by Tony Healey
“We keep getting into these scrapes,” Dunham said. “It’s running things low. Trouble is, it’s not like we have a resupply ship headed our way.”
“Yeah I get you,” Beaumont said.
“Hey, you wanna go grab a coffee? I know it’s been a long night, but I’m wired. I don’t think I could sleep if I wanted to,” Dunham explained.
Beaumont nodded. “Yeah come on. We can see if there’s any of that pie left.”
20.
The Krinuan’s homeworld loomed into view, and Lieutenant Chang breathed a sigh of relief.
“Approaching planet,” Rogers said as though she couldn’t see that for herself.
He’s just going through the motions, Chang told herself. Just like all of us. Operating on auto pilot to just get through the day. It’s all we can do. All I can do, anyway.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Commander Greene stood there. He looked gruesome with his scabbed, burnt skin and bandages. If the Defiant had taken some knocks of late, the Commander had accumulated more.
“Lieutenant, how’re we doing?” he asked her. He looked around the cramped confines of the Emergency Command Centre. “Roomy in here, ain’t it?”
Lisa laughed despite herself. “You get used to it.”
“About to detach from the Krinuans and engage our own engines,” Rogers reported from the helm.
Greene nodded. “Good job people. No need to rush it though; take it easy.”
“Sir, I wondered if you’d mind seeing us in. I hoped to, uh …” Chang looked away.
“Get some rest. I understand.”
She shook her head. “Go see the Captain,” she said, looking back up.
Greene smiled weakly.
“I think she’d like that, Lieutenant.”
He watched Chang go. A wave of emotion broke and rolled over him, and Greene couldn’t help feeling that yet again, their predicament had cost them dearly.
He thought of Lieutenant Banks, Ensign Boi, Salnow … Olivia Rayne …
Commander Greene turned back to the viewscreen.
“Take her steady gents,” he said. “She’s been through a lot.”
* * *
Lieutenant Lisa Chang fiddled nervously with her hands as she stood over the sleeping form of Captain Jessica King. Somehow King sensed her presence. Her eyes opened slowly, and she looked up at the Lieutenant.
“Lisa,” she said. “Sit. Please.”
Chang did as she was told, and sat in a chair next to the bed.
“Captain. How are you?”
Jessica smiled. “I’ve been better.”
Chang looked down at her hands. She didn’t know how to tell her Captain about all that had happened. About the lives that were lost …
Jessica reached and took hold of Chang’s hands. “I know.”
“I …” Chang couldn’t say any more than that.
“Olivia saved your life.”
Chang nodded. She couldn’t speak. Jessica squeezed her hands.
“You’ll be fine,” she said softly. “I’ll help you through it. You don’t have to grieve on your own.”
Chang smiled. “Thank you.”
“I know it hurts, Lieutenant. But it will get better. She died so that you could live. So that we all could live. Never forget that.”
Chang nodded.
“I am so proud of you, Lisa. The ship was without a leader, and you stepped into that role and owned it. I couldn’t ask for more of you. Of any of you,” King said.
“And you heard about Eisenhower?” Chang asked her.
“Yes …” Jessica said.
“And they took Captain Nowlan. We have to find a way to get him back,” Chang said.
“We will,” King said and squeezed her hands again. “I promise.”
Silence fell like a veil around them.
“Captain, I’d better let you get some rest. I wouldn’t mind some myself, either,” Chang said.
“Of course,” Jessica said.
She watched Chang go, then she lay back staring up at the ceiling. Soon she fell asleep, but there were no dreams. Only the night side of her mind. Dark, cold, empty … and filled with ghosts.
21.
Meptin? Meptin cammow himmmmeeee?
Sounds. Incomprehensible sounds that at first came to him through a haze, and then slowly coalesced, forming themselves into words that he could understand.
Meptin? Meptin cammow hear me?
The fog of unconsciousness rolled back, and Hawk was aware of a huge pain in the centre of his head, as if from the worst hangover in history.
“Captain? Can you hear me?” that same voice asked him, but this time it made sense. This time it was clear, measured, recognizable …
Hawk opened his eyes and peered straight into the mirrored mask of General Carn.
He shook his head. “Can’t be.”
The General chuckled, dry, behind his mask.
“You’re dead …” Hawk said in disbelief.
“Evidently not,” Carn said. “Reports of my demise are grossly exaggerated. But believe me, Captain, you will soon wish that you were. Death will be but a sweet release from what I have in store for you …”
Hawk licked his lips. They were cracked, sore. “Where am I? Where are you keeping me?”
General Carn came as close as he could. All that Hawk could see in that silvery, mirrored mask was his own weary reflection. His voice came as a hate-filled rasp, dripping venom; the whistle of mercury vapour over acid. Pure, unquenchable hatred and conviction.
“Hell.”
PART SEVEN
BALANCE
1.
Lisa Chang straightened her uniform on the way to the Captain’s quarters. The corridors were a jumbled mess of fallen wires and circuitry. Here and there a pipe had burst free from a wall panel. Fluid leaked onto the deck. The Defiant was in the worst shape Chang had ever seen her.
