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Episode 59: Preparation
There was a knock at the Captain's door.
"Come in, Wildstar." Avatar called to the young man waiting outside.
"You wanted to see me, Sir?" Derek asked as he stepped into the small room. The door clanked shut behind him.
"Yes." Avatar replied, taking slow steps over to the large window that covered a fourth of the cabin's wall-space. "There's something I wanted to talk with you about." He motioned for the combat chief to come farther into the room. "You can see a lot from here," the Captain gestured to the void outside, "If you look."
Derek slowly came to stand beside the old man. "Yeah, I suppose you can." He nodded his agreement. "But right now there really isn't too much to see."
"But isn't there?" Avatar asked cryptically.
"I don't understand." Derek replied, puzzled.
The captain smiled just a little and began pointing to different things outside. "That is the way to Iscandar." He said, and then pointed in a slightly different direction, "And that is the way to the place the Gamilons wish to meet us." Avatar let his hand fall back to his side. "But there are other things out there as well. Do you see the light of the thousands of stars staring back at us? Can you see the brightness of a hundred galaxies waiting to be seen?" The Captain stopped and looked over at the young man.
"I… don't know that I can, Sir." Derek replied honestly, feeling a bit inadequate in this man's presence now. "I don't know how much faith I have in this ship, or the crew." He said quietly. "I know that they'll try their best to get to Iscandar and make it home, but… I just don't know if we can really do that."
Avatar nodded, "I understand."
"Do you really believe that we'll make it back in time?" Derek asked.
The Captain turned away from the young man again, his eyes moving back to the vastness before them. "I do, Wildstar." He said. "I believe that all will be righted soon. I believe we were sent on this mission to fulfill something much larger than just bringing home a cure for what has caused such death back on Earth. I believe we were sent out to bring home the answer to a promise made millennia ago."
Derek nodded, "I remember you said that not long before we launched." Then the young man fell silent. After several minutes of neither man saying anything, Avatar slowly made it back to his bed and sat down.
"Bring a chair over here." The Captain instructed.
Derek obeyed and detached one of the chairs from the floor so he could move it.
Once he was seated, the Captain laid a hand on the young man's near shoulder.
"Wildstar." He looked into the combat chief's eyes. "Can you see this crew through until the end? Can you take them through the fires of stars and the icy winter of space? And can you see to it that they arrive safely home again?"
"I…" Derek stared at the old man, not sure what Avatar was trying to say, "I… don't know, Sir. If I had to try… I don't even know where I would begin."
"Good." The old man clapped Derek on the shoulder. "You don't think you know everything."
Derek smirked and looked down at the floor ruefully, "No. I don't. I've learned that the hard way."
Avatar nodded, "Well, I have some very good news for you, Wildstar."
Derek looked at the captain, still confused. "What news?"
Avatar looked back out towards the stars. "'When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.*'" The Captain said, his voice so quiet that Derek could barely hear him. Then the old man said a bit more loudly, "There is a God in Heaven, Derek Wildstar, and He has seen us this far. It is He Who will lead us home, not any one of us here on board this old ship."
"Alright…" Derek said, hesitantly, "I don't really believe all that though."
"I know you don't." Avatar replied, "But you are learning not to dismiss it either, and that is a good first step."
"Pardon my bluntness, Sir, but why did you call me here today?" Derek asked, a feeling of odd excitement rising in him the longer this conversation drew out.
The Captain nodded, then got straight to his point. "I want you to be deputy captain – to take command in my place."
"But, Sir –" Derek's eyes widened.
"Sandor will be there to assist you." Avatar put in. "And you will have the help of all the rest of the officers and crew."
"I – I don't know how to command a ship – much less one headed out into the middle of unknown space!" Derek protested. "I don't know even half of what you know about this ship."
"You will learn." Avatar assured. "I'm certain you'll make an excellent captain in my absence."
"Your absence? What are you talking about?" Derek asked, a sudden feeling of anxiety coming over him at the captain's words.
