Orion Gambit - Traci Ganner series book 2

Orion Gambit - Ch 7

Chapter 7

Plan B

Traci Ganner sat in her day cabin, lost in thought, when the door chime sounded.

“Come in.”

Commander Michael McKenzie walked in and looked at his captain. The cabin was larger than his own had been aboard the Terran cruiser War Hammer. There were two chairs in front of her desk and enough room in the cabin to pace a bit, if the captain was so inclined. There was also a wall display with several books behind glass. Someday, he would like to know which books she felt were worth keeping ready at hand.

“Sit down, Commander.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” he said. He took the seat on the right and looked at his knees as he worked up the courage to speak his mind. He remembered it was not that long ago that Traci and her entire ship had disappeared into the rift in pursuit of a pirate vessel. When she disappeared from his scanners, he feared that her ship had been destroyed. But searches revealed no debris from either her ship or the pirate she had been pursuing moments before. That puzzle alone had given him some hope for her survival, no matter how irrational that hope had been.

But there had been another fear. The two of them shared a very important status as Orion sleeper agents. Planted into the naval academy by virtue of their intellects, talents, and high test scores, they were able to easily pass through basic and technical training. Their competitive and leading natures also put them in good standing for the command track. But no one had suspected that they were, in fact, planted there by the Orion leadership so that one day they might play a pivotal role in the war between Orion and the Terran Empire.

Fortunately, random chance had seemed to operate in their favor, at least until Michael discovered how meticulous the Orion leadership council truly was. They did not believe in random chance; they believed in very careful psychological study, mathematics, and long-term, detailed planning.

He looked up and saw Traci Ganner studying him carefully with those bright blue eyes. He took a deep breath and plunged in.

“Captain, you and I have both had the privilege of commanding warships. We have also seen the inside of prison cells because of which side of the war we were on.”

He paused for a moment and bit his lip.

“Traci, I am concerned for your safety.”

Her raised eyebrow did little to reassure him that she had understood his motive for coming here today. The smile that returned to him was hard to read. Was she patronizing him?

“Commander, I think it is time I shared with you some sensitive information that you don’t yet know,” Traci said, sitting upright in her chair. She gave him one more lingering look and then stood and walked over to a cabinet set into the wall to his right.

She keyed in a secret code and opened the cabinet to reveal a safe mounted securely to the wall. After she ran her hand over the DNA reader, the safe voiceprint reader asked her to state her name and current assignment.

“Ganner, Traci, Captain, Orion battle cruiser Adamantine.

The safe computer beeped softly, and the lock opened to reveal a small sphere. Taking the sphere and closing the safe door, she returned to her desk.

“Michael, do you know what this is?”

“No, ma’am,” he said, studying the innocuous sphere carefully.

“It is a command hypersphere. All of the senior captains have one in their possession. I was issued one as a result of my rather special status in the Orion fleet. I’ll show you how it works.”