Operation Georgia
Copyright© 2026 by Prince von Vlox
Chapter 8
“Ma’am?” The Comm Tech placed a package on Captain Renae Abakumova’s desk. “This just came via courier from Home.”
Captain Renae Abakumova signed for the package, turned it over several times, and then put it to one side. It was important, but she was busy with the last of the paperwork their stay in the Medina system had generated. She was in no hurry to start in on the next batch. For a moment, she wished she could be like the Admiral, spending a few days in the sunshine on Medina. Duty, though, compelled her to stay.
Finally, she ran out of excuses. She used her shunt to unlock the security seal and unceremoniously dumped the packet’s contents across her desk. Most of it was the usual nonsense from the clerks back home; one of Admiral Carter’s successes had been in trimming that horde to manageable size. They’d never been able to make the trip through the Empire without the Fleet Train, half of which was staffed by the clerks from home.
It had been two uneventful months since the Impies had attacked. At first, the break had been welcome. Now they were having to schedule readiness drills so the crews didn’t go stale. The Admiral was teaching classes in naval tactics to a handful of Medinans, and a few others, the nucleus of the Faithful’s Navy, were learning astrogation and other skills. They had a commercial service, but it was limited to four ships, and the skills you needed to guide a bulk freighter around weren’t the same as those in a warship. For a few seconds, Renae wanted to be back in the Empire, dodging the task force that had finally found them twenty days after they’d arrived here. Then she shook her head. A peaceful existence was much better than a combat mission.
She finally banished those thoughts back where they belonged. In a few days, she’d trade places with the Admiral and stretch out in the sunshine. All of the paperwork the clerks had sent would be someone else’s problem.
There was a note addressed to her from Admiral Carter near the bottom of the pile. Curious, she slit it open. After reading it, she smiled quietly. This was worth a trip to the surface.
She put the back of her hand against the shunt plate on her desk and called her shuttle pilot. “Colleen, I’ll need my shuttle, say 30 minutes.”
“Aye, Ma’am. Where are we off to?”
“The resort on the planet. We’ll be there a day, so pack something suitable for yourself.”
“Gladly, Ma’am. Thirty minutes.”
Renae tidied up her desk and went aft to Central Stores to get what she needed. After changing, she met Colleen Macquarrie at the lock.
“Don’t you look all dressed up,” Colleen said.
“Just looking my best,” Renae replied. She allowed the girl a lot more liberty than most captains. She said it helped her keep on an even keel.
She had less than an hour to think through what she was going to do. After the Imperial attack, the Medinans had decided they wanted the Families’ warships closer to their planet. The first few days they’d been in the system, they’d had to take a cruiser to a close orbit before using a shuttle. It’d taken several hours and was inconvenient for everyone.
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