The First Starfighter by Grace Goodwin (lightweight ebook reader txt) 📕

“We work for Subterranean Services. You know, the STS,” Nave said.

“I know what the fucking STS is. Do you want to spend time in a prison cell?” General Aryk asked him. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“We were assigned with Alexius to Syrax to find the traitor. Others from the STS are undercover elsewhere in the Dark Fleet as well, but we don’t know who or where.”

The general nodded once. “Understood.”

“We’ve been there for months and hadn’t discovered who betrayed us,” Trax said, frustration punching through his words.

“You said the queen told you,” the general said to me.

I nodded. “She did. When we were captured…” I paused here, squeezed Jamie’s shoulder. “I didn’t hand us over to the Dark Fleet. We were surrounded. General Surano’s warship, two gunships, and ten Scythe fighters already locked on our position. We were about to be blown to bits. I did what I had to do to keep us alive. It was the only way. They knew me as one of them. Delivering the first Starfighter meant Jamie would stay alive long enough for me to get us the hell out of there.”

“It worked,” Trax said. Nave nodded in agreement.

“Continue,” the general prompted.

“My gift only deepened my status within the Dark Fleet. I was one of them. The queen invited me to a meal. There, she was so convinced I was in league with her, she told me who the traitor is. She complimented me that I was even better than him.”

The general’s jaw clenched tight as he set his hands on his hips. “Who?”

The question was like a cracking whip. We’d all lost loved ones in the bombing.

“Delegate Rainhart.”

The general turned away, faced the screen with Trax’s and Nave’s faces, but he wasn’t seeing them, only turning over this information in his head. It was like a piece to a puzzle all of Velerion had been trying to solve.

“Who is Delegate Rainhart? What does that title mean?” Jamie asked. In the short time she’d been here, she’d been involved in so much. I forgot that she didn’t know anyone outside of Arturri or the training program. In fact, she’d met more people from the Dark Fleet than perhaps Velerion. And she’d met the enemy herself, Queen Raya.

The general turned back, held up a hand to stop me from answering. “Velerion is governed by the Delegation, a group of elected delegates who make our laws and enforce them.”

Jamie tilted her head, considering. “Sounds like a parliament or senate. How much power does this Rainhart guy really have?”

General Aryk spoke slowly. “Rainhart has been a delegate for nearly two decades. He sits at the head of multiple committees, including planetary defense and weapons production.”

“Oh shit.”

Jamie’s short outburst made me smile, which had felt impossible just moments ago.

No one spoke. The depth of Rainhart’s treachery was difficult to process.

“He needs to die.” Trax spoke for all of us. I was not the only one who had lost friends or family the day of the attack.

“You will not go after him,” the general warned. He even pointed at the three of us, slowly and one at a time. “After what he has done, there are many who wish to finish him. But we will do this properly. We will use him as he has betrayed us.”

I pushed off the wall but didn’t loosen my hold on Jamie. “The queen has most likely realized her error in sharing his name with me. She may have already contacted him,” I said.

“Or placed a contract on his life,” Nave added.

“He might already be dead,” Jamie offered.

Trax and Nave both swore under their breaths. We’d been so distracted on escaping Syrax… and saving Earth. “You can’t wait, General.”

The general nodded. “Agreed.” He looked to Nave and Trax. “I am sure your superior within the STS will want a debrief.”

They nodded. “Yes, she will,” Nave said, rising to his feet. “We will leave here and see to it. With your permission.”

The general stared at them, clearly considering if he wanted them to return to their own base or not. They were in his office awaiting dismissal. Once they were gone, he wouldn’t be able to debrief them further.

He gave a curt nod. “Thank you for your efforts on Syrax. I am proud of you all. Safe travels to your home base.”

“I look forward to seeing Rainhart in chains,” Trax said, then dipped his head in respect.

Nave copied the gesture; then they turned to me. They smiled, clapped me on the shoulder, then gave softer looks to Jamie. “We will meet again soon,” Trax said.

“Agreed.”

They left, the door sliding closed behind them.

“You are also dismissed,” the general said, but he raised a hand. “For now. I will work with STS and the other generals to track down Delegate Rainhart. See him behind bars before the day is done. We now also have a bigger problem.” He sighed. “The IPBMs. Two of them. We don’t know how many of them are in the Dark Fleet’s arsenal, or when Queen Raya might fire one again. Hopefully she used the only ones she had in anger and has no more.”

“The Dark Fleet leaders will get her more.”

“Yes, they will. For the right price. We are on high alert and will remain so until we find out what the queen has available. You two are free to go. For now.”

He ran a hand down his face.

“You don’t need our help with that?” Jamie asked.

The general’s face actually softened a bit. “Your skill is in the pilot’s seat, shooting them from the fucking sky. But finding the IPBMs, where they’re coming from, how they are being transported… well, that’s the job of the mission control specialists. They have already been put on the task.”

He looked to me. Practically glared.

“Your job for STS is over, correct, Elite Starfighter?”

I glanced at Jamie, who was looking up at me with trust and devotion. There were no barriers