by Brian Fisher
Chapter 48
"Redemption, come in please." the message came across Angel's communications system, bringing her instantly to alert. She called up a series of sub-routines automatically attempting positive identification of the voice on the other end.
"This is Redemption, go ahead." she replied. It was an encoded signal without an identifier, leaving Angel still searching for identification.
"Angel, this is Commander Nor. Is the Captain available?" the voice on the other side indeed sounded like her Chief Engineer, but Angel was still uncertain.
"If you are indeed Commander Nor, then you wouldn't mind answering a few questions." Angel quickly calculated a number of questions that Kamira would know.
"Go ahead, just make it quick. I don't have a whole lot of time." Kamira sighed.
"Commander, how long have you been a crew member on Redemption?"
"I've been aboard Redemption since shortly before the Battle of Bakesh." Kamira answered quickly. "I really need to talk to Jason. Please put him on."
"Commander, what is your relationship with the Captain?" Angel persisted.
"He is my Captain, and my Husband. Put him on Angel." Kamira began to get impatient.
"Not until I am satisfied. What is your role aboard Redemption?" the voice print identification came in with a positive I.D. on Kamira. Angel kept questioning her, as she was beginning to enjoy tormenting the Commander.
"I am the Chief Engineer. Now put me through to the Captain you over built computer core!" Kamira yelled, her anger finally coming to bear.
"Commander, I am pleased to find that you are yourself. If you can wait for a moment, I will wake your husband for you." Angel smiled to herself. She found it puzzling that she had enjoyed teasing Commander Nor, but decided to keep the changes that she had been experiencing to herself.
"Thank you Angel." Kamira regained her composure as Angel went silent.
A few moments passed as Angel watched her Captain. Watching the gentle rise and fall of his chest gave her yet another new sensation. Logic could not explain or quantify what she felt. She knew what she was, and that Captain Jason McWilliams was human, a married human. She knew that those facts could never change the way that she felt about the man. She knew, beyond any doubt, that if anyone were to hurt him, she would wipe them from existence.
"Captain, I have an important message for you." Angel appeared beside the cot that he had set up in his ready room. She watched patiently as he gradually stirred and woke up.
"Huh?" Jason grumbled, wiping the sleep from his eyes. "Who is it?" he sat up and stretched, trying to stifle a yawn as he did so. His hair was wild, and there was dark red stubble across his cheeks and chin.
"It's your wife sir." Angel stated as plainly as she could. She knew that he would be excited to here from Kamira, and wished that it was her instead.
"What? Put her through!" Jason practically leapt to his feet and nearly tripped. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying futilely to straighten it. Realizing that it was a lost cause, he gave up.
"Jason?" Kamira's voice came over the com. Her voice was disembodied for a moment, before Angel disappeared, letting Kamira's form take her place.
"Yeah Kam, are you alright? Where are you? Who are you with? Are you hurt?" the questions tumbled uninhibited from Jason's mouth, without bothering to let his brain filter them out. He had wanted to talk to his wife for so long now, and this was his chance.
"I'm o.k. Are you o.k.?" Kamira kept her voice as level as she could, trying desperately not to breakdown and cry.
"I'm alright. Redemption got hit pretty bad though. We're still making repairs. Where are you?" Jason regained his composure. He wanted to reach through space and hold his wife tight, so that she could never be pulled away from him again.
"I don't know exactly where I am, but we crashed and I'm trying to make repairs." she steeled herself for the multitude of questions that she knew would follow.
"Who is 'we'?" Jason asked quietly. He knew that T'Sula was there somewhere, but he didn't know who else would be.
"Well, it's me, Corin Dante, and Brutus. T'Sula had been here, but she was taken by the Regiment." Kam paused, fixing Jason with a steady gaze. "I'm going to need some schematics from Angel."
"She'll give you anything you need Kam. I'm familiar with everybody you named, except Brutus. Who's he?" Jason asked. T'Sula he knew, Corin he had come across while doing an investigation, but he had no idea who Brutus was.
"Brutus is Corin's cat." Kamira kept a straight face, not telling Jason about his size. In truth, Brutus belonged to no one. A Darwinian Sand Panther went and did as they saw fit. Brutus simply wanted to be with Corin Dante.
"Oh. Okay." Jason said simply, stifling a yawn. "Do you trust Corin Dante?" he asked. From what he had seen, he wasn't sure if he trusted him at all.
"Jason, Corin saved my life. He saved T'Sula's life, and he helped me reprogram the force fields around Olcai's core. So in effect, he also helped to save Olcai." Kamira started to yell at her husband, then stopped herself. "I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that. Jason, I love you." she began to cry, letting the tears flow that she had been holding back.
"I love you too Kam." Jason took a deep breath before continuing. "I thought that maybe you had something to do with saving Olcai. You did real good honey. Look, if you trust this Corin, then I will too." Jason rubbed his eyes. He was still tired, but there was no possible way that he was going back to sleep now. "I know how to find where you are. Major Narja placed a homing device on your ship, and we should be able to track it. We just haven't been in any condition to go get you."
"How is Narja?" Kamira asked, managing to stop the flow of tears. She wanted this war to be over so badly. It was all that anyone could remember. Always fighting, never anything else.
"He'll be alright." Jason paused for a moment. "Wait a second, did you mention the Regiment?"
"I did. They have T'Sula." Kamira glanced away, looking at something that Jason could not see. There was pain in her voice, an anger that could barely be contained. "We have to get her back."
"We'll get her back. I promise." Jason held back his feelings, his thoughts about the Regiment and the Ta'Reeth. If they had T'Sula Mir, they were in for a whole new world of trouble. He just wanted a front row seat. "T'Sula can take care of herself Kam. We have to trust her in that."
"I know, it's just that I don't think we have much time." Kamira fixed her husband with a steady gaze. "She has what they want. She's carrying the reason that they destroyed Olcai, Jason. It's not a something, it's her. Whatever it is, it's inside her."
"Oh my God." Jason sat stunned. He knew that they had been after something, he just hadn't known what. T'Sula was in trouble, she was in big trouble. "I'll be there as soon as possible, until then just do what you can."
"I will. Please hurry." Kamira looked slightly relieved as she shimmered above Jason's desk.
"Angel, I need you to give Kamira your full cooperation." Jason told the A.I. without taking his eyes off his wife. "What is our status?"
"Sir we will be operational in approximately an hour. Any repairs not completed by that time can be done en route." Angel reported.
"Excellent. Did you hear that Kam?" Jason asked his wife. Finally, he would be on the move again.
"I did. That's good. Listen, I'm sending you a data package. Make sure that you check it out. It's important. I'd really like to talk some more, but I have a lot of work to do." Kamira glanced up at Jason, not allowing herself to be overwhelmed by her emotions again. "I've already downloaded what I need from Angel. Thank you. I love you, and I'll see you soon." Kamira said as she severed the connection.
Jason sat silently at his desk, stunned. There were so many things that he had wanted to tell Kamira, and had not gotten the chance. He still had so much to do before Redemption would actually be ready for a fight, and there was no way of knowing how long he actually had. The Resistance hadn't made a serious move yet, and the Regiment was now involve
d. What was it that T'Sula had anyway?
Not wanting to be caught off guard again, Jason willed himself into action. After all, he was still a Starship Captain. He accessed the data package that Kamira had sent and quietly reviewed its contents.
It was still dark when Jason entered the bridge. The repairs were nearly complete, but he could still hear the drones working.
"Captain?" the voice from the darkness startled Jason. He thought that he recognized it, but it sounded strained.
"Narja?" he asked tentatively, turning to see where the voice had come from.
