"I love you, George," Liz looked at her husband's face with tear-filling eyes.
"I love you too, Liz," he said hugging the two of them even tighter.
It was the last words either of them would ever say. One of the incoming missiles impacted the rear arboretum window. It detonated and the energy blast of the warhead vaporized the arboretum and everything that was inside in an instant.
***
No'tok watched the main display. The missiles that Gar'loz had just launched had ruptured the hull of the passenger ship and also triggered an engine core breach. Their latest victim was coming apart at the seams from the damage.
"Commander, the target is destroyed," Krat'sa informed the first officer.
"Excellent job by all," No'tok congratulated his bridge crew. "Especially you, Gar'loz. You have good instincts for this."
"Thank you, Admiral," Gar'loz replied. "I strive to always be worthy to be your first officer." No'tok smiled. Gar'loz was indeed becoming the ideal first officer.
"Find us another target, Krat'sa," No'tok instructed his tactical officer.
"Performing wide range scan now," she replied. Her face almost immediately took on a look of concern. "Admiral! I'm picking up a Commonwealth Dreadnaught-class ship on direct course for our location!"
"Engage camouflage!" Gar'loz shouted at the bridge crew. "Bring all weapons to the ready! Full power to the defensive shields!"
"Do not engage camouflage," No'tok calmly vetoed his first officer's order.
"Admiral?" Gar'loz turned quickly to face his commanding officer, the confusion apparent on his face. "If we do not, they will see us!"
"Precisely," No'tok answered, still using a calm voice. "Until now, we have attacked defenseless ships. If we truly want to strike terror into the hearts of our enemies, let us destroy one of their best-equipped warships. Then they will cower at the very thought of our presence. After today, you will all be true warriors. You will have looked into the eyes of the enemy and watched as Th'warzin reaped their weak souls." He turned to face Krat'sa. "As soon as they are within weapons range lock on to them with our pulse cannons. Then fire a full barrage of quark missiles. I'd wager the strain will be too much for whatever defensive technology they are using."
"With pleasure, Admiral," Krat'sa answered, an evil smile spread out across her face. She was excited at the thought of fighting a real warship.
No'tok looked at his first officer. Gar'loz looked uneasy. "Nervous?"
Gar'loz stiffened at the question. "Not at all, sir." His response might have fooled some, but not a veteran officer like No'tok.
"Of course you are," No'tok corrected him. "You'd be foolish not to be. We have no experience with this ship against this type of enemy. There are many unknowns. Nerves can keep you from doing reckless things. Just keep them in check with your determination to accomplish your goal."
Gar'loz nodded. "I will not fail you, Admiral."
"I do not expect that you will," No'tok responded.
The dreadnaught now was within close range sensors. Its course would bring them directly to the Nightfury.
"Admiral, sensors show massive energy spikes in the forward areas of the dreadnaught." Krat'sa notified. "I believe they are powering up their weapons."
"Are we within firing range yet?" No'tok asked her.
"For quark missiles, yes," she answered, "but not for pulse cannons."
"Hold fire until we can use both," he cooly reaffirmed. "Full power to shields."
The Nightfury suddenly shook from the first salvo of shots from the dreadnaught.
"We are taking fire!" Krat'sa reported. "Shields are holding, but won't withstand many shots like that. No decks reporting damage as of yet."
"Weapons range?" No'tok inquired, still maintaining his composure.
"Almost, sir," Krat'sa replied.
"Admiral, shall I begin evasive maneuvers?" Mak'naw, the navigation officer, asked.
"Hold position," No'tok answered him.
The ships shook again under the next volley of shots. The ship-wide alarm began sounding.
"Shields are weakening," Krat'sa informed No'tok. "Multiple decks reporting minor damage. We cannot take another hit like that without risking significant damage."
"Range?" No'tok asked again.
"Almost...Now!" She replied. "Target is within range of pulse cannons and quark missiles. All weapons are ready to fire on your order, Admiral."