Privately, the Lieutenant wondered if they’d ever patch the old girl back together. She’d certainly been put through her paces, especially with the last battle.
Lisa signalled at Captain King’s door. A second later, the door opened and Chang stepped inside.
“Lisa,” Captain King said, about to get up from her sofa with the aid of a stick.
Chang bounded forward to help, but King waved her away.
“I have to learn to do this myself,” the Captain said. She grunted as she heaved herself onto her feet, using the stick for support.
“Looks painful,” Chang said.
Jessica nodded. “Yes. Yes it is.”
She’d discussed with Commander Greene whether or not to tell the crew about her MS, and they’d both decided against it. Knowing their leader had such a weakness may prove difficult in the long run. The crew might question her ability to command the ship and to command them. She couldn’t have that.
So they’d told the crew that she’d lost some use of her legs due to the accident.
It would do for the time being.
Jessica was more than aware that right now her crew needed solidarity, not weakness.
The show must go on, King thought.
“Nice to see Commander Greene is on the mend,” Chang said.
“He’s tough as old boots,” Jessica said with a smile. She moved about slowly with the aid of the cane, stopping to stretch her legs one after the other as she spoke. “But I’d say that about all of you.”
“We do our best,” Chang said with no small amount of pride.
“Yes you do,” King said. “And that’s why I’ve asked you here. You performed admirably, Lisa. Above and beyond the call of duty, so to speak. When all seemed lost, you held your head above the water and did your job.”
“Thank you sir.”
“Which is why I have made the decision to promote you to the rank of Commander, bypassing the usual Lieutenant-Commander interim. Effective immediately, you are Commander Lisa Chang,” King said. She tossed a silver pin to her.
The colo
ur flushed into Chang’s cheeks as she looked at the shiny new pin in her hand. “Captain, I don’t know what to say.”
“Say that you’re proud of yourself, because you should be,” King said. She perched herself on the edge of her desk. It brought temporary relief to her aching legs. “With what you’ve had to experience.”
Lisa looked down at the deck. “It’s been hard. We … were close.”
“I know you were. As your Captain, I’m always here for you. If you need to talk.”
Chang looked up. “Thank you.”
Captain King got back on her feet. Best to keep moving about. Perhaps it would help.
“Now, there will be changes to the way we do things. We don’t have the bridge. Not for the time being, anyway. And I can’t stand in that Emergency Command Centre for long periods of time. So we will be splitting command of the Defiant across three shifts instead of two,” she said.
“A good idea,” Chang said.
“From now on, we will all do an eight-hour shift, as opposed to the normal twelve-hour. That will mean we share the responsibility between the three ranking commanding officers on board. It’ll also mean we get more time to do other things. After what’s happened, we’re stretched thin all over,” King said.
“I totally agree,” Lisa said. “The repair teams are struggling to get this work done right now. They could use any help we can give them. So what about the bridge crew?”
“I think Rogers at the helm, Beaumont at communications and Jackson for weapons. We won’t have the luxury of manning stations now. It’s like we’ve gone from commanding the ship from a barn to commanding it from a tool shed.”
“They’re all good choices, sir,” Chang said. “I couldn’t have asked more for them, you know, before.”
“Yes,” Jessica said. She checked the time. “I’m due to meet the others in the hangar. Care to walk with me?”
“Certainly. I think we have Lieutenant Rogers minding the ship for the minute,” Chang said.
“Well then, take my arm, Commander. Let’s go for a slow, decrepit walk to the hangar bay,” King said with a snigger.
2.
The Defiant had been the primary focus of the crew. Their secondary concern was to see what could be done with the Naxor ship still jutting from their side.
“How’s it going, Del?” Jessica asked as she walked onto the hangar.
Commander Greene had been mid-flow with Chief Gunn and her right hand, Gary Belcher. There were Krinuans aboard, helping where they could.
“Ah, Captain,” Greene said. “Right on time.”
“You sound excited,” King said.
“I think we’re good to go,” he said. He walked with her towards the hole in the side of the hangar where the Naxor had tunnelled through from outside. “Once we dragged the bodies out and steamed it down in there, we realised there’s very little damage.”
Gunn shook her head. “Forgive him, Captain. He’s not slept. There was fire damage, but once we cleaned it all up it was cosmetic. I replaced a few components in there, with the help of our Krinuan friends, and everything’s back up and running.”
“So what does this mean for us?” King asked.
Greene licked his lips. Now she could see he hadn’t slept. His eyes were positively feverish. “We can go rescue Hawk.”
* * *
Jessica sat down on a cargo crate. “So … let’s go over this one more time. You pilot the Naxor ship from here to wherever it is they’re holding Hawk. And you think they’ll just let you fly right on in?”
“Why wouldn’t they? We’re one of them right?” Greene said.
“True. Then what? Where are they holding him? We have no idea where Captain Nowlan is -” Jessica said.
“- but we do, Captain,” a voice cut in.
She turned to see Captain Praror stride across the hangar.
“I thought you were aboard your own vessel,” King said. She broke into a wide smile as Praror rested a paw on her shoulder.
“I’ve been aboard awhile, dear Captain. Helping where I can,” Praror said. “And I believe I can help you with your problem.”
