lay a nest of cloaking mines and get us to fly straight into them.” Caldin turned to the comm officer and said, “Grimsby, send out a nova to investigate.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
They had just one qualified nova pilot left besides the pair they’d sent aboard the Rescue, and Captain Adan Reese who was still locked up in the brig.
A moment later the comm officer looked up from his station with wide eyes.
“What is it, Grimsby?”
“The cruiser’s hailing us, ma’am.”
Silence fell across the bridge.
Caldin blinked. “They’re what?” In all the engagements they’d ever had with Sythians and Gors, they’d never once been hailed. The only communication they’d ever had between sides had come after the war, and then it had been direct, face to face contact with Gors as a result of exploring the Getties Cluster. Caldin had led that expedition herself, and she’d returned home with a trio of Gor captives—Tova, Roan, and Edasa. She’d killed Edasa with an unauthorized mind probe, earning herself a demotion from Captain to Commander and almost costing the overlord his precious alliance. As for the Sythians, apparently they never ventured out in anything smaller than one of their 30 kilometer-long behemoth-class cruisers. Those ships stayed cloaked behind the lines, and had never been so much as glimpsed by humans. As such, the first time humans had ever laid eyes on one of the elusive Sythians had been when the Tova and Roan had captured High Lord Kaon of the Sythian First Fleet and given him to the overlord to support their story and cement the alliance between humans and Gors.
“Open the comms, and bring them on screen if you can, Grimsby.”
“Opening comms. There’s no visual.”
The next thing they heard was—“ Defiant, this is Captain Adram of the Interloper, attached to the Fifth Fleet Remnant. We heard you needed assistance.”
Caldin gaped at her comm officer and then turned absent-mindedly to the viewports and gazed out into space. “ Interloper, this is Deck Commander Caldin of the Defiant . . . you’re not exactly what we were expecting.”
“Safer to travel out here this way.”
“Roger that, Interloper. I’m assuming you must have the Rescue on board?”
“We do. One moment—”
“Commander, we made it!” That voice belonged to Petty Officer Cobrale Delayn. A few relieved sighs rose up from the Defiant’s crew.
“Am I glad to hear your voice, Delayn!” Caldin said.
“The feeling’s mutual, Commander.”
“What took you so long?”
“Sythian ships aren’t as fast as ours, ma’am, but you’ve got to see this beasty from the inside—creepy as the netherworld and just as dark.”
Caldin nodded. “I suspect we’re all going to be seeing a lot more of her than we’d like.”
“Roger that—here’s the captain again, ma’am.”
“ Defiant, I hate to interrupt a happy reunion, but we’ve taken a long detour from our original mission to pick you all up. Please proceed to the following coordin—hold on a second, Defiant .”
Caldin listened with a frown to the hiss of static which accompanied that pause in the captain’s transmission. He was back a second later and sounding tense. “ Defiant, we’re detecting multiple Sythian warships de-cloaking in this orbital. They’re surrounding you as we speak.”
Caldin turned from the viewports to see Goldrim look up from the gravidar station with wide eyes and an ashen face. “He’s right, ma’am.”
“We see them, Interloper,” Caldin said,“butwe’re undermanned and damaged. We could use your help!”
In the next instant space shimmered and a lavender-hued ship de-cloaked right in front of them. A wave of alien missiles spun out toward them before Caldin could even react. “Evasive action!” she said.
The comms crackled with the Interloper’s reply, “Negative, Defiant, our mission cannot be compromised. We’ll send someone back for you in case you survive.”
Caldin shook her head,
“Yes, ma’am.”
They had just one qualified nova pilot left besides the pair they’d sent aboard the Rescue, and Captain Adan Reese who was still locked up in the brig.
A moment later the comm officer looked up from his station with wide eyes.
“What is it, Grimsby?”
“The cruiser’s hailing us, ma’am.”
Silence fell across the bridge.
Caldin blinked. “They’re what?” In all the engagements they’d ever had with Sythians and Gors, they’d never once been hailed. The only communication they’d ever had between sides had come after the war, and then it had been direct, face to face contact with Gors as a result of exploring the Getties Cluster. Caldin had led that expedition herself, and she’d returned home with a trio of Gor captives—Tova, Roan, and Edasa. She’d killed Edasa with an unauthorized mind probe, earning herself a demotion from Captain to Commander and almost costing the overlord his precious alliance. As for the Sythians, apparently they never ventured out in anything smaller than one of their 30 kilometer-long behemoth-class cruisers. Those ships stayed cloaked behind the lines, and had never been so much as glimpsed by humans. As such, the first time humans had ever laid eyes on one of the elusive Sythians had been when the Tova and Roan had captured High Lord Kaon of the Sythian First Fleet and given him to the overlord to support their story and cement the alliance between humans and Gors.
“Open the comms, and bring them on screen if you can, Grimsby.”
“Opening comms. There’s no visual.”
The next thing they heard was—“ Defiant, this is Captain Adram of the Interloper, attached to the Fifth Fleet Remnant. We heard you needed assistance.”
Caldin gaped at her comm officer and then turned absent-mindedly to the viewports and gazed out into space. “ Interloper, this is Deck Commander Caldin of the Defiant . . . you’re not exactly what we were expecting.”
“Safer to travel out here this way.”
“Roger that, Interloper. I’m assuming you must have the Rescue on board?”
“We do. One moment—”
“Commander, we made it!” That voice belonged to Petty Officer Cobrale Delayn. A few relieved sighs rose up from the Defiant’s crew.
“Am I glad to hear your voice, Delayn!” Caldin said.
“The feeling’s mutual, Commander.”
“What took you so long?”
“Sythian ships aren’t as fast as ours, ma’am, but you’ve got to see this beasty from the inside—creepy as the netherworld and just as dark.”
Caldin nodded. “I suspect we’re all going to be seeing a lot more of her than we’d like.”
“Roger that—here’s the captain again, ma’am.”
“ Defiant, I hate to interrupt a happy reunion, but we’ve taken a long detour from our original mission to pick you all up. Please proceed to the following coordin—hold on a second, Defiant .”
Caldin listened with a frown to the hiss of static which accompanied that pause in the captain’s transmission. He was back a second later and sounding tense. “ Defiant, we’re detecting multiple Sythian warships de-cloaking in this orbital. They’re surrounding you as we speak.”
Caldin turned from the viewports to see Goldrim look up from the gravidar station with wide eyes and an ashen face. “He’s right, ma’am.”
“We see them, Interloper,” Caldin said,“butwe’re undermanned and damaged. We could use your help!”
In the next instant space shimmered and a lavender-hued ship de-cloaked right in front of them. A wave of alien missiles spun out toward them before Caldin could even react. “Evasive action!” she said.
The comms crackled with the Interloper’s reply, “Negative, Defiant, our mission cannot be compromised. We’ll send someone back for you in case you survive.”
Caldin shook her head,
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