Wing Commander #07 False Color by William Forstchen (best books to read in life .txt) 📕

encounter with the survivors. "Jason, this is Tolwyn. What the hell are you playing at?"

"Admiral, I strongly recommend you get everyone off the Karga ASAP," Bondarevsky responded, sounding relieved. "I've just learned that the computer self-destruct system was activated aboard the carrier, and never shut down. A computer failure kept her from going up as planned, but there could still be the potential for activating the system again if you try to activate power or computer systems."

"Self-destruct? Are you sure, Jason?" Tolwyn was torn between incredulity and relief. "If the computer went down, wouldn't that have purged the command from the system?"

"Not according to Commander Graham, sir," Bondarevsky replied. "He worked closely with a Kilrathi engineer scavenging the carrier for parts and supplies. The Cats evidently back up their destruct system very thoroughly. Once the command is entered, it is embedded in the very deepest layers of the net. Without a deactivation code, there's no way to be sure of taking it out again. So if the computers come back on-line, even for a few seconds, you could find yourself at the end of a self-destruct countdown."

Tolwyn looked across the compartment at Diaz. "Does this sound right to you, Major?" he asked

"Possible, certainly," Diaz responded. "But I couldn't tell you if it's true or not. We haven't worked on a Kilrathi ship before, Admiral. This is all new territory."

"Wonderful," Tolwyn said caustically. "All right, Jason, we'll pull back until we can some up with a way to deal with this mess. Thanks for the call. You caught us in the nick of time."

"I'm glad, Admiral," Bondarevsky said.

"You copied that, Vance?" Tolwyn went on.

"Yeah." Even over the commlink from the flag bridge Richards sounded like a death row inmate after a reprieve. "I'm not going to ask how close you were to that computer test you guys were talking about a little while back. Okay, general orders to all survey personnel. Shut it down, reboard shuttles, and head for home. We've got some serious thinking to do before we go any farther" He paused. "If we go any farther"

Tolwyn let out a ragged breath. Another obstacle!

But, by God, he'd figure a way around it. Because they needed this ship, and he was determined they would have it, come what may. He looked around the bridge and finally smiled. If the plan within the plan ever needed to be used, learning mastery of how a Kilrathi carrier operated just might come in handy some day.

CHAPTER 8

"The true Warrior perseveres against any and all obstacles, and gains the greater glory for his efforts

from the Fourth Codex02:17:06

Survivor's Camp Nargrast (Vaku VIIa), Vaku System 0822 hours (CST), 2670.314

The arrival of the first of City of Cashel's shuttles brought scores of figures, human and Kilrathi, surging out onto the frozen plain. Watching a video monitor, Bondarevsky felt his heart race a little faster at the sight of them all. The humans were thin, clad in ragged uniforms that didn't look able to cope with the cold weather. Even the Kilrathi looked less than healthy. All of Graham's descriptions had not prepared him for the realities of the situation.

They had adapted to the climate as best they could, using the shattered wreck of the Frawqirg as the basis for makeshift shelters. But they had used dome-shaped survival modules scavenged from the ship to supplement the protection offered by the downed escort, so that they now had what amounted to a tiny village clustered around the twisted remains of the once-proud warship.

"God, what a mess." The comment came from Commander Alexandra Travis. She had been assigned to the Karga's flight wing as a squadron commander, though as yet she didn't have any planes to command. She was an attractive woman, not very tall but with a face that reminded him of Svetlana's, framed by a helmet of short, lustrous dark hair, but behind her beauty was the heart and mind of a fighter. She had commanded a squadron of ground-based fighters prior to joining Goliath, and according to her files her squadron had consistently scored top honors in every exercise they'd taken part in. She had even turned down a job as an instructor at the Landreich's Fighter Training Center in order to stay on active duty.

Today Travis and other members of the nascent Karga flight wing who had been available aboard the transport were Bondarevsky's chosen deputies for the difficult task of helping to organize the castaways and get them off of Nargrast. It should have been a job for the marines, but all the marines working with Bhaktadil's force aboard Karga, and Richards and Tolwyn had been adamant about not redeploying them now that they were already committed. So flight wing pilots, who were already under Bondarevsky's direct command anyway, made the best sense as his landing party for this mission.

"You try scratching out a living in a garden spot like Nargrast, and see how good you look in nine months, Commander," Graham spoke up. He was struggling into a Landreich-issue parka.

"No offense, sir," Travis said. "I meant it as a tribute . . . I don't see how anybody could survive in all that."

"It was not easy," Mirrach lan Vrenes rumbled. His Confederation English was slightly accented, but easily understandable. His fellow Kilrathi, Dahl, knew little English and remained silent . . . an odd situation for a Communications Officer. Evidently, if Bondarevsky understood what he'd been told, Dahl was of lower birth than most Kilrathi officers, and had missed much of the basic education Cat nobles usually commanded—including a working knowledge of the chief language of their enemies. "I must admit that I was not in favor of working with humans at first . . . but I am sure we would not have survived without their help."

Graham opened the shuttle's rear troop door. It was an assault craft, designed for moving marines in and out of danger in the