"What is it, Akane? "Danielle noted the concern on Morimoto's face. "What's happening?"
"Many years ago, when our ancestors still lived on Earth, my people had an attack maneuver called 'divine wind', or 'kamikaze' in our ancestral language," Morimoto explained. "In this type of attack, the pilot of a craft would accelerate to a maximum speed to reduce the chances of getting shot down while on course to attack. The attack wasn't made with guns or missiles but rather used the craft itself as a weapon. The pilot would give his life to crash the craft, usually full of explosive ordinance, into an enemy ship. Sensor readings show that the shields and weapons of the Poseidon are still offline, and it is on a collision course with the enemy ship."
"Get the Poseidon on the channel now!" Danielle yelled at the comms officer. You can't do this Admiral, your people still need you!
"No response, Major," Ral'gar shook his head.
"The enemy ship must have figured it out too," Morimoto said staring at her console. "I show it attempting a rapid course change. It won't maneuver clear in time. Poseidon will impact into the enemy ship in 7...6...5...4...3..."
The entire forward display was suddenly filled with white, then it went offline. Then the Th'warzin's Wrath jarred from various impacts to the shields.
"Status report!" K'oron ordered.
"Sensors are resetting, and coming back online now," Morimoto answered. "The Poseidon initiated its self-destruct mechanism just as it reached the enemy ship. Sensors are a bit fuzzy right now, but I'm not picking up either the Poseidon or the enemy ship anymore."
The forward display came back up. All that was visible now was a large debris field from the destruction of the two ships.
"Engineering to K'oron," the ship-wide address system squawked.
"Go ahead Chief," K'oron replied.
"General, we took a pretty good hit from that last attack!" Chief Ericcson replied. "Shields are gone. A few more small hull punctures. Weapon cells are depleted. If we take another hit, we're gone."
"That will not be a problem, Chief," K'oron informed the chief engineer. "The battle is over. The enemy has been destroyed. Commence your repairs and notify me as soon as we can get underway. K'oron out."
The bridge was silent after that. Everyone, Terran and V'drellian, was hurting over the loss of the Poseidon. The Poseidon had paid the ultimate price to save the Th'warzin's Wrath.
"I'm picking up a small craft," Morimoto announced, ending the silence. "It's not of Commonwealth design, and its course is taking it away from the battle area. Based on the fluctuating engine readings, I'd say it's damaged."
Danielle had a look of disbelief on her face. "It came from the Legion ship, didn't it?"
Morimoto nodded. "It appears to be some kind of personal craft, or maybe some kind of emergency device. It's not moving pretty fast, and at its present course it will enter Earth's orbit in thirty minutes."
"I've got to go after it," Danielle told K'oron. "I've got to see who is on that ship."
K'oron huffed "We have already discussed this. Our primary mission is to get the Queen to safety."
"I agree with you," Danielle concurred. "That is why I am going alone. You are the ranking officer of this ship, and you should be concerned with the Queen's safety, and this mission, but I have to go," she pleaded. "I have to know that No'tok is dead. That he didn't escape only to hurt others. I have to know that his evil is gone. If we don't go after that ship now, we will never be able to find it again."
K'oron could see the pain in her eyes. After hearing No'tok practically boasting about the things that he had done to Danielle, he understood why she wanted to see him dead now. He had been worried that Danielle's quest for vengeance would cost her a part of her soul, but in truth, No'tok had stolen it from her. All she was doing was trying to find a way to get some of it back.
"Very well," he agreed. "You may take one of the scout ships and go. However, I will not let you go alone."
"It would be my honor to go with the Major," a female voice responded from the rear of the bridge.
Danielle turned to look where the voice had originated. Standing next to Dr. Santiago was S'ryn.
"S'ryn," Danielle sighed. "I appreciate you wanting to go with me, but it's too..."
