by T. J. Jones
“Commander.” It was Mary Jo, trying to get his attention. “Commander, we still need to get to the battle bridge. We can worry about the rest of our problems once we do what the captain told us to.”
Adrian ran a hand through his hair sighing. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Sorry. Let’s go.” They continued to move along the charted route to the battle bridge when Jarod Tiaahl slid in next to his side. “It would seem the worst of the fighting is behind us. The enemy efforts seemed focused on the habitat areas of the primary hull where all the families and non-duty personnel would be.”
“Meaning,” Adrian queried.
“Meaning, they want a workforce. Slave labor. They will become Subjugates.”
Adrian rolled his eyes. So even if they can fight off this force, they’d have to get their people back before they could escape. “Do you ever give good news?”
Jarod seemed to be thinking hard. “In two weeks’ standard time, the captain will have a birthday.”
He clapped Jarod on the back. “A for effort, bud. A for effort.”
Finally, they reached the battle bridge. The doors parted and revealed a command area that was cramped. “Well, we’re gonna get a lot chummier in here.”
“Commander, I fail to see how,” Tiaahl commented with confusion.
“It’s a joke about being really tight in here. Y’know what? Never mind. Forget I said anything.”
He rubbed his temples. He was going to have to sit down with Jarod when this was over and give the guy a crash course of idioms, social understanding, and well not being plain awkward. “Alright, let’s bring this baby online. Start your workstations and get the transfer process initiated.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll handle the helm if Lt. Axoi gives us some power again.” Adrian felt a pang of guilt at Trident’s capture. He still was not happy about letting Dekav stop him. He should have gone after her. He knew it in his gut, but the albino alien had a nagging point. Dekav stood by the door as if acting guard. That was fine with Adrian. He doubted their newest “friend,” would be of any help.
“Control transfer initiated. Migration protocols active.”
Mary Jo stood up with a scanner. “Excuse me, Mister Dekav? Could I run some scans on you, please?”
He bowed his head in compliance and she ran her scanner, sweeping slowly and methodically, and then nodded. “When the Nadion pulse discharges, you’ll be at risk as well.”
He nodded solemnly. “I know.”
Adrian turned to look at him confused. “Why? Why would you offer a solution if you knew you’d be at risk?”
“It was the only way,” Dekav replied earnestly.
“Were you going to say anything?”
Dekav remained silent for a moment. “No. It was imperative that you deal with the Holy White Empire troops in your ship. My safety and concern are secondary matters.”
Adrian sighed. This guy. What a piece of work. “Look, Doctor Dorren would have my head on a plate if I knowingly set off some kind of radiation burst that I knew was going to hurt someone who’d helped us out. Never mind what the captain would say.”
Mary Jo stood up. “It may not be a problem. I think I can fabricate a revised personal shield for him. It wouldn’t take long.”
He looked her dead on. “How long?”
She shrugged, some of her blonde curls falling off her shoulders. “I don’t know, fifteen minutes? Maybe a little more if the supplies I need aren’t in here?”
He motioned for her to proceed. “Do it.”
Jarod’s console chirped alarmingly. “Commander, I’m reading a heavy force attacking the main bridge.”
Adrian stood up. “Put the main bridge on.”
Lara’s image popped up with a pistol in one hand and a smug expression on her face. She had a gash on her forehead and some of the bridge consoles were looking as though they had surged out.
“Hey, Cap, how’s things going up there?”
She grinned. “Oh, you know. Just getting set to throw a party.” She glanced back at the main corridor access. Weapons fire went off in the background like a pack of hungry animals clawing at a burrowed den. The Holy White Empire was trying to blast through the force field. “Pretty insistent bunch.”
“I’ve got a few presents for you.”
He looked confused. “Presents?”
Lara nodded. “Tia, go ahead.”
“I’ve got main power back.”
That was going to help a lot. He checked his console next to the helm. They had subluminal engines again.