"I am not in good health, Wildstar." Avatar looked straight at Derek and said, "I… was wounded at the battle of Pluto… and that wound hasn't healed."
Derek's face belied his surprise. "I wondered why you were gone so much, especially recently."
"That is why, I'm afraid. Dr. Sane gets on to me about doing too much, but I can't just leave my ship without a leader. And I think that its next one needs to be you."
"But… I don't even think – I mean, I don't believe –"
"I know, Wildstar." Avatar held up a hand for the young man to stop talking. "But I also know that you won't let anything happen to this crew."
"Of course not." Derek said. "They're my friends. I wouldn't want anything to happen to any of them, even Royster's kinda grown on me."
Avatar nodded, "I know. Now, will you take the position?"
Derek looked down, closing his eyes as he thought about all the things that saying "Yes" to this request would mean. Then he thought about what might happen if he said "No."
"Yes." Derek finally said. "I'll do it."
"Very good." Avatar nodded, letting a smile spread across his face. "Now, there are many things I have to tell you before we meet the Gamilons."
"Our timing is crucial." Frakken told his crew. "When we get the order to strike, we must do it quickly. We don't know exactly where the Iscandarian is aboard the Eratite ship, and so we will be sending in these three to look for and detain her." Wolf gestured to a trio of pale-skinned individuals standing towards the back of the bridge.
"How'd we end up with Galerans doing our dirty work for us?" One of the crew asked. "Why can't some of us go instead?"
"There are those on Galera loyal to the Leader." Frakken replied, "These are some of them. We know from some images we've obtained that the Eratites' skin tones match the Galerans quite closely and that our own skin is a different hue entirely. They will have a much better chance of blending in than any of us will." Wolf looked at the outsiders and said, "We entrust this most important of missions to you, my friends."
Both men and the Galeran woman nodded soberly in return.
"Now." Wolf silenced the remaining murmurings. "To your posts. This will be a hunt to remember."
All irritation and reluctance forgotten, the men let loose a hearty cheer of agreement and settled in for the long wait ahead.
"We can't be far now." Dara thought as she casually made her way through the sparsely populated halls. She knew they were headed to a place called Keshet to face down the Eratites once and for all.
"I can't let my people slaughter more innocents…" She thought, tears welling up in her eyes. "But I can't let Melda's father die in prison for something that he did out of love for my people…"
She wanted to find a place to hide – a place where she could cry and not be seen or heard so that no one would be able to see her fear – her sadness at having to choose between her own flesh and blood and these foreigners whose lives she had come to value.
Would the woman she met – the one who looked like Astra – be harmed in the attack on the Eratites? Would any of them die in battle?
Dara bit her lip, staving off the tears just long enough for her to get back to her quarters and let the door shut and lock behind her.
"Oh… Adonai…" She silently uttered the name she knew had meant so much to the real Melda, "If there is anything You can do, please, spare them all – Melda's father included. Save the Eratites from the death that is coming for them."
She didn't know a lot about the plan to defeat the Eratites ship, only that she and her fellow pilots would be thrown into the fight fairly early. Hopefully there would be a way to covertly leave the skirmish area and sneak back on board to commandeer the scout vessel she'd been studying.
There wasn't anything she could actively do for the Eratites at Keshet, but she could go to Leptopoda and release all the prisoners who held some sympathy for the foreigners. That might at least turn the scale a little bit in the Eratites' favor.
"Maybe we can take some of the ships at the prison-world and join the fight." Dara thought. "Maybe we can put our lot in with the Eratites." Then her hope died when she realized that that would mean killing her own people. "No! There has to be something we can do without killing any of them…"
Dara felt the tears start to roll down her cheeks. "Why is helping so hard…?"
It was the middle of the night-cycle aboard the battleship Hadar as she cruised along her prescribed route, patrolling the outermost perimeter of Gamilon-controlled space. She had been here for some time now – ever since Leader Desslok banished the entire crew to this farthest of places.
Despite all their differences, the entire crew shared one thing – faith in Yeshua. This alone earned them all exile during the conquest of Erats, for the Leader knew that, should any of them remain on the homeworld, they would surely side in favor of the foreigners.
