“Coming up on Eridanus Five”, announced Ensign Aziz.
Commander Anna Jackson didn’t respond. She had managed to clean herself up and then make her way back to the bridge. Although they had no idea why, the rest of the bridge crew had realized their Commander was not in a talking mood. The Ensign’s announcement had been the first words anyone had spoken since her return. Anna reached for the intercom.
“Major Clark.”
“Yes?”
“Major, we’re about to enter the Eridanus Five system.”
“Thank you Commander, I will join you on the bridge momentarily.”
The com switched off.
“Cutting the Dimension drive in thirty seconds,” said Aziz.
“Engine room, confirm shutdown sequence.”
“Aye, sequence initiated, shutdown in T minus twenty four seconds.”
Suddenly, on the edge of the Eridanus Five system, a vortex of light appeared. The Twilight came hurtling out of it dragging thin tendrils of light behind her. As soon as the ship had cleared the mouth of the vortex it disappeared, leaving nothing but the blackness of space. The Twilight’s conventional engines engaged and the ship made its way in-system.
“Scan for Imperial, vessels”, ordered Anna.
“Yes Commander”, replied Lt. Dolohov.
“Imperial task force detected, orbiting a moon of the fourth planet in the system.”
“Are we close enough for real time communication?” Came a voice from the behind them.
Major Clark had entered the bridge.
“Yes Major,” replied Anna.
“Lt. Dolohov, get me a priority channel to whoever’s in charge out there.”
“Yes Commander, hang on. Link established with the destroyer Thor.”
The picture of a middle aged man appeared on the main viewer.
“This is Rear-Admiral Chan, state your identity and purpose.”
Major Clark stepped in front of the viewer.
“I am Major Clark and my purpose here doesn’t concern you sir.”
Chan stiffened visibly.
“Excuse me Major?”
Clark plowed on.
“Rear-Admiral Chan, I am transmitting to you an order that comes straight from Fleet Command. It stipulates that you are to assist me in any way I deem necessary.”
Chan glanced at something beside him, he did the smallest of double takes but recovered quickly.
“Well that seems in order, so what can I do for you Major?”
“I am looking for someone”, replied Clark.
“A Sergeant by the name of Williams, he was transferred from this task force back to Earth, but he never arrived.”
Captain Chan raised his eyebrows.
“Excuse me for saying so Major, but a soldier gone missing hardly strikes me as something you would be dealing with personally.”
“Under normal circumstances I wouldn't, however these are not normal circumstances.”
“I suppose it would be foolish of me to ask what's going on,” remarked Chan.
“Yes sir it would. My systems officer is sending you the serial number of the soldier in question. I want his last known location transmitted to my ship as soon as you have it.”
“Yes Major, do you require anything else?”
“I will let you know”, said Clark.
“Very well then, Chan out.”
Major Clark turned to Anna.
“As soon as you've got those coordinates, set a course,” she said.
“Yes ma’am.”
“And after you've done that, come and see me in the briefing room.”
With that Major Clark turned on the spot and left the bridge.
Anna stared at the door Clark had just disappeared through, then turned abruptly to face her crew. They too had been staring at the door and now hastily turned back to their control panels.
“You heard the Major,” said Anna.
“Ensign Aziz, as soon as they've transmitted those coordinates, plot a course.”
“Yes Commander.”
“Commander,” interrupted Lieutenant Dolohov.
“Thor transmitting, Sergeant Andrew Williams boarded civilian freighter Rendezvous at 16:30 hours Imperial standard time. Apparently one of the task force's scout ships picked up a distress call from the freighter shortly after the Sergeant boarded.”
“Let's hear it”, replied Anna.
A panicked voice filled the bridge.
“This is the freighter Rendezvous, we are under attack by shengyet pirates. Any sips in the area this is a general distress call from the freighter Rendezvous, we are under attack. Repeat we are-”
“That's all they could pick up,” said Dolohov grimly.
“With all due respect Commander,” said Lieutenant Graham.
“I doubt very much that a cargo ship would last very long against a group of shengyet pirates. We're just wasting our time looking for Williams.”
“I agree,” said Anna.
“But Major Clark's orders were quite clear, set a course to the freighter's last known location.”
“Aye Commander,” said Aziz.
“I'll be in the briefing room,” said Anna as she left the bridge.
When she arrived, Major Clark was once again seated at the room's circular table. She had a tired, worn-out expression on her face. A sharp contrast to her crisp and alert demeanor on the bridge.
“Sit down Commander,” she said.
As Anna sat down, Clark straitened in her chair, the tired expression lessening somewhat. She scrutinized Anna intently for a moment.
“Can I trust you Commander?” She asked.
“Trust me?”
Major Clark straightened in her chair and leaned forward.
“Commander Jackson, you are here because I needed someone to lead this crew, someone who understands ship tactics and your record indicates you are one of the best.”
Major Clark was still watching her intently.
“However, due to the sensitive nature of this mission, I did a little more digging on everyone here than just going through their personnel report. What I discovered about you Commander, was something I thought might be a liability. Turns out the universe has a rather strange sense of humor and that liability might actually prove useful.”
