“So we have a heading?”
Zadria nodded. “Yes, and Cruz already plotted a path on the navigation system.”
Cruz tapped some keys and brought up the plotted course.
“Great.” Dani started to feel relief for the first time in a while. However, the feeling was fleeting as she saw the disappointment on Howard’s face. “What are you thinking, Howard?”
Howard let out a deep sigh and scratched his chin. “It’s going to be close. It might not be a bad idea to take our time and travel a ways before we try to jump in order to get as far as possible, because if we land short, we’re going to stop right here, smack dab in Vaerian territory.”
“We can do that.” Dani nodded, leaning in to take a closer look at the Vaerian space Howard indicated.
“This... might be a bad time to mention this then,” Cassia spoke out from the doorway with Sylvine at her side.
Chapter 9
“What is it?” Dani asked, dreading the answer.
“The medicine being used to treat both you and Jag is almost completely gone. From what I understand”—Cassia offered a reassuring smile to Sylvine—“she’s been working on another type of medicine using the tongues of the beasts that she collected, but it might not work as well, if at all.”
Dani took a deep breath. “Okay, so what’s that mean for us?”
“Well, I’m not sure exactly. There’s still a bit of a language barrier. But, it could mean that you both start to decline again. As long as this venom or poison is in your system, it will continue to cause problems. Sylvine mentioned you need the medicine until all the ‘ninchak’ has been neutralized. She had enough of the ingredients to get Jag back to health, but...”
“Right.” Dani trailed off, her heart sinking. Once again, her self-sacrificing efforts had caused more damage.
“Hey,” Jag said quietly at her side. “Don’t beat yourself up.”
Her eyes met his, and instead of the anger she expected, there was a softness to them. He may not have been holding her latest mistake against her, but she was.
Dani cleared her throat. “Sylvine, do you need any help?”
“Tærramol ćer anlîng da?” Cassia translated.
Sylvine hesitated, and Dani could see the gears turning in her head. “Vot,” Sylvine replied, pointing at Cruz.
“Cruz and Cassia, go with Sylvine. The rest of you, stay here. We need to get going,” Dani ordered before adding, “Howard, if you need to do anything else with the engines, then go ahead.”
“They should be all set. We’ll have to travel at sub-light speeds to preserve the modified jump drive until we’re ready to use it. But don’t push the engines too hard. We’ll need them to be at least at fifty percent in order to perform a jump of this magnitude.”
Dani nodded and took her seat as Jag, Howard, and Zadria did the same. “Got it.”
Cruz and Cassia left the bridge to help Sylvine create the medicine, and Zadria began systems checks.
“Is there anything else we need before we leave this section of space?” Dani asked.
“I would have liked to collect some samples of the wildlife—”
“Are you kidding me?” Jag interrupted. “You have a death wish?”
“Uh... no. But it would be nice for the GC to log the creatures and prepare antidotes should anyone else encounter creatures like this. But there isn’t time for that anyway.”
“We can report the location and our findings to Patrick when we get back. I’m sure he’ll use the information to determine what to do next, but in all honesty we may not be able to get back over here based on its location alone.” Dani continued, “So if there’s nothing else, I’m going to pull us out of orbit and start heading home.”
Dani fired up the engines and turned Osirion away from the brightly colored planet, aligning with Cruz’s plotted course. Once on track, she set the autopilot and sat back in her chair, watching as they flew past the other planets in the system. Many of them fell within the habitable zone and had great potential for colonization, provided they could get a handle on the wildlife. But Dani almost felt bad about reporting the system’s location back to Patrick. If the GC did make a move on the territory, they’d likely colonize and mine it to the point of depletion as they had with many other systems.
It was such a quiet, peaceful system from this vantage point. War had not yet spread this far, though if any of the players knew what was out here then they’d inevitably make a play for it.