This night, thus far, had yielded nothing of note, and all officers were asleep in their quarters by this hour – all but one.
"Masterson?" David Lysis knocked on the younger man's door sometime well into the night.
At first there was no response, so David tried again. "Masterson?"
A few moments later he was greeted by the bleary-eyes commander of the ship.
"What is it, David?" Masterson asked, his voice gravelly from sleep.
"Can I come in?"
"You may." Masterson acquiesced and stepped back for his friend to enter. "And why, may I ask are you here at this hour?"
"I am… concerned…" David said, stepping farther into the room. "We haven't heard from Melda Dietz in months. Something must have happened to her."
"That is a distinct possibility." Masterson nodded, wiping some of the weariness from his eyes. "She knew there would be great risk in doing what she volunteered to do."
"I know…" David's head drooped. "It's just… she's only eighteen, Masterson."
"She knew what she needed to do, and she did it." Masterson said, some of the roughness in his voice now gone, replaced with reluctant sobriety. "I didn't want her to do it any more than you did, but it was her choice to take the role she did."
"But if something has indeed gone wrong and she is missing, or even… dead… who will fill that role now? How will we find out what's happening back home?"
Masterson didn't immediately answer David's question. Instead, he motioned the other man over to one side of the room.
With great care, Masterson opened an odd box and took out what looked like a tiny communications hub.
"Where did you get that?" David asked, eyes wide in surprise.
"I made it. With indirect help from Queen Starsha. She has been relaying instructions to me slowly through Theron, the Jeshurunian she sent here with me." Masterson pointed to a leafy plant stationed directly under a light several feet from the main viewport."
The plant rustled at the sound of its name and David nearly jumped when he heard a strange voice say, "I am alone, but not lonely. I am faceless, yet have sight. I am ageless, yet am bound by time."
The younger Lysis stared at the plant.
"He is not that frightening." Masterson said. "If you speak with him as with one of the crew, he will speak with you as well."
"Um…" David was at a loss for words, but found one before he looked like a total idiot. "Hello."
"Good evening." Theron replied with a rustle of leaves.
"H – how do you communicate with Iscandar all the way out here?"
"There is a profound link my people share with one another. We know when harm comes to each other, and we know when one is speaking to us. We can speak across great distances quite easily, though it is a slow and sometimes less than precise way to communicate."
"So how did you get the instructions for making that communications hub?" David asked.
"It took much time and concentration. The instructions were given in small bits to ensure clarity."
"So does it work?" David asked both Masterson and Theron. "Have you tried it?"
"We were going to test it tomorrow, but I believe we can do it now instead." Masterson picked up the hub and turned it on.
The thing glowed with a dull light for a few moments, then suddenly lit up the room with its brilliance and a thousand voices flooded the room.
"Whoa!" David exclaimed, stepping away from the hub and covering his ears.
Masterson made a few adjustments to the hub's settings and soon the many voices had been diluted down to one – the voice of Dommel Lysis, David's older brother, now the commander of all of Gamilon's military forces.
"Take up your positions at Keshet as quickly as you can. I will remain behind until the Eratites emerge from the Gate. Then… I will give them a message."
"Why is he going to Keshet? And how have the Eratites made it into that area already?"
"'Already'?" Masterson asked, "If they hadn't made it to Keshet in another week's time, they wouldn't have had time to return to Erats. They are not ahead of schedule, David. Quite the opposite. If they are only now reaching Keshet, then they have been sorely delayed along the way."
"Yes…" Theron's voice broke into the conversation. "They have met with many an obstacle on their journey. Queen Starsha herself saw them through several trials. She knows of their delay and has done everything she can to ensure their timely arrival on Iscandar."
"Is there anything we can do?" David asked the Jeshurunian.
"Pray that Yahweh brings them to safe harbor. The Eratites are going into a battle very soon – at Keshet. It will be a fight to the death, I think. The Queen knows little of what is being planned, but she does know that your brother, Dommel, will be right in the middle of it." Theron's leaves rustled slowly, as if in a show of sadness.
