Free Remember the Starfighter by Michael Kan Page A

the sleeve, revealing his skin. With her two hands, Nalia began stroking the surface. She caressed his arm, massaging it and keeping it warm. He didn’t know what she was doing, only that it was an affection he had long been away from.
    Nalia tilted her head up and looked into Julian. In her eyes, showed the gratitude, along with something else.
    “Time is short. So let’s live,” she said.
    Grabbing his collar, she then put her other hand on his cheek and kissed him on the lips. It lasted only for a moment.
    Leaving his lips, she pulled back away from him, feeling not in the least awkward. Nalia then laughed. 
    Forgive me, she expressed in a glance.
    “One last kiss,” she said, ready to return to duty. “Now it’s time we serve.”
     

Chapter 8
     
    They all rose to salute as the man entered the room.
    His age was at a mere 39. But already he was an admiral, a rank he had received only days ago. Dressed in a white naval uniform, he ignored the salutes and stared dispassionately at the data tablet in his hand. “At ease,” he said, motioning the officers to take their seats. More than twenty other captains and commanders sat around a large circular table, waiting to hear their orders. Taking his seat, the admiral fingered the controls at the table.
    The conference room darkened. In the center of the table was a projector in the form of a blue lens. Emerging above it was a holographic image that glowed in a neon green. The picture then focused, forming a three-dimensional map of the entire galaxy, the spiral arms a cloud of electronic lights.
    “As you all already know, in over the last two years, the Endervar threat has grown far more aggressive than anyone anticipated,” the admiral said.
    The map highlighted the enemy controlled territories. Almost a third of the galaxy had been taken over, with the threat consolidated across a vast swath of galactic space.
    The Endervar’s expansion had increasingly become chaotic, a growing cyclone that spread in all directions. But now the enemy was making an extended push, breaking away from their main strongholds and far past Alliance containment zones. The spike formed a long jagged line of Endervar activity, blazing a trail into domains formerly free from the threat. 
    “This new incursion has extended more than 1,700 light-years from main Endervar space. They’ve essentially leapfrogged from one region to the next, in a highly erratic, almost unpredictable pattern,” the admiral said. “We don’t know what this strategy signifies. Only that they seem to be doing so at any cost. No doubt searching for more worlds to subjugate.”
    The galactic map then zoomed in on the Endervar line stretching across the galaxy, focusing on the very tip. It brought into view a field of stars. At the center of the map was Haven, the latest planet to be conquered.
    “The Endervars have secured a hold on our homeworld, building their shield around the planet, preparing to spawn more ships. But as they do so, their existing vessels are still spreading throughout the sector,” he said. “Now it seems that Endervar forces are pushing into our area of space. Intel projects that they could arrive at any moment.”
    The room erupted into murmurs. 
    “SpaceCore is already beginning preparations to evacuate the populace,” the admiral continued. “But as we all know, we don’t have enough long-distance ships yet to move all the civilians and supplies from here and the adjacent moons. It also doesn’t help that we still have more civilians coming in from other systems. It could take weeks, maybe even a few months before they all arrive. We need to make more time.”
    “This is where we come in,” he said. “Our latest intel shows that Endervar forces are conducting thorough patrols. But they’ve spread themselves thin, moving in formations with two or even one vessel. This makes them vulnerable.”
    “Command has decided to launch a series of raids to harass the enemy. Maybe