The Shattered Empire (The Shadow Space Chronicles Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

transfer the missiles?” Heller asked.  Her light voice and thick accent somehow managed to make even that sound sexy, Garret noted.  He nodded, “Yeah, but don't authorize movement until payment clears.”
    “Ya, of course,” Heller said with a roll of her eyes.  She popped her ear-buds back in and bounced away.  The small, blonde woman looked almost like a teenager as she flounced away.
    Garret just shook his head and headed for the War Dogs offices.  The huge bays of Heinlein Base were originally built for commerce, but they served more than adequately for warships.  His eyes picked out the men and women of his squadron as they moved out after the patrol.  Clint, Jason, and Caela headed with purpose towards the civilian section, no doubt to find a card game and company.  Ted, more cerebral, looked to be headed for the barracks, no doubt to dive into a book or one of his strategy games.  Jay and Ahmad both had girlfriends among the crew and they headed off together in a rush that made Garret smirk a bit.
    The other four, Hugh, Tyrone, Jacel, and Jude, all oversaw the post-flight maintenance as the flight crews serviced their Hammers.  The big gunboats required extensive maintenance after each flight, far more than a fighter or even dedicated bomber.  The gun systems, especially, caused intense structural stresses on their hulls, but also all of the auxiliary systems, engines, and every other part of the big craft needed a full inspection after each flight and extensive maintenance.
    Garret worked his way over to the War Dogs's offices.  Almost as soon as he stepped inside, he found Commodore Pierce waiting.  “What's this I hear about you refusing to transfer munitions?”
    Garret sighed, “Not refusing, just requiring proof of payment, first, sir.”
    “Well, good job, then,” Commodore Pierce said.  “It didn't sound right when that sniveling worm called me a moment ago.  How did the patrol go?”
    That was one thing that Garret loved about the War Dogs.  Some mercenary companies went with rigid military structures and enforced draconian discipline, to the point that reporting was an intensive process.  “No sign of any activity from the RLF at Eldorado, but we didn't have time to linger and do a full scan.  I uploaded our data already to our network, if you want, I'll go brief Josh on it.”  Captain Josh Wachope was the War Dogs' operations officer.
    “Nah, he'll want to review it and compare it to what Mannetti's people sent us from last week.  I think they filtered their sensor data before they turned it over.”  The tall, blonde man shook his head, “I'm about entirely fed up with those lying bastards at this point.  If not for...” he trailed off and shot Garret a sharp glance.  “Well, let's just say that the locals are lucky we're still here.”
    “Right,” Garret nodded.  It was reassuring, in many ways, to see that the Commodore had the same feeling as far as Admiral Mannetti.  At the same time, Garret felt uncomfortable about the thought of leaving the planet to her tender mercies, especially since they didn't seem to realize how dangerous their alliance with her was becoming.  In some ways, the War Dogs prevented Admiral Mannetti from entirely leveraging the colony into her pocket.
    “Garret,” Pierce's tone changed and Garret heard the slightest hesitation in the other man's voice.  “I know that you are originally from Halcyon.  I haven't brought it up before... I know damned well where your loyalty lies.”
    Garret stood a little straighter at that.  His face flushed, though with his dark complexion it would have been hard to tell.  The War Dogs weren't just any mercenary company, in many ways they were family.  Better than his family had been, anyway.  “Thank you, sir.”
    The Commodore shrugged, “Just calling things the way I see them.”  He cleared his throat, “However... I wonder if you might have contacts, here?”
    “What do you mean by that,