Call to Arms (Blood on the Stars, #2)

by Jay Allan

She considered leaving the fighters behind…they were all going to die anyway. But it wasn’t in her to do that. There were different ways to die, and she’d be damned if she was going to have her pilots’ last thoughts be that she had abandoned them. “Very well, Commander. Commence recovery operations at once…and tell them I want those birds back onboard as quickly as possible.” “Understood.” Then, a few seconds later: “We’re getting transmissions from other squadrons, Captain, fighters from some of the ships that bugged out. All requesting permission to land. Many of them are reporting critical fuel statuses.” Eaton sighed softly to herself. Intrepid was damaged, and the truth was, she had no idea how many fighters her wounded bays could take in. There was some room, she was sure of that, if only because of the losses her own squadrons had taken. As anxious as she was to rejoin the fight, she knew what she had to do. Those pilots out there were her comrades…and those last two squadrons that had shown up had damned sure done their part to take down the last enemy battleship. “Advise landing control they are to accommodate every fighter they possibly can.” “Yes, Captain.” “I mean it, Commander. Every bird they can take. Put them anywhere, but we’re not leaving those pilots out there, out of fuel and with no place to land.”