Fall of the Terran Empire - Traci Ganner series book 1

FTE - Ch 18

 “Come in, Captain,” Pearson called from his desk as the admittance chime sounded. The door opened to admit Captain Ganner into his day cabin. She was accompanied by a marine corporal, who stepped into the compartment and came to attention inside the hatch. Ganner had been allowed to bathe, and was wearing a fresh captain’s uniform.

“It’s okay, Corporal,” Pearson said. “You can wait outside.”

The corporal responded with a smart salute and “Yes, sir,” and stepped back through the hatch, closing it behind him.

“Sit down, Captain.” Pearson pointed to a chair in front of his spacious desk. It was certainly much larger and more ornate than the one she had sat behind aboard the Corsair.

Ganner sat down and fixed him with a defiant stare.  He found it hard to look into those frozen blue eyes. Her look was harder than it had been the last time he had visited her in the brig cell. It seemed the interrogation he had ordered had not broken her spirit; if anything, she seemed more determined than ever. Perhaps it was just as well.

“Captain, I need to bring you up to speed on where we stand,” he said. “Our fleet has been attacked and pushed back out of the Antares system. We are now back in Spica. We have sustained heavy losses from encounters with both Fourth Fleet and the Valdi. We are cut off from our main supply bases, and we will very likely not be able to hold the Valdi if they make a serious push into this system.

“The Valdi, on the other hand, have now been heavily reinforced.” He studied the young officer in front of him as he poured a cup of coffee from the dispenser near his desk. He offered her the cup, and she politely refused.

“Let me come to the point, Captain,” he said softly. “I know you know more about the Valdi than anyone else in the fleet, perhaps more than anyone in Terran space.”

Captain Ganner returned his gaze levelly and said nothing. Admiral Pearson took a deep breath and let it out again. “I need your help. I am running out of ideas, and we need some good ones if we are going to--”

“Admiral Pearson,” the bridge officer sounded over the fresh wail of the general quarters alarm.

Pearson stared at his former intelligence officer for a heartbeat longer and reached out to the communication switch.

“What’s going on?” he inquired, not taking his eyes off of Ganner.

“Sir, two large fleets have just dropped out of hyperspace,” Santos said. “They’re Orion.”

Pearson saw the hint of a smile on Traci Ganner’s mouth, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. Had he imagined it?

“On my way, Commodore,” he said, and closed the channel.

He stood up and gazed down at her. She stared into his eyes with the look of a chess player that has just taken one of her opponent’s pieces with a sneak attack. With a small sigh, he straightened his tunic vest. Walking past her to the hatch, he opened it and spoke to the marine corporal. “Make sure she stays here, Corporal.” He turned to look back into the cabin once more, but Ganner was still facing the desk; he could not see her face. He turned back to the corporal and left the compartment. The door closed behind him, sealing her inside.

* * *

As Scott Pearson entered the flag bridge, he received a communication from Captain Veiga’s communications officer.

“Admiral, the Orion fleet is hailing us.”

“Pipe it up, Lieutenant,” he said, catching a look from his new staff spook. Waiting for the message link to come to the bridge viewers, he said to the intel officer, “What can you tell me about the fleet, Commander?”