“I can’t get the warp drive spun up, though. Those assholes really knocked our teeth out. It’s going to take me some time getting everything realigned and ready to reinitialize.”
Adrian and Lara both nodded. “Keep at it, Chief,” Lara said. She then input a series of commands on her terminal.
“Command Code Accepted: Anti-intrusion systems activated.”
Several holographic soldiers materialized on the bridge and she tossed them weapons. Part of the Odyssey’s command module safeguards. A lesson learned after the Dominus Wars. The expendable sentries could follow orders and return fire, allowing the live crew to pursue other tasks. “Arm up, boys, we’re expecting company.”
“Lara, don’t do this.” He had a sinking feeling in his gut.
“I have to, Adrian. It’s the only way they’ll be satisfied they’ve crippled us. It’ll give you the time we need.”
Adrian shook his head. “No, no, absolutely not. There’s got be about nine million other ways we can do this.”
“Maybe, but we don’t have time. Eventually those fields are coming down, and those troops are going to come in here looking for a fight. And they won’t leave until we give them one.”
He glanced to back to Jarod. “Any way we can just teleport her off the bridge?”
Jarod shook his head. “She’s got the whole bridge shielded with a porter scrambler active. She’s been bunkering down since we shifted here.”
“Take care of the crew, Adrian. I’m counting on you.”
He snatched his pistol off the empty seat he’d tossed it down on and headed for the door.
“Commander,” Jarod summoned him.
He paused and glanced back.
“I’m going with you.”
Adrian’s expression melted from stern to understanding and then nodded. “Alright, let’s go. Mary Jo, stay here and keep working on your shield device for Dekav. When you get it ready, you pop that field. Understand?”
Lt. Hunter glanced up from taking apart a phase modulator and nodded.
Adrian turned to Dekav. “And you. Come with me.”
Dekav bowed to him. Adrian waved it off. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s go Jarod, Dekav.”
The two senior officers plus one alien refugee double-timed through the corridors. Through fighting, which Adrian noted was getting more and more sporadic. The slavers numbers were thinning out. They were getting what they’d come for and leaving.
“What happens when they’ve taken all the families and crew?” Jarod asked.
“They throw the scraps away would be my guess,” Adrian commented between breaths.
“Your assessment is correct, Commander,” Kahn added. They took a route that would bring them into the meeting room and behind the bridge. That was how the HWE forces had been trying to breach in.
Adrian noted bodies on the ground as they neared the rounded corridor. He glanced back to Jarod who understood. They were late. Adrian motioned forward and they crept around the corner. The bulkhead wore scorch marks from sustained phased weapon fire. From where he stood, it was clear where the captain and the others had taken up firing positions. Blast marks pocked the seat backs and consoles all over the bridge. His stomach knotted tightly. One of the White Empire troops was wounded badly and struggling for his weapon. Adrian stepped on the weapon and fired several rounds into his back. It was a cleaner death than the soldier deserved.
Jarod gestured to the ceilin
g, or more specifically the automatic phased turrets that had been deployed. They looked damaged. Both turrets bled sparks in bursts. Adrian slowly swept the room visually and then followed the trail of impact burns toward Lara’s office. The doors had been shot to hell. He holstered his pistol and tried to pry it open.
Jarod came over to help him, and eventually the two men pried the doors apart. Her office desk had been thrown over in front of the doors. He stepped over the bodies piled outside and the table to find her in the corner with a spent phased pistol lying next to her on the ground. He knelt down next to her. She’d suffered several hits. With this amount of damage, she wouldn’t survive the teleport to the med bay.
“It’s yours now,” she said with a rasp. He followed her gaze out to the command chair on the bridge. “They’re yours now.” She was looking at Jarod now.
“I don’t know what I’m doing.”
She tried to laugh but ended up coughing up blood. “I knew you played cards, but I expected your poker face,” she winced and shifted from her side some, “to be a little less shitty than that.”
“Save your strength.”
