Weber Snippets

A Call To Vengeance – Snippet 15

A Call To Vengeance - Snippet 15 "And rethink our deployments," Cazenestro murmured. Edward turned his head, glaring at the main display. In a way, the ship deployment that had just brought the Star Kingdom to the edge of destruction wasn't his fault. In another way, it totally was. Cazenestro and Locatelli had both argued -- strenuously -- against splitting up the Navy that way. Edward had agreed with them, for whatever that was worth. Sphinx's entire population was no more than five hundred thousand, compared to the over three million of...

A Call To Vengeance – Snippet 14

A Call To Vengeance - Snippet 14 CHAPTER SIX "Status change, Captain," Travis announced beside Lisa, his voice clearly audible through the disciplined calm of Damocles' bridge. "Barca Alpha's reversed acceleration." "CIC?" Marcello called toward the intercom. "Vector change confirmed, Captain," CIC replied. "Barca Alpha reversed on a reciprocal heading at eighty gravities two minutes ago at…mark." Lisa breathed a silent sigh. She'd had every expectation that Travis's trick would work. But life and war were the province of uncertainty, and...

A Call To Vengeance – Snippet 13

A Call To Vengeance - Snippet 13 He stopped, an odd thought starting to form in the back of his mind. "Okay," he said slowly. "We can't kill him or get our hands on him. But maybe we can at least snap his leash a little." "I'm listening." Chomps pulled up the tactical display. Not there. He thought for a moment, then shifted to an astro display. Bingo. "What do you think our friend would do if he thought we had a system-wide sensor net he didn't know about?" "He probably wouldn't like it," she said. "Unfortunately, we don't have one." "No,"...

A Call To Vengeance – Snippet 12

A Call To Vengeance - Snippet 12 "Aegis hasn't spotted anything. Yet, at least." "I know." Travis hissed between his teeth. "You know, we really need something out there. A permanent patrol, or some kind of sensor buoy system close to the hyper-limit. Piggyback it off the navsat array, maybe." "Maybe," Lisa said. "But we can't do everything at once. Personally, I still vote for getting the battlecruisers and cruisers out of mothballs and up to full fighting strength before we work on setting up a sensor net. If these people are up to...

A Call To Vengeance – Snippet 11

A Call To Vengeance - Snippet 11 But without the cruiser, with only Damocles and Eriyne, Reserve Force would barely be worthy of the name. His eye darted back to the time display, counting down inexorably to impeller activation, his brain feeling like a ground car skittering on ice. * * * "Admiral Eigen, this is Count Ernst Bloch of the Free Duchy of Barca." The voice boomed from the speaker, and Clegg gave the display a quick look. The man certainly look the part, she decided. The image was a bit dithery -- they must be right on the limit of...

A Call To Vengeance – Snippet 10

A Call To Vengeance - Snippet 10 CHAPTER FIVE "Mr. Llyn, you'd better look at this." Katura's voice sounded much tighter than normal, and Llyn looked up from the book chip he'd been reading. The book was rather boring, but he'd learned that that kind of casual activity was a good way to demonstrate professional calm, especially in the face of general uncertainty and growing tension. He took one look at the captain's expression, then dropped his eyes to the navigating display. He felt his own facial muscles tighten. Five icons, each burning...

A Call To Vengeance – Snippet 09

A Call To Vengeance - Snippet 09 "An update on their Code Zulu?" O'Higgins asked, frowning. There was something odd in her com officer's tone. "No, Ma'am. It's a burst transmission from Admiral Locatelli. And it's specifically addressed to you." * * * "Jasmine! Get out of there, Jazz! The bird's --" Lieutenant Brian O'Higgins, HMS Taurus' tactical officer, felt his jaw tighten as the warning shout came over his link to the missile-loading crews. The pop-up ID on his screen strobed, identifying the source as the master chief supervising the...

A Call To Vengeance – Snippet 08

A Call To Vengeance - Snippet 08 Locatelli frowned. Probably considering the implications of where Vanguard was headed, Eigen guessed, and the negligible contribution a corvette was likely to make in any confrontation. At least on paper. Because Eigen also knew that Locatelli couldn't help but remember how, three weeks ago, the corvette HMS Phoenix had made a contribution to that battle that was far beyond anyone's expectations. Though at a cost. A terrible cost. Locatelli stirred, and Eigen could see him pushing back the memories. "Bit of a...