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

chance this ex-Protectorate Captain would attack here?"
    The old veteran stepped out from behind his Desinite steel and carbonite reinforced glass booth. He threw a heavy arm around the younger guard's shoulders and shook him, "She wouldn't dare. Our post is one of the most heavily armed. This daft Captain would need a fleet of ships to even get close. And even if she had a fleet, there is no way they could get past the early warning detection net. We would spot them sectors away, and then they’d go – poof."
    Even as he smiled and clapped Victol on the back, the thundering noise outside drew closer. Soon a low whistling whine crept through the door. It seemed to come from inside the electrostatic atmospheric dome.
    "What in Falks is that?" The young guard's voice tinged with apprehension. "It sounds like something incoming. A missile maybe?”
    The bald man cast the young guard a look more often saved for small children. He smacked him on the back of his head, "Are you still fretting about this Victol? You need to pull your head out of your ass."
    The young guard remained unfazed by the hit. Panic bled through his words. "There was nothing said about any kind of storm in the briefing this week. Besides the weather on this planet is stable. Artificial atmosphere stable."
    Marlek dropped his head to his chest. He let out a deep sigh. "All right Victol, you win. Help me get this door open. We’ll have a look for ourselves to put your young mind at rest."
    Bright lights pierced the darkness the older guard expected to find. The whistling noise was definitely getting closer. Jaw slack, eyes narrowed, he tilted his head to help his mind comprehend what he was seeing.
    "What the Falks is that –."

Chapter 1
     
     
     
     
    "The Lexnalt is hailing us Captain," Ensign Chandles announced.
    The low murmur of voices on the bridge quieted. I nodded my head at the ensign. "On view screen."
    The face of a gruffly handsome man with black hair and deep dark inset eyes greeted me with a solemn look. I would address his pain, but today, we all had something to celebrate. "Captain Ramirez, thank you. Without you and your crew we wouldn't have been able to get anywhere near that asteroid or the Novokin shipbuilding facility. Your people did a fantastic job of disrupting the security net."
    He waved me off as if he hadn't done anything more than scoot over on a park bench at lunch so I could sit down too. "Captain, I can never repay you for what you did for my sister, her family and everybody on the mining colony. My nephew still talks about you, and your creature there," he smirked and jutted his chin at the 6'8" wall of muscle that stood just behind me.
    Trex let out a low rumbling growl.
    Captain Ramirez raised a defensive hand. "No disrespect meant there my big friend, if not for you and yours they all would've died, including my favorite nephew. I can never repay you for saving them." He stopped to wipe his eyes. His sister's family was among those able to take shelter in the escape pods we launched to the planet. We waited in respectable silence for the man to compose himself from wherever it was his mind had taken him. When he spoke again, his voice quavered. "Excuse me Captain, I had a lot more friends on the planet that didn't make it."
    Captain Ramirez and several ex-Protectorate captains had found me after the incident with the mining colony. His sister’s account along with other first hand testimonials of what actually transpired from the surviving colonists had spread through the galaxy’s underground network like wildfire. From freighter to transport, transport to outpost, Katlen's story was rallying the old Protectorate, thieves, smugglers and free enterprise ships alike. Rallying them, to us. To me.
    "We're sorry for your loss Captain." We had a front row seat when that madman Asmot destroyed the planet's atmosphere, killing most of its inhabitants. We would've died too, if not for the selfless sacrifice of a good, old