Their journey out of the planetary system was a quiet one. Dani glanced around at Jag and Zadria, wondering what thoughts danced through their minds as the last of the planets faded away behind them. Zadria’s young eagerness kept her eyes locked on the screen while Jag dozed off in his seat.
“Z, I’m going to go check on the others. Please keep an eye on things.”
“You got it, Ca—Dani.”
The doors to the bridge slid open, and a pungent odor hit Dani right in the face. “Ugh,” she mumbled as she made her way to the kitchen, the source of the foul smell. Inside she found Sylvine, Cassia, and Cruz.
Cruz was loading lavender-colored liquid into a number of syringes while Sylvine stirred a large pot of the stuff. Cassia was putting together a tray of snacks for the crew and making fresh coffee.
“How’s it coming in here? Aside from the smell.” Dani wrinkled her nose.
“Good,” Cassia chirped. “They’re just getting everything set so we have the medicine ready if we get in a pinch.”
Dani peered into the pot Sylvine was stirring. “How can the tongues of the creatures make an antidote when they’re the ones that poisoned us in the first place?”
“It seems the creatures are susceptible to their own venom, so they possess a gland within the muscle of their tongue that secretes antibodies. I didn’t understand it until Sylvine showed me the gland herself,” Cruz signed and then pointed to a filleted tongue lying on the table. The tongue itself was the size of a dinner plate, with a bulbous sac inside.
“How’d she know all of this?” Dani questioned as she peered down at the tongue.
“My guess is that her kind has encountered these creatures before. But I’m still refining the linguistic program so I’m not completely certain. But, from watching her, I’d say she’s done this before.”
Sylvine turned and gestured for Dani to lift her shirt. Dani complied, and Sylvine bent down to examine the wound. The tendrils were smaller, but still present. She reached for a syringe and injected it near the wound.
Dani gritted her teeth at the pinch of the needle and the burning feeling that followed with the injection, but it passed quickly. “Well, hopefully she’s not secretly trying to kill us off,” Dani joked.
Cassia shook her head. “I don’t know why she’d work so hard to bring you back to us if that was her plan.”
“Guys.” Zadria appeared in the doorway, panting. “Come quick. It’s Jag.”
Dani sprinted after Zadria back toward the bridge with Cassia, Cruz, and Sylvine close behind. Jag lay on the floor, with Howard over him, performing CPR. Cruz quickly took over and continued compression and rescue breathing. Sylvine injected Jag with two syringes of the antidote while Dani watched on in horror, her hand placed over her mouth.
After several agonizing seconds, Jag coughed and began breathing on his own, Cruz checking his pulse.
Dani rushed to his side, kneeling beside him as his eyes fluttered open, then fell closed again. “What happened?”
“He had some kind of seizure and just was gone.” Zadria stared at Jag in disbelief.
Dani stared at Jag’s chest as it rose and fell with each breath.
“Let’s get him to his room,” Cruz signed.
The combined effort of the crew was enough to get Jag transported safely into his bed, Dani remaining at his side. “How bad is it?”
“It seems pretty bad,” Cruz started. “I checked the logs—he missed a dose of medication. There was only one dose left and he insiste
d we use it on you. I thought we’d have the new medicine done in plenty of time. I’m sorry, Dani. We’ll keep a close eye on him.”
Dani sighed and traced a finger over the back of Jag’s hand while Zadria placed a cool, damp towel on his forehead and Sylvine examined the wound. The dark coloring on Dani’s abdomen now encompassed Jag’s entire leg. “We need to get him back to the Houston.”
She reluctantly dragged herself from Jag’s room and returned to the bridge, where Howard was keeping an eye on the autopilot and other systems.
“Is the shithead going to be alright?”
Dani managed a slight smile; she knew Howard’s comment was a term of endearment. Despite how much they bickered, Howard really did care about Jag, though Dani knew he’d never admit it. “I really hope so.”
“I’m guessing you want to jump now?”
Dani nodded. “I think it’ll be best for Jag.”
