Taking Command by KyAnn Waters & Grad Stone

trouble. Deep trouble. “I won’t let them take you,” he said to BioOne.
    He had to protect BioOne, and he had to protect Shon. Now that she’d connected herself with BioOne and him, she would never be safe again. She’d be an enemy of the government the same way he was. She’d involved herself, and it was his fault.
    He could have had BioOne transport her back to port. But doing so would have risked capture or death of the ship. BioOne wasn’t expendable. The ship had as much right to life as he and Shon. But in creating BioOne, he’d created a species meant to be controlled and used. Sentient ships whose only purpose would be death and destruction. For him, yes, he wanted revenge on the Tri’Neith. But more importantly, he had to free BioOne to a better existence.
    Damn. Now all of them were at risk. If captured, Tarik and Shon would be killed and BioOne enslaved.
    “Scan the area,” he said to the ship. “We need a perimeter ship with hull intact. And the ship needs to be large enough to hide us within its belly. Cloaking won’t be enough.”
    BioOne weaved between the ships, maneuvering to the far side of the boneyard.
    “Quickly, we’re out of time.” No doubt, because of the drone, the Tri’Neith ships would figure out where they’d gone. BioOne could already be on their scanners. “Evasive measures. Create a mirror.”
    Diplomatic ships didn’t need to deceive their enemies. Yet, BioOne could replicate its power signature, imprinting it upon several of the wreckages at once. A skill that would allow BioOne to appear as multiple targets. Once BioOne was stronger, more mature, in battle, she could imprint her signature on any enemy ship, thereby ensuring their destruction by friendly fire.
    BioOne focused on a large ship off her port side, displaying it on the monitor.
    “No good. Over there.” He indicted the charred remains of a large transport. Without weaponry, he hoped the ship would be overlooked.
    BioOne slid into the charred pocket of the ship, powering down lights and the engines. All energy went to shields and firepower. She instinctively became battle ready.
    Tarik ran his fingers over the console. A screen materialized. One, two, four, five government ships dropped out of warp. “Fuck.” He’d known they’d send the fleet. This was just the first wave. More would come.
    Time stood still as he waited. How long could he remain hidden? The vast boneyard wouldn’t protect them indefinitely. And the Tri’Neith wouldn’t leave until they’d searched or destroyed every salvaged ship.
    He thought of Shon. Although he wanted to strangle her beautiful neck for what she’d done, he understood why she’d taken the opportunity to learn more about him, the mission, and BioOne. He would’ve done the same thing in her circumstances. And had she not, the probe could’ve detected them sooner, could’ve summoned the Tri’Neith. Now that she had linked with BioOne, Shon was sure she’d gleaned enough information to compromise him. Whether he’d have chosen to or not, he now had to trust her.
    Tarik watched the dim glow of the monitor. BioOne tracked the progress of the Tri’Neith ships.
    A flash of light blinded him. A violent eruption shuddered through the ship. “Have we been detected?” Several more explosions followed the first. The ship pitched, absorbing the bursts of energy.
    “Scan the ships. Continue to mirror other vessels.” If they stayed in this position any longer, the destroyers would eventually count down and blast them into oblivion. There wouldn’t be any ships left to destroy. “We need working armament.”
    BioOne had the ability to synchronize with another ship. But attempting to remotely commandeer a ship from the government fleet would also risk detection.
    Displayed on the monitor were several ships with the ability to inflict minimal amounts of damage. Nothing that would help him in getting Shon and BioOne to safety. Perhaps BioOne could fire off a few energy