Resilience (Warner's World Book 6) (56 page)

The enemy ships in the centre of the enemy formation had little chance. Lintus was one of the first casualties. Only two of his caps and three lights, all at the edges of their formation had enough time to evade. One even managed to fire back with its own beam weapon, but thankfully it missed.

The 90 enemy fighters currently on CAP, however, managed to fire offensively at the closest Federation ship to them. Each of the enemy caps had pushed out its own squadron and these were providing close escort to their mother ship.

So the defensive BS officers on all of Dave’s ships were kept busy for a few minutes dealing with the incoming threats. By dent of bad luck the Dominator and Condor at the rear of Dave’s group received nearly half of the enemy missiles. The condor being more nimble was able to take effective evasive action and only sustained one hit that failed to do any significant damage.

But the Dominator was not so lucky. The relatively close engagement ranges meant that the defensive missiles it fired barely had enough time to intercept the enemy missiles. The big cap’s close range defences, engaged on automatic and while they dealt with many of the runners the ship sustained four hits. Two of these struck its droid pods, one tore a hole in the shuttle deck and another ripped into the D deck accommodation. Despite suffering 26 casualties Senna kept her cool. The ship would need repairs but it was still flying. 

Not so for most of the enemy ships. The survivors barely had time to assess what had happened when the marauders launched their missiles from 30K. One of the caps and two of the lights reacted quick enough to warp away. The other cap and light were too slow and their crafts were overwhelmed by 600 missiles.

Dave would have rather not wasted so many javelins but that was the price for victory and he was very glad of that. He was also glad of the sleth offer to assist with the repairs to the Dominator. They helped reseal the shuttle and accommodation deck breaches but could do little about the destroyed droid pods. The loss of so many droids was a significant blow to the ship’s ground capability.

An hour later Dave sent off his battle report to Phil. He knew Phil would be dark about the loss of the droids but that overall he would be pleased to have despatched the bulk of another Imperial fleet.

On the far side of the furthest gas planet in the system the remnant of the 15
^th
RIF, including the transports carrying the assigned division of army troops, prepared to warp away. Their commander, appointed by virtue of her seniority, had just sent her own report of the battle to Imperial HQ. She was worried not for her own skin but for that of her family. By now everyone in the fleet knew that the new First Consul was even more unforgiving of failure. There was no sugar coating the outcome here. This was an unmitigated failure and there would be no retaking of Slenthsl any time soon.

A few minutes later Tracy Gordon regained consciousness in the med bay. Her head hurt like hell but she managed a smile when she made out Val’s face. “Did I miss anything?” she asked.

Val shook her head. She gently stroked Tracy’s cheek with the back of her hand. “Nah! Nothin’ to write home about.”

Tracy managed a smile. “Silly. This is my home.”

Chapter 11. Audacity over Slenthsl 0940, 10 November

“Time out” called out Aubrey. The ribbon of lights on the chest piece of her fencing jacket was flashing orange from the contact made with Crystal’s foil. Crystal’s face was a mix of ecstasy and triumph as she held her foil ready to strike again. “Boy you’ve come a long way real quick” admitted Aubrey.

“You were right. Rose is a good instructor” said Crystal. “Another round?”

“No I need a rest” said Aubrey as she pulled off her fencing helmet.

“Pity. I’m just getting the hang of it.”

Aubrey replaced the foil into the receptacle on the wall, next to the pair of sabres. She turned off the comms on her fencing suit and wiped the sweat away from her face with a towel. She looked up at Crystal who was still beaming over her success.

“Your spirits have certainly lifted” said Aubrey.

Crystal placed her helmet on the bench and returned her foil to its receptacle.  “Yeah they have” she said. As she turned to face Aubrey she added “and it’s not just because I whipped your arse.”

“Those sessions with the lovely Jim Lin going well then?”

“Yeah…” said Crystal. Her voice trailed off as she pondered.

“Yes Jim Lin’s lovely or yes the sessions are going well?” asked Aubrey playfully.

Crystal smiled. “Both!”

“You know he won’t jump you while he’s seeing you professionally” said Aubrey with a big grin.

“You know you’re shocking Aubrey” said Crystal as she smiled and shook her head.

“It’s true nonetheless” said Aubrey wagging her finger at Crystal.

“You’re just randy…”

“and frustrated” said Aubrey drawing out the word with feigned sadness on her face. “If I were you I would stop those sessions and then you can have your way with him.”

“You’re incorrigible. Not everyone’s like you, you know.”

“Oh come on. I’ve seen the way you look at him in the mess.”

“If you keep this up I’m going to have to whip your arse again.”

“OK tomorrow. I reckon you’re ready to graduate to sabre.” Aubrey had mischief all over face when she added “I prefer the hack and slash.”

“I bet you do. But no matter I’m still going to whip your arse.”

Chapter 12. Audacity over Slenthsl 1000, 10 November

Rihan sighed as she came. Her naked form straddled Dave in the middle of their big bed. His hands were on her hips and her hair bounced on her heaving breasts. She felt immense pleasure in the moment. She felt incredible strength coursing through her. And then she felt him release inside her and she watched as he shook his head from side to side on the pillow in ecstasy. She squeezed one more time and heard him moan.

