Free Retribution (The Federation Reborn Book 3) by Chris Hechtl

functions in the hands of untested kids! They had the implants; they'd been sworn in—a few even thought of themselves as in their final form. She had other ideas. She'd use them to man light duty watches until she got a handle on them.
    Fortunately, she wouldn't need to keep them around for long. A couple months and they'd be in Pyrax and the lot would be off to the academy or boot camp.
    “The shuttle jock said the marines had a hell of a time keeping the bird secure, ma'am. Apparently a few of the last minute recruits turned out to be protesters in disguise. Luckily they had to wait for another ride anyway, but he said they tried to force their way aboard. When that didn't work, they took a seat and tried to form a chain in the way.”
    “I bet the Marines had fun extracting them,” Cynthia replied with a sniff of disdain.
    “Are they in the brig?” the captain asked mildly. She, unlike her crew, was glad the arrest hadn't been filmed by anything up close and personal. She somehow thought Admiral Irons and the other brass would also be grateful. And with events going on elsewhere, the protests might make a minor footnote in the nightly news throughout the sector.
    Which was just fine with her. She didn't want or need the fame and notoriety. The very idea! Like she was really running out on them in their “desperate hour of need”! She shook her head in annoyance. She could see everyone was fed, they had shelter, and they had plenty to do to keep them occupied. They were back on their feet. It was time to move on, not feed the greedy lazy bastards who just wanted a handout.
    “Yes, ma'am. And boy are they howling about the arrest! Doing their constitutional duty indeed!” the rating shook his head indignantly. “They signed up on false pretenses, a Federal offense, and then tried to block a movement. Yeah, they aren't going to like it when the hammer comes down.”
    “If it comes down. Somehow I have my doubts. I understand the governor might give them amnesty. He's not happy we're leaving either,” the skipper replied as she watched the shuttle roll with puffs of expelled gas until she was lined up with the factory tender's port boat bay. “As soon as they are on board, get them settled while we break orbit.”
    “Aye aye, ma’am,” Cynthia said.
    Shelby eyed her. She could tell her XO wasn't thrilled about being drafted and stuck on the bridge. She snorted as her friend squirmed. “Go,” she finally said.
    “Ma'am?” Cynthia asked.
    “You heard me. Go check engineering and go walk about,” the skipper said dismissively.
    “I'm fine,” Cynthia replied with a lifted chin.
    “Suit yourself,” the captain replied indifferently. She checked the status board. “Though I see there is a log entry about the starboard emitters coming up slower than they should …”
    “I'm on it!” Cynthia said, shooting out of her chair and out of the compartment without hitting the floor. Shelby shook her head and chuckled. Trollop didn't like being stuck on the bridge in the hot seat. She, like her captain, was far more comfortable in engineering fixing day-to-day problems.
    “We've received final clearance to leave, ma'am,” the comm rating said. “Ready to break orbit.”
    “And not even a thank you from the local government. Well, I suppose we did our jobs out of duty not for the thanks. Pity though,” Shelby drawled.
    “Boat bay reports the shuttle is secured, ma'am,” the A.I. stated.
    The captain nodded. “Helm, the engines should be warm enough so let's put them to good use. Nav, feed them our course and let's get to Gaston.”
    “Aye aye, ma’am,” Lieutenant Silverfish stated. He turned back to his station and entered the commands. After a moment the plot changed as the engines woke and the ship began to speed up on a course for the Gaston jump point.
    Shelby took one last glance at the muted news feed and then did what she should have done an hour ago. She shut it off.
    :::{)(}:::
     
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