Phil stared at the ceiling for a moment before realising that RJ was talking about God. He often invited Jehovah's Witnesses in, after some time in his company they'd all get that panicked look in their eyes and excuse their way out of having to talk to him any more.
He wasn't a particularly religious person, having never really given it any thought. If what RJ was saying had any truth to it then God must have a very strange sense of humour.
'What if it's all just dumb luck?' he finally said, tearing his eyes away from the ceiling. 'What if you've got the wrong man and I'm going to lead you all to your doom?'
RJ's smile didn't leave his face. 'Nothing dumb about the luck you've been having. In every situation have you not done exactly what you thought was right at the time?'
'Yes.' Phil said, uncertain as to where this was going now.
'And have you not come out of it in one piece as a result?'
'Yes... but...'
RJ held up his hand to silence Phil's protests, something that was probably a terrible act of insubordination. 'But me no buts. Fact of the matter is you're still in one piece because you've kept doing what was right and not let yourself get bogged down with questions like are you good enough or are you the chosen one.' he downed the rest of the scotch. 'In the heat of the moment you make the right choices, that's what being a Captain is all about and it's why you've got this.' he tapped the glove in Phil's hand. 'Now I don't know about all this chosen one stuff that Annika harps on about but I can tell you that those folks at the human genome station are the smartest minds in the galaxy. If they're convinced that the glove chose you and there's practical evidence of that being the case then that's good enough for the likes of me.' he placed the hat firmly on his head once more and looked up at him over the brim. 'That should be good enough for the likes of you too. Go out there, be confident and commanding and do what you think is right.'
The pilot stood up and made his way to the door. 'Thanks for the drink.' he said, then was gone.
Phil knew it was probably a serious breach of the command structure to have the lowly pilot wander into the Captain's quarters and lecture him on the finer points of said command. The man's words had made sense though, he had that old-fashioned southern quality to him that a certain Dr. McCoy from Star Trek possessed. Was this a potential confidant in the coming conflict? Frankly Phil could use all the support he could possibly get and if taking the man's advice was going to prevent them all from getting killed then he was all for this brand of insubordination.
He gazed out his window at the tunnel of purple-blue that raced past them, the universe was a huge and daunting place and he was but one man. Could he really make all the difference? There was only one way to find out.
'Computer.' Phil stated, which resulted in a few beeps to signify that he had its attention. 'Display a schematic of a typical Star Command Captain's uniform.'
A holographic projection shot out from the glass table and a dark navy-blue suit with a heroic-looking chest piece twirled before his eyes.
'Can you replicate a copy of this to my...er... proportions?'
A few more beeps gave the impression of serious thought. 'Please hold still for one moment, Captain Jones.'
Captain Jones, he liked the sound of that.
A blue beam shot out and hit him straight in the chest, he yelled and rolled out of the way, upending some furniture and shattering one of the scotch tumblers.
'Captain Jones, it is required that you stand still as my beams determine your proportions.'
Phil picked himself up from the floor, feeling rather embarrassed. 'Right, yes. Can you fix the room up while you do that too?'
A second blue beam swept across the room, removing the shards of broken glass and re-positioning the furniture that Phil's considerable bulk had dislodged in his attempt to dive to safety.
He stood still this time as had been requested and allowed the computer to scan him with the strange blue beam.
'Scan complete.' the computer informed him, shutting off the beam. Phil turned expectantly to the replicator, instead of finding a freshly folded uniform there was a distinct lack of anything.
'Computer, where is my uniform?'
'Your uniforms are located in your wardrobe, Captain Jones.' the crystal-clear voice said sweetly. 'You may find them in the adjoining bedroom area of your quarters.'
That was more like it. Phil made his way to the bedroom and there indeed was a large wardrobe that he hadn't previously spotted. Opening it up he discovered twelve exact copies of the uniform in what he hoped were Phil Jones proportions.