“Howard stood and gave Dani’s shoulder a squeeze. “I completely understand. I’d do the same. But what do we do about our guest?”
Dani pursed her lips. “I’ll go find out.”
After leaving the bridge, Dani found Cassia and Sylvine in the hall outside of Jag’s room. Cassia was fitting a translation chip on Sylvine’s shirt.
“Sylvine, we have to try to get home. You’re more than welcome to stay with us.”
As Dani spoke, the translation chip worked to translate her words for Sylvine. Unfortunately, Dani was unsure of how accurate the translation was, because Sylvine seemed to be slightly confused, and looked to Cassia.
“Oh, uh,” Cassia mumbled as she poked at the tablet in her hand. “Try now.”
“Sylvine, we are returning home. Would you like to travel with us?”
After the translation finished, Sylvine nodded. “Pânulkûtna tha hîn azhken hi.”
The chip answered, “Yes, I’d like to travel with you.”
“Great.” Dani was relieved they wouldn’t have to stop or turn back to drop her off somewhere. “Cassia, can you and Sylvine stay back here and keep an eye on Jag? That will give you more time to work on the linguistic program as well. Learn what you can about her and her language.”
“Yes, of course. I have my comm, if you need anything,” Cassia replied.
Carl strolled down the hallway toward them, and Sylvine’s eyes widened. He offered a passing glance to the three women as he continued on toward the bridge. Sylvine began rattling off too many words for the translation chip to handle and didn’t calm down again until Carl was out of sight.
“It’s okay,” Cassia tried to reassure Sylvine, but her attempt failed as Sylvine retreated to Jag’s room. Cruz and Zadria walked out past her, looking confused.
“I’m not sure why she doesn’t like Carl, but we should probably try to keep him away from her. She really seems to get upset by him,” Dani said.
Cassia sighed. “Alright. But if she’d just give him a chance—”
“We can revisit this later. For now, we need to get going.”
Cassia nodded and returned to Jag’s room as Dani made her way back to the bridge.
“Cruz, I’ll need you to take Jag’s seat for me while he’s out of commission. You’re the next in line and I know you’ve had experience with the weapons systems. Z and Howard, go ahead and take your normal stations. I’ll let you know if I need your help with any other duties.”
The group entered the bridge and took their respective seats, Dani grimacing as the harness of the captain’s chair ran across her tender wound. She quickly accessed the ship’s statistics to distract herself. “Looks like everything is fully charged and ready to go.”
“I’ve input the coordinates into the system,” Cruz signed as he pulled the weapons relay down and adjusted it to his position.
“Ready to go, just give the word,” Howard called out from his seat.
Dani took a deep breath and looked at the coordinates in the system. “How close are we going to get?”
“Couldn’t tell you for sure, maybe half or two-thirds of the way.”
Dani nodded. “Alright, Howard, let’s see what she can do.”
“Preparing to jump,” Howard announced.
The normal hum of the jump drive was replaced by a wretched screeching noise that almost reminded Dani of the animals from the planet. She shot Howard a quick worried look, but he shrugged in return, then gave a thumbs-up.
Dani shook her head and turned to face the front again just as Osirion made the jump into hyperspace. The typically smooth transition was much rougher this time, the ship seeming to fight the jump drive. They lurched forward after a period of jerks, and the stars around them streaked into blurs.
“Is it supposed to be this rough?” Dani asked over the sound of the straining engines.
“It’s not supposed to jump this far at all!” Howard shouted back.
Dani clutched the arms of her seat as Osirion began to shake violently. “She’s going to come apart!”
Howard pursed his lips and pounded away on the keys, flipping through page after page of data and status updates. Cruz steadied the weapons relay as the shaking grew worse. Dani squeezed her eyes shut and focused all her attention on the ship as though her will alone would keep it held together.
Then, suddenly, the shaking stopped. Dani opened her eyes to a new scene. They were in a new system, gliding silently through the void between planetary giants with swirling cloud cover. “Well, we’re not dead. That’s a start.”
