Free Subservience by Chandra Ryan Page B

cells, red team to the port and aft hatches.”
    He turned his attention back to the monitor in front of him,
waiting. The second the engines came up all he had to do was enter the
coordinates he’d already punched in. But her next command snapped his attention
back to her.
    “I’m going to make sure the prisoners are secure. XO has the
bridge.”
    She’d shed her heels and jacket and had slung a heavy
assault rifle over a shoulder. It should have looked preposterous but it fit
her much better than her polished uniform ever could.
    “I’m going with you, Captain.” He almost didn’t recognize
the words as his own.
    Her face paled but she didn’t pause. “No. I need you to stay
here in case we get the subspace engines up.”
    “The coordinates are plotted, it doesn’t take a specialist
to hit enter.”
    Her eyebrow arched in suspicion as she studied him but she
eventually nodded.
    “Lieutenant Barkswell.”
    The young man stepped forward at his name.
    “You have the bridge. The moment the subspace engines are
up, enter the coordinates Lieutenant Commander Parker plotted. Until then, keep
me informed and make sure no one but Lieutenant Commander Parker or myself get
through that door.”
    “Aye, Captain.”
    He wasn’t exactly happy about leaving Barkswell alone but he
wasn’t going to argue. If he did she might make him stay behind instead. “Let’s
go.”
    She held her hand out to one of her security entourage. The
man handed her an assault rifle, which she immediately gave to Parker. The look
on the security officer’s face reminded him of a chastising uncle.
    “Know how to use that thing?”
    Parker braced the weapon on his shoulder and found he was
happy with its weight and balance. Looking through the scope, he smiled to
himself. The gun wedged up against his body and the adrenaline pumping through
him was pretty damn close to a homecoming for him. “Yeah, I think I’ll manage.”
    He took the clip out to check the ammo then reloaded it and
hung the weapon over his shoulder. He was ready. Which was good since the rest
of the group was already leaving the bridge. He followed Harlow and two security
officers as they made their way through the intersecting metal corridors. When
they reached the weapons lock she stopped and motioned the security officers to
break right before turning to him.
    “You’re with me.”
    Her words sent a rush of pride through him. She could have
sent him with one of the security team and had the other officer watch her
back. But she hadn’t. She’d chosen him. He wasn’t sure what it meant but it had
to mean something.
    “I’ve already told you, I don’t need a knight. I can take
care of myself. And I can’t have an XO who feels he needs to protect me from my
job.”
    The realization that she’d kept him with her to give him a
private dressing-down didn’t do wonderful things to his ego. Especially since
she was wrong. “This has nothing to do with me wanting to protect you. I
realize it’s been a while since you’ve had a functioning XO, but security is
directly under me. You’re the one stepping on toes here.”
    She stopped and stared at him for a moment, her brow
furrowed. “Fuck. You’re right.”
    Damn straight he was. Still, now wasn’t the time or place to
get into it. “We can define things later. But for right now we’ve got to focus.”
    She nodded stiffly as she pivoted on her heel and began
walking again. They made their way to the passage that led to the holding cells
but stopped at the sight of the security officers flanking the corridor.
    “Captain.” A young officer stepped forward to salute them as
they approached.
    “What the hell’s going on?”
    “The division fields in the prison cells fell. We had to
evacuate. I tried to notify you, but our coms aren’t working.”
    The division fields were the electronic shields that
separated the prisoners and kept them contained. If they had indeed failed, he
could only imagine the chaos and