As futuristic as this vessel seemed to him he had to stop believing that this really was the future that he had been thrown into. The cupboard and coat-hangers helped with that, standing out as decidedly ordinary in an otherwise fantastical abode.
He held up one of these hangers now and gazed at the suit it was attached to, trying to imagine what it'd look like with him in it. Once more there was only one way of finding out.
As he struggled with the chest plate another chime came from the computer, it had been the same as the doorbell and after fumbling some more Phil finally gave in and bid the crew member enter.
The doors slid open once more to reveal Annika, she was wearing a uniform of her own now which seemed oddly similar to the catsuit she had previously been wearing.
'I just thought I'd pop by and see how you were... oh my.'
They had both stopped dead then in the middle of the room, looking at each other with a mixture of awkward discomfort and something else that Phil wasn't prepared to admit yet.
'You look...' Annika began, faltering as if searching for the words. 'Heroic.'
Phil straightened up a bit at that, trying to ignore the heat in his cheeks caused by her words. 'I can't seem to...' he started to say but his throat went dry as she crossed the room.
'Here, let me help you with that.' she said, adjusting some previously unseen straps that buckled the chest plate into place.
'Your uniform is, nice too.' Phil spluttered, his voice cracking toward the end. He certainly didn't feel very heroic right now.
To his amazement she blushed at him, staring down at his feet as if too shy to meet his eyes. What the devil was going on here? Was she trying to get in his good graces now that he was the Captain?
'Thank you, Captain.' she eventually replied. 'Is... everything to your liking?'
'Everything is fine Annika, why do you ask?'
She hadn't moved away from him.
'If there's anything I can do to make your stay here any better. Please do tell me.'
Phil looked around the room frantically, there was nowhere to go.
'I... er... I'm fine, thank you. How are you?'
But Annika didn't answer, instead she stood staring at him in the uniform with an indecipherable expression on her face.
'Annika I really think we should be getting to the...'
A blast came from the outer hull, causing the ship to shudder, Phil to take a step back and Annika to tumble gracelessly toward him. He instinctively grabbed her in a hug to keep her from falling. He could feel everything moving underneath that catsuit now and it scared him half to death. He let go of her immediately as if he had thrust his arms into burning coals.
An alarm sounded, causing him to jump even more. He'd never get used to that noise, especially when it spelt imminent danger.
'Captain you better get up here!' RJ yelled over the intercom. 'We've just made contact with the Voravian Battle Cruiser.'
Chapter 9
Ducks! Debris! Saviour!
They ran to the cockpit together, neither of them making comment on what had happened in Phil's quarters. All thoughts of which were quickly being extinguished thanks to the intrusion of reality and the imminent Voravian attack. Didn't Hanniman say their ship was no match for the battle cruiser?
Stumbling into his chair, he swivelled round and stifled a scream. The thing was vast, stretching across the whole of the v
iew screen and outmanoeuvring them at every turn.
'How the hell is a thing that size managing to stay with us?' Phil asked Smith, who seemed immersed in his console.
'Mr. Jones, as much as I'd like to detail to you the workings of space and matter therein, I'm rather busy trying to prevent our imminent destruction.'
Phil felt powerless in the command chair, watching as his crew hammered away on various buttons and holographic terminals to no avail. What exactly was he meant to do in this situation?
The ship was rocked by a barrage of Voravian weaponry, it groaned worryingly and a holographic terminal flipped up out of the arm of his chair to provide him with a flustered looking Hanniman in Engineering.
'Captain, one more hit like that and we'll be blown apart. We need to get out of here!'
He didn't know how the thought struck him but he didn't care given the circumstances. Swivelling in his chair yet again he stood up and with an authority he didn't even realise he possessed he demanded RJ's attention.
'Yes Captain?' RJ said, still frantically steering the craft between bolts of light whose sound echoed over the hidden speakers of the ship to let him know how close these shots were getting.
'How far to the nearest star from our current location?'
