Taking Command by KyAnn Waters & Grad Stone Page A

pulses before they made their move, but the chance of escape seemed slim.
    Zero chance.
    “Great, thanks for the optimism.”
    Suddenly, ships on the monitors began showing weaponry, condition, and more importantly, BioOne was choreographing a plan. “You are brilliant,” he said to BioOne. “How long before you’re ready?”
    Standby. One by one, BioOne armed the salvage ships.
    Tarik monitored the fleet’s movement through the wreckages. Ships carrying BioOne’s signature continued to explode around them.
    In the upper corner of the monitor, a clock ticked down. Eleven. Ten. Nine. BioOne hummed as her engines engaged. They had one shot and this was it.
    Four. Three. Two. “Now,” Tarik demanded.
    BioOne shot from the belly of the transport. Instantly, the alarms sounded as she took on fire from the Tri’Neith. Power surged. Another direct hit sliced a wound into the side of the ship. BioOne sent energy to the injury. The ship might not feel pain the same way he did, but the damage would affect her abilities. Adapting was part of battle.
    “Another direct hit will take out our shields. We have one shot—”
    Time ran out, and BioOne bolted.
    Flaring light blinded them. Several violent, jarring eruptions rocked BioOne. Ringing blared through Tarik’s ears. Pressure fluctuated. Tarik’s chest tightened, as if the ship had depressurized to the point he couldn’t draw breath.
    “Power to life support,” he gasped.
    Tarik’s hands flew over the console, but it was as if BioOne was stunned, unresponsive, and hurling into oblivion. He overrode BioOne’s battle commands. Instantly, he could breathe and the dizziness left his head. How many Tri’Neith ships had they taken out? Tarik scanned the aft monitors, stunned by an expanding particle cloud left behind.
    BioOne had set the simultaneous autodestruct commands on all the ships in the boneyard with the capability. In the carnage, many Tri’Neith ships were annihilated. But not all. Even those escaping had damage.
    “Lower shields.”
    BioOne was still silent in his mind. But she was alive. He could feel her life energy flowing through him. But it was as if she were asleep.
    Taking over propulsion, he set course for the Rincon. Their only chance was to escape before more Tri’Neith ships arrived.

Chapter Four
    Until BioOne regained consciousness, Tarik couldn’t risk leaving the command center. He’d fought the need to go to Shon. However, once BioOne recovered, Tarik released control back to the ship. Sensing all of BioOne’s systems were working normally again, he had other matters to settle.
    The momentary stun had no lasting effects. But the situation had revealed a weakness in BioOne. A critical lapse in consciousness, without a competent captain at the helm, would leave the ship vulnerable. He immediately began planning ways to engineer greater strength into BioOne’s shields and stabilizers.
    As hard as it was to do, he left the bridge. First, he needed to check on Shon. Although he wasn’t sure what he’d say to her. She hadn’t returned to the bridge, and it worried him. The blasts had nearly taken out BioOne, leaving her unconscious, but he doubted Shon had been deterred from her mission. He imagined her hunkered down, waiting for imminent death, but more likely she was searching for more information.
    A quick inspection of the ship showed they’d sustained some damage. But BioOne had already begun healing the burns to her outer hull. Faint scarring on the internal walls would take longer to heal.
    Emotions welled within Tarik. Where he’d failed to see a viable means of escape, BioOne had functioned as designed. Action and reactions had been faster than he could ever have programmed. There was no doubt. Perhaps even now, but certainly with more experience, BioOne would be better at the helm than any commander. She was instinctual. This would open up vast new areas of space to exploration. The next real test would come from navigating the