Free Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2) by Michael G. Thomas Page A

start with.
The slightly taller of the aliens nodded and then spoke with hushed
tones. The translator built into the armored suit worn by the alien
altered her voice. It was machinelike but perfectly serviceable
English.
    “ We brought this
matter up with your Senate, and they assured us that your ships had
T’Karan secure. We were still the victims of three Raider
attacks.”
    Anderson scratched his temple with frustration.
    “ Yes, and we
stationed five Alliance vessels around your moons for protection.
The last attack was forced back, and we destroyed the ship before
it could escape.”
    The T’Kari representative nodded in agreement.
    “ Yes, and for that
we are thankful. Even so, we arranged an additional contract for
extra security to assist with the protection of our people,
especially after the losses we sustained after the attack on Hades.
APS has provided us with large numbers of excellent operatives.
Without them, the Raiders would have taken even more
slaves.”
    Teresa tilted her head to Gun.
    “ The Jötnar are the
most requested of our personnel for this kind of work. Any time Raiders arrive, they always give
ground. It is like they have a genetic fear of them.”
    Admiral Anderson
sighed as though becoming bored with the discussion.
    “ Look, I know where
Spartan was and what happened. What I don’t know is why he was
there. How did he find it?”
    “It?” asked Gun, now intrigued.
    He said no
more and waited for Teresa to explain.
She paused for a moment, knowing full well that there were a number
of implied levels of secrecy involved with her contract. The T’Kari
nodded to her in a gesture she could only assume meant it was
acceptable for her to speak.
    “ Very well.” She
looked at them before turn ing back to the
Admiral. “Khan’s people found a lead, and Spartan was leading four
of our best teams to investigate. The plan was not just to stop the
Raiders. This time we were supposed to capture them, and if
possible, return them to Hades for trial.”
    The
A dmiral turned to the T’Kari.
    “ Your capital? When
were you going to tell us that you were paying Alliance citizens to
conduct private operations in this Sector?”
    The
sen ior of the three remained motionless,
with just her mouth moving.
    “ T’Karan may be
under the jurisdiction and protection of the Alliance, but we will
continue to exercise our right to self defense, as well as to
operate under our own laws on our colonies.”
    The other two nodded
politely in agreement. Now Teresa was beginning to worry. The
Admiral seemed to be avoiding the one subject she was most
interested in; that of her husband, Spartan.
    “ What has happened?”
she blurted out, unable to keep quiet any
longer.
    The Admiral leaned
on the table, trying to look as compassionate as a man in his
position could be. The T’Kari listened in, but it appeared they
were already familiar with what came next.
    “ It seems
that whatever Spartan found has become
more than just of interest to the T’Kari. He found a ship alright,
but it didn’t just have T’Kari Raiders, It was also infested with
harvested Biomechs.”
    This caught Gun’s
interest. Like all the Jötnar, he had made it his duty to find and
rehabilitate all and any Biomechs. The harvested creatures were
something else though. Like Frankenstein’s monster, they were
actually constructed from the material of the dead or dying.
Whereas Gun and his fellow Jötnar were actually synthetically
manufactured, but some would argue that their raw material was
still originally sourced from the same place, but perhaps not
directly to their faces. The Admiral stood up and moved back to his
previous position on the other side of the table. He then beckoned
to one of the naval officers, an old, white-haired Captain she was
unfamiliar with. The man tapped something on his secpad, and a
three-dimensional model instantly projected over the table. The
Admiral then continued.
    “ Now, you can see
the main asteroid