"Dangerous?" The cadet finished Danielle's sentence. "The first day we met you were about to participate in Tr'oka Zur with Zr'ika. I hated you then because I did not know you. You fought not because you were trained for it, or because you desired it, but because you knew it was what had to be done. You showed me that day what true honor and courage were. Since that day, you have personally trained with me. You brought me into your home. You have made me a part of your life. You do not get to decide to remove me from it now. If you are going, I am going." Danielle nodded her acceptance of the young woman's terms.
"Then you two should be going," K'oron said. "Do not engage anyone you come in contact with. I am letting you go find out who is on that ship, not giving you permission to fight and kill whomever you find. May Th'warzin protect your souls until you return."
CHAPTER 19
K'oron watched from the hangar deck as Danielle and S'ryn took off in one of the scout shuttles. A part of him wanted to be on that shuttle with Danielle, but he knew that his first priority must be the safety of Queen Constance. He returned to the bridge to see that maintenance crews from Engineering were already hard at work repairing any damage caused by the recent battle. The ship was in the process of locating and collecting the life pods from the Poseidon. Most had been acquired, and so far, all evacuees had been in good health. So much had happened that he knew that he needed to inform the Emperor of their success in rescuing Queen Constance, and about the fate of the Poseidon.
"Lt. Commander Morimoto," he addressed the sensor officer. "You are the senior officer on the bridge outside of myself and Major Hart, yes?"
She nodded. "I believe so, sir. Although I am still trying to wrap my head around how the Dominion rank system compares to the Commonwealth one."
"I will be in my quarters briefing the Emperor," he informed his sensor officer. "In my absence, as ranking officer, you have the bridge."
"Aye, sir," Morimoto saluted. She left her sensor station and took her place in the command chair.
K'oron walked to his quarters. His mind was going over and over recent events so that he could give a clear and concise report to Emperor Glars'n. However, his mind kept wandering back to Danielle. He sat down at his desk and opened a direct channel to the Emperor's throne room.
"Ah, K'oron, it is good to hear from you," the Emperor's face showed his relief. "It has been some time since we last heard from your ship. We were starting to get concerned."
"The mission was a success, Your Excellency," K'oron began his report. "We have Queen Constance of the Commonwealth on board and we will be returning to the Dominion soon."
"Soon?" Glars'n asked. "Why are you delaying with such precious cargo aboard?"
"We are in the process of recovering evacuees from the Poseidon," K'oron answered. "It was destroyed in a battle with the Legion ship we had heard rumors of. That ship, we learned, was commanded by No'tok. If not for the Poseidon's sacrifice, we might have been destroyed as well."
"How many lost?" The Emperor asked, the concern obvious in his voice.
"We do not know at this point," K'oron replied. "Once all life pods have been collected, we will know who is missing."
"I am saddened to hear about this tragedy, K'oron," Glars'n responded. "Once you have a list of the fallen, send it to me immediately. We will have their names added to the walls of the Temple of Th'warzin. Whether V'drellian or Terran, their names shall sit among those of the great fallen warriors of the Dominion and be honored for their service and sacrifice."
Your Excellency honors them already," K'oron replied with a bow of the head.
"Is Danielle Hart with you?" The Emperor inquired. "She is usually by your side for your reports to me, whether in person or transmission."
<
br /> "No, Your Excellency," K'oron shook his head. "She is tending to a personal matter. She will return soon."
"You speak as though her absence is a trivial thing, but your face tells me otherwise," Glars'n said. "Tell me, what is troubling you?"
"After the destruction of the Poseidon, we detected a small ship headed away from the debris field," K'oron elaborated. "You have probably noticed that Danielle has a singular mind when No'tok is mentioned. She was determined to go after the ship and discover who from that ship survived. If she finds No'tok, I fear that she will try and eliminate him rather than returning him to face imperial judgment."
"Why did you let her go?" The Emperor asked.
"If I had ordered her to stay, she would have ignored the order and went anyway," K'oron answered. "I understand why she hates No'tok so much now. He did terrible, horrible, things to her when she was his prisoner."
