Ghost Squadron Omnibus: The Complete Series

by Sarah Noffke

  She tensed. “Marilla mentioned that Harley has been missing since he ran off after Sebastian.”

  “Oh, that’s strange,” Eddie said, turning in a circle, looking for the dog.

  “‘Bastian?” Liesel called. The ferret popped his head out of a can in the supply area of the lab.

  “Dammit, you better not be organizing my parts again, rodent!” Hatch yelled, his face flushing pink.

  The ferret scurried over to Liesel, crawling up her pants and shirtfront until he was on her shoulder.

  “You’re not creating trouble for the doctor, are you?” she asked the ferret.

  Sebastian clucked and sniffed.

  “I can’t find a damn thing since he was in here last,” Hatch complained.

  “My apologies,” Liesel said sincerely.

  “It’s fine. It’s fine.” Hatch turned, waddling over to a nearby workstation.

  “Have you seen Harley?” Liesel asked the ferret.

  “I don’t think he’s going to answer you,” Julianna said, giving Liesel a quizzical expression. “Ricky Bobby, do you have any information on the dog?”

  “I’m currently conducting a complete scan of the ship to try and locate him,” Ricky Bobby stated.

  “Have you checked the cargo bay?” Liesel asked, Sebastian clicking loudly in her ear.

  “My records show that was the last place the dog was seen,” Ricky Bobby reported.

  Eddie gave Liesel and her ferret a long look of disbelief. “Bizarre,” he said in a hush.

  “Let us know when you locate him,” Julianna ordered.

  “It’s possible that he’s in one of the compartments I don’t have the ability to monitor,” Ricky Bobby suggested.

  Julianna nodded. “Maybe I should go down there and look for him.”

  Hatch spun around, holding the Saverus goggles. “You, Julie, are the commander of this ship. Do you think it wise for you to spend your time searching the cargo bay for a canine?”

  “I…I’m only worried about Harley for Marilla,” Julianna stuttered. “He’s her dog, and she’s our comms officer.”

  “Then maybe Marilla should be searching for her dog,” Hatch countered.

  Julianna couldn’t admit that Harley quit being Marilla’s dog as soon as he met her.

  Those two had a bond that even Eddie didn’t understand, but he read the worry in her eyes.

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Julianna said, jogging for the exit. “I’ll tell her where to look.”

  “I can relay the message, if you’d like,” Ricky Bobby offered.

  Julianna was already gone.

  Hatch held up the Saverus goggles. “I guess she’s not interested in hearing my news, then.”

  “The goggles are ready?” Eddie guessed.

  “No, it’s my birthday, you idiot,” Hatch said, his eyes narrowed. “Hell yes, the goggles are complete.”

  “Good news!” Eddie sang.

  “Well, don’t celebrate yet,” Hatch said, his tone flat. “They still need to be tested, which is your damn job.”

  “Which means I have the privilege of paying our prisoner a visit.” Eddie sighed with dread. That Saverus had a way of fucking with his head.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Planet L2SCQ-6 in Frontier space

  The council was finally taking Verdok seriously. He’d failed before. He hadn’t progressed as fast as they would have liked. But without him then they wouldn’t have a lead and the elders knew it. More importantly, he was one step ahead of Ghost Squadron. They were still camped on Nexus when he’d taken off for Planet L2SCQ-6.

  Before Verdok had to work with Penrae who messed up every single mission. He’d proven his worth though and now he had three skilled members from the council working for him. He turned, slithering in front of the others. The fleet had sent these council members over that morning. They were skilled at shapeshifting, which was key to succeeding in this mission with Ghost Squadron closing in on them.

  “Tell me what you learned on your expedition,” Verdok ordered, turning to face the three.

  The first, a Saverus who passed the ritual test only recently, swayed, his tongue flicking from his mouth. “I scoured the eastern side and learned that a boy with a Mohawk was taken in by a mechanic. A man who ran the Defiance Trading Company.”

  “That’s progress,” Verdok said. “Where is this man now?”

  “He’s dead,” the Saverus stated.

  “What else?” Verdok asked, turning to the other two.