"Fire missiles, then maintain a steady barrage of pulse cannon blasts," No'tok ordered. His voice now had a sense of urgency to it. "We must keep the pulse cannons firing to weaken their shields so that the missiles will penetrate."
"Firing missiles now," Krat'sa confirmed. "Setting pulse cannons for short interval blasts."
The Nightfury's pulse cannon blasts began to impact the dreadnaught's shields but we're doing no actual damage to the dreadnaught. Their opponent was drawing closer and firing on them again. The Nightfury shook from the impact.
"Admiral! Shields are down! Damage reports coming in from all decks!" Krat'sa reported. "Decks Six and Seven are reporting hull breaches. Engineering is en route to repair."
"Time to missile impact?" No'tok asked, seemingly unconcerned about the condition of his own ship.
"Three zels," Krat'sa responded.
"Admiral, we need to retreat," Gar'loz offered. "If we take another volley of blasts, they will destroy us without our shields."
"Retreat?" No'tok snapped at his first officer. "Why would we do that? We are about to be victorious."
Gar'loz tried to reason with his commanding officer. "I do not see..."
"Missiles have impacted!" Krat'sa interrupted, reading the screen in front of her. "All four missiles penetrated their shields without detonating! The enemy has taken significant damage, and is venting atmosphere from multiple hull breaches! Sensors show no major energy readings. I think their engines are down. We have won!" The sound of cheering erupted on the Nightfury's bridge. No'tok sat quietly in his chair.
"Retreat, Gar'loz?" No'tok looked smugly at his first officer. "One never wins by retreating. One wins by applying knowledge of your enemies weaknesses. If you do not already know how to defeat your enemy, it is best to simply avoid the fight."
"I am sorry that I doubted you, Admiral," Gar'loz hung his head in shame. "I understand why the Triumvirate made you the admiral of our fleet."
"It is a learning experience, Gar'loz," No'tok replied. "I had a confrontation in the Drah'jik with a Commonwealth Pathfinder-class ship. I used a combination of missiles and pulse cannons to attack and destroy that ship before it could fire a single shot. Since it worked then I saw no reason that the Commonwealth wouldn't use the same shielding technology on their larger ships as well."
No'tok looked out over the rest of the bridge. "I'm very pleased with the way each of you handled yourself. Now you know that there is nothing the enemy can send against us that we cannot defeat. This ship will become a symbol of terror to those that oppose us."
The crew began to chant his name over and over again. No'tok smiled. With one battle, I have stolen their hearts from the Legion. The Nightfury is now mine and mine alone.
CHAPTER 13
After Chen had left, Detective Sandra Peterson had spent the next hour combing over the room where Roscoe Harrison had been killed by Cordell Along with the crime scene techs So far they had found nothing. I hope that the data core that Cordell took back will shed some light on what is going on. She was just about to give up when one of the techs came walking over to her.
"Detective, I think you might want to see this," the tech said holding an ear-borne comms device in her hand. "It was taped up under the bottom of the desktop."
"Is it still charged?" Peterson asked the tech, hoping the answer was yes. If it was still charged up, they might be able to pull the last couple of call channels from its flash memory.
"Half full," the tech answered with a smile.
"That is great news! Can you try to pu
ll the call memory?" Peterson inquired.
"Way ahead of you, Detective," the tech replied. She pulled a wire from her tablet into the charge port on the comms device. "Let me see." She entered several commands into the tablet and a light started blinking on the comms device. "I've got one channel signature still in memory. You may be in luck, Detective."
"Call it," Peterson instructed the tech. "Let's see who answers."
The tech activated the comms device and routed the audio through her tablet speaker. After a few seconds, a frail voice answered. "Why are you calling, Harrison?" Peterson watched as the tech began tracing the frequency. "Harrison? Are you there?" The frail voice asked. The tech smiled and nodded to Peterson. The detective reached over and tapped the comms device to end the call.
"So who was our terrorist calling?" Peterson asked.