"Is there any way to stop him?" David asked, the weight of this revelation triggering in him the old fear of losing his brother.
"Even if there were something we could do, we have no way of getting to Keshet in time for this battle." Masterson replied. "We are too far out."
"Indeed…" Theron agreed with a sigh and a slow rustle. "We would not be able to make it to the battle in time, even if we were to leave now."
David nodded slowly, "I know we can't go there, but is there no way we can talk with him? Try to reason with him about the Eratites?"
Masterson shook his head. "I have tried before to contact another ship in our main fleet. Our outgoing communications have been restricted. We cannot speak with any of our other ships. I have investigated the problem, but thus far no one knows why we cannot contact them. It is almost as if there is a jamming field around us."
"But we would know it if there was one." David protested. "How can that be?"
"I do not know, my friend." Masterson replied, "But for now, we must continue to wait here in silence."
David said nothing for a long time. At some point he started pacing from one end of the room to the other as Masterson tried to stay awake.
Finally, David stopped, "There may not be any way for us to get home and stop him, but there is one thing we can do here. I'm gathering the crew for prayer."
"I'll let them all know." Masterson said. "Where shall they meet you?"
"The main common area." David replied.
Masterson nodded, then went to get his communicator. Within a couple of minutes, everyone on board had received the notification.
"I will join you soon." Masterson said as David hastily left his quarters.
Twenty minutes later, Masterson found himself stuck in the hallway leading to the common area. There were so many people that he couldn't get anywhere near where David was.
He managed to pass a few officers, and some of the rest of the crew before becoming hopelessly mired in the crowd.
All around him people were offering their prayers to Adonai and Yeshua, pleading with Him for the deliverance of the Eratites and the safety of their own people.
Masterson looked in every direction, trying to find David again. When he couldn't see him, Masterson pulled out his communicator and sent David a message.
Within a few seconds, his message had been forwarded to the entire crew and the sea of believers began to flood out of the small space, spilling through the halls and into the much larger mess hall. Soon everyone was much more comfortably arranged and Masterson could see David somewhere near the front of the room.
Carefully making his way through his friends and fellow followers of Yeshua, Masterson finally came to David's side. Taking a knee beside the other man, he said, "I did not expect the entire crew to be here."
David nodded, "But I thank Yeshua that they are."
"Wars are not won or lost based on numbers, my friend." Masterson whispered so as not to disturb the men and women nearby.
"I know." David replied, "'For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.*' And Yeshua never said that more than three was not encouraged."
Masterson chuckled quietly, "This is true. May our prayers here tonight ascend to the throne of Adonai Himself and stay the tide of ruin coming to our people."
David nodded solemnly, "Yes, may they do just that."
Masterson bowed his own head and, without a word, began to pray in his heart for one man in particular, the one he had been forced to leave in care of Adonai – the Leader himself.
* Scripture References: Isaiah 43: 2; Matthew 18:20
Episode 60: Battle of the Rainbow Galaxy
This episode is dedicated to all the US and IDF Armed Forces who never made it home.
We thank you for your selfless service.
"We're here…" Wildstar thought as they came to the edge of the coordinates they'd been sent a week ago. It had been a very long seven days. Most of Derek's time had been spent with Captain Avatar discussing their previous encounters with the Gamilons and what this new meeting might hold for them.
Derek and the Captain both knew that the crew would have to get used to the idea of someone as young as Wildstar leading them instead of a seasoned veteran.
Avatar had recounted to Derek the multitude of experiences the old man thought his new deputy captain might need for the rest of the journey.
Their conversations had drawn on into the night at times, and more than once Dr. Sane had interrupted them insisting that the captain get some much-needed rest.
During the past week, Wildstar had also taken it upon himself to learn as much about the ship as he could. He never thought it would be such an undertaking. Every moment not spent with the captain or sleeping in his quarters was spent reading and studying in preparation for his new role aboard ship.