  The one in the middle shrunk back, obviously not having any information of use.

  “I asked around about the crash and discovered something interesting,” the Saverus on the end said.

  “Go on then,” Verdok encouraged.

  “It happened next to a junkyard,” the Saverus imparted.

  “Why is that of use?” Verdok asked.

  “Because, you said that the boy was thought to be dead,” the Saverus stated. “If the authorities didn’t think there were any survivors, it’s because the boy ran off before they could find him.”

  “And?” Verdok asked, his tone growing impatient.

  “And, if you’re a scared child, maybe you’d try and find a place to hide after crashing on a foreign planet,” the Saverus said.

  “Oh…” Verdok mused on the idea. “Yes, the junkyard would make a perfect place to hide, both a child and the Tangle Thief.”

  Brig, Ricky Bobby, Tangki System

  As soon as Eddie entered the Brig, the fucking Saverus had shifted. She’d taken the form of Harley, which at the moment was a cruel joke since the dog was missing.

  “Your game is about to be up,” Eddie threatened, pressing the goggles to his face and pulling the strap securely around the back of his head. He adjusted them until they were in place. The Saverus goggles were pretty weighty, forcing his chin down. Eddie had to work to keep them balanced, which meant they wouldn’t be something he could wear in battle.

  The Saverus shifted into the form of Julianna. She turned, brushing her ass across the bars, shaking her hips. “You like what you see, big boy? Bars aren’t poles, but I can still dance around them.”

  Julianna would skin this fucking “See you next Tuesday” if she saw this.

  Eddie did his best to ignore the imposter form of Julianna as she grinded against the bars. He tried to remember what Hatch had said about the settings. Turn the lens to the right while staring at a shapeshifted Saverus.

  No problem, he thought.

  The fake Julianna grabbed the bars with both hands, throwing her head back and arching her spine.

  Eddie willed himself to focus and turned the lens once.

  Nothing happened.

  “You look like you could use a lap dance,” the Saverus said in Julianna’s voice.

  Eddie turned the lens again.

  Nothing.

  “Open up this cell and I’ll give you a show,” imposter Julianna said. “No one needs to know.”

  Eddie turned the lens again.

  Again there was no change.

  Damnit, there was only one more setting left.

  “I see the way you look at your partner,” the Saverus said. “I can be her for a night. I promise you that I’ll feel the same.”

  Revulsion rose up in Eddie’s throat as he turned the lens one last time. The image of Julianna dancing against the bars was replaced with the form of the giant red snake with bright green eyes. Her tongue flicked out her mouth as she swayed behind the bars.

  A laugh burst out of Eddie’s mouth. “I don’t fuck snakes, which is exactly what you look like to me.”

  The Saverus halted, its head sinking back a few inches. “Those goggles? Do they…”

  Eddie nodded, holding the goggles in place. “That’s right. I can see you in your pure, scaly form.”

  “Oh…”

  “Which means your mind-fuck games aren’t going to work anymore,” Eddie said triumphantly.

  “Okay okay,” the Saverus said in a rush. �
��I’m willing to cooperate.”

  Eddie smiled. “About damn time.”

  “What do you want to know?” the Saverus asked. With the goggles on, Eddie could see exactly how fearful the snake was.

  “Why don’t you start by telling me what the Saverus want the Tangle Thief for?” Eddie asked.

  The snake shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “Don’t lie.”

  “I’m not,” the Saverus said with a hiss. “The council wouldn’t tell someone like me such a thing. It was only my job, along with my partner Verdok, to get the Tangle Thief.”

  Well, at least they were getting somewhere. This was progress. “Verdok? That’s the other Saverus that got away?”

  “Yes, and he left me for dead,” the Saverus said bitterly.

  Eddie laughed morbidly. “Not only that, but he fucking used you as a shield.”

  The Saverus’s green eyes narrowed. “I remember.”

  “And Verdok, is probably out there right now, trying to beat us to the Tangle Thief,” Eddie stated. That Saverus knew that Knox had been transported to a safe place on Nexus. He’d obviously figured out that was Sunex and had sent the Petigrens there. Eddie had to hope that this Verdok hadn’t learned what they had: that Knox took the Tangle Thief to Planet L2SCQ-6.