"Working on it," the tech replied. "The call terminated in the capital., somewhere in the northwest corner of the Government District."
"Oh boy," Peterson sighed. "I know that area. It's residential. It's where the powers-that-be live. Members of the Council of Barons maintain homes there to live in while away from their home planets. Other high ranking military and government-related officials live there too. Can you pin it down to an address? I don't want to knock on doors randomly in that neighborhood."
"I got the destination device id. It's a SatCom brand device, so they would be able to tell who the registered owner is and where it was sold. Of course, it most likely is a black market device, so they may not have a record of it. In the meanwhile, I'll put a sniffer out on it. If it makes or receives a call, we might be able to narrow the location down. If nothing else, we'll get the ids of the devices it calls."
"Well, it's a start," Peterson agreed. "Let me know the moment you figure something out. I've got to get back to the capital.
***
Zhi had just received disturbing news through the Legion's network of agents. Hawthorne's battle group had engaged a group of Dominion ships and lost. According to sources in the Legion, the Apollo was heavily damaged and the Poseidon and Athena had surrendered. Hawthorne and a large number of crew members had joined the Dominion to fight against the Legion. As troublesome as all of that was, it wasn't what was bothering him. The source also said that the Dominion had allowed anyone that wished to return to the Commonwealth safe passage through Dominion space. The thought of survivors returning to the Commonwealth filled him with dread. If they make it back, they will tell people that the Dominion isn't the horrible monsters that we've made them out to be. They cannot be allowed to talk. With that final thought, Zhi knew what had to be done.
"Get me Fleet Admiral Capshaw," he said aloud, knowing that one of his unseen aides would hurry off to summon the admiral. Moments later, Capshaw appeared in front of the throne.
"You wanted to see me, Your Grace?" Capshaw sounded almost out of breath as though he had been running the entire distance from Fleet Command to the palace.
"Yes, there is an urgent matter we must discuss," Zhi replied to Capshaw. Then announcing to the room, "Clear the chamber, the Admiral and I must speak privately. Guards, you may wait just outside the doors." The occupants of the room began to disperse through the main door, except two guards who exited through Zhi's private door, and Capshaw who remained in front of the throne. After the room had cleared, Zhi turned his attention back on Capshaw.
"Admiral, I have received word that the 1st Battle Cruiser Group encountered Dominion ships and lost to them in combat," Zhi began the discussion.
"Yes," Capshaw said nodding his head. "The Dominion ships overwhelmed them with small fighters. The Apollo lost its engines, and the Poseidon and Athena were captured."
"Have you received any word from our people since their capture?" Zhi asked, hoping the answer was negative.
"No, Your Grace," Capshaw shook his head sadly. "We believe that all surviving crew members were either taken as prisoners or executed.
"I believe that as well," Zhi agreed, "which is why the report I just received from one of my Angels worries me."
"What report would that be?" Capshaw perked up, curious how the Regent would know something that he did not.
"That one of the captured ships is on it's way back to the Commonwealth," Zhi answered. "Knowing what we do of the Dominion, and the fact that they have repeatedly attacked us, I believe it to be a trick on their part."
"Begging Your Grace's pardon, but I find that hard to believe," scoffed Capshaw. "If any craft was approaching from the Dominion, Sentry Command would have picked up on it, and I have received no such report from Commander Rutledge, the station's commanding officer."
Zhi scowled at the man in front of him. "Are you questioning me, Capshaw? Do you forget that I have the entire Sovereign Angels battalion at my direct disposal?"
Capshaw cringed at the reprimand. "My apologies, Your Grace, I meant no disrespect."
"I have resources that you do not," Zhi continued, "and those resources tell me that the Dominion is going to use one of our ships against us. Can you imagine how dangerous it would be for the Dominion to be able to bring an entire ship full of soldiers into our own solar system?"
"What are your orders, Your Grace?" Capshaw thought it better to let the Regent take the lead from that point forward in the conversation.