The anxiety that had initially overcome him had abated, but it still lingered just enough to let him know that he was fallible, and the fear of failure was ever-present in his young mind.
"Status?" Derek asked the officers.
"Nothing on radar." Nova replied.
"Or any other sensors." Sandor confirmed.
"Engines are ready whenever you need 'em." Orion said.
"Helm is fully operational." Mark responded.
The rest of the officers chimed in with their own affirmative responses.
"Very good." Derek nodded. "Steady on course."
"Yes, Sir." The bridge crew responded collectively.
"I hope I don't let you down, Captain," thought Wildstar. "Hopefully we'll all get through this one alright."
"Picking up a large cloud ahead." Nova said a few minutes later.
"Identify." Derek ordered.
"It's made up of a mixture of gasses." Sandor replied. "Our sensors can't read much of anything for more than a few hundred feet in front of us."
Derek gritted his teeth in irritation, the Gamilon general's plan now becoming clearer. "So they want to face us blind…" he thought. "Fine. Let them."
"Can we get a visual on the area?" Derek asked.
"Video feed available… now, Sir." Homer activated the overhead viewscreen.
An awed silence fell over the bridge as the crew looked up and beheld one of the most stunning sights of their journey thus far.
There, before their wondering eyes, lay a gigantic cloud, but it was no ordinary cloud. Instead, this one hosted a full spectrum of colors – everything from vibrant reds to deep purples to brilliant greens.
"It's like a… rainbow galaxy." Dash said.
"Yeah, I guess it is." Derek nodded. "And since the Gamilons weren't nice enough to tell us their name for it, from now on, we'll be calling this place the 'Rainbow Galaxy."
"But, it isn't an actual galaxy." Sandor pointed out. "There are only five small planetoids visible at the edges of the gas cloud. And we don't know if the color changes hold true inside –"
"I know." Derek held up a hand, "But we've got to call it something."
"The 'Rainbow Galaxy' it shall be then." The science officer sighed and shook his head, a bit amused at the decided name, but willing to use it since the acting captain had set his mind to it.
"Didn't General Lysis say he'd be here?" Derek asked.
"We're on time, Sir." Homer confirmed. "We're here seven days to the minute since we received that message."
"He is most likely already inside the cloud," Sandor said, "Waiting for us to walk into his trap."
Derek nodded thoughtfully. "That's probably exactly where he is." Wildstar activated the ship-wide comm and announced, "We've arrived at the enemy's specified coordinates. All hands, man your battle stations." He made sure he was off the comm, then said to the bridge crew, "This is gonna get ugly pretty fast." Then to Mark he said, "Venture, take us in."
"Yes, Sir," the helmsman nodded and pushed the old ship into the unknown.
"They've arrived…" Dommel's second in command said.
Lysis nodded, "Indeed they have." He paced back and forth behind the crewmen manning the radar and sensor panels, watching them all and waiting for the Eratite ship to be in the best place for his forces to close in on them.
A minute passed, then two, then five.
"What's taking them so long?" Dommel thought.
Finally, a full half hour after the Eratite ship entered Keshet, they were in position.
"Launch the attack." Dommel ordered. "Send word to the Ze'evim – it is time to take the target."
"Aye, Sir." The comm officer replied and sent the order to Wolf and his men.
"Go swiftly, my friend, and may whatever blessing we still carry be with you." Dommel thought. "Help us end this war, Wolf. But whatever you do, be careful."
"Signal's coming in from Gabar'Or*" Frakken's comm officer reported. "We have a 'Go', Captain."
"Commence operations." Frakken ordered. "Send the boarding team out and have them close in on the Eratite ship, but wait until the General's forces engage her before our team attempts their insertion."
"Aye, Captain." The entire crew replied.
"Incoming enemy fighters." Nova reported. "They're already on us."
"Get the Black Tigers out of the hangar and out there to give us some cover." Derek ordered. "Sandor, is there no way to improve our sensor range? We're sitting ducks in here right now."
"Working on it." Sandor replied. "So far we can't cut through the gas. It's too thick."