Before she could finish her sigh of relief, alarms sounded throughout the bridge.
“Fire in the engine room!” Dani alerted Howard, who headed off to investigate.
“I’m picking up two ships ahead,” Zadria announced. “One of which is Vaerian.”
“Shit. Activating cloaking now.” Dani switched on Osirion’s cloaking mechanism.
“You okay back there?” Dani asked through the comm.
“Yup, fire’s out, just a little one. Jump drive might be shot though.”
Dani sighed. “Of course.”
She brought up the engine screen and was relieved to find that at least the sub-light engines and thrusters were fully operational. Dani quickly scanned the planetary system and decided to maneuver around to a moon orbiting a nearby planet. It was dangerous to fly out in the open when cloaked, as the risk for collision was much higher.
“Alright, Zadria, Cruz, let me know where we’re at and what’s nearby.” Dani sank back in her chair, feeling faint.
Cruz made his way to his station and accessed the navigation systems while Zadria ran scans of the surrounding area.
“The planet and moon we’re orbiting are barren; no lifeforms of any kind. The Vaerian ship is about to come into view.”
Sure enough, as they made their way around the planet, a Vaerian ship became visible. It was still some distance away, but the massive ship still seemed threatening despite the distance.
“What’s that?” Dani squinted at the bottom of the screen.
“Looks like someone’s docked aboard the Vaerian ship, but it doesn’t look like Vaerian technology at all. In fact, I’ve never seen a ship like that before.” Zadria zoomed in on the craft.
The large industrial-looking Vaerian warship was dark, angular, and menacing, a stark contrast to the smooth, yellow, bubble-like ship docked in its lower bay. Dani searched for any identifying marks but found none. “Cassia, to the bridge please.”
Dani knew that Cassia’s extensive knowledge of other races might provide some clue as to who was consorting with their enemy.
Cassia entered the bridge, followed by Sylvine. “Jag’s doing much better. I think the new medicine is working.”
“Have you ever seen a ship like that before?” Dani nodded toward the screen.
Cassia stared at the screen momentarily before sitting at her station. “No, running some scans though. Do you know where we are?”
Dani didn’t hear Cassia’s question because she was too busy staring at Sylvine.
> The redheaded warrior woman stood in the bridge, awash with confusion. She narrowed her eyes and peered at the smaller ship, a frown forming across her face.
“Do you know who that is?” Dani asked her.
Sylvine turned to face Dani. “Donulkoshumnakirit thaji.”
Dani frowned as the translation chip translated the phrase to ‘We should go.’
Ding.
Cruz had projected the planetary system on the holographic display. Dani’s eyes widened as she recognized it. “I’m with Sylvine. We need to get out of here. We’re right smack dab in the middle of the Vaerian home system.”
“That means that between us and GC territory lies the biggest Vaerian armada in existence.” Zadria stumbled back into her chair.
“Yup, and we’re on the wrong side of that blockade.” Dani sighed. “Cruz, Sylvine, can you check on Jag?”
Cruz nodded and the pair left the bridge.
“Howard, I need you back here, now please.”
“On my way, boss.”
Dani fell back into the captain’s chair. There were few places they could be that were worse than being deep in Vaerian territory, although flying face-first into a star was a close second.
“What’s u—GAH!” Howard stumbled over Carl, who had made himself at home in the entrance of the bridge. He glared and muttered at the feline as it darted across the room and landed safely in Cassia’s lap. “Damn cat.”
“How’s the engine room?”
“Actually, it wasn’t bad at all. The fire was rather superficial. I even figure we have enough egniorium to try another jump if we need to, which might not be a bad idea considering...” Howard nodded to the screen, which now framed the Vaerian warship.
“Plus there’s more where that came from.” Dani gestured toward the holographic display.
“Oh my.” Howard cringed as he turned back toward Dani. “You probably aren’t going to like what I say next then.”
The Complete First Season - Episodes 1-5 Page 27