluminum
skin any second now.
     
    “Son-of-a-bitch,
they’re opening their Hangar Bay!”