It was Smith that answered, punching up a screen that showed them on the edge of a system, being harried by the giant Battle Cruiser. 'We're on the very rim of a system now Mr. Jones, why do you persist in asking questions?'
'Agent Smith that's enough from you!' shouted Phil, seemingly silencing the man in shock. Though with Smith's expressionless face it could well have been rage.
'RJ, set shields to reverse and fly us directly at the star in this solar system, if we can't out-gun them we can surely out-run them.'
The now-flickering image of Hanniman came up once more. 'Captain this vessel wasn't designed to keep up with the larger Battle Cruisers, I'm not sure we have the necessary speed to out-run them.'
Phil glared at the screen, he knew exactly what to do here. 'Then you will find the speed, Engineer.'
'If I reinverted the...' Phil stopped listening there, he knew he wouldn't understand it anyway. '...then perhaps I could give our speed a temporary boost.' Hanniman finished.
'Make it so.' Phil demanded, turning his attention to the cockpit once more.
'Captain, it's going to take me at least five hours to reconfigure the...'
'You have twenty seconds, Engineer.'
'Twenty seconds?' Hanniman replied in disbelief. 'Captain there's no way that...'
'I said make it so! Twenty seconds, starting from now.'
The screen blinked off, Phil just hoped that was Hanniman trying to do his job as quickly as possible and leaving no time for courtesy.
With the shields remodulated and concentrated to the rear to deflect any parting shots the Voravian Battle Ship aimed at them, they hurtled toward the sun of the system. Phil just hoped his gut instinct was right on this one, otherwise they were doomed. Phil really didn't like being doomed.
At first it seemed to be working, the loud whirring noise of the engines at full speed had given them a brief spurt of distance between themselves and the Voravian Battle Cruiser. Then a shot from their opponents thudded into them and the whole vessel shook.
'Shields are down, Captain.' Annika supplied, looking scared.
'Evasive manoeuvres RJ, keep us on course for that star.' Phil responded, trying to keep the note of panic out of his own voice.
Smith remained ominously silent.
The terminal winked open once more and Hanniman's flustered features greeted him. 'Captain I'm ready to give the engines every boost that I can, there's no guarantee that it'll work though and it could burn them out entirely.'
Phil nodded. 'On my mark Engineer.'
The crew seemed to pause then, as if waiting for their ship to come to pieces in this final attempt at flight.
'Mark!'
The engines were deafening now, scaling upward in pitch and rocketing them forward directly into the star. It was a huge white orb that now dominated the view screen and made it impossible for them to see anything outside of its blazing brightness.
'RJ I want you to get as close to that star as you possibly can. Skim the surface and avoid any eruptions.'
For once, Phil Jones had overestimated the technology surrounding him.
'Captain, we can get within a few thousand kilometres of the star but any closer and the systems will overload, what is it you have planned exactly?' Hanniman asked.
'Wait and see Engineer, wait and see.' Phil said, wondering where this surge of confidence had come from.
As they grew closer to the star the temperature rocketed up, Phil found himself sweating profusely and hoping that these strange new feelings weren't misplaced. How hard could it be?
'We need to level out pretty soon Captain otherwise we're going to get cooked.' RJ. said, hammering at a number of buttons in the cockpit and not turning his head.
'Take us right into those few thousand kilometres and try and keep us from getting any hotter.'
As if reading his thoughts, the computer chimed in at that moment. 'Temperature rising to unsuitable levels, engaging emergency cooling systems.'
That was more like it. Cool air blasted through unseen vents and Phil let out a groan of relief as it washed over his sweat-streaked face. He wasn't looking forward to peeling off this uniform should they survive.
'Warning, hull temperature exceeding recommended levels.' the computer helpfully reminded them. Nobody said a word as they approached the surface of the star, between bouts of furtive activity Phil felt the eyes of his crew upon him. They were waiting for him to reveal his great plan for saving their lives, he really wasn't sure this was going to work. Oh dear.