“Yes?”
Praror’s eyes lit with an inner spark. “I know where they’ve taken him. There is only one place. But with this ship … if you’re lucky … we may just manage to rescue him.”
Jessica looked at Commander Greene. “I can see you won’t take no for an answer. We’re going to have a mutiny on board if I do.”
“We have to try,” Greene said.
“I would never have said otherwise, Del. But I don’t want any more lives lost, either,” King said.
Praror paced back and forth. “We will fly the Naxor vessel to the barren prison planet of Ozbah. There is only one facility, and it is not very big. The prisoners do not last long enough to build anything more substantial. Still, it will have its challenges. We will face death getting in … and even then your Captain Nowlan may not be alive.”
Greene went to say something, but Praror nodded his head to say he already understood.
“But we will try, Commander. We will try to save your hero.”
Jessica stood. She looked at them all. Then she smiled. “Oh he’s more than that, Captain Praror. He’s more than a hero … he’s a legend.”
“That’s the spirit!” Greene said, visibly pumped for action.
Praror laughed, a mix of purr and deep belly rumble.
“I think it’s great and all,” Chief Gunn said. “But you do realise this leaves me yet another hole in the ship I have to patch.”
Greene threw his arm around her and yanked her in for a tight squeeze. “Stop moaning!”
She pushed him away. “Get off of me you big lug!”
Greene was already off. “Come on we’ve got work to do. Everybody get yourselves motivated. We need supplies, weapons, medical kits stat!”
Gunn looked helplessly at the Captain.
Jessica just shook her head. She felt sorry she wouldn’t be able to go with them. But she had a starship and its entire crew to look after. It would be down to the Commander and whoever he took with him to try and rescue Hawk from the Naxors. She only wished it didn’t mean putting more lives at risk.
“Are you all right, Captain?” Chang asked.
She drew a deep breath. The Commander busied himself ordering the others about, including Captain Praror and his crewmen.
“I want them home safe,” she said.
* * *
An hour later and they were good to go. Nothing could be done about the hole they’d leave in the hull when they cut loose of the Defiant, so the whole hangar would have to be bled of atmosphere beforehand and sealed. The Chief and a couple of other engineers would wait in spacesuits for the Naxor ship to leave, then set about sealing the hole back up.
Before they bled the hangar of oxygen, Captain King returned to see them off.
“You go get him, Del, and you come straight back,” she said. “No heroics.”
“Never,” he said with a grin.
Jessica saluted the others. “And that goes for the rest of you.”
Captain Praror chuckled. There were a half dozen Krinuans going along for the ride with Praror and Commander Greene. Jessica was pleased to see that a couple of the Defiant’s repo crew were going along, too. She knew they held Hawk in high regard, for what his father had done to kick start their liberation all those years before.
She turned to leave the hangar when she found Selena Walker heading for them, a carryall over her shoulder.
“Selena?”
Walker saluted. Jessica returned the gesture. “Captain.”
“What’re you doing down here? We’re about to clear the hangar …”
“Captain, I want to go along. I want to help bring him back,” Selena said.
King sighed. “It’ll be dangerous. I couldn’t live with myself -“
“I want to. I need to,” Selena said. “I love him.”
King looked at Commander Greene. He ju
st shrugged.
“I’m happy to have her aboard, Captain,” he said.
Jessica rolled her eyes. “Very well. But you listen to me, Miss Walker. Stay out of danger. Let those with guns lead the way.”
Selena swivelled her hip to reveal a holster. She patted it.
“Believe it or not, Captain, I’m a good shot,” Selena said.
Jessica jabbed a finger in Greene’s direction. “This live wire’s your responsibility now, Del,” she said with a smirk. With that she left, her stick tapping rhythmically on the deck.
“Come on, people, let’s get this show on the road!” Greene yelled. They filed onto the Naxor ship. He waited till he could talk to Selena Walker.
“You sure about this? It might be rough,” he said.
“Like I said, I need to go. I can’t sit on this ship, twiddling my thumbs. Hawk’s everything I’ve ever wanted, and more. I have to help save him.”
Greene nodded and left her to join the others.
Chief Gunn stood watching the farewells with her helmet tucked under her arm. “Well? Do we say goodbye?”
The Commander opened his arms and scooped her up. She wrapped her arms around his waist.
“No goodbyes. I’ll be back before you know it,” Greene told her.
Gunn squared him with an evil eye. “You better, Del.”
“I will.”
They kissed, a little longer than either would have wanted to in front of everyone, but still they couldn’t bring themselves to end it. If they only could’ve stood there like that, locked in each other’s embrace, they would.
When they finally parted, she wished him good luck.
The Commander took a deep breath. He pointed at her helmet. “Don’t forget that.”
Gunn waved him away. “I know what I’m doing peanut, now be off with you.”
She watched him jog across the hangar and climb through the hole in the wall. The sirens sounded as the atmosphere was bled from the area. The blast doors slammed shut. Gunn put her helmet on and twisted it into place.
Locked in her own glass bubble she afforded herself one tear. It trickled slowly down her cheek until it met with the fabric of her suit, touching her chin.