TFS Theseus: The Terran Fleet Command Saga – Book 2 Read Online Free Page A

Admiral,” Prescott replied, still a bit apprehensive, but relieved that the CNO did not appear especially hostile.
    “Pick up any other hitchhikers on your way back that I don’t know about yet?” the admiral asked, deadpan, his face immediately shifting to a well-rehearsed scowl.
    Prescott felt a chill run down his spine. This was clearly one of those ambiguous situations that could be read either way, but where choosing incorrectly could provide a particularly bad result. Rather than commit himself either way, he simply stared at the admiral for a moment, waiting to be either skewered or let off the hook entirely.
    The admiral, for his part, simply raised his eyebrows and peered over his glasses as if waiting for a response, seeming to take pleasure in his subordinate’s obvious discomfort.
    Unable to endure the silence any longer, Prescott opened his mouth to respond. “Sir, I …”
    “ Relax , Prescott,” Patterson interrupted, chuckling in spite of himself and finally starting to feel a tinge of guilt. “There actually are a few things I’m going to need you to explain to me, but I’ve looked over the highlights of your AI’s log a couple of times already. So far, I haven’t seen anything you did that I probably wouldn’t have done myself. Besides, the truth of the matter is that you’re now the only combat veteran captain we’ve got, so I’d probably be a little reluctant to take you out of the chair no matter what you did.”
    Captain Davis took a step back and stared in amazement. “Combat veteran? You did go out and start a war, didn’t you, Prescott?”
    “He didn’t start anything, but he and our friend Admiral Naftur sure as hell finished something. Out at Gliese 667, they were attacked by a sister ship to Naftur’s Gresav as well as one of the big cruisers we saw get wiped out by the Guardian last month. Since Prescott is standing here, you can draw your own conclusions as to how that went for the bad guys,” he smiled, literally patting Prescott on the back. “Anyway, with the Guardian lurking around outside, I’m not going to have time to do a proper debrief, so I’d like the two of you to quickly document the lessons learned. I want what worked and what didn’t work in the hands of every one of our captains within twenty-four hours. Questions on that part?”
    “No, sir,” they replied in unison, feeling a little like a pair of midshipmen who had just been handed an especially odious assignment for the following day.
    “Next, I know that Naftur has some sort of bio-signature-scrambling gizmo that supposedly keeps the Guardian from detecting his presence. Frankly, I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with him remaining aboard one of our ships while we are sitting up here nose to nose with this thing. We have to assume it can read our encrypted comm, and we have absolutely no idea how it would react if it discovered we were collaborating with a Wek, particularly since that Wek happens to be a senior military commander. The picture that’s emerging of this ‘cultivation’ program tells me that the Pelarans are looking for what you might call an … uh, rather exclusive relationship with us.”
    “So should we shuttle Admiral Naftur down to HQ to meet up with Admiral Sexton and Ambassador Turlaka?” Prescott asked.
    “Yes, that’s your first priority. It’s critical that we get Naftur on the ground and see if we can get some additional information that might help us design a better defense against this potential ‘Pelaran Resistance’ attack. At the moment, we have very little notion of what to expect. I suppose we can hold out some hope that the loss of two of their vessels at Gliese 667 might persuade them to turn around and head home, but I doubt that’s something we can count on.”
    “No, sir,” Prescott agreed. “In fact, Admiral Naftur indicated that the Resistance expects there will be little to no resistance from Terran forces when their task force arrives at