Free Ronin (The Pike Chronicles Book 3) by G. P. Hudson Page A

vacation?” pressed Kevin.
    “No,” said Bast, still looking confused at the line of questioning.
    “Ok, well humans need downtime,” said Kevin. “We need a break from our duties every now and then. Otherwise bad things happen.”
    “I see. So if you do not give your crew vacation time they become insubordinate.”
    “They won’t become insubordinate,” said Jon, taking exception with the comment. “Some time off this ship, on a nice planet with beaches and sunshine, would rejuvenate the crew. They’ve gone through a lot of hardship. Shore leave would do them some good.”
    “It might do your crew some good too,” said Kevin.
    “My crew does not require such luxuries,” said Bast, dismissively.
    “I thought you were trying find your humanity?” asked Kevin.
    “Yes, Chief, that is true, but our implants prevent fatigue.”
    “That doesn’t mean you don’t need to learn how to relax. How are you going to learn about social interaction?”
    “You might have a point. I’ll consider it. Captain, if you feel your crew will benefit by taking shore leave, then I am not opposed to it.”
    “Picking up Space Force beacon,” said the tactical officer.
    “Location?” said Bast.
    “New Byzantium.”
    “See, it’s meant to be,” said Kevin. “Now we have an excuse to stick around.”

Chapter 14
     
    Prime Minister Sallas sat at his desk, trying to focus on the day’s duties, but finding himself distracted. Ever since Elizabeth Ellerbeck arrived on New Byzantium he had been captivated. First with her story, then, soon after, with her. She was like something out of a fantasy. A beautiful woman from mythical Earth. It would have all been unbelievable if not for that life pod of hers.
    Of course General Juneau felt threatened by the whole thing. He wanted to interrogate her and keep her in isolation to minimize any possible threat. A typical overreaction from Juneau.
    She was not a threat. Sallas saw that straight away. She had important knowledge she could share. Advances in medicine that were well ahead of anything they had achieved. Why would you treat someone like that as a prisoner? He intervened and freed her from the military’s clasp. Another action that earned Juneau’s ire. It didn’t matter, the General was wrong, whether he chose to admit it or not.
    The more he spoke to her the more enthralled he became. He enthralled with her stories of Earth and its terrible history. How it was conquered and liberated. The more he listened, the more he realized he couldn’t get enough of her . She was fascinating, beautiful and intelligent. What more could a man want?
    A communication request brought him back to reality. The request came from one of his advisers. He accepted the link and a middle aged man appeared on his display.
    “Sir, we have picked up an unidentified warship approaching New Byzantium,” said the man.
    “A warship?” said Prime Minister Sallas, straightening in his chair. “How did it enter our system undetected?”
    “Unknown, Sir. The military is moving to intercept.”
    “Is the vessel hostile?”
    “Unknown, Sir. It is a precaution. Our forces don’t want it to get within striking distance of the planet until we know more about its intentions.”
    “That sounds reasonable. Send me a visual of this warship.”
    The translucent display split into two and an image of the vessel appeared. Sallas didn’t like what he saw. The sinister looking vessel was quite large and looked to be heavily armed. How did something like that get this close without us noticing? Sallas thought. He stared at the mystery ship in wonder when something occurred to him. With a wave of his fingers a third screen sprang up and Dr. Ellerbeck’s face appeared.
    “Hello, Mr. Sallas,” said Ellerbeck.
    “I thought I told you to call me Christopher?” said Sallas, pretending to be offended.
    “You did. I’m sorry, Christopher.” She flashed him that disarming smile and he almost forgot what he