Free Birthright: Battle for the Confederation- Turmoil by Ryan Krauter

of
solutions?"  The man seemed exasperated, but Loren didn't see how any
other emotion would be expected.
    "Right now,
we've got our ships on an extended layover here. We should train together as a
fighting force.  As for long term solutions, the best I was told was that we
could probably offer some lift capacity to get people and important materiel
off-planet.  I'm sorry there isn't more we can do, but we've been busy just
keeping up with them."
    Renner just nodded,
lost in thought as he shifted on his barstool.  Finally, he stood up and placed
his credit chip on the bar's surface in front of him, putting his  thumbprint
on the little area that lit up next to the card.  The bill paid for, he turned
to Loren.
    "Well," he
began, "our superiors should be done with their luncheon and photo op. 
We'll have time for a debriefing before the diplomatic dinner tonight, so it's
time for us to head to the Governor's mansion and report.  Tomorrow we'll meet
again when you arrive so we can talk more."
    Loren got up and
indicated Renner could lead the way.  They left the bar in silence, and spent
the drive to the Governor's residence the same way.  Loren realized it was
going to be a long night for his Lemurian counterpart.
     
     
    Loren walked through
the corridors of Avenger on his way to Cory's quarters.  After the dinner on
the way to their transport back to the ship, he'd received word that the
Lemurian military was eager to get in some wargames and joint training
exercises, so Captain Elco had told him to get Avenger's air wing in the game
ASAP.  Elco had also admitted that the Lemurians had quietly asked more about
the evac transports Loren had mentioned.  The planet, as an independent, had a
relatively small population of less than five million.  Many corporations,
transportation companies and wealthy individuals had their own deep-space
capable ships.  Elco had told Loren that Confed could spare twenty short range
heavy-lift utility transports of the Stalwart class.  They were older and had
been replaced by a newer model, but like most militaries the galaxy over,
Confed was loathe to just break them up, and instead had mothballed them as
part of their reserves.  Now, after a quick refurbishing, the entire class was
back in service hauling military and civilian loads all over the
Confederation. 
    The major benefit to
the Stalwart class was that they could land right on the surface of a planet;
no shuttles were needed to load them up, so the process of embarkation was
fairly quick.  Loren knew sending them was a desperation move, but it was the
only help Confed could offer for now.
    Avenger was a ship
of war who'd earned her scars in battle, and it showed as Loren traveled
through her.  There were corridors where the paint color was just slightly
different, the fittings a little newer and shinier, where major damage had
occurred.  He passed by one of the main laser battery mounts; the turret itself
was shiny and new, but the surrounding bulkheads were patched and looked like
repairs had been made underway.  That entire battery had been destroyed in
their last action, and they'd lost much of the small gun crew who manned it,
maintained it, and fired it manually if need be.
    He finally got to
the hangar levels at the bottom of the ship and made his way to the CAG's quarters. 
When he'd been CAG and before moving to the XO's quarters, Loren had lived in
this space, and it brought back a flood of memories, most of them pleasant. 
Though Cory had office space in the hangar areas, she rarely did much business
there, preferring to operate away from the hustle of the hangar.  It helped her
detach from those duties a bit so she could concentrate on the task at hand,
and if she had to meet with one of her pilots or other subordinates she'd found
that the less formal atmosphere at her desk in the CAG's quarters tended to
help take the edge off a little bit. 
    He tapped the button
on the doorframe to send a call