Rise of the Altered Moon: Altered Moon Series: Book One (The Altered Moon Series 1) by AZ Kelvin Page B

little barn burning to get you home. Be ready to pull a ‘Boss nine’ at first chance.”
    “Boss nine, copy that, Trigger,” said JP. “Breaking atmosphere in ninety seconds.”
    “Port shields down to twenty percent,” called out Cat. “Dorsal shields down to sixty percent.”
    “Trigger, this is Boss. How do you read?” Boss’ voice came from the comms unit. “ Altered Moon , come in.”
    “Trigger here, Captain. A little busy at the moment,” he replied.
    “Understood. Green light on ‘Boss nine.’ Repeat; Green light on ‘Boss nine.’ Execute evasive pattern five. Initiate full moon burn as soon as we’re in, then go to ground, repeat, go to ground!”
    “Aye, Captain!” Trigger yelled as the Moon was rocked by another plasma blast.
    “G, evasive pattern five,” Trigger called out. “Cat, ready the Moonshine and stand by on forward tubes!”
    “E P five, aye,” answered Gina.
    Gina brought the Moon around and made a strafing run along the Predator’s belly. Cat blasted the ship’s ventral shields with the particle cannons. Gina turned the Moon to fly along the bottom of the opposing ship toward the bow. She brought the Moon up in a hard vertical ninety directly in front of the ship risking fire from the Predator’s front battery.
    “Now, Cat!” yelled Trigger.
    Cat executed the Moonshine device that emitted an ultra-bright light blast combined with a sensory overload burst that left the target vessel without visual or electronic scanners for a short time.
    “Spin us about, G! Bring us to bear on the Predator,” ordered Trigger. “Cat, fire forward tubes!”
    “Forward tubes, aye! Two geese away.”
    The evasive move worked and the electromagnetic warheads slammed into the hull plating of the security ship before it could recover from the overload. The blue crackle of the missile’s EMP crawled over the Predator’s hull. The drive systems pulsed on and off as the ship began to list to the starboard.
    “Yes!” exclaimed Cat.
    “Ahhh,” Trigger sighed as he sat back in the command chair and wiped sweaty palms on the thighs of his pant legs. “G, head to the rendezvous and plot the shortest course out of this system. Use the reverse full moon procedure to cover our ISE trail.”
    “Roger that, Trigger.”
    “Thanks Cat!” Trigger said, as he turned toward the tactical station. “Job well done…you, too G. That was some sweet flying, there.”
    “Thanks, but I’ll wait to celebrate until we are far away from here,” said Gina. “Shuttle is fifty kilometers and closing.”
    “ Lunar Mare , this is Altered Moon ,” Trigger called into the comms. “How do read?”
    “ Altered Moon , this is Lunar Mare ,” came Boss’ voice over the comms. “What is your situation?”
    “Predator temporarily disabled,” answered Trigger. “I suggest we expedite our departure.”
    “Roger that, Altered Moon ,” responded Boss. “We are on approach…shuttle bay doors are open. Lunar Mare is in…down and locked. Bay doors are closed, we’re home.”
    “Copy that, Lunar Mare ,” Trigger said. “G. turn ‘em and burn ‘em…I’ll be in the shuttle bay.”
    “Roger that!” she said.
     
     
    Gina put the Altered Moon on the shortest course out of the system and hit full burn on all thirteen engines. She brought the Altered Moon up to one hundred thousand KPH and then set up for the shift over to dark matter propulsion.
    “Prepare for full power down. ISE cut off in thirty seconds,” Gina alerted the crew over the comms. She cut the inner system engines and powered down the flight systems. She engaged the DMITS and altered their trajectory so the Altered Moon would drift out of the Canalar solar system without so much as a sensor blip.
    She sat back in her chair, closed her eyes, and felt the muscles on both sides of her spine unknot and let loose. Even though she believed in Boss with all her heart, she couldn’t help but feel like things had begun to unravel around them.