Starship's Mage: Episode 3 Read Online Free

world they were heading to glowed on every spectrum the freighter could detect – heat, light and every other form of electromagnetic radiation.
    Damien had grown up on a MidWorld and he’d never seen a system this busy before. The ship’s computer was tagging ships with numbers as it identified them, and it was already into the dozens of vessels transiting between Legatus, Centurion, and the fourth world – Princeps. Princeps wasn’t even habitable, but it had acquired its own collection of orbital structures supporting what looking like massive mining operations on the surface.
    “ I didn’t realize a Core System was this busy,” he admitted aloud, checking for ships that would approach the freighter out of habit.
    “Legatus is the second most industrialized system in human space after Sol itself,” Jenna answered. A glance at the bridge link showed David was busy reviewing their course in-system. “Most of the other Core Worlds would use Mages for a lot of things Legatus uses tech for, so Legatus needs to build and fuel that tech.”
    “The Legatus Self Defense Force is also a much more serious force than most Core security forces,” she continued. “There are hundreds of sub-light gunships in this system, keeping the peace and being paranoid about Mages.”
    “Speak of the Devil,” David interrupted, haloing a closing heat signature on everyone’s screens. “That Crucifix just went squid-mode, and is heading our way fast. Damien…” he trailed off, looking at Damien’s screen.
    “Yes, Captain?”
    “ I’d rather we not incinerate a police ship, but if they try to arrest us, I know we need more space to jump,” the Captain answered grimly. “Try to disable it if you can, but you are our only defense.”
    “Understood,” Damien answered. The amplifier centered on the simulacrum would allow him to use any of his regular self-defense spells at the ship’s scale, more than enough to deal with a single gunship – but not enough to take on the entire star system!
    He saw almost instantly why Rice had referred to the ship as in ‘squid mode.’ The ship’s main hull was a deep hemisphere, with four pods locked behind it on outriggers, likely providing a magnetic channel to increase the efficiency of the antimatter flare. A quick check of the Jay’s database showed that, normally, the four outriggers were extended around the ship in a cross shape – hence the name of the ship – and rotated to provide artificial gravity to the crew.
    “ I’m copying you in our channel,” Jenna told Damien. “They won’t see or hear you, but you’ll see both of us.”
    A second screen popped open next to the bridge link, blank for a long moment.
    “We’re receiving a transmission,” the First Officer announced. “Aligning our com array, and throwing them on-screen.”
    The new screen on Damien’s display lit up, standing out even more sharply against the starscape and sensor data around it. The screen rapidly resolved into a utilitarian command center, six uniformed men and women belted into chairs clearly designed to function as acceleration couches.
    Centered in the camera was a seated woman in a dark blue jumpsuit uniform, gold cuffs and a gold oak leaf on her collar presumably marking her as being in command.
    “ I am Lieutenant Commander Hunts of the LSDFS Broadsword ,” she stated sharply. “You have performed an unscheduled jump into the Legatus System, identify yourself immediately or be fired upon.”
    The database entry that Damien had pulled up on the Crucifix class gunships happily informed him that the gunship carried a load out of antimatter missiles rated similarly to the Martian Navy – which Hunts was already in range to use.
    “ I am Captain David Rice of the independent freighter Blue Jay ,” Rice responded immediately. “We are transmitting our credentials now.”
    Seconds ticked by in silence as the crew of the Jay waited for the signal to cross the distance between them, and