Jewel of The Stars: Season 1 Episode 1: Earth's Remnant

Chapter 9

"So you think we shouldn't remain here," Miller said.

"Staying here would be suicide."

Miller nodded slowly and turned to walk around the table. He stopped when he reached the first officer.

"Maya, I want continuous long-range scans. The moment an alien ship comes within sensor range, I want to know about it."

"Of course, Captain." She tapped her wristband. "I'll relay the order immediately."

"We're talking about a long-term voyage here." He turned to the young engineer. "Sarah, what implications does that have for the engines and such?"

"No significant impact," she replied. Braxton smiled. It was nice to hear another Aussie accent. "The engines have been through a major overhaul recently, and they're largely self-sustaining. We won't need to take on any raw materials to fuel the engine for ages."

"Define ages." Miller crossed his arms.

Sarah shrugged. "Six or seven months."

"Okay. That gives us half a year to figure out where to procure more."

Several faces dropped around the room. They were coming to understand what may be ahead of them. Braxton could see it in their eyes. That was good.

Miller resumed pacing. "Food will be more of a problem. We took on enough to feed the passengers and crew for a two-week cruise. We'll have to start rationing immediately."

"If we do that, Captain, we could get complaints." Glen Price shifted in his seat.

Several of the senior staff gave him raised eyebrows and rolled their eyes.

Glen's expression remained resolute.

"These people have paid top credit for their place on this cruise. They'll be expecting a certain level of service."

"I understand that Mr Price," Miller said in a calm tone. "If any of them do complain, please let them know they're welcome to take the first available shuttle back to Earth."

Glen nodded.

Braxton sniggered under his breath. And the prize for the crew member they didn't need went to ...

"But you raise an important point," Miller said. "Passenger morale. These people came on board expecting a holiday. They're expecting to be pampered and have their every wish met. There'll be unrest as soon as they realise many of those expectations are going to go unmet.

"That's my point Captain."

"Worse than that, people are going to be on the verge of panic because of what's happened on Earth." The captain placed his hands on the table and stared at Glen. "Your job is to keep the passengers calm. The last thing we need is a riot. To that end, carry on with the entertainments."

Braxton shrugged. The captain had a point. Maybe this trumped-up bellhop would serve a purpose after all.

"Absolutely Captain," Glen said. "As they say—the show must go on."

"Let's hope all our entertainment staff believes in that old adage." Miller pressed a control on his wristband.

Everyone else focused their attention above the conference table. What were they looking at? Jaylen locked eyes with Braxton.

"Let me just grant you security clearance." Jaylen tapped his wristband, then swiped at the air. A three-dimensional map of the sector snapped into existence. So that was what they'd all been looking at.

Miller waved his hand and the image zoomed out. A pointer followed the direction of his finger.

"I think we should head here. It's outside the border of what we would consider Earth-controlled space. We can see the odd alien ship dotted around Earth space, but there's nothing out this far."

"That's also relatively unexplored space, Captain," Maya pointed out.

Miller nodded. "That's true, which of course means the possibility of unknown dangers. But we'll be clear of the aliens."

Braxton leaned forward. "What kind of armaments does this ship have?"

"Armaments?" Miller snorted. "This is a cruise ship, Commander."

"I'm aware of that. What kind of armaments?"

Miller sighed. "There are two small disruptors. They're designed to incapacitate a pirate ship long enough for us to escape."

"Thank you." Braxton stood. "It's not enough."

Miller's face clouded.

"We need weapons. We're in the middle of a war zone."

"This is a ship full of civilians." Miller's gaze hardened. "We're not going to war. Our intention here is to flee, not to fight."

"I agree, but we need to be able to defend ourselves." Braxton pointed at the route Miller had drawn on the map. "What do you see here, Captain?"

"The most direct route out of the danger zone."

"I see an opportunity for ambush. We could meet an alien ship anywhere along this course."

"There are no alien ships along this course."

"Not now, but there could be soon. From what little we've seen, we know these things are fast. What we don't know is where they came from. And whether there are more waiting outside Earth-controlled space."

Miller crossed his arms. "What are you suggesting?"

Braxton reached and pinched the projection near a green speck. It zoomed in to show an Earth warship. "This is an Earth ship. It's sitting there, dead in space. What does that tell you?"

"It's probably all but destroyed." Miller frowned.

"Exactly. One of our downed ships they didn't bother to completely destroy. It could still have working weapons. It's a perfect opportunity, and it doesn't take us too far off your prescribed course."

Miller gasped. "You want to raid a ghost ship for guns? As you pointed out yourself, there could be aliens nearby."

"The risk is worth it. Some day we are going to come face to face with an alien ship. If we're not armed and ready, we won't survive that day.

Miller shook his head. "I won't do it."

"Captain—" Braxton said, but was cut off.

"You seem to forget we have a thousand passengers on board. Civilians. Ordinary people. Every second we stay in the danger zone puts them at risk. My first and only priority is to get them out of reach of the enemy." Miller waved the projection off and leaned across the table at Braxton.

"I cannot and will not condone your shopping expedition." He stretched to his full height. "Meeting over. Dismissed."

Braxton glared at the captain. This was going to be a hard road.