"Send a ship to intercept and destroy it," Zhi responded coldly.
"But, Your Grace, what if the ship has our people on it? That would be a crew of hundreds of our people." Capshaw didn't want to argue with his ruler, but he didn't want to be responsible for slaughtering his own people.
Zhi was tiring of Capshaw's arguments. He knew that Capshaw was only doing what he was supposed to do, but Zhi needed this ship destroyed. He couldn't afford for any survivors to return.
"I'm sorry, Admiral, but I don't see any other way. I don't see any way we could determine that there was no Dominion subterfuge without the ship becoming a potential danger to the Commonwealth. You have your orders." Zhi ended the conversation.
Capshaw gave the Regent a bow. "As you command, Your Grace."
Capshaw turned and left the throne room. Zhi tried to focus on other matters of state, but his thoughts kept returning to the ship that was on a course to the Commonwealth. If Capshaw doesn't destroy that ship, it could bring everything crashing down around me.
***
It had taken almost two high suns to make the journey from the Commonwealth border back to V'drell Prime. The journey could have been made faster in K'oron's personal ship that was still on board the Strak'zar, but K'oron had insisted on staying aboard the larger ship. They had been escorting the damaged Mur'daz and the captured Poseidon which was towing the crippled Apollo. The Strak'zar was going to land on the surface of the planet. The remaining three ships would be docked at the Imperial Fleet's orbiting station.
Danielle knew that K'oron was anxious to report all that had happened directly to Emperor Glars'n, but she also knew that since he was the highest ranking officer in the battle, his place was on the dominant ship. Danielle, however, was looking forward to spending some time interrogating Zachary Ridgeway in the imperial dungeon.
"As soon as we land, I want the prisoner taken directly to a cell in the palace," Danielle instructed one of the security officers.
"We need to report to the Emperor first," K'oron reminded. "There will be plenty of time to question a prisoner. Also, do not forget we have a great many 'guests' that we have to deal with."
Danielle gave K'oron a glare. "My first priority is to find out what Ridgeway may, or may not, know about No'tok and his new ship."
"We do not know that it is No'tok," K'oron said firmly. "The Legion has a great many operatives roaming the universe, it could be anyone."
"Maybe," she retorted, "but I still have No'tok at the top of the list of suspects. We know that he is a bloodthirsty little imp, and that fighting honorably never crosses his mind."
K'oron knew that arguing with her any further was a waste of ef
fort. When it came to No'tok, she seemed to have already lost all of her objectivity. "We will be on the ground soon. I hope you get the answers you seek. I just hope that you don't do anything that would cause Th'warzin to judge your soul too harshly."
"I thought you of all people would understand, K'oron." There was a slight sound of venom in her voice. "After all the suffering you went through at the hands of your previous Commandant. After the rage that you felt toward him after he killed your mentor. Didn't it feel good to kill him? Didn't it feel good to unleash all of your anger and hatred on him through your sword swings? Didn't you embrace your vengeance?"
K'oron's jaw locked as he stared at the woman in front of him. "Yes, it did feel good," he finally replied, "for a brief moment. Then I just felt hollow. However, I had a reason to kill him beyond just my anger and hatred. If I had not killed him, I would have died. Even had I not challenged him, I would have died. He would have made certain of it. When I challenged him in Tr'oka Zur, it was for survival. The vengeance was secondary. I have taken life only in anger, and I can assure you that a piece of you dies when your victim does."
"I would gladly trade a piece of my soul to rid the universe of No'tok," Danielle replied flatly. It would be an easy trade, that I would make without hesitation. Perhaps he's right, but I don't care. I want No'tok dead.
The ship-wide alarm sounded two short bursts. The ship was about to land. K'oron looked at the woman in front of him and shook his head.
"The ship will be landing soon," he stated. "I must collect the data from the Strak'zar primary computer before seeing the Emperor. I can join you afterward if you do not think my presence will interfere with your interrogation techniques."
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