Chapter 2
The Adamantine hung limply in space, like a wounded animal warily watching as pack wolves closed in. Three looming ships sat menacingly around it, poised and ready to attack if it tried to run. The lead ship was a dreadnought, a huge and formidable beast designed to destroy any similarly armed ship. Against Traci’s smaller ship, and at this range, it was a harbinger of death.
As Traci watched in detached horror, four assault shuttles sped between the ships, having just left the shuttle bay of the nearest light cruiser.
“Track them,” Traci said, moving away from Scott for a moment while she considered her options. “I want to know where they’re planning to embark.”
Traci crossed to the tactical station, where Magnus was monitoring the tiny craft. She thought they might try to blast through her fighter bay doors, and she briefly considered letting the Valdi fighters tear into them, but instead they flew directly to the hull of her unprotected and vulnerable battle cruiser.
“Colonel Magnus,” Traci shouted, turning to her tactical officer. “Have your marines position themselves at vital areas: maneuvering, cloaking control, computer core. Have them remain stood-down but prepared to destroy any of those systems if an attempt is made to take them by force.”
Colonel Magnus acknowledged the order and began sending commands. One of the two marine sentries stationed at the doors to the bridge unholstered his sidearm and stepped outside the bridge compartment to secure the hallway. The other marine also checked his sidearm to ensure it would be ready for action if need arose.
Magnus busied himself checking door seals on all outer hatches so he could report intruder movement.
Michael had moved to the science station to see if he and Lazarus could find some way to counter the ion arc weapon. Traci stood motionless in the center of the bridge. Never had she felt less in control.
They waited as the assault shuttles came to rest against the ship’s outer hull. Magnus projected the contact points onto the tactical schematic of the ship. Traci thought it was odd that they had landed nowhere near any of the maintenance hatches or bay doors. Were they planning to try to burn their way through meters of steel and armor? This piqued her interest enough to momentarily overshadow her fear. That was when the first shimmer appeared.
At first, she thought it was just a trick of the light out of the corner of her eye. But then Shannon pointed at the shimmer and cried out in alarm. Within a heartbeat, Terran boarders were pouring onto the bridge, with rifles, scanning for hostile resistance. Colonel Magnus slowly lowered his own firearm to the ground as two boarders rushed to his position with their weapons trained on his chest. One of them reached down and secured his weapon. Another pair of soldiers moved quickly to stand beside Traci and Scott, weapons pointed professionally with fingers just touching the trigger mechanisms.
Colonel Magnus was a well-trained special forces officer. But even in his long years of service, he had not seen a boarding party arrive so quickly and precisely at its objective. He had expected the enemy party to meet his defenders throughout the halls of the ship. The bridge itself was designed as a choke point, so that a few well-armed defenders could hold off a force of many. Traci was astonished that they had secured it so quickly. Out of morbid curiosity, she glanced up at the bridge chronometer and noted the time.
One of the soldiers called back to the assault shuttle, and seconds later another man walked through the shimmering portal. He was obviously an officer, indicated both by his Terran officer’s uniform and his commanding demeanor. His wavy blond hair was cut short, but not so short as to peg him as a commando type. He was trim, and moved with a predator’s grace. He surveyed the secured bridge, and his eyes came to rest briefly on Zuarit. Completing his survey, he came to stand in front of Scott, where he saluted smartly.
“I am Captain James Kendahl. I have been sent by Lord General Geron to secure your vessel.” Captain Kendahl glanced at the Orion officers. “Will your officers willingly give their parole?”
Scott looked at Traci, who spoke for her officers. “What does that mean, Captain?” she asked.
Kendahl seemed to notice her for the first time, giving her a more thorough visual examination. Michael visibly bristled.
“You are to be our guests until we are able to get this sorted out,” he said with a warm smile. “The general merely asks that your command officers accompany us aboard the Kraken. Your crew is to pilot your ship to our starport for a brief stay.”
Traci was not at all fooled by Kendahl’s gentle manner.
“And if we refuse?” she asked with just the hint of a smile.
Kendahl moved so swiftly that Traci barely had time to flinch. Shannon stifled a scream where she stood at the helm. Kendahl had produced a wicked-looking dagger from his belt, and he held it just under Shannon’s chin with one hand, a fistful of her jet black hair in the other. The dagger was obviously sharp; its tip had punctured Shannon’s skin slightly, and drops of blood trickled down the blade.
“If you refuse,” he said calmly. “This woman will be the first to die.”
Traci’s smile faded, and she could see the genuine fear in Shannon’s eyes. She knew Shannon was trying to appear brave, and that Kendahl had chosen her female helmsman to elicit the strongest gut reaction from her crew.
“Very well,” Traci said with venom in her voice. “We will give parole.”
Kendahl’s smile returned as he wiped his blade on his belt sash before returning it to its decorative scabbard. “Excellent,” he said, his cordial demeanor returning. “Now, if you will please follow me.” He turned and walked over to the portal, still shimmering just a meter away from the port-side bulkhead. Traci looked over at Scott, who indicated his preference for her and Michael to go first.
Traci brought her frosty gaze back to Captain Kendahl and steadily met his eyes. She thought about the joy of taking his little knife from him and thrusting into his side, but the moment was brief. Instead, she ordered herself to place one foot in front of another and walked to the port side of the bridge. To her relief, Michael was right beside her. She watched in amazement as Kendahl turned and walked right through the shimmering energy field.
She turned and looked at the two armored Terran sentries standing next to her. Without taking her eyes off of them, she spoke clearly for her crew to hear, as much to reassure them as to wrap herself in the warm embrace of protocol.
“Mr. Lazarus, until I return, you have the conn.”
Traci looked at Michael, who then took a deep breath and walked through. One moment he was standing beside her, and the next, he wasn’t.
Traci took one last look at her crew. All of them wore faces of concern. Shannon held a gauze compress on the underside of her chin. The medical technician standing beside her also looked very worried. Traci took one last moment to absorb the familiar sounds on her ship--the deep thrum of the ship’s engines, more felt than heard, the beeps and chitters of sensors and controls. She distinctly heard the voices of crew members from all departments, still reporting the status of their areas. Damage control and environmental crewmen, who had no idea that their captain was stepping off of the ship, would continue their tasks.
She heard the familiar hiss of the nitrogen curtain that separated the Valdi captain from the rest of the bridge. She forced herself to meet his eyes too before she turned and deliberately stepped into the unknown.
When Traci had left, Scott turned to Chief Councilor Agron, who had been quietly observing the entire process from an unobtrusive corner of the bridge.
“Councilor, I think you should join us,” Scott said smugly.
If Agron was in the least concerned, he did not show it. He merely raised an eyebrow slightly and walked across the bridge and into the shimmering field. Lastly, Scott walked into the field and winked out of view.
Lt. Commander Lazarus looked briefly at the two remaining soldiers on the bridge and then carefully walked over to the command chair and took up the conn.