Free Birthright: Battle for the Confederation- Consequence by Ryan Krauter Page A

bedroll, which was unoccupied. 
                  "Where is the Priman?" Ares asked.
                  Damn , Loren thought.  That had the potential to be trouble as well.  This pirate's feelings toward Primans could throw a serious wrench in the works depending on whether the judgment was good or bad.
                  "Last I saw, he was asleep on his bedroll, no doubt dreaming happily about conquering the galaxy at large."
                  The pirate stomped closer to Loren, scarred and weathered blaster pointed at his forehead but just out of arm's reach.  "I don't find that amusing.  You seem to be pretty happy with yourself, though, eh?"  Captain Ares flicked the weapon towards the front of the bridge where Velk's bedroll was, indicating Loren needed to head that way.  Loren shuffled slowly, backing up towards the fore end of the bridge as Captain Ares aligned himself with his back to the bridge hatch.
                  "If your friend doesn't want to show himself, you're both going to get locked in here while I bypass controls of the ship to another station.  Except it's going to stink real bad, because you'll be full of blaster holes and this compartment is going to smell like charred meat.  That is, until you start to decompose.  Unless I just vent the air right away."  The pirate made a show of looking thoughtfully at the air vent above Loren's head.  "Hmm, that might be more fun, actually."
                  "We're not really that good of pals," Loren offered somberly.  "I'm not sure he'd lose too much sleep if you blasted me."
                  "Seriously?" the pirate replied.
                  "In fact," they heard from the starboard side where Captain Ares had first appeared, "I would take offense.  I need that man alive."
                  Ares twitched his head to look right, but by the time he realized he'd taken his eyes off Loren it was too late.  Loren juked his head right to get out of the line of fire, then grabbed the slide of the blaster with his left hand.  He hit the pirate in the nose with a palm strike followed by a right elbow, then spun to his left and inside towards the pirate's chest.  He switched his grip to grab the blaster with his right hand as he jabbed the pirate in the solar plexus with his left elbow, and the pirate was on the deck wheezing for air that could barely make it in through his broken nose or stunned chest.
                  Loren wound up to crack the man in the temple with the butt of his own pistol but stopped himself.  The pirate was not a threat, and in fact collapsed to the deck a second later.
                  Loren took a step back and field stripped the captain's weapon, then grabbed and holstered his own SSK from the top of the console.
                  Velk was standing over the pirate by the time Loren returned.
                  "You showed restraint.  Why?"
                  "We all do things during conflict where we get a little out of control.  I guess I figured out just in time that this guy didn't need any more of a beating."
                  "You think he would have spared you?" Velk looked at Loren critically.
                  "Probably not.  But that's not the point, is it?  I can't make up for some things I've done, Representative, but I can try to prove to everyone else and myself that I still know how to be a decent human."
                  Velk just nodded, and Loren could swear he saw compassion in the man's eyes.  "Someday, Commander, when this is all over, you and I will have many rewarding conversations about the galaxy and the way things could be."
     
     
                  About half a light-minute behind the pirate frigate, Avenger paced the ship as her crew readied themselves for what would most likely be another hair-raising transit