"Wildstar, we're flying blind out here." Conroy's voice came over the radio.
"I know. Do the best you can." Derek replied. "We've had to fly without the instruments before. We can do it again."
"Okay, Wildstar, but if I end up having to get a new coat of paint on this baby afterwards, it's going to be your fault." Conroy replied.
"Whatever you have to do." Derek replied, encouraged that his pilots hadn't lost heart quite yet.
"Aye, Sir." Conroy replied, and ended the transmission.
"Dash, get the gunnery crews switched over to manual targeting. They'll all have to do without the computers until we can figure out something else."
"Yes, Sir." Dash replied, and then relayed the orders to the men under his command.
"Incoming fire!" Nova exclaimed. "Ten degrees starb –"
The ship rocked with the explosion of the enemy salvo.
"Damage report!" Derek called out over the alarms blaring from several bridge stations.
"Damage to decks three and four, but nothing critical." Sandor replied. "Evacuating and sealing off affected areas now."
"Conroy," Derek opened a channel to the Black Tigers again. "Send half of your pilots with Hardy out to scout the enemy. We need to know where they are and how many of them we're up against. We don't even know what kind of ships they have."
"Sure, Wildstar. Will do." Conroy closed the channel. Immediately, part of the squadron broke off and melted away into the clouds. Within seconds, they couldn't see them anymore.
The dogfight outside continued and Derek wondered what would happen next. Would the enemy fire on them again? Or was there something else they had in mind. So far they hadn't gotten any comm signals from the Gamilons.
"So you want to kick us while we're down, huh, General?" Derek thought, "Well, you've got another thing comin' to ya. We don't go down easy."
Dara felt the rush of exhilaration as her plane launched from the Cobel yet again. She looked around, noting the other pilots as they all careened through the multicolored gasses that made up the area called "Keshet."
"I have to find a way to get back here quickly," she thought. "Otherwise… well… I won't fight them – any of them, my own people or the Eratites." Her mind turned to her daughter, her Constance, still somewhere out there. "I'll find you, Neshamah sheli.* I'll find you and bring you home... But I have to save Admiral Dietz before I come for you… I can't let such a noble man die just because he was trying to do the right thing."
Tears began welling up in her eyes as she thought about her child. If only she'd been able to get her when she'd been on board Aurelia's ship – before she was stranded on that deserted jungle world… If only…
She shook her head. Regrets would do her no good.
She concentrated on her plane's instruments. The autopilot was lining her up in formation with the rest of her group so they could be transported closer to the Eratite ship.
Every time she saw this technology in action she was awed by it. The instant matter transportation system – Galam ha Derekh* – was a thing to behold, most assuredly. It could send a large amount of matter from one place to another in mere seconds. There was one catch to the system though. The coordinates for the other location had to be programmed into the transport unit, so you couldn't go someplace you'd never been, or at the very least, couldn't see.
The transporter engaged and the world around Dara turned black for an instant before rematerializing around her.
The Eratite ship lay nearly two thousand megameters away – far enough for her group to form up and begin their run, but not so close as to alert the Eratites that they'd arrived.
They'd all been given a message stating that the Eratites' sensors couldn't function in the thick gasses of Keshet.
Dara gritted her teeth at the thought of this cowardly tactic. She never thought Dommel would stoop to something so low as to blind an enemy before trying to attack it. Such a thing was so… unlike him. It was almost as if he were trying to draw them into a trap – to capture them instead of killing them. She hoped that was the case. At least then the Eratites would still have their lives. But something in her gut told her that something else was in play here – something that no one was telling them.
"Hey, Green five, this is Green One, you okay over there?" The group leader's voices crackled through her radio.
Her heart started to beat a little faster as she reached out to answer the call. Taking a deep breath, she went over the words she was going to say one last time before she said them. Then she answered, "Yeah, I'm okay. I think something went wrong during the transport. I'm going to hang back and check my systems. My sensors aren't working right."
"Okay. Just stay out of the Eratites' fighter screen. They're pretty good shots. Come back in when you've fixed your problem."
