Free Omega Force 6: Secret of the Phoenix by Joshua Dalzelle Page A

before they were able to power up the drive and fly out of the Yeema System. The ship they’d hit had indeed meshed out as they’d hoped, but the second ship had doggedly run a search grid from where they had meshed in all the way back to Yeema-3 where they had then run extensive scans of the planet’s surface to make sure the gunship hadn’t doubled back and landed to hide.
    Eventually they either gave up or were called away and the cruiser charged out of the system at full power before vanishing in a flash of slip-space energies. Lucky was sitting in the pilot’s seat at the time and called Jason back up once the ship had meshed out.
    “Well that was a fun two hour nap,” he said irritably. “How long have they been gone?”
    “Nine minutes,” Lucky said.
    “We’ll wait another twenty-one minutes,” Jason decided. “If they don’t come back by then to try and catch us sneaking out we’ll power up and get the hell out of here. Until then, maintain stealth and emission protocols.”
    “Yes, Captain,” Lucky said.
    Jason went back down to his quarters to grab a shower and get dressed. There was no point in trying to get back to sleep for thirty minutes so he resigned himself to a double watch that had been broken up by a two hour sleep that left him more tired than if he’d just stayed up.
    When he returned to the bridge, Lucky had already vacated the pilot’s seat and the crew was preparing to get underway. Naleem had also come back up. Crusher had escorted her to starboard berthing earlier and had locked her in. If she was offended by the treatment, she wasn’t letting it show.
    “So where to, Naleem?” Jason asked, glancing over at the pale-skinned alien as he slid into his seat.
    “The equipment we have brought with us is only part of what I need,” she said. “The rest of my gear is in the Setit System.” As soon as she identified their destination Kage grabbed all the pertinent information and began feeding it to Jason’s station.
    “Only a day and half flight and it looks like an actual, civilized star system,” Jason said in mock surprise. “I thought for sure you were going to say we’d be required to fight our way into the bowels of hell to retrieve your equipment and then land on the galactic core to use it.”
    “Your tone suggests you’re joking, though I fail to see the humor in it,” Naleem said.
    “It’s funny because this was supposed to be a fairly routine passenger charter,” Jason said pleasantly. “So far we’ve gotten jumped by yokels at the meeting place and then had to fight off two warships and we’ve not even left the system yet.”
    “You’re implying this is somehow my fault,” Naleem said with a disapproving tone.
    “Now why would I think that?” Jason asked sarcastically, looking up from his display. “What are we going to find in the Setit System? If those ships were here for you, they’ll likely know that you have gear stashed in other locations as well.”
    “I still argue the notion that those warships had anything to do with me,” she shot back. “But to answer your question, my equipment is being stored on Setit in a building that is only four kilometers from the spaceport I’ve given your copilot coordinates to. As far as I know, the only thing awaiting us is a bit of physical labor.”
    “How much physical labor?” Crusher asked, suddenly concerned.
    “The cases are on wheels,” Naleem said. “It won’t be especially difficult. No actual lifting.”
    “That’s a relief,” Crusher said, slouching back into his seat.
    “Seriously?” Twingo asked him.
    “Hey! I’m a specialist … I need to conserve my strength for something important,” Crusher said loftily. “What if we’re attacked and I’m too worn out to fight from lifting a bunch of heavy crates?”
    “Ah yes,” Jason said, “the most likely of scenarios. Twingo, bring the drive online. We’re as clear as we’re going to get and we’re wasting time sitting around