Free Ep.#1 - "Escalation" (The Frontiers Saga: Rogue Castes) by Ryk Brown

Jessica said, a look of disbelief on her face. “Are you sure?”
    “I’ve seen my fair share of Jung fighters, Jess,” Loki replied. “I’m quite sure.”
    “Where?” Jessica asked. “Where were you when this happened?”
    “Corinair.”
    It was not the answer she had expected, nor hoped for. “Corinair.” There was a pause. “Where was the Avendahl?”
    Loki looked down for a moment, then stared into Jessica’s eyes again. “The Avendahl is gone, Jess. Destroyed by a Jung battle group. They’ve taken the entire Darvano system.”
    “What?” Jessica was in complete shock. “The Avendahl? But, she was the biggest… I mean… Jesus, she was almost as big as a battle platform.” Jessica’s mind was racing. “How many ships?”
    “I don’t know,” Loki admitted. “Six or seven at least. And they all had jump drives.”
    “Jump drives,” Jessica repeated. “The Jung have jump drives?”
    “That’s why we’re here, Jessica,” Deliza said. “We need your help.”

CHAPTER THREE
    “Nyet, you do not need to eat again,” Vladimir insisted. “You are getting fat. All you dois lie around here allday long, sleeping and eating.”
    Cosmos looked at Vladimir, and meowed again, in the same, screeching tone he used whenever he wanted something.
    “Things are going to change when we get to Earth,” he told the cat. “You’re going to go outside, climb trees, hunt birds…like a real cat.”
    The door chime sounded. Vladimir left his bedroom and headed across the living area toward the door, Cosmos following at his heels. Vladimir bent over and scooped up the cat with one hand, pulling him into his side as he opened the door.
    “Commander,” Cameron greeted him as the door opened.
    “Captain.” Vladimir dropped his cat gently to the floor as Captain Taylor entered and closed the door behind her. “Go, be useful,” he instructed his cat. “Go shed on my clean clothes or something.”
    Cameron looked around the messy quarters skeptically. “I assume your cabin isn’t always this disorganized,” she commented as she entered.
    “Are you kidding? This is clean for me.”
    “And you wonder why you’re still single,” Cameron said dryly. “I take it you haven’t changed your mind, then?”
    “No, Captain, I have not.”
    “Vlad, it’s me. Enough with the captain crap, okay?”
    “Sorry, but isn’t that why you’re here? To try to talk me into staying?”
    “Yes, but not as your captain, as your friend. You’ll get bored on Earth. You know that.”
    “No, I won’t,” Vladimir protested as he continued packing his belongings.
    “You love to fix things, keep them running, make them better…”
    “Which I will still be doing,” Vladimir remarked. “Only I’ll be doing it on the surface, in a nice, controlled environment, with all the resources I need.”
    “R and D isn’t for you,” Cameron insisted. “You belong here, on the Aurora.”
    “I’ve been here , on the Aurora, for nearly a decade, Cameron, just like you. It’s time for a change. And now that they’re finally getting around to a major overhaul on this ship, it’s time for me to go.”
    “Who’s going to get everything working properly once the overhaul is finished?” Cameron asked.
    “Not me,” Vladimir responded. “I won’t be qualified, and we both know it.”
    “You’ll learn the new systems, Vlad, you know you will. The refit will take six months . That’s more than enough time for you to learn everything.”
    Vladimir stopped packing. “No, it’s not,” he said with a sigh. “They are replacing everything. The engines, the jump drive, the reactor plants…even the data and communication systems. All the stuff that I have been holding together for the last nine and a half years, Cameron.” Vladimir returned to his packing. “I will learn my way around all those new systems, but I will do so in a research lab, on Earth. And I will sleep in my own dacha at night. I will eat real food. Breathe