Anna felt a lurch in her stomach.
“I don't understand Major,” she replied in as calm a tone as she could muster.
Major Clark's gaze never left Anna.
“Commander, we're short on time so I'll be blunt. I think it will be necessary to make contact with whatever is left of the shengyet in this system and you can help me do that.”
Anna's mouth went dry. How in the universe did she know and if Clark knew, why was she still in the Imperial Navy? If the screening process at the Imperial Naval Academy had picked up even a hint of her past, there was no way she would have been accepted. Major Clark must have found out about this fairly recently.
“What do you mean?” Anna asked carefully.
Major Clark smiled.
“Come now Commander, we both know what I mean. Your history is quite unique among humans.”
That was true all right, thought Anna.
It had been seventeen years ago, Anna was only five at the time, her brother just one. The transport they were on, had gone down. It had crashed on a planet in this very system. Both her parents had died; the only other person on board had been the pilot. He'd been badly wounded and died shortly after. Anna and her little brother had been stranded on that barren planet for two days. They had managed to find a little water in the cabin of the wreaked ship, but neither of them had eaten in almost three days.
A shengyet scouting party had found them there, half starved and traumatized. They had brought the children back to their camp. The group's chieftain had taken pity on the two frightened human children. Upon learning of their parent's death, he had adopted them. Anna and her brother had grown up with the other shengyet young. Scavenging whatever they could find or st
eal from Imperial convoys and hiding from Imperial fleets. It had probably not been the most ideal upbringing for a child, but she and her brother were loved and cared for. The Chieftain had never treated them as outsiders or as the offspring of his mortal enemies. As far as he was concerned, Anna and her brother had been raised by shengyet, which made them shengyet, not human.
As Anna got older however, she couldn’t help but notice how the rest of her family talked about other humans and the Empire. She couldn’t believe she came from a species that had committed the atrocities the shengyet attributed to them. On her nineteenth birthday, Anna decided to see for herself what humans were like. Her stepfather had not been pleased with her decision, but in the end he gave her his blessing. Anna had left for the nearest human colony and enrolled in the local Naval Academy. When asked about her history, she had simply said she was an orphan and had no idea who her parents were or where they came from. This was not uncommon; the Imperial war machine was mostly made up of orphans, runaways and anyone who had no other hope for a better life.
Once there Anna discovered that she was quite intelligent. Despite what most humans thought, the shengyet valued learning and knowledge. Anna had been educated along with the other shengyet children. Shengyet children were taught anything their elders thought might be useful in later life. This included human knowledge and teachings. Although most shengyet despised humans, they recognized the value of learning more about them. Anna had excelled in all her classes and was on the fast track to a lofty career in the Imperial Navy.
After a few years she had reached the rank of Commander, an impressive feat for someone so young. Anna however, had come to the conclusion that everything she had heard about her species appeared to be quite true. Her colleges were proud, arrogant and regarded all other beings as scum. She had been on the verge of resigning when she'd received Major Clark's summons.
“How did you find out?” Anna wanted to know.
“Your Brother”, replied Major Clark.
“What!?” Exclaimed Anna.
“How could you have talked to my brother?”
Major Clark sighed, she looked tired again.
“I didn't talk to him, I read Imperial Intelligence's interrogation report on him.”
Anna felt as if she'd just been punched in the stomach.
“Interrogation report?” She repeated hoarsely.
“Yes, you remember the bessra outpost that was attacked? Well, a day before the attack a squadron of Imperial fighters disabled a shengyet raider. You can imagine their surprise when they boarded it and found a human pilot. He was brought into the local Imperial Intelligence office for a debriefing. Apparently he refused to cooperate at first. Well we both know that Imperial Intelligence isn't too finicky about how they extract information. Eventually he talked; he told them that he'd been raised by a shengyet clan. He also told them about his sister, who had gone off to learn more about her fellow humans and that she'd enlisted in the Imperial Navy.”
Anna's mouth was now very dry.
“What happened to him?” She croaked.
“I'm not sure of course, but I think the reason for the attack on the outpost, was to save your brother. I can see no other reason for the shengyet to draw so much unnecessary attention to themselves. Weather it was their original intention to rescue him or not, they succeeded. We can only assume he's still with the shengyet who rescued him.”
Anna's head was spinning, there were just too many bombshells being dropped on her at once. Her brother had got himself caught by an Imperial patrol and of course Saskill had gone looking for his adopted son. Now the entire Clan had paid the price. Anna tried to pull herself together; she looked up at Major Clark.
“So you think there might be survivors?”
“I know there are survivors, Commander. That distress call we picked up from the freighter proves it.”
“So you want me to talk to the local shengyet?” Anna inquired.
“Yes Commander, I do.”
“But what makes you think that Sergeant Williams is still alive. I doubt a freighter would have lasted long against even a single shengyet raider,” said Anna.
“Sergeant Williams is one of the best soldiers the Invictus Legion has to offer, trust me Commander he's still alive.”
