Draw a Line in the Sand.

“Send word to Anderson and coordinates of that ship so they can see for themselves. They will trust him more then they will me. Scramble the fleet to protect the moons but not to engage. They will recover the retreat of as many ships as the miners can launch. I doubt any will leave but I rather they know what is happening so they can find cover. Get my ship ready in orbit.”

“You want to go there? To join in the fight?” She looked at me.

“No. Tell Jenkins to meet us near obsidian in that gunship. We will do a skip jump.” I shook my head.

“In the solar system? You know how crazy that is?” Miranda looked at me. Jumping between systems had less risk then doing so in system because of the gravity of a system kept everything within the suns gravity spinning around it while outside of system debris floated away into the void until it was caught by a star. It was actually hard to find something to hit and even then each ship had a nose shield. In a solar system though the odds of hitting something was around seven five percent or higher. Hit something big enough and the shield wouldn't count for shit which is why the military trained against doing it. Not to mention planetary gravity that could cause a curve in slipstream which is why most long range jumps where done at the outer edge of a systems or else risk getting stranded in the void between systems.

“Normally yes but every rock in this system has been mapped and cataloged by miners and Leviathan has cleared every asteroid in it's orbit.” I said. Truthfully it was large enough that it's gravity made it ideal for a close range jump. In any other system I wouldn't risk it but I had been studying this one a month before I arrived. That made the odds slightly better but only slightly so.

“You know I am coming along if you are going.” She looked at me.

“It will be just like old times.” I smiled. We were on the ship within twenty minutes. My ship. A state of the art destroyer given to me by the duke for saving his son though it had nowhere near the amount of firepower needed to take down a battle carrier it put up one hell of a fight. I made my way out but was stopped by a young woman being escorted by one of the palace guard.

“Baron. My name is Alison Baker. I was scheduled to interview you.” She said doing a little bow. Alison didn't work for the planetary news network. She was was an independent who had been arrested for telling the truth about the last lord. She was one of many I had had released before I even arrived on planet.

“I am sorry Ms. Baker but something urgent just came up.” I shook my head. “You can talk to my assistant and reschedule.”

“Oh. Sorry. Maybe another time.” She smiled trying to hide her disappointment. I started to walk away but found myself turning back around. “On second thought how would you like an exclusive.”

“Yes. I would be love that.” She smiled and caught up to me and followed my lead.

“How do you feel about space travel?” I smiled.

“I have never been off world.” She smiled and shook her head.

“Well try to keep up.” I nodded with my head.

“Yes my lord.” Ms. Blake said as she followed. We where in the shuttle and off toward the destroyer parked in orbit. She was quick to ask questions as she pulled out a small camera and put it over her right ear. I took my ring off, which stopped the jamming signal, and put it in my pocket. I filled her in on the details as best I could without saying to much.

“Here. For when we get on the ship.” Miranda said handing her a jacket?

“How long will that take to get there?” She asked sliding the jacket on.

“About three seconds. We are going to preform a inner system jump.” I replied.

“Isn't that dangerous?” She looked at me.

“Very.” Miranda nodded.

“You can stay on the shuttle if you like.” I grinned.

“Oh hell no. I don't want to miss this. Oh sorry you lordship.”

“It's all right.” I nodded.

When we reached the ship I took a deep breath when I stepped out. Recycled cool air hit me like ice cold water in the face on a hot summer day. It was a huge contrast from the hot dry air of the planet below.

“Why is it so cold in here?” Ms. Blake said as rubbed her arms and zipped up the jacket.

“All military ships keep the temperature down to reduce it's heat signature and keep the computer systems running without over heating. Push the button on the sleeve.” I smiled. She did and the jacket sealed up tightly around her body. I smiled as I walked into the command and control center.

“Your serious. You want to do a star jump in system.” Nova said as she came over. Nova was one of the best engineers I had ever meet. Her people skills though where lacking. She didn't have an official rank since she never went to boot camp, dropped out of college because of disciplinary issues as well as being bored to **** of the curriculum. Couldn't hold down a job in the private sector because she had a habit of telling people what she thought. Even in special operations who recognized her potential she was a bit of a problem child but the girl knew machines and coding like no one else I had ever met. When I requested her I swore the last officer she served under had packed her things himself as eager as he was to get rid of her. When I left Special Operations they where happy to get rid of her. They didn't know how to handle her like I did. She needed something to do or a problem to solve. This ship was brand new but that didn't mean it was perfect so it gave her something to do.

