Ad Astra - The Alagore War

AA V0 Prolog, Chapter 3

At first, the mission sounded like a standard operation, with the only catch stuck in a tin can for a month. The one thing that made no sense was the 'possible' part of those orders, which baffled the captain. How couldn't anyone within Space Command or SOCOM know what they are retrieving?

Rommel King was the first to express how the orders fell off; however, they had their orders, and nothing would stop them from succeeding.

Seeing his XO ponds advancing toward his king, Ryder decided to head to the bridge and talk with the ship commander. "It was a good game."

"Yes, it was," King confidently said. "Best to stop while you still have a savings account."

As Ryder unbuckled himself from his seat, he grabbed his fruit smoothie packet, which floated next to him. He then turned back to the chessboard, grabbed the bishops, and moved it across the board, checkmating his opponent king. "You are correct. My mind has been distracted."

"You tricked me," King said, staring at the board. "Clever, but I still won more games."

"People only remember how the game ends, never how it begins," Ryder said. He then started to float away but stopped himself. "Rommel. Only my wife can drain my savings account."

The Comanche captain pushed himself toward the ladder and entered it. The corridor was significant compared to the rest of the ship's central interior passageway. He floated in and closed the hatch before heading to the bridge, passing a CIA man in a flight suit.

Ryder noted the man was in a flight suit and wondered what he was up to while they were in the middle of nowhere. "Hey, is everything okay? Are we expecting something?"

The pilot looked confused and acted annoyed by the question. "This is why you Spec-Ops shouldn't be here. Let me mind my job and continue taking up space." The man pushed away, heading to the cargo bay.

Watching the pilot leave, the interaction baffled Ryder. He couldn't decide if the pilot was having a bad day or if more was at stake, making these operatives uneasy.

Once at the bridge hatch, the security guard allowed the captain to enter.

Ryder couldn't help himself and stopped, grabbing the railing and looking in awe at the bridge, seeing all the state-of-the-art terminals throughout the room, making up four and the commander stations.

"First time?"

Realizing that he was being spoken to, Ryder responded, "Yeah. Second time on a spacecraft, first time on something like this, this far from Earth."

The captain saw the CIA commander at his station with a big smirk. The two crews needed more interaction outside the formal introductions when Comanche arrived.

"What can I do for you, Captain?" Nelson asked.

"I am interested in more details about the mission, but first, is everything all right?"

Nelson turned to face the captain with a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"I saw one of your pilots heading to the cargo bay. I thought we were only halfway there?"

"Very observant," Nelson said, leaning into his seat. "Don't mind Johnathon; he doesn't trust any outsiders. In our line of work, distrust is a means of survival."

"I can understand. Why was he heading to the cargo bay?"

"To the point, I like that." Nelson looked at the screen above his station, and the cargo appeared. Inside was an Aether-class spacecraft commonly known as a capsule. While they are used to transport personnel, they are short-range without additional modules. They are not usually stored within the hull of a spaceship, "I told him to get our capsule ready to launch on a moment's notice. Just in case."