'Warning, hull temperature critical, further escalation will result in death within three minutes. Have a nice day.'
Phil couldn't help but feel that the computer didn't understand the concept of nicety. Perhaps it was being passive-aggressive and wanted them off the ship, perhaps it was planning on taking over. One crisis at a time, Jones.
So he had three minutes left to live and for some inexplicable reason his legs hadn't turned to jelly and he hadn't managed to wet himself. Had he really got so used to life-or-death situations already?
An explosion rocked the ship and he leapt from his seat with a squeal. Perhaps not.
'Sir, the Voravians have closed the gap on us.' RJ informed him. 'We're sitting ducks unless we do something now.'
Phil found his feet, thankfully his legs still obeyed him. 'Level out and maintain orbit with the star at this altitude, pilot.'
'Are you quite mad, Mr. Jones?' the sneering voice of Agent Smith asked. 'That will present an even wider target for their weaponry to unload upon. They cannot miss.'
Phil wasn't having it though, he'd seen the enemy face to face and knew how they fought. 'The Voravians will try and pursue us instead of gunning us down, have faith number one.'
If Smith was gaining belief in his Captain's orders as a result of these words he didn't show it. Phil suspected that the Agent would have led an open rebellion against him had he not realised the crew wouldn't stand for it.
It was now or never, he had to repay their faith in him.
'We're in orbit with the star, sir. The computer calculates that we have just over two minutes before we're cooked.' Annika supplied.
Could he really pull this off in two minutes? As with most things that Phil had speculated on so far, there was only one way to find out.
'RJ, what's the status of the Voravian vessel?'
'They're following our rear in synchronous orbit, Captain. They haven't opened fire yet but they're closing fast.'
Phil found his way back to his seat and mopped his brow. 'On my mark, I want you to fire directly underneath us. Bring up the Voravian ship on the view screen.'
Smith had swivelled his chair to face the Captain directly. 'Mr. Jones, you may not be aw
are of this but firing directly at a star at this range with our weaponry will destroy us all.'
Phil glared at him, he really needed to do something about that insubordinate tone.
'Agent Smith, if you continue to defy me I will be forced to have the head of security escort you to the brig.' That sounded good.
Smith smiled. 'Mr. Jones, I am head of security for this vessel.'
'Ah.' Phil refused to break eye contact with the man's odd shades. 'Then I will ask you to trust me one final time and if I'm wrong you'll never need worry about trusting me again.' where the hell was he getting these words from?
'Sir the Voravian ship is charging its weapons!' Annika cried.
'Mark!' Phil shouted, his voice cracking horribly.
The lasers pulsed out of the ship at a greater speed than Phil had expected, impacting upon the star's surface and playing havoc with the view screen's glare reduction.
'Hanniman, I'm going to need everything you can give me to get us out of here!' Phil yelled, hoping the intercom would deliver the message loud and clear.
'Aye Captain, I shall try and put us into hyperwarp now.'
'Hyperwarp? This close to a star? Have you taken leave of your senses Engineer?' Smith said.
'I'm either crazy or very talented. I was working on a new equation that should theoretically allow us to jump much closer to the gravitation pull of...'
'Can you do it, Hanniman?' Phil asked, ignoring Smith.
Hanniman puffed out his cheeks and blew. 'We're about to find out sir.'
RJ angled the ship out of orbit and away from the explosions starting to mount beneath them on the view screen.
'Get us out of here, RJ.' Phil said, sounding more confident than he felt. Perhaps it was because he knew now that he was banking on other people's ingenuity rather than his own.
The purple and blue surrounded them as they prepared to be launched into hyperwarp and clear of imminent disaster. Phil even dared to lean back in his seat somewhat, surely they had escaped now?
A stuttering noise caused the purple to flicker and then disappear altogether, then the blue slowly faded out into black. Phil was no hyperwarp specialist but he could tell immediately that something had gone horribly wrong.
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