Free New Contract (Perimeter Defense Book #3) by Michael Atamanov Page B

fallen by forty percent. I'm seeing lots of large pieces of debris next to the Queen . I think it's the wreckage of a Behemoth ."
    I took the microphone and said in a commanding voice:
    "All ships, attention! All messages related to systems failures or ship damage should be sent over the reserve channel. The main one is getting crowded. Some of the equipment on the flagship was also damaged and is out of order. We're basically blind, and we need a few minutes to fix it. Until the technical failures are fixed, fleet command is transferred to Admiral Mike ton Akad on Curse-7 . Can any other ships confirm the presence of Behemoth debris? Where are our observers? Ghosts , where are you?"
    "Commander, this is Ghost-2 . I'm in position. I can see your ships twenty-five hundred miles from my location. The Surprises completed their mission. Their bombs landed in the very thick of the Alien fleet. After that, we weren't even able remove the armored panels from our light-sensitive equipment before one of the Behemoths burst into shards. Then, there was a whole series of powerful explosions in the center of the cloud of wreckage, and a few seconds later, you showed up on the battlefield."
    "I see. Ghost-2 , what are your coordinates? All ships, warp at one hundred to Ghost-2 . We can repair there and evaluate the situation."
    I signed off and took a look around. There were officers scurrying around nearby. On one of the screens, I could see a group of technicians putting space suits on, preparing to go out into space. Katerina was already making a report. She was also vigorously signaling to me, asking for video of the bomb attack on the Alien armada. When suddenly...
    "SO THAT'S WHERE YOU’VE GONE!!!" I felt a horrible burden pressing down on me. The hate-filled voice impressed itself into my brain with every word, as if stepping down into it with a high heeled shoe. "THERE'S NO ESCAPE THIS TIME. YOU WILL DIE IN THIS SYSTEM."
    "You again... I thought I already explained to you once that these kind of things won't work with me. You cannot control me, nor force me to do anything!"
    "ALL YOUR STARSHIPS ARE DOOMED TO DIE HERE IN THIS SYSTEM. BUT YOU COULD GIVE UP AND SAVE YOUR OWN LIFE."
    "You're repeating yourself," I laughed through the pain. "You'd think you might have learned by now that your methods don't work on me."
    At that, the initial wave of pressure rolled back, and I returned to my senses. Maybe the mental protection once put in by Miya was kicking in, or maybe I was able to overcome the psychological onslaught, but the intensity of the attack fell quickly.
    "IF YOU TRY TO FLEE, I WILL FOLLOW YOU AND DESTROY BOTH YOU AND EVERYTHING ELSE ALIVE. YOU ARE DOOMED!"
    "That's enough of that, now get lost! I didn't come all the way here to run away. My goal is to destroy your fleet, and I have enough ships with me to make that happen. You know it’s true. I can sense your fear. You still haven't forgotten the damage I did to your fleet in the Aysar Cluster. The same will happen here."
    "YOU CAUSED ME PAIN THEN. THAT IS WHY YOU MUST DIE!!!"
    I could only laugh and shake my head, chasing off the ringing in my ears. Katerina ton Mesfelle was standing next to me. There was fear on her face.
    "Georg, what happened?! Your nose is bleeding!"
    I ran my hand over my face, and my palm came back wet and red.
    "Nothing dangerous. The Queen was just trying to scare me," I laughed, demonstrating to my cousin that everything was fine. "You'd better find me some cotton balls to stop the bleeding."
    Just then, the screens in the room finally turned on, and I rushed to familiarize myself with the situation. The Alien fleet was three thousand miles from us and was composed of a huge disk-shaped ship, encrusted with clusters of smaller ships. I suspect that the Queen 's shields had protected some of the frigates and destroyers from the explosions, otherwise it was hard to explain how several hundred small-class ships had survived the attack of my twenty