Exodus: Empires at War: Book 7: Counter Strike by Doug Dandridge Page B

her lover, while his own fingers gently played across her
upper arms and shoulders.  I don’t want to be away from your side.  But I’m
really accomplishing nothing by being aboard ship.  Except to satisfy my own
urges.  And is that fair to all the other serving men and women in this fleet,
who are separated from their own loved ones?.
    “I will agree to stay on Jewel with two
conditions,” she finally said, putting a finger to Sean’s lips.  “And by stay
on Jewel, I mean most of the time.  You will still need me to be your
ambassador across the core worlds.  Which, with the wormhole gates, shouldn’t
be too much of a hardship.”  Especially with her predilection for extreme
nausea during hyper translation.  Not that wormhole travel was pleasant, with
its stretching of subjective time during transit.  Just less unpleasant than
ship travel.
    “And what are your two conditions?”
    “One,” she said, tapping him on the lips with
her right index finger.  “You stay on board the biggest, baddest ship in the
fleet, and surround yourself with bunches of other ships.  After all, you wouldn’t
expect Len or Taelis to lead from the front during a battle.”
    “I wouldn’t,” he started to say.
    “Oh yes, you would,” she stopped him in
mid-sentence.  “You have the mindset of a Medieval king, wanting to lead from
the front so you can hit your opponent over the head with your mace, or sword,
or some other silly ancient weapon.  And they stopped doing that crap when
firearms made the battlefield too dangerous for royalty.  I’ve read my history,
mister, so don’t tell me that doesn’t go through that anachronistic mind of
yours.”
    “But, Augustine is a heavy warship.  I
need her firepower at the decision point of the battle.”
    “Then take another ship for your flag, you
idiot,” she said in exasperation.  “Maybe a battle cruiser that could flee if
necessary, though I’d feel better if you chose a standard battleship.  And
don’t tell me that sets a bad precedent.  Most fleet commanders through history
have stayed away from enemy fire, when possible.  At least those who grew up
with any kind of tech.  So, promise me you’ll make the smart play, and stay out
of close in combat.”
    Sean thought for a moment, then nodded his
head.  “OK, I can do that.”
    “And don’t think you can just lie to me and do
what you want,” she said, a pouting expression on her face.  “I have my sources. 
And with wormhole com, I can find out where you are.”
    “OK, I give up.  I was thinking that, but I
won’t try to fool you.”
    “Good.  Play games with me, and you will lose.”
    “Yes, ma’am,” Sean said with a laugh.  “And
what’s the second condition?”
    “I want to get married.  Not sometime in the
indefinite future, but now.  Well, not on this ship, but as soon as we can get
back to Jewel.  And then I want to get pregnant, with your child.  You have a
succession to think of, you know, and the sooner you have an heir, the better,
especially with your insisting on putting your Imperial ass into the hot
zones.”
    Sean was silent for a moment, and Jennifer
worried for a moment that she might have pushed him too far.
    “We can be married in a week,” he said with a
smile.  “That’s kind of rushing things, but since we have the wormholes in
place through most of the Core Worlds, I think we can get our guests to and
from the ceremony on time.”
    “That would be wonderful,” said Jennifer, with
a thought through her implants disabling the sterilization protocols on the
nanites in her ovaries.  But I’m not fertile, yet , she thought,
monitoring the state of her reproductive system in disappointment.  Of
course they will make alterations to my child , she thought, something that
had caused her some trepidation in the past.  But, since talking with the
geneticists, she was now of the opinion that most of her genetic contribution
would remain.  It would be her