Lara shook her head, handing him a tablet that had blood smeared on it. “I know. He knows. The ship knows. You’re the captain now. Get our people home.”
Adrian shook his head. “How? I don’t…” he trailed off. Saying he didn’t know how felt like spitting in her face. “Use your head. Use your crew. Use your training.”
He found himself nodding, but he was numb. The gesture felt empty. “Ok,” was all he could muster.
Her grip on his hand slackened and her head fell to the side. No breathing. No pulse. He fell to his ass like the whole weight of the situation had bore down on him. “Computer. Let the record note: At this time, Captain Lara Garrett is listed as KIA. Commander Adrian Rain assumes command of the USS Odyssey.” Jarod said in a somber tone.
Rain’s comm chirped. “Commander. It’s ready.”
He reached down and picked up the empty pistol and reloaded it, then he drew his other.
“Commander?” Mary Jo’s voice questioned. Adrian was already back on the bridge and storming for the corridor before Jarod’s hand stopped him.
“Commander, use the device.”
Adrian was seeing red. He took a few deep breaths and had to clear his head.
“We’ll make it right. But right now isn’t the time,” Dekav preached softly.
“Commander I’ve got the shield device for Dekav ready. Porting it to your location. Just put it on and push the blue activate button.”
The shield then materialized at their feet. Dekav knelt down picking the small round emitter up. He touched the button as instructed to. A shimmering blue field flashed momentarily around the tall Elite.
Adrian nodded and sighed. Jarod was right, they both were. He tucked the spare pistol into his waistband, holstering the other. “Right.” He clicked his comm device. “Rain to Hunter. Go.”
The Nadion pulse fired throughout the ship like a cleansing wave of energy. It surged forward in a wave of translucent yellow. The few White Empire troops still behind on the ship were overcome with a wave of energy that caused their gear to arc energy and surge out, killing them.
“Lt. Hunter, set the subluminal drives to full power and start putting some distance between us and them.”
“Sir.”
He watched on the main view screen, which was cracked in several locations as the image of the enemy ship spun out of view and the stars blurred to motion.
He tapped his comm device. “This is the acting captain, Commander Rain. I need to see all able-bodied senior staff in the meeting room in ten minutes.”
Jarod moved over to his station. Damaged as it was, he was still able to operate it. “Status of enemy ship?”
“Holding position. They seem to have some issues of their own.”
“Explain?”
“I’m not sure I could. Lt. Hunter probably can do so much better than I.”
Adrian nodded. “Then it’ll wait.” For now, they had to see just how bloody of a nose they had. Was this repairable? Or were they just putting off the inevitable? He backed up against the tactical station and slumped down on it. He felt beat.
Jarod patted him on the shoulder with an understanding look. It had been a long day.
“I’m getting a nebula cloud nearby. A few protostars seem to be forming. Might be a good place to take cover,” Jarod said.
Adrian rounded the station and input a series of commands to get the ship realigned with it. “That’ll have to buy us some time.”
“Time for what?”
“To get our people back, to sink these assholes, and to go home.”
Jarod nodded. Adrian leaned against the station next to him, running a hand through his hair. “Shall I reroute all control functions back to this bridge?” he asked.
Adrian shook his head, glancing around. “Not until after Tia’s teams have had a chance to pass through and run some repairs.”
Jarod input some commands. “I’ve notified the damage control teams. They report having an immense backlog.”
Of course they did. They’d just been breached on several decks and had a sustained close quarters firefight on multiple decks. “Yeah, I figured as much.” He nodded. “Alright, let’s get to work assessing the damage then.”
Docent Vay had been watching the assault on the enemy ship. They were tenacious but his Empire was strong and unyielding. Even though the enemy was equipped with formidable technology, they were still no match for his soldiers.
“The gods smile upon us fondly today, brothers. Let us rejoice that we have brought more subjugates into the light of their will.”
“Docent, I’m getting some strange readings. The enemy ship has discharged some kind of energy pulse internally. All remaining troops have perished.”
