Insurrection (Athena Lee Chronicles Book 5)
was all that saved Lieutenant Mutai. It took the full force of the explosion, blasting gore and bloody bits all over the other fighters. Those standing next to him were thrown to the ground by the explosion. The wall was shattered and useless.
     
    Shaking his head to clear it Kinno took in the remains of the defensive position. He shook the nearest man lying next to him. Waking him up they dragged wounded men down the corridor. The next defensive position was only about five meters away, and navy defenders from that location rushed out to help.
     
    Lieutenant Mutai waved the second group of defenders off. “Get back under cover! We can’t risk all of us getting killed.”
     
     
    ___
     
     
     
     
     
    With each successive explosion the pirates in the corridor cheered. That last explosion looked as if it had penetrated the wall. What looked like blood splatter coated the walls of the corridor surrounding the navy defensive wall. Reuben signaled the brothers to hit it one more time. The resulting explosion shattered the defensive position. Unfortunately there was no one to kill. The navy had already evacuated it.
     
    “Move the guns up and get the next one.” So far so good,/ thought Reuben. The boss will be glad to hear about this.
     
    ___
     
    Alvin-the-taker was extremely happy right now. Kneeling before him were two ‘cowards’ who ran from the enemy. Both men were clutching their bleeding hands tightly against their chests. “Next time, if there is a next time, I will cut off something a little lower for my collection. Get out of my sight and back to work!”
     
    He looked at his navigator ‘Lieutenant’ Allendale. “Allen-a-dale, how far until we reach Legation Station?”
     
    “We should be in communication range in 12 hours and within sight of the the station in 24, sir.”
     
    “Good, good. So far things are going to plan. What do you say about that, Jenna?” He looked toward the woman at the weapons station.
     
    Jenna the Butcher was wanted on at least ten worlds. She was a known cannibal having been caught by local authorities ‘feeding the homeless to the hungry’ at her husband’s butcher shop. Of the husband nothing was ever found. Tried and convicted of mass murder she had been sent to the prison world on Rustof 3 to serve a life sentence. En route to the prison the ship carrying her and 350 others was waylaid by pirates. Since her release she had been spotted on various worlds buying spices and cooking utensils…
     
    “I still say we should keep this ship, park it on a moon somewhere and have a big barbecue.” She smiled, her sharp pointed teeth, gleaming in the dim light.
     
    “Jenna, Jenna, you know who is boss here right? This job will bring us closer to this sector governor. With him backing us we can do anything! Get away with anything. You can practice your culinary delights without fear of prosecution. Won’t that be fun? Now, put the caps back on your teeth, I think you’re scaring young Carson here.” Alvin patted the young looking ‘ensign’ on his back. “So, Carson? Have you broken into the captain’s computer system yet?”
     
    “No, sir! Not yet. He has the newest military encryption on it. I did get into the communications system backups, though. The Captain did send some kind of message from that satellite. It used a protocol I’ve never seen before.”
     
    “Keep working on it, Carson. We need whatever leverage we can get with Governor Norton. Make sure you have something tangible before we get there or I will let Jenna here take you out for lunch.” He smiled at the computer wonk. “Someone find McCoy and tell him to take over here. I’m going to see what is going on with the navy.”
     
    Alvin gathered his bodyguards and left the bridge.
     
     
    ___
     
     
     
     
    Still shaken by the explosion and death of someone under his command Lieutenant Mutai took stock of the men and supplies at the new defense point. His two lightly wounded men were

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