“Oh I love getting laid on these days off” she said as his thrusting ended.

“Huh” said Dave “that’s why they’re called lay days.” He laughed at his own joke.

Rihan shook her head. “That’s so bad Dave” and she laughed too.

He pulled her head down and kissed her lips tenderly. “Thank you” he said softly. “You we’re terrific.”

She kissed him back. “You weren’t bad either.”

“Not bad?” he asked incredulously.

“Well you’re certainly a lot better than a month ago.”

“Yeah, a bit of a low point then, hey?”

Rihan rolled off of him and cuddled into his side. She gently caressed his chest. “I was worried about you then. Hadn’t seen you that low before.” Dave nodded. “But I knew you’d bounce back” she added.

“Did you indeed?”

“Yep, sure did.”

“And why was that?”

“Cause you’re made of the right stuff Dave Warner.”

Dave smiled. Then he rolled over to face Rihan. He brushed the hair away from her eyes and stared into them. “And you’re made of the right stuff too Rihan Kabel.”

She smiled and closed her eyelids to allow Dave to gently kiss them. He obliged, moving his kisses down her cheek and onto her lips. She parted her lips and engaged his tongue as it gently probed. She felt his tongue press more firmly and she responded in kind. A wave of passion welled up in her and she wrapped her top leg over his hip.

He felt her foot digging into his buttock and her leg pulling him onto her as she rolled onto her back. “You never give up, do you?” he said.

With her hands clasped on his buttocks and feeling his pressure on her groin she responded “And neither do you.” She sighed as he entered her. As her breathing got heavier she managed to say “I like that it’s a whole day of lays and not just a quickie.”

Dave shook his head and burst out laughing.

Before You Go

Thank you for reading Resilience. I’d really appreciate you taking the time to rate the book and share it with your friends. So please respond to the “Before You Go” prompt that will appear on your Kindle as you finish the book.

Dave O’Connor

Acknowledgements

Once again I must thank my wife, Joy, who encouraged and supported my writing.

Peter Winship (author of the John Connor crime books) also provided valuable feedback and advice both in terms of writing style and getting published. He very generously shone a light for me and, coming from someone who has trodden the path already, this was very reassuring.

John Hemry (author of Jack Campbell’s The Lost Fleet series) gave generously of his time to advise on how I could get published. His ‘pay it forward’ attitude was most appreciated.

The Australian Society of Authors (www.asauthors.org ) provided good advice on being an author and sponsored Steven Lewis’ E Publishing course (
www.taleist.com
www.warpdrivepublishing
)
which I found to be valuable.
 

Book 7 of Warner’s World

The adventure continues in Book 7 of Warner’s World: Attainment.

The rogan war is reaching its denouement. Dave Warner is at the peak of his military powers but what has he got to show for it? Charles Chen dangles a political carrot but will Dave’s sense of duty keep him focussed on finishing the war? As the noose tightens on the rogan home worlds, its First Consul, Nestor Quazor, tightens his grip on power. The allied forces assemble for the final showdown over Istridium. Stratagem and ruse attempt to deceive and divert but will it be ruthlessness that becomes the order of the day?  “What price peace” asks Dave Warner and is he prepared to pay it?

Visit
www.warpdrivepublishing.com
for more details.

Warnerpedia

Get your free copy of Warnerpedia at
www.warpdrivepublishing.com
. It answers your questions on ‘who, what and where” in the Warner’s World series.

This reference document comes in three formats - Word, PDF or MOBI. It contains a listing of all the characters in all the books, listed by first name, last name, rank, role, organisation and the book they first appeared in. There is also a list of the weapons, vehicles, ships and other equipment used in the series. All the cities, places, planets and star systems are listed so you can look up exactly where events are happening. A glossary is also provided.
With the Word format the data is listed in sortable tables. So it makes it easy to find that character using one of their attributes - first name, last name, organisation etc.

Part 1
Trust

You place your trust in your partner’s hand

And strive together for a common goal

Prepared if need be to make a stand

Each contributing according to their role

But when trust is betrayed you must decide

To react quickly from ego’s angst

Or to reflect and ponder without pride

Pray you choose the latter and give thanks

For you have risen above the hurt

And exercised detachment

Forgiveness paves the way for the heart to reassert

Nothing good comes from attachment

Chapter 1. Nova Vista 0830, 14 November 2513

The slender frame of Amelia Hubbard looked a little thinner than the last time her son, Commander (Cmdr) Charles Chen, had seen her. Amelia gave a weak smile to the customs official who waved her through the VIP gate at the spaceport. Being the wife of the Federation Treasurer had its advantages. Amelia regarded it as normal. After all she had enjoyed such preferential treatment for so long now. But she also felt it her duty to be civil to officials even if she was feeling anxious, as she now was.

She had received Charles’ signal two weeks ago and had been anxious ever since. A decade of behind the scenes manoeuvrings was in jeopardy and all because of some infatuation. It was most unlike her Charles. For years now she had borne the frustration of dashed ambition in relation to her husband, Harry Chen, the Federation Treasurer. She was not prepared to have her ambitions for Charles dashed by some strumpet.