"Sure, One. Five out." She ended the call. As soon as she was sure she was off the air she let out huge sigh of relief. Green One followed the rest of the fighter unit into the fight with the Eratites. He'd bought her story.
Dara slowly guided her plane away from the drop zone. More planes would be coming in soon, and she had better not be there when they did.
She crept farther and farther from her unit, drifting back towards where she knew the Cobel was stationed, but not going far enough to arouse suspicion.
"Now to wait until I can sneak back aboard…"
"Sandor, what about the sensor buoys?" Derek asked the XO.
"What about them?" Sandor replied.
"How many of them do we have left?"
Sandor checked the inventory listing for the requested items. "About ten thousand."
"Could we use those to extend our sensor range? Right now we can barely see our hand in front of our face." Derek said, "Can't we deploy those buoys to give us some kind of sensor net?"
Sandor thought about it for a moment, and then slowly nodded, his face brightening. "We could."
"Have the science team load a third of what buoys we have left into the Seagull." Derek took out his communicator and quickly sent an urgent message out to Clemens, Royster, and Feria. "I'm sending a team of three to the hangar now."
"Yes, Sir," Sandor replied immediately issuing orders of his own out to his team down on the third bridge. The buoys were in storage right above them. They could easily have a couple thousand of the little devices out and into the scout ship within five minutes.
"Another wave of fighters is in position." Dommel's second in command announced.
"Engage." Lysis ordered.
Another round of planes disappeared – sent off to battle with the Eratites.
"How are they faring?" Dommel asked.
"The initial barrage landed one successful hit, but the Eratites are still fighting back. They've launched their own fighters to counter ours, though they are sorely outnumbered already."
"Send out the missile ships in the next wave." Lysis directed. "We have to immobilize them as quickly as we can."
"Yes, Sir." The XO replied and sent directions to the three triple-deck carriers in their combat group along with their two destroyers: Rakiah Cobel, and Gabar'Or.
"And get ready for the signal from the Ze'evim. We should receive word soon after the missile ships' attack." Lysis said.
"Yes, General." The XO replied and obeyed.
"Why did Wildstar have to pick me to go on this mission?" Royster whined from the back of the scout ship. "Why couldn't Jones or Parshall have done this?"
"Because you helped the XO design these." Feria replied. "Now settle down. We'll be fine."
"Right." Royster scoffed. "That's what people always say right before they die!"
"Shut up, nerd." Clemens shot back at the science crewman. "Stop complaining and get those things ready to jettison."
Royster shut up and did what Clemens told him to, but not without several pained looks back at the former Marine.
"Okay," Royster said in a shaky voice, "They're ready."
"Get up here and seal the connecting door to the cargo hold." Feria directed.
"Okay…" Royster whimpered again, but did as the pilot directed, glancing at Clemens the whole time to make sure the gruff crewman wasn't going to tackle him for whining.
"Opening cargo doors." Clemens said from the co-pilot's seat. "Send 'em out one at a time. Got that, Whinester?" Clemens grunted at the short, skinny young man.
"Yeah – sure. Got it." Royster cowered in the back of the passenger seating as he started the program that would send the buoys out one at the time to form a pre-determined grid so the Argo's sensors could get a better picture of what was around them. Kind of like getting glasses.
An explosion rocked the Seagull hard to port.
"I knew it! We're all gonna die!" Royster shrieked and curled into a little ball only to be hauled back into a sitting position by Clemens' left arm.
"Get a hold 'a yourself, nerd!" The other man bellowed in Royster's face. "Rollin' over and playin' dead isn't going to win us a fight."
"That wasn't a shot anyway." Feria put in. One of the buoys malfunctioned and exploded right when it left the cargo hold. Redeploy another one to replace the missing buoy."
"O – O – Okay…" Royster stammered and made the adjustment to the deployment program.
"New sensor data coming in." Sandor reported. "They don't have the whole grid up, but the pieces they have out are already extending our sensor range significantly.