  “I can tell you exactly where Verdok is,” the Saverus stated.

  Eddie lifted a curious eyebrow. “Don’t fuck with me, snake.”

  “My partner left me for dead. I think you should go after him so he can share a cell with me,” the Saverus said.

  “How will that benefit us?” Eddie asked.

  “He’ll have the newest lead on the Tangle Thief,” the Saverus explained. “Take him out and you’ll have one less obstacle to getting to the device before my council.”

  “How do you know where Verdok is?”

  “Because he was my partner,” she said.

  Eddie lowered the goggles, the image of Julianna not having the same effect on him now that the illusion was broken. “Fine, give me the coordinates.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Bridge, Ricky Bobby, Tangki System

  Eddie and Julianna stood on the bridge watching the view screen. “Gate into Alchon System has been created. We will jump on your command,” Ricky Bobby informed them.

  Julianna pulled her gaze away from the radar screen. “Verdok’s ship will be at these coordinates?” she asked Eddie for the fifth time. Trusting a Saverus wasn’t an easy thing to do, but not taking the information felt as foolish.

  Eddie chewed on the inside of his cheek, hesitation written in his eyes. “Yes, but according to the prisoner, he’s stationed in a dropship. Ricky Bobby can tear him ten new assholes.”

  Julianna nodded, but something felt off about this. Maybe it was venturing into a foreign system. They’d discussed gating on the far side of a distant moon and taking the Q-Ships to Verdok’s location, but the problem with that was the many asteroid belts that posed navigational challenges.

  Delaying the action, though, felt like inevitable defeat. Julianna eyed Eddie, a confirmation heavy in his gaze.

  “Ricky Bobby, jump now,” Julianna commanded.

  “Initiating sequence,” the AI confirmed. “Gating commencing in five, four, three, two…one.”

  Julianna’s head tightened, and her mouth felt instantly dry. Blackness. She thought she’d be used to it by now, but it wasn’t a natural experience for her, and the sensations were never the same when gating.

  “Jump complete,” Ricky Bobby said.

  “Report,” Julianna demanded, blinking at the radar, waiting for the system to come back online.

  “Cloaks are down,” Ricky Bobby stated. “There’s a radiation field in this system that’s knocked them out.”

  “Get Liesel on a fix, pronto,” Eddie said.

  On the radar, a battlecruiser twice the size of Ricky Bobby materialized.

  “Fuck!” Julianna jumped. “That’s no dropship.”

  Ships blinked into view on the radar all around Ricky Bobby.

  “We’ve dropped into a motherfucking fleet!” Eddie yelled.

  Around them on the bridge, the comms officers were typing furiously. One darted back and forth between stations, searching for intel on the sixteen ships that were now surrounding them.

  “Who are they?” Julianna asked.

  “I’m not finding any identification,” Ricky Bobby stated.

  “I’ve tried establishing a connection with the main ship, but there’s no answer,” one of the comms officers informed them.

  Eddie scratched his chin nervously. “Friendly ships usually reply.”

  “There’s no reason to jump to conclusions,” Julianna said.

  “A missile has been launched from the main ship,” Ricky Bobby said matter-of-factly.

  “Fuck!” Eddie yelled. “Can I jump to conclusions now?”

  “Can we jump?” Julianna asked.

  “Gate engines are still discharged. They need time to recharge,” Ricky Bobby reported.

  “Can we dodge it?” Eddie asked.

  “We can out-maneuver most of the fleet, except for the main battlecruiser,” Ricky Bobby stated.

  Julianna pressed her fingers to her mouth, thinking. “How are shields?”

  “They will hold against this missile, which will impact in fifteen seconds,” Ricky Bobby said.

  “How much more can we take?” Julianna asked.

  “If they launch nuclear weapons, we are done,” Ricky Bobby said.

  “Deploy Black Eagles,” Eddie ordered. “We need to put up a fight until engines are ready. How long will that take?”

  “Six minutes,” Ricky Bobby informed them.

