Free Fury to the Stars (Universe in Flames Book 2) by Christian Kallias

the hell is this?” Ronan asked.
    “It’s a micro quadrinium bomb.”
    “How did you smuggle a bomb in here?” Tar’Lock asked
in astonishment.
    “I didn’t.”
    “You’re not making sense! Care explaining how you
just spat one out?”
    “It’s a long story; I managed to acquire just enough
quadrinium entering the prison.”
    “And you spat out a bomb? Still not making sense,
I’m afraid.”
    “Mom, I don’t understand either.”
    She sighed. “I underwent a surgical procedure to
install a nanite factory inside my stomach. It transformed the raw quadrinium
into a crude yet effective explosive.”
    “Ouch. That must not have been a fun procedure.”
Tar’Lock grimaced.
    “Is that safe, Mom?”
    “I should be fine as long as we reverse the
procedure within a few days.”
    “Let’s go then. We don’t have time to lose,”
Tar’Lock said enthusiastically.
     
    *   *   *
     
    Chase was looking over the Omega starfighter in the
docking bays of the Iron Fire . They were nearly at the end of their
hyperspace jump to Hellstar and his stomach was in knots. He was worried about
Sarah; he kept seeing her ashen skin and blackened eyes from his vision.
    That couldn’t be a good omen , he thought. But he
tried to focus on the positive.
    The Omega fighter was really a beauty to look at.
Thanks to Captain Saroudis, Admiral Thassos had agreed to lend them this one
for the purpose of Chase’s mission. It was a more advanced, more streamlined
version of the Manticore starfighter, looking meaner, sleeker, and more robust.
It packed impressive firepower as well, but the one thing that really set it
apart was its cloaking ability. Chase wasn’t even aware the Alliance had been
working on cloaking for a starfighter. Of course, in hindsight it sounded
logical. Cloaking a fighter was a tremendous strategic advantage, one that
Chase would need in order to enter Hellstar undetected. Prior to leaving the Destiny ,
he had requested that his chief engineer friend Yanis take a look and find a
way for the cloak to remain active when the fighter was landed. He had to apply
a quick fix as time was of the essence, but he would get about half an hour of
standby cloaking. Hopefully, it would be enough time for him to complete his
mission.
    Daniel entered the docking bays and approached
Chase, his arms laden down with weapons, rifles, grenades, and side arms.
    “Preparing for a war?” Chase asked.
    “It’s Hellstar, after all. We’d better have the
capability to defend ourselves.”
    “I’m hoping for a stealth mission here, but it
definitely won’t hurt to have these.”
    “I don’t think a stealth entry is even a choice,
Chase. While the number of living guards is low, they have artificial
intelligence sentries, and those you can’t really negotiate with.”
    “Yeah, I guess not.”
    Daniel sighed. “Are we going? The Iron Fire should exit hyperspace any minute now.”
    “Yeah… let’s go.”
    The Iron Fire dropped out of hyperspace a few
moments after Chase and Daniel had boarded the Omega starfighter. They engaged
the cloak and left the docking bay. After a couple of minutes, they approached
the landing port.
    As instructed, the Iron Fire returned to
hyperspace as soon as they had left the ship. They would stay within quick jump
distance and return upon Chase’s signal.
    It didn’t appear that they had been detected, so
they proceeded to enter the bay. It wasn’t shielded, but was protected with
very powerful ion cannons. The kind that could take on ships even bigger than
the Iron Fire . But it was none of these cannons that made Chase pause;
it was what he saw already docked on the platform.
    It was the dark ship. The one that had taken Sarah in
the battle.
    “Is that…” Daniel began.
    Chase gulped. “It is. I—I hope we’re not too late.”
    “At least there’s a chance you’ll find Sarah here.”
His friend tried to comfort him.
    “Yeah, it’s just in what state that worries me at
the