Free Resurrection (The Inherited War) by Eric McMeins Page A

At the last moment, she adjusted her strike and smashed her open hand into his throat just below his chin.  Her powerful upward momentum lifted the Administrator up a few inches off the floor and nearly collapsed his windpipe.  As quickly as she had grabbed him she reversed her upward movement and flipped him onto his back and slammed him to the floor.  Sky lead with her knee into his gut as she followed him down.  What little air he still had in him whooshed out.  She tightened her hold on his neck and fixed her eyes on his.
    “Thalo?” 
    “Yea I got ‘em, do your thing.”  Thalo responded.  He had reacted to Sky’s sudden movement instantly.  He had only been a fraction of a second behind her when he drew both pistols on his hips.  He had one jammed into the bodyguard’s neck just below his ear and the other was pointed a few inches away from Fury’s nose.  The whine of his plasma pistols holding a primed charge filled the silence.  “No one here is going to do anything rash, but make it fast.”
    Sky never took her eyes off of the Administrators.  “Thanks, I'll just be a minute.”  He started to struggle weakly underneath her.  Sky rose up and dropped her weight back on her knee.  The Administrator choked out his breath again.  “Don’t move.  Just lay there and don’t make a sound.”  She squeezed her hand cut off his air for a second.  “I believe I have all the power in this relationship.”  She shifted her attention slightly by cocking her head to the side.  The cargo bay was deathly silent; everyone had stopped moving and was staring at the tableau-taking place in the hold.
    “Reckoning,” she said.  No response.  “Reckoning!” she shouted.
    “Doctor Sky, by now you know I am no longer the Reckoning, I answer to a different name now.”
    “So do I,” she responded, “Commander Sky.  Your Commander, I am filling in for Cole until we get him back.  Something I had counted on you to help me with.  You may have changed your name, but there will be a reckoning when Cole returns.  Count on it.”
    “I believe differently, Commander.  But we shall see if he returns.” 
    Sky fixed her attention back onto the Administrator.  She stared into his eyes, plumbing the depths of his soul, looking for answers.  She found none.  Nothing.  Why was this male stopping or impeding her people from fighting this war?  She didn’t find the answer in his eyes. She released some of the pressure on his neck as she leaned down and whispered into his ear.
    “I don’t know why you are doing what you are doing.  Frankly, I don’t care.  I am the new Commander of the human fleet, and I have more power in those five ships than you do on all of your colony worlds.  One day I will find out the true motivation for your actions and you will be held to account.  If those reasons are less than honorable, your life will be forfeit.”  Putting all her weight on her hand on his neck and the knee in his gut, Sky levered herself up to a standing position.  She turned around and saw Thalo.  He had both the guard and Fury covered and was scanning the rest of the bay.  She glanced to her shuttle and saw Jeth at the bottom of the ramp with what could only be called a cannon cradled in his arms.  It had a dozen barrels and a body almost as big as her.  It had a belt running from the main housing over his shoulder and into a massive ammo pack on his back.
    She looked back to Fury.  “You couldn’t just let me come and pick up Hal, you had to complicate things.”  He shrugged his response.  Damn it, she wanted to take his head off too.  She called to Jeth over her shoulder.  “Drop the artillery and get Hal on board please, Jeth.  Make sure that’s his actual housing in there first.”
    She heard the heavy clang as Jeth lowered the considerable weight onto the ground.  Jeth stomped across the deck, glaring menacingly at the crew members still rooted to their spots.  The