Free Constitution: Book 1 of the Legacy Fleet Trilogy by Nick Webb

opting instead to let nature take its course, and now the blast zones were covered in lush green. Dense radioactive forests. She remembered schoolyard rumors that the wildlife there had glowing eyes.
    But the Swarm was gone. The surveillance missions to known Swarm worlds following the war had indicated that there was not a trace of them left. All their cities abandoned. Not a single ship, not a single alien left behind. Some fundamentalist religious leaders went so far as to claim that the Swarm was simply a scourge manufactured by God for the punishment of mankind for her many sins. And once the punishment was delivered, the scourge was taken away by God without a trace.
    IDF intel thought otherwise, and spent decades searching for them, to no avail. They were entirely, and inexplicably, gone.
    But now there was a problem in the Veracruz Sector. The ISS Kerouac was missing, Starbase Heroic had gone silent, and the scout ship she’d dispatched to investigate had similarly not reported back in for over thirty hours.
    She turned to the door—a lowly IDF admiral should not keep the vice president waiting. As she left, a flashing indicator on her desk monitor caught her eye.
    Returning to her desk, she examined the report.
    A badly damaged data pod from the intel ship Tirian.
    Her eyes bulged as she watched the video surveillance play out.
    Dammit . They’re back.

Chapter Nineteen

    Halfway between L2 and Lunar Base
    ISS Constitution

    “Captain, we’re within 150,000 kilometers of Lunar Base,” said Ensign Prince.
    The bridge, which had been humming along just moments earlier, came to a quiet. Granger stood up. Everyone knew that this would be the final time the Constitution would fire her engines as a commissioned IDF vessel. The ship needed to slow down sufficiently to enter orbit around the moon. He hoped they weren’t expecting another pep talk. “Thank you, Ensign. How’s the power plant?” he said, turning to the engineering section.
    “Operating at nearly full capacity, sir. Commander Scott says we’re good to go.”
    “Very well. Full reverse. Fire forward thrusters. Sixty percent power.”
    “Sir? Since we’re down a few engines, that won’t slow us down enough.” Ensign Prince hemmed, and returned his gaze to his computer readout. “That is, sir, ever since engine number six was scrapped and—”
    “Thank you, Ensign, for the reminder,” he said, cutting off the young man and mentally sending choice words down towards Commander Proctor in the fighter bay. “Eighty percent on the remaining engines should do it.”
    “Aye, sir.”
    “Notify me when we’re an hour out.”
    He grunted a greeting as Commander Haws staggered onto the bridge. Dammit—he’d been drinking again. The odor was noticeable from a dozen feet away.
    “We fired the engines yet?” he slurred.
    Granger advanced on his friend and gripped his upper arm, pulling him along beside him towards the door.
    “Come with me.”
    “Ah, Tim, it was nothing. Just a glass.”
    “A glass? You sure it wasn’t ten?”
    He saluted to the marines posted at the entrance to the bridge and pulled the XO past some wary-eyed officers paused in conversation outside the operations center next door.
    “Look, we’re throwing in the towel tomorrow anyway, what’s the big—”
    Granger shoved Haws up against the wall and stared into his face, just an inch away. “What’s the big deal? Dammit, Abe, I’ve stuck my neck out for you so many times I’m frankly getting a little tired of it. I’ve warned you about showing up for duty drunk. There’s only so many times I can sweep this under the rug. You’re hurting morale and you’re disrespecting me.”
    Haws snorted. “Stuck your neck out for me, my fat white ass. You wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for me, after that stunt you pulled. They were about to dishonorably discharge you, but because of me they promoted you. Imagine that—the rogue commander of the Khorsky incident, getting