Far From Home: The Complete Series Read Online Free Page B

reasons the crew loved him so much.”
    “Noted,” Grimshaw said as the slightest evidence of a smile touched his lips.
    King closed her eyes, took a deep breath. She felt the weight of her own heart in her chest, fit to burst.
    “I know it’s hard, Commander. But please continue,” Grimshaw said softly.
    King looked down at her hands …
    * * *
    She took a minute to compose herself, to take her grief, put it in a box and lock it away inside until later. She looked on as medical orderlies zipped Singh into a blue body bag.
    “Are you okay?” Dr. Clayton asked her. He looked upset himself.
    “I’ve got to go,” she said. “But … thanks.”
    He watched her go.
    As she ran back to the bridge, she happened to look down at herself. Her hands were covered in a mixture of Lieutenant-Commander Greene and Captain Singh’s blood. It was dry and turning brown on her skin.
    “I’m back,” she said confidently as she strode onto the bridge. Inside her heart was broken. To all outward appearances she gave the impression that she had nerves of granite. The mask of composure would have worked, too, if it weren’t for the redness of her eyes and the tracks her tears had made down her dirty cheeks.
    Later she would inform the crew of Captain Singh’s death, and she would note the recognition in their faces. The understanding as they realised what had gone on in her absence from the bridge.
    She took the captain’s chair.
    They’d been running from the Draxx ship for close to thirty minutes in the hope that at any moment the Jump Drive would be fixed. Jessica opened a channel to Engineering.
    “Chief, where are we?”
    The line hissed and crackled. Severed connections throughout the ship sparked up against one another like blood flying from one open vein to another.
    Chief Engineer Meryl Gunn came on. “ You’re gonna have to be patient sir. We’re doing everything we can.”
    Patient? You didn’t just witness the final moments of the Captain’s life, King thought bitterly.
    “ETA?” King asked.
    “A few minutes, Commander. Just give us a few minutes …” Gunn said.
    King looked up at the crew. They watched her intently, looking for a reaction. She made a conscious decision not give them one that would cause them to fear any more than they were.
    “As soon as you can, Chief,” she said coolly.
    “Aye sir.”
    “Ensign Boi, are our co-ordinates set?” King asked.
    Boi turned to face her. “We’re just waiting on the Drive.”
    “As soon as it’s ready, let me know,” she said.
    The viewscreen showed a backwards view of the Draxx battleship coming up on their rear.
    Lieutenant Chang studied her readouts. “The enemy vessel has ceased fire.”
    “I know,” King said, her jaw going tight. “They’re not content with destroying us. They want to capture us and take us for a trophy.”
    “Incoming communication,” Boi reported.
    King shot Chang a look. “See?”
    The display changed to the face of the Draxx commander again.
    “Within moments you will be my prisoner, human,” Prince Sepix said with relish. The leathery skin at the sides of his narrow mouth lifted in a narrow grin. “You will all be my prisoners. Why not give up the chase now?”
    “The Terran Union does not give in to demands, your highness. Not to anybody,” King said.
    “Yes that’s right, Commander. Your race is as stubborn as it is stupid …” Sepix said. “Your biggest fault.”
    “We may be stubborn, as you say, and we may be stupid. But we are not as weak as you seem to think,” King said, her eyes narrowing. “I think you underestimate us.”
    Sepix laughed. It was a horrible, shrill sound. The hairs on the back of King’s neck stood on end.
    “I underestimate your talent for humour,” Sepix cackled.
    King looked to the side. Boi moved aside so that she could see the flashing green light on his panel. The Jump Drive was active. She held up a finger for him to wait for her signal.
    “That’s not the only thing