“Hello. Good to see you to Nova.” I smiled.

“I finally get this ship working perfectly. I mean she purrs like kitten now and you want to fly her into a gas giant.” She crossed her arms.

“No I would prefer we not go quit that far but I rather not let the enemy detect or jump exit. Besides I am not the one doing the jump. You are. Unless you don't think you can.” I smiled.

“Okay but when we wind up in hell I want you to remember I told you so your lordship.” She shook her head and walked over to her work station.

“I would expect nothing less from you.” I smiled and took a seat.

“So who's is the babe?” She glanced over at Ms. Baker.

“News Media.” Ms. Baker smiled and offered her hand not that Nova shook it. She had a thing about touching though ironically it wasn't a matter of cleanliness. I had seen covered in oil, dirt, solvents, and all manner of gunk.

“Oh good. They will have documentation of your **** for the imperial archives. Don't think any lord has ever been killed in a gas giant before.” Nova shook her head

“Just get us there.” I replied. She moved to the navigators station and began talking to David as she leaned over and punched in some data.

“You will have to forgive her. Nova is a technical prodigy and is great with machines but not so much with people. I think the longest relationship she has been in was with a sonic simulator.” Miranda joked.

“I heard that.” Nova said moving to the helm and talked with Yvette. I reached over put my thumb on the slot on the chair and felt the tiny needle poke my finger.

“Welcome back Baron. The ship is at your command.” The ships computer responded.

“Engage PA.” I said and I heard the channel open.”

“All personal prepare for star jump. Secure all work stations and strap in.” I smiled and strapped myself in and everyone else on the CIC followed suit. It took Nova another minute as she moved back to navigation.

“Okay everyone. Stand by for star jump.” Nova said moving back to her station and I felt the jump engine power up. “Three, two, one.” In the blink of an eye the ship shot forward and stopped a second or two later. The belts of my harness tightened to stop me from flying out of the chair. The helmsman flipped the ship around and fired the main thrusters to slow us down before we became part of the planet..

“Good news everyone. We are in orbit over leviathan and not dead.” Nova said.

“You okay.” I looked over at Ms. Baker to see she was covering her mouth and looked a little green.

“You never forget your first time.” Miranda smiled.

“Nova put her in sleep mode. Shut down all...” I began to say as I unstrapped myself.

“...non essential systems. Vent coolant into the aft thrusters. Close the aft shielding, thrusters only movement. Just another rock cold dead rock in the stars.” She said as she went to work as the primary lighting dimmed to running lights.

“As you where.” I shook my head. It didn't take to long for Jenkins to reach us and dock along side us. He was the first person off the gunship.

“Jenkins.” I smiled.

“My lord.” He bowed.

“How is your team?”

“Whole sir. Rogers took a round to the vest but only a few broken bones. The enemy walked right into our kill box when the air lock opened before they even knew what hit them. We used stun rounds but they lost two of their own. One was friendly fire while the other died from a broken rib and internal hemorrhaging as best we can tell.” He said giving his report. Gel stun rounds were designed to take down an enemy instead of killing them though not without risk of breaking bones or other blunt **** trauma that could lead to ****. But they did far less damage to operating systems that could be compromised in a shoot out.

“What condition is the gun ship in?”

“She is in working condition but she has had a lot of her systems jury-rigged or bypassed. Even Nova would have a hard time fixing what ever they did to her electronics. Her armaments is halved but functional. She has enough uranium carbide in the tank to get you where ever you need her to go but topping her off couldn't hurt” Jenkins smiled then turned as the men led the prisoners out and had them kneel down on the ground.

“Which one of you is in charge here?” I asked looking at them.

“Go to hell.” A bald man with a nasty scar spit at me. One of the soldiers behind him moved toward him but I held up my hand to stop him.

“That is the one my lord.” Jenkins nodded.

“I ain't saying shit to you.” He sneered.