Free Defying The Alliance: INFERNO (Novokin Alliance Invasion 2) by Bobbi Ross

him a terse nod.
    "Charge all weapons!" I shouted in my fury. No, wait. Maybe, just maybe… "Belay that order. Launch all escape pods, and target them at the largest concentration of life forms on the colony. Do it now!"
    A ship this size was meant to have a crew well over one hundred souls. Subtracting the life pods that had been damaged in the first Novokin attack, and the few who had decided to flee only to be blown out of the sky during the second wave of the invasion, we still had over sixty functioning pods with their own individually functioning air reclamation units. If the Kalemta people of the mining colony could get themselves into one, they could survive for weeks. Or at least until someone picked them up. Either way, they were going to have to save themselves.

Chapter 13
     
     
     
     
    "That's the last of the pods Captain," Jaxx announced.
    By this point I was shaking so much I wouldn't have been able to stand if not for the chair I held a death grip on. I barked out what I believed would be one of my final orders, "Charge all weapons." 
    The visage of the soulless Novokin blinked onto the screen. The smug prak was sitting back in his chair, hands steepled and eyebrows raised as if to say, Oops. His voice was smooth when he spoke, "Oh darn, I said ten minutes, didn't I? I meant one minute. You have to forgive me Captain, the situation was so tense."
    "What the prak is wrong with you?" I spit. “You soulless scum of –."
    "Every single thing I choose to do is sanctioned!" Asmot screamed, rising to his feet. Even through the view screen the spray of spittle was visible and a few strands of his perfectly coiffed hair seemed to work their way out of order. He ranted on, "I am a certified Captain of the Novokin Alliance and my will is law. I have you outgunned Captain, but I think now I will arrest your entire crew. Obviously, you have to pay for your crimes, in public I might add. But some of my crew have expressed interest in that one."
    Anya bared her teeth when his finger pointed towards her. Then it crept over to Julie, and I felt the temperature in the room drop 10°. "And that one over there with the Floturan. Wait, do my eyes deceive me? Is the male pregnant? Oh the games we can play with him."
    I held my tongue and let the bastard drone on unimpeded. An imperceptible tilt of my chin let my first officer know to charge the weapons to maximum. Having served with Jaxx for several years, I was sure he had already targeted several key points on the enemy ship. And if the book taught me anything, it's never mess with a pregnant Floturan male.
    Asmot turned his head to someone off screen. "Now really Captain, charging weapons while we're having a discussion? Tsk, tsk. You must know how much worse it will be for you if your ship fails in a firefight. Do you know what I'd do if you so much as –."
    The proximity alarm blared on both ships.
    "Captain, we've got another ship incoming," Jaxx chimed in. "Alliance signature, a Thegn class light cruiser."
    Praking great, as if the goliath in front of me wasn't bad enough – he brought a friend. It was then I realized Asmot had stopped talking. He wasn't expecting a ship. Curious.
    Both crews sat in silent vigil as we watched the Thegn ship exit from hyperspace. The moment it emerged a dozen escape pods blasted away from it. That's a new tactic.
    Asmot seemed to recompose himself, and turned his attention back to the viewer. He had the smugness dialed all the way up when he addressed us. "Surrender Captain, it seems that you're not only outgunned, you're outnumbered too."
    No sooner had he spoken when a second figure appeared on the viewer.
    What in the eight infernos?
    "Liam?" I questioned, even though he was right in front of me.
    He blew me a kiss before answering, "Right as always Cas. I know I always swore to you we were just having fun, but that was a lie and for that I’m sorry. I've always loved you Caspia Jones, and always will."
    With that, his image