Hostile Spike (Battlegroup Z Book 2) Daniel Gibbs (classic book list txt) š
- Author: Daniel Gibbs
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He spread his hands out in a shrug. āIāve been praying for your safety.ā Ibrahim paused, choking up. āYouāre the love of my life, Banu. Iām not complete without you, and I canāt protect you where you are. So instead, I ask Allah to protect and guide you. If such a being exists. The way Iām looking at it, it canāt hurt to try.ā
The way he made the statement, and the sheer honesty of it, made her love him all the more. āThank you,ā Tehrani replied softly. āI would point out to you, though, that Iām a military officer with nineteen years of experience.ā She grinned.
āAnd Iām an economics professor.ā
āExactly.ā
āThose facts do not change my desire to protect my wife.ā
Tehrani touched her finger to the tabletās screen. āAnd that, my dear husband, is one of the reasons I married you.ā
He beamed. āAny word on some downtime? Shore leave? Maybe a planet-based duty station?ā
āIām hopeful weāll rotate home in a month or two, if nothing else, for an extended combat refit.ā How do I tell him that our life will consist of battle after battle for the foreseeable future?
Ibrahim shook his head. āOh, dearest, I know what that means. Donāt get my hopes up.ā
āIām sorry.ā The two little words didnāt seem enough.
āNonsense. Thereās nothing to be sorry for. Iām angry that some communist thugs decided to invade our little slice of space. I wish theyād just tried to debate me. As economics is my area of expertise, I couldāve explained to them why communism is a dead-end system.ā He smiled. āJustā¦ if you get a few daysā downtime, let me know? Iāll take a transport liner.ā
āIbrahim, we donāt have that kind of money,ā Tehrani exclaimed.
āAgain, donāt worry about it. Iāve got it covered.ā He sighed. āThe most annoying āYou are out of commlink creditsā notice just appeared on my end. I suppose weāll have to cut this short.ā
āI love you,ā Tehrani blurted out. She blushed. āAnd when we see each other again, I promise you Iāll make whatever trip you had to take worth your while.ā
āOh really?ā Ibrahim winked. āIāll hold you to that. I love you too. Take care of yourself.ā
āIāll try. Walk with Allah, husband.ā
The screen went blank, leaving Tehrani alone in the quiet of her stateroom. She set the tablet down and put her legs back up on the couch then sipped her still-warm tea with a smile and thought of better days with her family. If God wills it, I will see them again.
Presidential Center
Lawrence CityāCanaan
5 December 2433
The doors to the White House situation room swung open, and Jason Nolan entered behind his protective detail. Various military officers and civilians lined the conference table and the chairs abutting the wall behind it. Many, he recognized on a first-name basis, a side effect of more than two months of daily military briefings. As he strode in, everyone stood.
āAs you were,ā Nolan said, simultaneously taking his seat at the head of the table. He made eye contact with General Antonio Saurez, Commander, Space Fleetāthe overall commander for all CDF spaceborne assets. āHowās it look today, General?ā
For once, Saurez smiled. Over the last month, there hadnāt been many calls for a smile or happiness period, for that matter. āIām happy to report that CDF intelligence analysts, working hand in hand with our civilian brethren at CIS, have decrypted a large data cache captured recently from a League deep-space outpost inside Terran Coalition space.ā
āDid I hear you right? That you captured a League space installation erected inside our space?ā Abdul Karimi interjected. He was Nolanās chief of staff and long-time aide.
āThatās correct, sir.ā
Nolan considered the implication of the statement for a few moments. His mind spun. How long has the League been planning this? It seemed the Terran Coalition was the subject of a multiyear, perhaps decades-long war effort designed to wipe them out. He let out a breath. āOkay. Continue.ā
āBased on the intelligence recovered, weāve destroyed half a dozen similar installations and are taking steps to up our scanning activity to find any others that mightāve been missed,ā Saurez replied. āWeāve enlisted several scientific vessels to assist us. But, sir, the best news is that since we carried out the operation to remove the League stations, attacks on our civilian convoys are down by almost seventy percent.ā
Nolan grinned. I donāt need to be a career military officer to understand those implications. āThat, General, is the best news Iāve heard since we won the Battle of Canaan.ā He turned somber again. āAnd what of the front?ā
āWeāre holding our own, sir. But as you well know, weāre playing defense.ā
āAny progress on a plan to attack the League of Sol?ā Nolan swept the room with his eyes and focused on Saurez. āYouāve had more than a month, General.ā
āWe do, sir.ā Saurez leaned back and motioned to an officer on the back row. āLieutenant MacIntosh has a proposal for you, Mr. President.ā
The carpet rustled as MacIntosh pushed off his chair and stood next to the conference table. āUm, yes, sir.ā He looked anything but relaxed. āWe examined the possibility of using SFS-4 Ghost stealth recon fighters, andāā MacIntosh glanced at Saurez before he resumed. āI believe we can refit them to carry missile armament in addition to beefier energy weapons.ā
āIn English, Lieutenant,ā Nolan said with a smile. āIām afraid I have little understanding of military terminology, so youāll have to dumb it down for me.ā Maybe thatāll put the kid a bit more at ease.
MacIntosh cleared his throat and took the lifeline thrown at him. āOf course, Mr. President. The overall problem with attacking the League directly is, first, we donāt know whatās waiting for us. Second, we donāt have
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