THE RELIANT

THE RESCUE MISSION

Captain Yager had called everyone into the conference after having a discussion with Admiral Flagg in his office. John was already standing in the room when everyone walked in. He had a pensive look on his face, which wasn't unusual whenever he talked with Flagg. After everyone sat down at the conference table, Commander Steiner asked him, "So why did you call us in here, Captain?"

"Admiral Flagg has handed us our next mission."

"Which is?" Lisa pressed him.

"We're going on a rescue mission."

"Really?" She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Who is it we're supposed to rescue?" John didn't reply to her question right away. "Captain?"

"Ben O'Malley."

"Ben O'Malley?"

John nodded. "Yes."

"Why does that name sound so familiar?" Lisa pondered that for a second, then her eyes grew wide. "Wait a second, isn't he that media pundit who kept attacking you after the Karnin war ended?"

John nodded again. "Yes, he is."

"So why are we rescuing him?"

"He's being held hostage on the planet Femulus."

"Femulus? Never heard of it."

"Roger," John said as he looked over at the ship's android, "what can you tell us about the planet Femulus?"

"Checking, sir." Roger paused as he checked his inner library for the information. "Ah, yes. The planet Femulus is a strict matriarchal society and is extremely isolationist."

"Matriarchal?"

"Yes, Commander. Everything on the planet is run, owned and controlled by the females of the society."

"Well," Lisa began, grinning, "I'm liking this planet already."

"What about the men on the planet, Roger?" asked Lieutenant Tamala.

"The men on the planet are regarded as second-class citizens and are primarily used as servants for the females."

"You mean slaves," Tamala added with a hint of disapproval in her voice.

"Yes, Lieutenant," Roger replied, nodding. "I believe that would be a correct assessment."

"You haven't said why he's needing to be rescued from the planet, Captain," Lisa interjected.

John sighed deeply. "Apparently Mr. O'Malley's ratings have been taken a nosedive in recent months. So, in an attempt to gain back his ratings, he got the grand idea of doing an expose of the planet Femulus. So he traveled there with his crew, and they ended up getting captured."

"I noticed you didn't say anything about us rescuing his crew," ship's doctor Amanda Booth pointed out.

"That's because Ben's crew has already been executed."

"Wow," exclaimed Lisa. "So why didn't they execute Ben?"

"From what Flagg told me, they want the Alliance to negotiate for his release."

"So what is they want from the Alliance?"

John shook his head. "I'm not sure, Commander. That's what we're being sent there to find out."

"So why is the Admiral sending us to negotiate for his release?" Lisa asked as if she already knew the answer to her question.

"Why do you think?" John snorted. "Like you said, Ben attacked me as being a traitor to the Alliance on his show for years. I'm sure Flagg's laughing his ass off at the irony."