"Enemy fighters coming in fast to port." Nova announced. "They're headed straight for the Seagull!"
"Homer, get a message to the scout ship now! Tell them to get out of there!" Derek ordered.
"Aye, Sir." Homer replied and sent out the signal immediately.
"Missile ships are deployed, General." The XO said. "It will be mere minutes before their attack.
"Good." Dommel replied. "Very good."
"Is the team ready to board on my command?" Frakken asked Haini.
"Sure are." Haini replied. "Just give them the word and they're on board."
The bridge fell silent as they all waited… and waited…
"First missile barrage closing in on the Eratite ship." One of the crewmen reported. "The Eratites are firing their main guns at the salvo."
There was more silence as they waited for the outcome.
"No hits, Commander." The crewman said. "Second missile wave approaching the enemy ship."
"Seagull, enemy planes headed your way. Get out of there!" Homer's voice crackled through the comm.
"Breaking off deployment run." Feria replied reluctantly. "But what about the rest of the buoys?"
"What we've got will have to do." Wildstar's voice replied this time. "I'm not getting you three killed."
"But, Captain –" Feria began.
"Get back here now, Noble." Wildstar said firmly.
"Yes, Sir…" Feria replied, a strange sense of foreboding coming over her as she agreed to stop the run.
She steered the ship away from the incoming enemies, swinging back around into the area they'd just covered.
Just as Homer said, the enemy flew right through the place the Seagull had been mere moments before.
"Captain, I think I can complete the run." Feria said through the comm.
"No." Derek replied. "I said to break it off. Head back to the ship now."
"But, Captain… I –"
"Come back now!" Derek repeated, more aggressively this time.
Feria didn't say anything as she turned the Seagull around and headed towards the Argo.
They were almost back when Clemens pointed out the viewport animatedly and exclaimed. "What's that?!"
"I don't know. They're coming in from the other side of the ship – the side we didn't deploy…" Feria replied, her heart jumping into her throat. "We have to get the other half of those buoys out." She looked Clemens in the eye as she said it.
The Marine returned her determined look and didn't say anything for a full five-count. Then he slowly nodded. "Let's get to it." Then he called back to Royster. "You ready to get this done, whiny?"
"But Wildstar said –"
"I know what he said." Feria held up a hand to silence the science crewman. "And I know he's gonna be steamed when we don't head back right now. But if we don't get these things out… There're going to be more gaps in our sensors than we can afford."
"Alright…" Royster relented.
"Argo, you have another wave coming in from starboard. Looks like more fighters of some kind and they have more missile ships with them."
"Roger that, Seagull." Homer replied. "Preparing to receive you in the hangar."
"Cancel that, Argo." Feria replied. "We're finishing the run." With that she shut off the communicator. She wasn't sure if Wildstar was yelling at them right now or not, but it would do them little good to be distracted right now.
"Start the deployment again, Royster." Feria said. "We've got more ground to cover.
"Noble? Noble, get back here now!" Derek demanded, but there was no answer.
Nova sat in stunned disbelief, both at her friend's insubordination and at Derek's outburst. Feria wouldn't go against the Captain's orders unless she thought she had no other choice.
"Protect her out there." Nova prayed quickly, "And get them all back here in one piece."
"Dash, take down as many of the missile ships as you can before they fire." Derek said.
"On it." The officer replied.
"We don't have any sensor data from that area." Sandor said. "They'll be firing blind."
"No radar either." Nova confirmed. "We won't know they've fired until it's too late."
"Do the best you can." Derek replied, then paused for a second before adding, "And cover the Seagull as well as you can. They're going to need it."
"Second missile wave is away." One of Frakken's crewmen announced. Seconds later he added victoriously. "Multiple hits across starboard!"
"Send the signal." Frakken ordered.
"Already sent, Sir." The comm officer replied. "The Galerans are on board the Eratite ship."
* Gabar'Or – a name, literally, "warrior of light"
* Neshamah sheli – a term of endearment
* Galam ha Derekh – literally, "the folding of the way," a system traditionally referred to as "S.M.I.T.E."