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STORM FROM THE SHADOWS – snippet 26:

            "Skipper, we've got an unscheduled hyper footprint at six million kilometers!"

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STORM FROM THE SHADOWS – snippet 25:

Chapter Seven

            Michelle Henke made herself look up from her book reader calmly, with no sign of burning anticipation or nervousness, as Master Steward Billingsley cleared his throat politely in the open hatch.

            "Yes, Chris?"

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STORM FROM THE SHADOWS – snippet 24:

            He rocked his chair gently from side to side, contemplating Terekhov for several more seconds, then raised one eyebrow.

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STORM FROM THE SHADOWS – snippet 23:

            HMS Hercules' forward boat bay was considerably larger than Hexapuma's, and it seemed oddly quiet as Terekhov swam the personnel tube from his pinnace, then swung himself into the boat bay's regulation one standard gravity.

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STORM FROM THE SHADOWS – snippet 22:

            A face appeared on the small com display by Terekhov's knee. It was a dark-complexioned face, with a strong nose and chin and thinning hair, and Terekhov's eyes widened in surprise as he saw it.

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STORM FROM THE SHADOWS – snippet 21:

Chapter Six

            Hexapuma's bridge was fully manned when Terekhov stepped onto it. The ship's casualties left her short of all the officers she truly needed, but the damage to Auxiliary Control and the backup bridge there had been far too severe to be repaired out of Hexapuma's shipboard resources. That meant there was no tactical crew to take over if anything happened to the bridge proper, but it also meant there was no need for an entire backup set of officers, either, which at least eased the pressure on the survivors. And that there was no reason Ginger Lewis shouldn't man her customary battle stations position in Engineering rather than haring off as acting exec to take charge of AuxCon.

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STORM FROM THE SHADOWS – snippet 20:

            "So Tyler turned down your invitation to offer his sick citizens free medical care, did he?" Bernardus Van Dort said dryly. He and Terekhov sat in the captain's briefing room later that morning, chairs tipped back, nursing cups of coffee, and Terekhov snorted.

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STORM FROM THE SHADOWS – snippet 19:

            "Part of it," Terekhov said as severely as he could as he wiped his lips with the napkin, "is that Ansten is aware of how shorthanded we are. How shorthanded all of us are. And, of course," he lowered the napkin and smiled crookedly, "he's also got enough sheer, bullheaded stubbornness for any three people I could think of right off hand."

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STORM FROM THE SHADOWS – snippet 18:

Chapter Five

            The face in Aivars Terekhov's mirror was thinner and gaunter than the one he remembered. In fact, it reminded him of the one he'd seen when he'd been repatriated to Manticore as a returning prisoner-of-war. The last two months might not have been as bad as that nightmare experience, but they — and especially the last six and a half weeks of them — had still left their imprint, and his blue eyes searched their own reflection as if seeking some omen of the future.

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STORM FROM THE SHADOWS – snippet 17:

            "May I ask exactly why you're telling me this?" she asked after a handful of seconds.

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