Fusion (Crimson Romance) Read Online Free Page A

information, we’re learning of future battle plans in this sector. She was able to get word of Condorian tactics by leaving microchips that had been secretly recorded on her ship, and then embedded in beacon markers. The beacons were left on planets recently decimated in battle. Our forces found the first one with dead allied bodies. The circumstances surrounding its discovery were odd enough that allied agents opened it and located her message — ”
    “Of course! Aigean’s civilian rescue beacons would be of no concern to the Condorians since they’d transmit exactly like those that are set off by thousands of dying allied fighters … all of whom are slaughtered by the enemy as they lay wounded.” She shook her head in amazement. “It’s a brilliant plan! Condorians don’t bother turning off beacons. The transmissions draw allied medical vessels forward,” she confirmed. “That’s the reason why most of us won’t activate our personal transmitters unless we’re damned sure the Condorians have moved on. Nobody wants to get our hospital ships destroyed. We haven’t got that many left.”
    “Precisely! Many injured warriors die for want of a doctor’s care. They refuse to turn on their distress units. As Aigean relayed, Condorian officers always order her to land the Venus near a battle, but away from the front lines. They sate themselves while their warriors take out our forces. As she relays, Condorian elite direct battles from her pleasure rooms.”
    “
Bastards
!”
    “I concur. There has never been a more insidious enemy. Condorians are little more than parasites feeding off the rest of us. But their supreme belief in victory has provided a hole in their defenses. Aigean has left word of Condorian battle plans in numerous beacons on a dozen worlds. As you’ve surmised, their transmissions are the same as thousands coming from a destroyed planet. Hiding her information thus was yielding information we couldn’t have gleaned any other way. It was always correct. Her efforts were a huge risk, but they were paying off. Unfortunately, her
last
message was longer. It seems to have been recorded in segments, over a number of days. In it, she advised us that she wouldn’t be able to contact us again. What she had to say was highly concerning.”
    Lyra swallowed hard. “She was about to be caught?”
    “No … not
her
. But some of her people were killed when they wouldn’t respond to questions Condorian generals put to them. Enemy strategists became suspicious of allied fighters showing up to defend mining outposts like this one.” He pointed to the ground to indicate Reisen Four. “Allies were showing up to fight in greater numbers with better armament. The Condorians believed someone — possibly from the Venus — was leaking information.”
    “So … that’s that,” Lyra said. “If Condorian officers suspected Aigean’s crew, using beacons to communicate isn’t an option now. And she and her crew are probably done for.”
    “Aigean last relayed that Condorians searched for and destroyed any required rescue equipment she had, including transmitters. She barely managed to get a last one off the ship. Obviously, it included information I’m telling you.”
    She stared at him for a long moment. “I don’t understand what your unit could do now. Even if you could disguise yourself, get on Aigean’s ship, and slowly gather information about future battle plans, how would you transmit it? Every civilian aboard will be watched. The bridge would be well guarded.”
    “There is one more chance. It’s a plan Aigean previously suggested in the event we had no options. We’re at that point.” He pushed his hair back and wiped sweat from his eyes.
    “This is gonna suck, isn’t it?”
    “It’s the last chance to get aboard the Venus,” he said.
    Lyra sighed. “Okay … let’s hear it.”
    “Once the Condorians overran her ship, it was obviously impossible for Aigean to contact Allied HQ via