Shield of Humanity

Copyrighted Material Shield of Humanity Copyright © 2023 by Variant Publications Book design and layout copyright © 2023 by JN Chaney This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing. 1st Edition CONTENTS Don’t Miss Out Previously on The Last Hunter Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Join the Conversation Connect with J.N. Chaney Connect with Terry Mixon About the Authors Don’t miss out on these exclusive perks: Instant access to free short stories from series like Backyard Starship, Sentenced to War, and more. Receive email updates for new releases and other news. Get notified when we run special deals on books and audiobooks. So, what are you waiting for? Enter your email address at the link below to stay in the loop. Click Here PREVIOUSLY ON THE LAST HUNTER Having liberated Argent, the capital world of the Confederation in the cluster, Jack Romanoff and his crew had to repair the ship and gather what help they could for the next phase of the fight. He also had to deal with politicians that he had to pay attention to. While settling in on the planet, a familiar enemy with a new face came calling: the conspiracy that tried to kill Sara Nastasi was back. This time, they had their sights on him and the entire Confederation. He and his people turned the tables on them but were unable to pursue the leadership of the Poseidon Group as it fled the system, starting a clock to a coup that could destroy everything they were fighting for. The next step was to find the conspirators’ hidden shipyards before it was too late. 1 Admiral Jack Romanoff walked into the main briefing room aboard Hunter and smiled at his officers as they rose. “Sorry I’m late. I got hung up on a call with President Ibarra. I hope you didn’t get started without me.” “Actually, we did,” Commander Kelly Danek said with a cheeky grin. “Of course, we were mainly gossiping about your love life, so we can skip ahead if you’d like.” He gave the chief engineer a quelling look as he sat down before smiling again. She was an iconoclast, and he was more than willing to allow her leeway as long as she kept his engines running. Still, his love life was a bit over the line. Okay, a lot, even though they would gossip no matter what he did. “I don’t exactly call light dating a love life,” he said somewhat repressively. “And since Sara is on Argent and we’re all the way out here beyond the jump limit, I don’t think there’s much to talk about, do you?” “We weren’t talking about your love life, sir,” Lieutenant Derek Calvo, his helmsman, said. “We were discussing the energy shield we’re trying to develop.” “Now you’re being a spoilsport,” Danek said with a scowl. “We could have kept him going for at least a few minutes.” “You might be mostly immune to him being annoyed with you, but the rest of us aren’t,” Lieutenant Amanda Harris, his tactical officer, said. “It’s a good thing he likes you,” Lieutenant Colonel Mac Turner, the marine commander, said with a smirk. “Teasing a man about his love life isn’t playing fair. And you young people shouldn’t be indulging in that since everyone else may be talking about yours.” “I just said we weren’t talking about his love life,” Derek groaned, redness beginning to show on his cheeks. “And what do they say?” “Never mind that,” Amanda said firmly. “Why don’t we move on to talking about what we’re really here to discuss? Teasing the admiral is all good and fine, but like Colonel Turner says, we’ve got better things to do.” Jack noted with some amusement that she wasn’t blushing. Still, they were right. There was a lot to discuss, and they might as well get about their business. “What’s the condition of the independent quantum drive?” he asked his chief engineer. “Better than you’d think,” the tall, brown-haired woman said. “All the repair parts are in, and we’ve got it back together. We’re still running the self-checks, but everything is green so far. We should be ready for a test jump in an hour or two.” It had only been a few days since the drive had been disabled in combat, so that was fast. The good news made him smile. He didn’t like being stuck without the ability to move rapidly around the combat area, and the independent quantum drive was the fastest means of doing so. The hyperdrive they’d confiscated from the Tardan colony vessel could also move them, but it was much slower. “That’s a lot quicker than I’d expected. How did you manage it?” “We had most of the parts already at hand, so getting everything into place was simple enough. The problem we ran into this time was that we burned out a couple of things that weren’t normally at risk of being damaged when we used the hyperdrive and independent quantum drive together to skip the ship ahead and create that energy shield.” She frowned. “We’re trying to figure out exactly how that works. The two drives are working together in ways we don’t understand, and even though we figured out how to use everything safely—for the most part—it’s still a lot more dangerous working