Free Warrior Chronicles 5: Warrior's Curse by Shawn Jones Page B

came off in his arms. Liz Thoms fell forward into a medic’s arms and quietly sobbed as she was led away to be examined and debriefed.

 
    Five
     
    Several hours later Liz and Cort walked into the kitchen, where Tur and Kim were cooking.
     
    “Dear gods, Liz!” Kim shrieked. “What happened to the Lincoln?”
     
    Liz looked at Cort, who nodded. “I materialized inside another ship. Well, partially anyway.”
     
    “How did you survive?”
     
    “I was never in danger. The warp bubble cleared the space for me. But anything that was already there was compressed away from me or converted to energy.” Liz looked at George. She raised her hands in a shrug. “George’s math was perfect. I emerged exactly where he said I would. But someone else was already there.”
     
    “Who?” Tur asked.
     
    Liz sounded distant when she answered. “I am not sure. I took a lot of telemetry, but I could not move out of the ship. I was just too far inside it. I was going to reform my bubble and jump just a few meters, but then they started shooting at me. At that point, I decided to get out of there. My ship’s energy grid was overloaded and my comm system grounded out. I didn't have any choice but to jump back here.”
     
    “We ran the imagery through our catalog and it doesn’t match anyone or anything we know about,” Cort added. “I’ve got H’uum sending his closest patrol to check it out. We won’t know anything for a day or two though.”
     
    Liz looked down at the floor. “I must have killed quite a few people though. The imagery I got before my sensors went down showed a lot of partial bodies. They are humanoid and much smaller than us.” She looked up as she continued. “I would guess that they are about Speral’s size. At most, one and a half meters tall, but heavier. They were almost obese.”
     
    Liz Thoms had played her part in the deaths of enemies before; she had even played a role in the destruction of entire planets. But this was the first time she had been solely responsible for death, and the first time it had been innocent lives. Cort could remember what she was feeling, and there was nothing he or anyone else could do to help her through it except be supportive. He gently put his hand on her shoulder. “Liz, I know it doesn’t make it any better, but this isn’t something that you did wrong. I should have sent you someplace we knew was clear. It never dawned on me that there might be another species out there exploring. It was a one-in-a-trillion chance, and my gamble means you lost. I’m not going to candy coat it. People died and that sucks, but I’m glad it was them and not you.”
     
    Liz looked up at Cort. “If it is okay with you, I am going to skip dinner. I think I want to rest a while.” Without waiting for a response, she walked out of the room.
     
    Kim started after her, but Cort gently caught her arm. “Wait a while. She needs to process it before she can talk about it. Leave her be.”
     
    The study in the retreat at the isthmus was a round room, yurt-like and filled with bookshelves and windows. Near the largest window, the bookshelves were interrupted to display two ancient Liz lowboy chests and pictures on the walls. One chest was a humidor, and other was a liquor cabinet and wet bar. Thinking everyone had gone to bed,  Cort was surprised to find Liz at the wet bar when he walked into the room.
     
    “Am I disturbing you, Admiral?”
     
    Liz started and turned quickly. “It is your home, sir. I’m probably intruding on you.”
     
    “Not at all. I would hope you know better than that, Liz.”
     
    “Would you like something, sir?”
     
    “In this room, I am Cort. I’d like a rye. The shorter decanter on the left. Remember both.”
     
    After handing Cort a glass, Liz said, “I’ve never killed an innocent person. The only action I have seen was against the crystal and against Cuplan ships. I never even took part in the attacks on their