Free Lacuna: The Ashes of Humanity by David Adams Page A

hear.
    "Think nothing of it. I'm just glad you made it."
    Iraj had handled the situation well. The Operations room was a well-oiled machine. Jiang was coordinating their strike craft and working with the Washington and the Madrid , Dao was planning intercept routes, and Ling was watching for more contact, even though the ship's radar was severely impaired by being in a valley. Hsin kept trying to hail their contact. Everyone was doing well in her absence.
    Well enough that they didn't need her.
    Everyone in the military was replaceable, of course. One couldn't operate a ship the size of the Beijing without having the ability for crew to go on leave, or resign, or be killed. This was rarer for the commanding officer, though. There was an old saying: the captain goes down with the ship.
    Poetic, but less applied in practice. Most vessels had many COs throughout their lifetime, although the reverse wasn't always true, especially if the previous command was sunk or destroyed—even if the CO wasn't directly to blame.
    From a more practical point of view, though, if the captain went down with the ship then both would need to be replaced.
    She didn't want to dwell on such things, but as Iraj moved around Operations and the rest of the crew worked as well as she'd ever seen them, she felt vaguely useless.
    "The Broadsword Warsong reports that they're rounding the body of Velsharn's moon and should be within radio range of the contact in three minutes."
    "Very good," said Iraj. "Mr. Hsin, when the Warsong establishes contact, relay our signal and put it over the long range communications headsets." He put one on, then handed Liao hers. "Captain?"
    "Thank you." Liao took the device, slipping it over her head and adjusting the microphone. "Mr. Hsin, relay the communications when ready."
    "Aye aye, Captain."
    The sound that filtered through her headset was distorted and heavily laced with static. "This is Lieutenant First Class Confeld of the TFR Broadsword Warsong to unidentified contact in the Velsharn system. Maintain current orbital profile and identify yourself."
    The target did not respond, and Confeld repeated the request. This time, though, a voice answered.
    "It warms my heart to hear from you, Human," said the voice she recognised as the Iilan Speaker Paar. "This is Worldship Eight. I am Paar of the Iilan, speaker for this vessel. I request an audience with the Spear of Earth, Wrathbringer Melissa Liao."
    "Standby, Worldship Eight."
    The line went quiet. This was her invitation to speak.
    She couldn't do it. Her finger trembled above the talk key. The last time she engaged with the Iilan, she had boarded their ship, traded with them, and promised them much in exchange for help against Ben. Help they had delivered.
    She couldn't help but feel that someone else could have done better.
    "Captain?" prompted Iraj. "We shouldn't keep them waiting."
    And they shouldn't. Forcing her finger to move, knowing that the Operations crew were watching her, she touched the key. "This is Commander Liao."
    Paar's voice changed, becoming a little warmer, less formal. The Iilan were birdlike. She expected squawking, or chirping, but Paar's tone was deep and smooth and continued to surprise her. "Greetings, Commander Liao. Time has elapsed, and we have come to collect on our debt, a bargain made in good faith. We are disappointed that we had to leave the graveyard of our people to find you. More disappointing was it that you were so difficult to track down."
    "My apologies, Paar. We had no intention of failing to hold up our end of the bargain, and while it is true that we are in hiding, we are not doing so from you. We have… suffered a grave misfortune."
    "If the rogue constructs' forces have defeated you in battle, you have my sincerest apologies, Commander. When we spoke to your forces in the Karathi system, they could tell us little."
    Forces in the Karathi system? The only ship in that area was the Sydney , and the Pegasus —one of the