"Why then, did you not go with her?" Glars'n inquired.
"My duty is to you, Your Excellency," K'oron stated. "My mission was to return with the Queen, and that is what I will do."
The Emperor sighed. "K'oron, I wish to speak to you now as your friend, and not as your Emperor. I know that you have one of the strongest measures of duty of anyone I have ever met. It is a truly admirable quality. However, in this case, your first duty must be to your heart." K'oron's eyes widened on hearing the words of the Emperor.
K'oron tried to reply."Your Excellency, I do not understand..."
"Of course you do." Glars'n smiled. "I have watched the two of you interact with each other many times. I have seen the way you two look at each other when you think the other is not watching. I know the look of a yearning heart when I see it in a man's face. You care deeply about her, my friend. She brings out something in you that I have never seen before in the many cycles we have known each other. She brings out your happiness. You can be an assassin without her. You can be the leader of the Great Order without her. Yet, you will not find your true self unless she is in your life. She completes you, and I think that you may just complete her as well."
K'oron was dumbfounded. He had no reply to the words he had just heard. She does bring out the best in me. A version of myself where I am happy. I do have feelings for her. I need her in my life.
"I love her, Your Excellency," K'oron admitted not only to the Emperor but to himself as well. "I think I have for some time now."
Emperor Glars'n smiled. "I know you do. So, I ask you again, why did you not go with her?"
K'oron thought about the question. He thought about Danielle, and how much he cared for her. Then he thought about the mission. He knew what he needed to do.
"With Your Excellency's permission, I must go," K'oron smiled. "I have to go find someone."
"Do not let me keep you, my friend," the Emperor laughed. "Go find that girl, and tell her exactly how you feel!"
***
Danielle and S'ryn had followed the fleeting craft to Earth's orbit. The small craft had entered the forbidden planet's atmosphere and landed on the surface. Danielle had piloted their craft toward the same small clearing nestled in the heart of tall ancient ruins.
Upon landing, Danielle grabbed an emergency kit before they exited the ship and looked around. There were ancient buildings that stretched high into the sky. The ground beneath them consisted of some type of gray rock-like substance that was cracked everywhere, with grass and trees growing up through the cracks.
"This was the ancestral home of my people," Danielle said in amazement. "They all died many, many years ago. Our people started over on Mars. No one from Mars has ever set foot on Earth. It's been designated as forbidden to all, no exceptions. Not even the Queen can authorize travel to here."
"What a waste," S'ryn said as she gazed at the tall structures that were once buildings of some sort. "K'oron says that we can learn much by studying the errors of our ancestors. Your people should reclaim their heritage. It is a beautiful world. I have never seen a blue sky. It is unique." She continued taking in the beauty of the ancient world until something caught her attention.
"Major, I think they traveled this direction," S'ryn said pointing to some grass that had been broken.
"I think you are right," Danielle agreed. "Let's get moving."
The two women walked for over an hour, occasionally commenting quietly on something they would see. The path they followed led between numerous of the tall structures, and past many abandoned objects that almost reminded them of very small shuttlecrafts. It was getting close to nightfall and the air was starting to cool somewhat.
"They will need to find shelter soon," Danielle told the cadet with her. "Then we might see a light or a fire."
"We will need to some as well," S'ryn said with a shiver. "The temperature is dropping."
Danielle hated to admit it, but S'ryn was right. It was getting cooler as the blue sky faded into a shade of orange.
"We'll push on, just a bit more," Danielle told her. "If we don't see any sign of them soon, we'll stop for the night." S'ryn nodded her agreement, and the two continued their trek.
A few moments later, Danielle put her hand out to stop S'ryn. The cadet looked at her and saw that she was pointing to a small fire burning in the lower floor of a ruined building up ahead.