His top pair of antennae twitched. “How many returned to the ship?”
Tacent Cor consulted his station. “Approximately eighty percent, Your Holiness.”
The nictating membranes on his eyes flicked and his lips curled. He drew his sidearm, leveling it on one of the bridge crew. It cracked the ozone as he fired a bolt into the man’s back. “Let this be a lesson to all of you! If these heathens undermine me one more time, there will be more than just the gods’ wrath to fear!”
He stormed out of the command center. He needed to meditate. To pray. Find his calm. He was stomping down the corridors when he heard rapid footsteps approach from behind. He turned, finding Tacent Cor approaching. “Your Holiness, please wait.”
“This had better be good, Cor.”
He bowed his head then spoke, his gaze glued to the floor. “Your Worship, it’s about the slaves we just brought back. Some of them appear to be part of the command staff of the enemy ship.”
Docent Vay’s eye arch lifted. “Command staff, you say?”
His second officer nodded. “Yes, Your Holiness.”
Vay scratched his chin thoughtfully with his index finger and thumb. “Interesting. Notify me as soon as they’ve been processed. Designate special holding cells for them. I should like to have an informed conversation with these pink skins specifically.”
Tacent Cor went to the position of attention then relaxed when Docent Vay waved him off. Vay turned as Cor headed back to the bridge. This was most fortuitous. Perhaps he could glean some special insight into the enemy crew. Perhaps their technology or training. Or where they came from. That made his mouth water in delight. If he could find where they came from, the empire could expand. He’d no longer be the docent of the Holy White Empire, but the Adjunct Prophet of the Infinite Empire.
He smiled smugly at the thought. It had a rather exceptional ring to it. Because he was rather exceptional himself. He made his way toward the slave pens casually. He wanted to savor this moment for a long time. The moment when he handed the empire his most glorious victory and demanded the recognition and fame for it.
Chapter Nine
&
nbsp; In the meeting room, just aft of the main bridge on Deck One of the USS Odyssey the remaining senior staff gathered to discuss what had just happened and how they were going to go forward. The mood in the room was pretty abysmal. The captain was dead, but her sacrifice bought them some breathing space. Space Adrian intended to put to use. A quick glance at the table indicated that they were also missing Lieutenants Vail and Kaine. That hurt. He could cover down on the helm, but losing security was going to put them in a bind if the ship was boarded again. He still had Dr. Dorren, his science officer Lt. Mary Jo Hunter, his chief engineer Lt. Tia Axoi, his chief tactical and operations officer Jarod Tiaahl, the CAG Ben Zezai, and for some reason he felt inclined to allow Dekav to sit in. The alien’s tall white staff propped against the table next to him.
He took a deep breath before starting. “Alright, let’s start with what we do have.” He looked at Dr. Dorren first.
She lifted her report and read from it while glancing up at him occasionally. “Sick bay reports a few fatalities. The marines took the worst of it. I’ve got casualties. Lots of them. They’ll need time to heal but will make it back into service. Our medical supplies are holding steady and all our gear is in working order. Most of my staff were on shift during the attack, so I was spared any officers being taken. That said, I’ve got a lot of people worried sick about their families.”
Adrian nodded. “Thanks, Doc.” That was going to drag down morale. If his crew were stressing about their families, it was going to mean they were distracted. No matter how much they pledged they wouldn’t be. He knew he would be if Danny had been taken. He looked to Mary Jo for her report.
“Science department was hit pretty badly. Most of the non-crew scientists were taken. A lot of my junior officers are also MIA. Our labs are pretty well intact, though. They didn’t seem to care too much about our technology. Just the bodies.”
Dekav turned to him. “That fits with the empire’s standard doctrine. They conquer and subjugate new races and add them to their Empire. They dangle the promise of being able to reclaim some of their freedoms back with service, but few ever earn the honor of lifting their kind out of subjugated status.”