Page 20 of Courting Mayhem

“Canute is an Askole. Think of breaking through his awesome mental shields as a challenge,” I responded.

“What part of the ship do you want to see first War Commander?” Poppa Jacob inquired politely.

Derek lowered the landing ramp. “Let’s start with the bridge.”

“As you wish.”

The war commander walked out and stared at our damaged fighter. “Who did you steal the Marauder from?”

“A dead Tai-Kok. He had no further use for it,” Papi Sten replied.

Derek ran a hand over the black gashes running down the sides of the ship. “Was it this badly damaged when you appropriated it?”

“No. It was in pristine condition,” I answered. “We used it as a Trojan Horse.”

“Against whom?”

“The Rodan.” I placed my palm against a sensor pad. The lift doors opened.

“With this kind of laser scoring I’m surprised you didn’t have a hull breach,” Derek commented.

Poppa Jacob shrugged. “There was a small leak, but I was wearing my battle armor.”

“He kept the murdering bastards busy while we blew up the mother ship,” I said proudly.

Poppa Jacob winked at me.

“You blew up a Rodan mother ship?” The disbelief in Derek’s voice was insulting.

“There is still a debris field at coordinates 832.2 Mark 422.9, if you wish to check,” Papi Sten snapped and stepped into the lift.

“I do.” Derek tapped away on his bracelet.

Poppa Jacob added, “It was the Xepheus, if that helps.”

“You want me to believe you destroyed the Xepheus without the help of a battle group?” Derek growled incredulously.

I rolled my eyes. “We upgraded our weapons systems.” This so-called partnership wasn’t going to work. The sooner we ditched him the better. I held the lift doors open. “Coming War Commander?”

His gaze fixed on his viewscreen; Derek crowded in with us.

I exchanged grins with Poppa Jacob. I couldn’t wait to see Derek’s face when he got a look at our control console, navigation, and weapons systems. Then he would realize why we were more than a match for a Rodan mother ship.

The lift door opened. I squeezed out and waited for the fireworks to begin.

Derek took one look at the control console and his jaw dropped. “How in the hell…?” He spun to face my fathers. “Almost everything here belongs on a Coletti warbird. You stole this equipment too!”

“We are not thieves,” Papi Sten roared.

The last thing we needed was for Papi Sten to attack the war commander. “Ah, that’s not quite true. We did steal much needed equipment from a Shadow Thieves’ warehouse on Gliese. But it’s not like we had much of a choice. The Warhammer was badly damaged during the fight for Proxima III.”

Papi Sten gave me his death stare. “That is none of the war commander’s business.”

I shrugged. “True, but we wouldn’t have been forced into appropriating gear if General Zan had kept his promise.” I settled in the navigator’s chair and started a security check.

“You stole all of this from the Shadow Thieves?” There was a note of skepticism in Derek’s voice.

Poppa Jacob smiled. “We did. Only seemed fair and the price was right.”

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