Anna felt a hot surge of anger at these words. So, she was here to try and rescue a member of the Invictus Legion. The Legion who had in all likelihood, just finished killing most of her friends and family. Major Clark had apparently interpreted the expression on Anna's face.
“Whatever your feelings towards the Invictus Legion or the Empire in general Commander, you are still an officer on the Imperial Navy and I expect you to follow orders,” she said.
Anna let out a snort of derision.
“Or what Major, you’ll have me court marshaled, thrown in prison?”
“I’m not threatening you Commander. I’m asking you to help me save a lot of innocent lives.”
This wasn’t what Anna had expected to hear.
“Save innocent lives?” She asked perplexed.
“I’m sorry Commander,” replied Clark.
“I know I’m asking a lot, but you’re just to have to trust me.”
“Commander,” Lt. Dolohov's voice came over the com.
“We have arrived at the Rendezvous' last known position. Our scanners have detected a trail of debris leading to the fifth planet in the system.”
Anna was about to reply, but Major Clark did it for her.
“Thank you Lieutenant, scan the planet, the Commander and I will be on the bridge shortly.”
“Understood Major,” replied Dolohov.
“Well Commander, we'd better get to the bridge,” said Clark.
Anna hesitated for a moment, then turned and left the room.
When they arrived on the bridge, the crew were discussing something on Lieutenant Dolohov's sensor readouts.
“It doesn't make sense,” Lieutenant Graham was saying.
“There's a fairly large camp down there, but according to the sensors, not a single shengyet.”
“What’s going on?” Asked Major Clark.
The bridge crew jumped and straitened into hasty salutes.
“At ease,” said Clark.
“What have you found?”
“Well Major,” replied Dolohov.
“It’s a bit strange, that’s a pretty big camp down there but I can’t find any shengyet life readings.”
“That’s exactly what you’re supposed to think,” interrupted Anna.
Everyone turned to face her.
“The shengyet will be hiding in a shielded bunker, so anyone scanning the place will think the camp is abandoned.”
Anna could tell by their expressions, that all of them except Major Clark were stunned by this pronouncement.
“Uh, with all due respect Commander, how can you be sure of that?” Asked Graham.
“Because, I’ve hidden in that bunker many times,” replied Anna.
No one said a word, then Major Clark’s voice cut through the silence.
“Lieutenant Dolohov, prepare to broadcast a message on an open frequency.”
“Yes Major,” said Dolohov tearing her eyes away from Anna.
She fiddled with the controls.
“Channel open.”
Major Clark nodded to Anna who cleared her throat, it had been a long time and humans had trouble with it at the best of times. Anna made a series of harsh rasping sounds, culminating in a strangled shriek.
The bridge was silent for a good thirty seconds. Anna was about to repeat the message when a large green face with glowing red eyes appeared on the main viewer.
“Anna?” It said in a rasping voice.
Anna nodded, an intense sense of relief flowing through her. It was a face she knew very well and if her stepfather was still alive, so were her brother and the rest of her family.
“Yes Saskill it’s me,” she replied her voice cracking with relief.
Chapter 7
Sergeant Andrew Williams peered over the cliff's edge he had been lying on for the past hour. It was the perfect location to re-con the shengyet camp from. It had a clear line of sight all the way to the camp. He sighted through the scope of his rifle, it only had a 5X magnification but that was enough. It had been enough to confirm that there was something very odd about this camp. The young man and his shengyet companion he’d seen earlier had retreated into the camp's main building.
Since then Andrew had not seen anyone emerge from any of the camp's structures. Nor had any shengyet returned to the camp and where were the fighters that had shot him down? The shengyet must have realized that something had happened to their two scouts. It was possible the reason for them not emerging, was fear that they might suffer a similar fate. That however, was contrary to everything Andrew knew about the species. He had fought against countless shengyet pirate and rebel groups and none of them could be described as cowardly. He supposed it was possible that these shengyet were afraid of further attack. If that were the case however, why had they attacked the freighter in the first place?
Well whatever it was that kept them hiding in their camp, Andrew had to find some way off this planet. That meant he needed some type of space craft and the only conceivable place of getting one was in there. Lowering his rifle and getting to his feet, he set off.
Roughly ten minutes later Andrew reached the camp’s outer buildings. He switched off his rifle's safety mechanism and crept forward. The first building he came to was almost perfectly square with a flat roof. It was made of rusted hull plates, some still baring scorch marks or bullet holes. The door consisted of a particularly large plate that was propped against the building.
Andrew’s body tensed, holding his rifle in his right hand, he used the left to push the door aside. He burst into the room beyond, to find it completely empty. There was nothing, absolutely nothing. Andrew checked the next building and the next one, they were all empty. This was getting stranger by the minute. He finally reached the large building in the center; the one he had seen the young man and the shengyet enter. Could they be the only ones in this whole camp?
As Andrew neared the building he saw a sliding hatch, part of the old cargo ship that made up most of this building. Pointing his rifle at it, he slid it open...nothing. It was empty, just like every other building. How could this be? He had seen two people enter it, where were they?
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