“Polaris,” the Lieutenant said. “Someone found her.”
“Indeed, Mr. Dietrich,” the Admiral replied. “Though not, unfortunately, the Federation Fleet.”
“The Commonwealth?” the Commander said, a frown on his face. “If they've managed to seize one of our ships, even...”
“Not them either, Commander.” Taking a deep breath, the Admiral said, “A group of rebel terrorists have stolen the ship, smashed their way through a civilian station and one of our ships to do it, and are now out and on the run. Claiming that their goal is the destruction of the Federation. We have intelligence that they are receiving assistance from the Commonwealth, and you know what that could mean.”
The Admiral paused, then said, “Most of the people who have held this office haven't been willing to admit the truth. I'm forced to admit that we've grown soft since the Uprising, officers selected for key positions because of their name, their willingness to be politically flexible, rather than real ability. That has to end, and it has to end now. There's a chance we might be in a shooting war with the Commonwealth at any time. Certainly we have the rogue Polaris to contend with.”
“Where do we come in, sir?” Dietrich asked.
“You, gentlemen, are being assigned to a new ship. I know that both of you were scheduled for shore postings, but I know that your lack of appropriate connections was the real reason.” Turning to the Commander, he said, “Bob, I know that this mission will be difficult for you, but I'm placing you in command of the Starcruiser Canopus. She's waiting for you in orbit right now. Your orders are simple. Find Polaris, capture her if you can, destroy her if you can't. Any means necessary are authorized, and I'll gladly give you a written order to that effect. We've got to take that ship out of the equation, gentlemen, before she can spark another Uprising. Fifty-five million people died last time. I will not permit that to happen again. Not on my watch.”
“I understand, sir,” the Commander replied. “If I might ask, why did you choose me for this assignment? There must be a dozen other officers with similar qualifications, and I would have thought that my personal history would have...”
“On the contrary, Commander, it was your personal history that compelled your selection.” With a thin smile, he added, “Who better to hunt down the father than the son.”
Nodding, Commander Robert Curtis, now commanding the Federation Starcruiser Canopus, replied, “I won't let you down, sir. You have my word on that. One way or another, we'll track that ship down. Whatever it takes.”
Thank you for reading 'Blood of Patriots'. For information on future releases, please join the author's Science-Fiction Mailing List at http://eepurl.com/A9MdX for updates. If you enjoyed this book, please review it on the site where you purchased it.
The writer's blog is available at http://tinyurl.com/pjl96dj
The saga returns in Nothing Left To Lose, available soon…
Table of Contents
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Epilogue