The crew was getting a little restless. It has been a couple of weeks since leaving Ura. The ship kept an extremely low profile. No participation in any missions against the drilli, which the rest of the crew thought was the whole purpose of their mission. Lydia felt the uneasiness on the ship. Lydia knew that anyone on the ship could be working for behind the scene, but she couldn't give into paranoia. Ezi did her part by secretly watching all communications. Faith kept eyes on everybody that went around Lydia. No one got close to her without Faith knowing about it.
Simona was at her station, rapidly tapping her fingers on console. Faith noticed the behavior and slowly moved her hand over the handle of her pistol. Simona let out a loud sigh.
"Ma'am, what the hell is going on?"Simona inquired. "We've been flying around for the last couple of weeks. We haven't done anything. What is our current mission?"
Lydia looked down at her datapad. "We don't have a current mission."
Simona's eyes widened. "What are you talking about? What did Amuilius say?"
Before Lydia could speak; the ship's alarms off. Simona's focus went back to her console. "A ship just came out of a jump."
"There isn't a jump point here," Lydia stated. "What idiot will risk that?" Entering and exiting a jump stream at any location other than a jump point was dangerous. It could put every ship in the system in danger. Opening a jump stream too close to a ship could destroy both ships. Opening one too close to a planet or star could cause rips or tears in the fabric of space that could shift planets or stars out of orbit. The practice was illegal in Association's space.
"It is a Star Force corvette," Simona informed. "They must have used a CP." CP or Classified points were only used by the Nessian's military and Star Force in extreme situations, like war. This didn't qualify.
"Screens up and weapons ready," Lydia ordered.
"Ma'am, they could interpret it as an aggressive action," Simona warned before she inputted the order.
"Because it is," Lydia replied.
"They're hailing us," Piet said.
"Open the channel," Lydia ordered.
A female voice came over the comm system. "This is Lieutenant Commander Sameera Kader of the SS String Ray. You are ordered to lower your screens and power down your weapons and prepare to be boarded. This is your first and only warning."
"They match us in every way," Simona explained. Corvettes were the fastest ship in Star Force and were very effective in combat. They were small in size, only a couple of meters longer than the Enigma, but they can pack a punch. They were armed with three plasma cannons, one on each wing and on the bow, and one torpedo launcher. The corvettes were designed to take out ships quick and fast.
"Time's up," Kader informed over the system. The String Ray fired a torpedo at the engines of the Enigma. The screens protected the ship, but the ship's power was drained by fifty percent.
"They must have used dampening torpedoes," Simona said, "and pretty strong ones. One more hit, we will be disabled."
"They are trying to take us alive," Faith said.
"That was their first mistake," Lydia said with a slight smirk on her face. "Target their engine and weapons."
"Yes, ma'am," Simona said. She did as she was ordered and fired both plasma cannons. The Sting Ray's screen absorbed the cannon blasts and released the blast back at the Enigma.
"Our screens are still holding," Simona said.
"Their screens are very impressive," Ezi said. "I didn't know that Star Force had that type of technology."
YOU ARE READING
Project Faith
Science Fiction"Weapons are deadly but not as deadly as the person that wields it." In the mid-twenty-fourth century, Earth was a respected member of the intergalactic community. It made allies, established several key trade agreements and cooperated with many al...
