Starship Vengeance

Chapter 15

We left Narrisal the moment Shahae's ship touched the deck. I was impatient and wanted to get underway as soon as possible. I waited for all the post-jump status reports to come through before exiting the bridge. I made my way towards a small hanger where Shahae should have docked. I entered the hanger and watched as she attempted to drag a large crate down the ramp. I couldn't help but laugh as I watched her struggle. She must have been too preoccupied to hear me enter, because she jumped when she heard me laugh.

"I though the men of your race believed in chivalry and politeness, especially when I came to helping a women with her luggage" Shahae said grumpily.

"We do. We also recognize good entertainment when we see it." I walked up the ram and lifted the crate. It was heavier than expected. I lugged it down the down the ramp and plopped it on the ground.

"Would you mind being a little more gentle with my possessions?" Shahae asked feigning irritation.

"It seems to me that I have discovered a universal truth about the female gender, they always over pack" I said teasingly. "Please tell me this is everything."

She grinned mischievously at me. "There are two more on board the ship that will need to be brought to my room as well."

I sighed and walked to a nearby supply closet. I extracted a length of rope and three square plates. Shahae watched with interest as I took two of the plates inside the ship. Apparently, Shahae didn't mess around when it came to packing. Just as she had said, there were two more crates inside. One was the same size as the one I carried down. The second was almost twice as big and I was positive it would be much heavier. Several exhausting minutes later, much to Shahae's surprise, I walked down the ramp with the two crates in tow. Each crate was hovering, thanks to the anti-gravity plates. The plates could be found in every hanger. It made shipping and receiving much simpler. I soon had the first crate airborne and I used the rope to lash all three together. Once I was convinced everything was secure, I escorted Shahae to her quarters.

I was utterly exhausted by the time we arrived. Some of the corridors we took were rarely used, and therefore narrower. Shahae found the whole thing rather amusing, much to my embarrassment. I guess it served as payback for my laughing at her earlier. I guided the crates to a nearby wall, the collapsed into a chair. "Remind me next time to put a limit on how much guests can bring."

"I figure I earned it after staying in this sparse room for as long as I have. We could be gone for a while, so I wanted to make my quarters comfortable. Once you see what I have in mind, you will agree that it was worth a little bit of work."

We spoke for a few more minutes before I excused myself. I went to my room to shower. I had finally taken residence in Admiral Jones' old quarters. It would take some getting used to. Several times already I had to stop myself from entering the wrong room. After a quick shower I was back on the bridge. The trip to the first anomaly would take about a day and a half. We could have almost cut that time in half, but we had to stop frequently to leave subspace sensors behind. Not only did it give us a better picture of what the Zrynt were up to, but it also allowed us to stay in contact with Narrisal. Dunamis was still under the influence of the subspace jammer inside the Teludan. Ships were sent back and forth from Narrisal to Dunamis on our behalf. It was an inefficient method of communication, but it was all we had at the moment.

The first several hours were calm and uneventful. Each jump put us on the outskirts of a star system. About five hours into the journey, we found our first Zrynt fleet. After close inspection, I realized that fleet was the wrong word. It was more of a scouting party. They stayed together as a group, never venturing far from a waiting subspace entry point.

"It seems to me that they are adapting to your tactics" Shahae said from behind me.

"Finally finished unpacking?"