Free Command Decisions (Book 3 of The Empire of Bones Saga) by Terry Mixon Page B

Fleet vessel. Fine. I hereby declare her my diplomatic ship and transfer Captain Mertz and his crew from the disabled Athena to Courageous to act as my crew on detached duty. You may be the senior Fleet commander in this area, but they are no longer under your authority.”
    Breckenridge’s expression was apocalyptic. He backed out into the corridor. “This isn’t over. We’re leaving.”
    Kelsey released the marine and he backed out with his fellows. Meyer inclined his head and strode out.
    Once they were all gone, she slumped back into her seat. “Well, that could’ve gone better.”
    Jared agreed, but he wasn’t sure how they could have gone about salvaging the situation once Breckenridge attempted to assert dominance. “ Courageous , without sounding an alarm that Captain Breckenridge or his people can see or hear, go to general quarters. No battle screens unless they fire on us. Block all transmissions from inside this ship. And signal Lance that she is to withdraw at once. This isn’t the Pentagarans’ fight and I don’t want Breckenridge to think she’s a threat.”
    He rubbed his face as Lieutenant Reese looked into the conference room questioningly. “Take your men and follow them to the docking level, Lieutenant. I want them off my ship without force, if possible. Be gentle. They are Fleet personnel.”
    “Aye, sir.”
    “Well,” he said to Kelsey, “this certainly makes things harder. What do we do now?”
    She sat down at the table and buried her face in her hands. “I haven’t got the faintest idea, but we need to get this settled as soon as possible. That freighter could pop up at any time now. If we’re still bickering, it’ll bring the wrath of the rebels down on us.”
     

Chapter Eight
     
    Kelsey listened closely as Jared finished detailing his interactions with Breckenridge. “The man sounds like a real ass. How does someone that lacking in talent become a senior captain in Fleet? I ask only because I intend to make sure it never happens again.”
    Her brother stalked around his office. “Good luck with that. You’ll have to get his uncle thrown out of the Imperial Senate first. And don’t forget his influential family.”
    He sighed. “While that’s a worthy goal, we need to worry about our current situation first. The freighter and its escort will be along shortly. I’d intended to make our way over there today, just in case they came early. We have to stop them or we’re completely screwed.”
    She took a breath and forced herself to focus. “We will. It’s been three hours. If Breckenridge was going to reject my authority, he’d already have done so.”
    “Or he’s trying to figure out how to take Courageous out,” her brother said grimly.
    “Let’s hope not. Even his uncle wouldn’t be able to save his ass if he attacked the daughter of the emperor or other Fleet personnel.”
    They’d separated from the Fleet task force and entered into orbit around Pentagar. A probe kept an eye on the other ships as they sat out in space a short distance away.
    Talbot sat beside Kelsey. “And if you can’t work it out?”
    “We’ll work it out,” she said firmly. “Even if we don’t, they don’t have enough military force to do anything terminally stupid in Pentagar space. The Pentagaran fleet would chew them up and the interdiction zone fortresses would keep them bottled up in this system. They’re not going to make that mistake. And that’s the reason I know that we’ll work it out. Because they have no choice.”
    Jared shook his head. “Life’s taught me that you can’t count on someone else doing the smart thing. Sometimes you can’t even count on yourself for that. Bright people make terrible mistakes every day. Once you factor in stupidity, well, all bets are off.”
    “Pardon the interruption, Captain,” Courageous said. “There is a cutter departing the Fleet task force. Spear is also signaling, asking for Princess Kelsey.”
    She rose to her feet.