Read First Principles: Samair in Argos: Book 3 for Free Online Page A

up.”
                  He nodded again.  “Good, do it.  If the fighters try to get at the engines, use the aft guns to try and keep them at bay.”
                  Paxton pressed a few controls.  “We’ve only got four heavy laser cannons active in the after section, Colonel.  And so far they haven’t been great at shooting down those flyers.”
                  “No, but it might keep them from coordinating any serious attack on the engines and right now that’s what we need.  If we can get in close enough to either the station or their freighters, we might be able to get them to behave and show us the proper respect.”
     
                  “Status?” Tamara asked.  Her displays were showing the view of the ship. 
                  “We’ve sealed off the damaged sections, ma’am,” Ykzann said, his voice sounding harried.  There was a slight buzz in his voice.  “But casualty reports indicate that we’ve lost twenty-two people.”
                  Tamara nodded, repressing a sigh.  There was no time for that now.  She could play the blame game and brood about it all later.  “Understood,” she said instead. 
                  The chief engineer came on the line.  “Captain, we’re not in terrible shape, all things considered.  “I had to reroute a whole bunch of the power conduits what with the side of the ship being blown out, so you can’t stress the shields too much.  Shields nodes on that side of the ship are gone of course.  So are the missile launchers and the rail guns on that side.  Damn,” the engineer replied, shaking his head on the display.  “We just lost the control and power linkages for two of the heavy laser cannons on the topside.”
                  Tamara nodded.  Her own display was showing the same information.  “What about hull integrity?  Can we handle combat maneuvers?”
                  Fayyad al Fakhir, chief engineer of the Cavalier , nodded back to her.  “Yes, ma’am.  I’ve got a welding team putting up a few extra braces.  We can maneuver right now, but I’d recommend against any fancy flying until we can get things secured.”
                  “Understood, Chief.  Keep me apprised.”  She cut the connection.  “Mister Wymea, lay in a course to intercept the Leytonstone, but keep it nice and steady.”
                  “Aye, Captain,” he replied.  “I’m getting response from the Chief, Captain.  I can maintain a speed of one seventy-five.”
                  “Do it.”
                  “Engaging engines,” the pilot replied.  After a moment.  “We’ll intercept the cruiser in one hour and four minutes.  They’ve been accelerating away from us since we broke contact.  They’ll be just about in weapons’ range of the station by that point.”
                  Tamara nodded, gritting her teeth.  “Understood.  Hopefully the Chief will be able to get the structural integrity up so that we can catch them with some time to spare.”
     
                  Vincent Eamonn was seated at his usual chair in the wardroom aboard his ship, the bulk freighter Grania Estelle with a cup of coffee on the table before him.  He was reading over the report from his chief of security, the wolf woman Saiphirelle.
                  My team is on the station now, Captain.  We’ve secured Operations and Environmental.  We’ve policed up those of the invader force that are still alive, there were fifteen, all told, all but three of them wounded.  I’ve also managed to capture the leader, a Glacis Ghovorak.  He was more than willing to surrender, so we stripped his clothes, weapons, and all the rest, gave him a prison jumpsuit and tossed him into a cell down in the brig.  I’ve got the rest of his people in the brig.
                  My