Free Under His Command by Annabel Wolfe

because of it, thanks.”

    Under His Command
    57
    “Yeah, well, I doubt Peyton is thanking me right now.” Tara stood
    and moved toward the galley. “Do you want something to drink? I
    think I do.”
    * * * *
    Ran Kartel read through the report a second time and then clicked
    a button. With as little inflection as possible, he said, “So we have a
    second problem.”
    “Yes, we do.” Upright in his chair, his hands clasped loosely in
    his lap, nonetheless Governor Janssen conveyed a sense of urgency
    without moving a muscle. “Do you think I would have left an unstable
    planet—with my son on it—if I didn’t think so? When the
    evacuations began this was one of my real concerns. The idea Epsilon
    is gone…” He trailed off and shook his head, his expression strained.
    “No one could prevent that.” Ran still held the number of
    casualties in his head and it made him feel ill. “By the stars, Jerald,
    who could predict the scope of the impending disaster? The Minoan
    government and even the Universal Council weren’t prepared. We
    sent Dr. Valmont in but her initial reports didn’t indicate the severity
    of the problem.”
    “As sophisticated as we are, I think it is still impossible for us to
    be prepared when something new comes our way. Before I left she
    came to me and said she was uneasy about the escalation of the below
    surface activity. According to her—and she is an expert—such rapid
    disintegration is unique. That’s why things weren’t handled properly.
    In my last communication with Will, he said it was chaos.”
    “And now we have a renegade ship out there.” Ran tightened his
    mouth into a thin line. “Full of prisoners.”
    “Full of the worst convicts in the Interstellar Federation,” Janssen
    corrected. “I came to Minoa to try to organize a secure way to
    transport them. The lieutenant governor did his best when he realized
    the planet was doomed, but since we’ve lost communication with the

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    Annabel Wolfe
    ship and they’ve obviously turned off their tracking signal, I think the
    worst has happened.”
    Ran rubbed his temple, thinking furiously. “Sometimes we suffer
    for being too humane, don’t we? He felt the obligation to save their
    lives by making sure they weren’t left to certain death in a prison on
    an exploding planet, and now they’re apparently free.”
    “They’ll have slaughtered the crew of the Serpentine.” The
    somber words fell heavily. “These are brutal criminals, Ran, none of
    which had any chance of ever being released from incarceration.
    What has happened is exactly what I feared. I came to Minoa to
    arrange a full military supervision of their removal to a new facility.”
    “What you’re saying is they aren’t going to be taken back easily.”
    There were times when Ran felt the weight of his responsibility as
    governor of the ruling planet keenly. Minoa wasn’t his only concern,
    since he also sat on the Universal Council.
    “That is precisely what I’m telling you.” Janssen sat, tight-lipped
    and stern on the opposite side of the desk. “You know the Epsilon
    facility was the most secure of any universal prison. If the planet
    hadn’t fallen out from under it, it still would be. As much as I hate to
    say it, there isn’t any time to waste and you do have a military ship in
    the vicinity, Ran.”
    “Gallico and his crew. Damn it, they’ve been out a long time
    already. Besides, though they have a full crew, there are no combat
    troops, Jerald. How am I supposed to suggest they peacefully take a
    ship full of murderous thugs? If”—he lifted a finger for emphasis—
    “they can find the damned thing anyway. We have no signal.”
    “They left with plenty of fuel, bound for Gamma 5. So, we do
    have a general idea of the Serpentine’s original course. Send Gallico
    after them now. We only lost contact less than twelve hours ago. They
    should still be in the area.”
    Ran hated the volatile situation, but then again, he