"Wait here and I'll check it out," Danielle ordered the younger woman. S'ryn frowned but nodded in agreement. She opened the emergency kit removed several disposable cold light sticks, then gave the kit to S'ryn. She took the pulse blaster from her left hip holster and handed it to the cadet. "Don't shoot unless you know what you're aiming at is a threat." S'ryn shoved the weapon in the waistband of her pants near the small of her back.
Danielle crept forward carefully and slowly, drawing her other pulse blaster from the right holster. She reached the building in question and peered through the lower corner of the broken front window. She could see the small fire burning in a metal container that had been placed in the middle of the room but saw no one.
She was startled by a sudden clank of metal and turned to see a small metal can rolling on the grey ground. She looked up and could see the shape of a short dumpy man frozen in distance. He was carrying what appeared to be wood of some kind, probably intended for the fire. I was right! I'd know that silhouette anywhere.
The man had not noticed her presence yet, and after a few seconds, he continued towards the building with the fire. Danielle watched as he entered with his armload of wood, and dumped it in a corner of the lit room. It was No'tok. He had somehow survived the destruction of his ship and escaped. She tensed as she watched him move about inside the long-abandoned building. She had found him. Not only found him but had a clear shot with the pulse blaster in her hand. It could be over in seconds. All I have to do is squeeze the trigger. Yet, for some reason, she couldn't even level the gun at the man that had caused her so much anguish. She shook her head. I've killed, but I'm not a murderer. She knew that K'oron was right. If she killed No'tok, the vile little man would win. No, she would capture him and let the Emperor hand out No'tok's fate.
She started to move quietly towards the same opening that No'tok had previously used, and accidentally brushed against the stone of the building's window ledge. She barely heard the sound of her leather outfit rubbing against the stone, but judging by the look on No'tok's face he had heard it too. The V'drellian man tensed and looked toward the broken window, then took off running deeper into the building.
He spotted me! Danielle ran after the man and called out to S'ryn before entering the building.
***
S'ryn heard Danielle's call and was about to follow the Terran woman's path when she thought she saw a movement in her peripheral vision. She snapped her head back just in time to watch a throwing knife embed itself into a nearby tree.
"Excellent reflexes," spoke a female voice from the shadows. "It seems that K'oron hasn't completely lost the nerve to teach cadets."
S'ryn turned to try and find the source of the voice. The
twilight sky was becoming darker, and S'ryn didn't like not being able to see her adversary.
"You know K'oron?" The cadet asked. She was less concerned with the answer, and more interested in which direction the answer came from.
"Yes, I know K'oron," the voice replied. "The Commandant exiled me from the Order for not treating you cadets like suckling babes."
S'ryn only knew of one person within her lifetime that had been banished from the Order, and she remembered that incident very well.
A cadet in her group, a boy named Shra'dor, had been killed while sparring with one of the older members of the Order four cycles ago. It had upset Commandant K'oron greatly, she remembered. It was not because fatal accidents had never occurred, but rather because the Order member almost seemed to enjoy it. From that day on, K'oron ordered that cadets could only practice their combat with their instructors, or each other with an instructor present. She had been witness to the boy's death, and would never forget the laugh of the Order member that killed him.
"You are Krat'sa," S'ryn responded. "I know who you are. The Commandant forbid us from speaking your name inside the Citadel and had it removed from every record of the Order. As though you never existed."
"That boy was weak," Krat'sa replied. "I did the Order a service. Had the boy had more potential and paid more attention during his lessons, perhaps he would not have died holding his spilled entrails in his arms."
"That boy was called Shra'dor," S'ryn snapped back in a venomous tone. "He had only been through basic hand-to-hand combat training, and you made him pick up a sword. He didn't want to fight you, but you mocked him and embarrassed him to the point where he had no choice."
"It matters not, I will again forget his name," Krat'sa chuckled. "Now, tell me your name, so that I may forget it as well."
"My name is S'ryn, and you will not live long enough to forget my name," the cadet answered with a voice so cold it could have frozen water into ice. "The honor of the Order demands that I kill you."
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