  Eddie gave Julianna a worried stare. “Those are going to be the longest fucking six minutes of my life.”

  “I’m not sure how this is possible,” one of the comms officers said over the commotion. Everyone on the bridge was hustling, surfing through intel.

  Fletcher ran over to the officer’s workstation. He squinted at the screen.

  “What is it?” Julianna asked.

  “Battlecruiser has deployed single flyers,” Ricky Bobby interjected.

  Fletcher jerked his head up. “She’s found a connection between one of the ships in the fleet, and one from a backlogged database.”

  “Get to the point,” Eddie demanded, his tone urgent.

  “This particular ship was created on the planet of Savern,” Fletcher stated.

  “Are you implying…?” Julianna’s heart was pounding hard in her chest.

  The cold look in Fletcher’s eyes answered her question before his voice did. “We might have jumped into the Saverus’s fleet.”

  “That damn bitch!” Eddie yelled. This is my fault; I shouldn’t have trusted the prisoner.

  “I can confirm that the ship in question was produced on Savern,” Ricky Bobby stated. “The other ships have no identification, but I’m running a scan for a connection between the weapons and Savern, as well as trying to establish contact with them.”

  “The Saverus have been hiding for centuries,” Julianna reasoned. “Of course they wouldn’t want their ships to identify them.”

  “Ricky Bobby,” Eddie began. “In your communication to the fleet, tell them we have one of their own aboard, and that we will release her to them if they cease fire.”

  “Sending communication now,” Ricky Bobby confirmed.

  “Carnivore here,” Lars said over the comms. “These guys aren’t playing around. They are hitting us with everything they have.”

  Eddie scanned the radar. “Damn, they have a lot of flyers. We’re going to be overwhelmed in no time.”

  “Can you identify their supply ship?” Julianna asked.

  “Yes,” Ricky Bobby said simply.

  “Deploy missiles,” Julianna ordered. “Take it the fuck out. They need to know that we mean business.”

  “Good thinking,” Eddie said.

  “Ricky Bobby, have you heard a repl
y regarding exchanging the hostage?” Julianna asked.

  “Negative,” Ricky Bobby answered. “The communication went through, but they aren’t responding.”

  “I’ll take that as a ‘no’, then,” Julianna said.

  “How are we going to hold them off?” Eddie asked.

  Julianna drew in a breath. “One of us needs to get out there in the Q-Ship. A cloaked ship can offer the protection Ricky Bobby needs.”

  Eddie was running for the exit before Julianna finished her sentence.

  Lars rolled out of the trajectory of enemy fire. These bastards are aggressive. Their single flyers were covered in chrome, and kept blinding him with a strange glare as they passed.

  “I’ve got two fuckers on my tail I can’t shake,” Lone Wolf called out over the comm.

  Lars glanced at the radar, which was covered in a mess of dots. He’d never been in the thick of a fleet like this. “Carnivore coming to the rescue.”

  Redirecting, Lars slid his ship between two of the chrome flyers before they could block his path. He caught sight of Lone Wolf and the two enemies trailing him; his squadmate was right, they were expert flyers, not giving him a breath of space. For whatever reason, though, they weren’t firing.

  Lars locked onto one, waiting until he’d closed the distance before firing. The chrome ship sparkled, momentarily playing with his vision. Suddenly, the two ships trailing Lone Wolf shifted, morphing into Black Eagles.

  “MY GOD!” Lars yelled.

  “What the fuck?” Lone Wolf gasped.

  “What’s going on?” Julianna asked over the comm.

  Lars twisted his ship around. All of the chrome ships had disappeared, and he was in a sea of Black Eagles.

  “Are you fucking with me?” Julianna pressed her head into her hand.

  “All the enemy ships have morphed into Black Eagles,” Lars repeated.

  “Ricky Bobby, is there any way to distinguish our own on the radar?” Julianna asked.

  “Of course. Each Black Eagle is chipped and ready to squawk in combat mode four, but it will take me a moment to remotely activate their systems,” Ricky Bobby said.

  “Black Beard, are you out there?” Julianna asked, hoping that Eddie hadn’t launched the Q-Ship. She realized her idea had been a bad one.