Gabatrix: The Shira Maneuver

Chapter 12: Accolade

It had been a couple of days since the Skirmish in the Picaro Asteroid Belt. Rumors had spread around the planet of Aphadus and all of the UWA worlds. While the attack was primarily mute due to the influx of on and off attacks from the Aksren and Shal'rein clans, there was something vastly different with this skirmish. Not only did a military transport survive the battle, but it was commanded by a prior defector of the Shal'rein clan. The media had been broadcasting this story over and over again the day prior. At first, people questioned the authenticity of such a claim, but the UHN did have veritable proof. It was shocking and something that almost brought the full attention of the population. Like anything, only time would start to devalue the story as new ones would come to replace it.

The Jian Seng had to be abandoned and towed to a base. The damage it had suffered was significant. Javier could only remember the rescuing personnel in spacesuits that had to transgress through most of the interior to get to each set of closed-off personnel. There was just enough power to slow the ship to a complete stop as the UHN Protectora would mount a rescue. Two-thirds of the vessel was vented into the vacuum of space, but it could have easily been far worse. In the end, of the 40 crew members of the Jian Seng, only 25 survived. Most died from the ensuing battle at first, but a few others would die from their wounds later on. The remaining UHN personnel was brought back to Aphadus for further treatment.

Javier had a quiet walk with Shira down the passageway to the Fleet Admiral's stateroom. Unlike the last several days, she was not in any trouble. The request from Anaya only seemed to have a glint of good news, but regardless, many things were on Javier's mind. He was not shaken up by the events of the last couple of days, but his thoughts did go out to the crew. What would happen to them was something that he did his best to not think about. He had only seen a couple of the crew but had little luck otherwise. Debriefings had become the highlight of arrival. Some he remembered gave a surprising look at Shira upon learning of her actions, which she, in turn, seemed unimpressed.

Regardless, Javier was genuinely curious as to what Anaya wanted. Shira's jumpsuit uniform was neatly pressed with her fin-like tail that delicately twitched and cut the air where she moved. The shark-like woman walked with her hands neatly clasped to her back. By the time they reached the sliding doors of Anaya's stateroom, he had to ask Shira the few questions that perforated his mind before speaking with the Fleet Admiral.

"That was close, wasn't it?" he asked her.

"In what way do you mean that? A victory is a victory," she calmly told him.

"I really wonder why the Fleet Admiral wants to see us. We already went through all of this. Now here we are again."

"I am quite sure as to what it is that she wants to discuss."

"And that would be?" he asked.

"She will tell us. It would become redundant information if I told you now."

"Hmmm......" he wondered as he had a smirk on his face. "I can tell that you are anticipating this."

"I do my best to never show my emotions. What makes you say that?"

"Your tail tends to wag a little bit, but I only see it a couple of times. I don't know. I might be wrong."

"It is good that you are trying to read me. Observation is a key to survival that few humans and Itreans tend to have. However, I would tell you that you need to observe my inflections further to properly read me. I could also just have a twitch in my tail as you claim with it having no conjunction whatsoever with how I am feeling."