Unity

Chapter 30

I woke up feeling better than I had in days, and I even managed to get some PT in. I had just gotten out of the shower and was getting dressed when I heard a knock on my door. I found the situation odd. Normally, the bridge would have paged me if something was wrong, or somebody was looking for me, so I dressed quickly and opened the door. Without saying a word, Shahae walked past me and started setting up a miniature holotable in my office.

"Good morning to you too," I said, a little put off that she hadn't even acknowledged my presence yet. She was so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn't respond. Shaking my head, I went and grabbed a protein bar I kept in stock for times like these. I was hoping to grab some actual food in the galley, but it looked like things weren't going to turn out that way.

I finished choking down my protein bar at about the same time Shahae finished setting up. She stood up and started looking around. "Welcome," I said, standing behind her. She jumped and let out a little yelp. I couldn't help but laugh. This earned me a smack in the arm. "So, are you going to talk, or is this a silent meeting?"

"My apologies," she replied. "It has been such a busy and exciting morning. There is so much going on, it's hard for me to focus on everything."

"You're forgiven," I said. "Besides, hearing the fearless Shahae yelp like a scared little girl was well worth it." I couldn't help but laugh again, especially after she glared at me and threatened to hit me again. Once we had both calmed down, I asked, "So, what is so important that brought you to my office unannounced?"

She barely contained her excitement as she said, "Queen Shaniir has decided to make an offensive strike against the Zrynt today."

"She what!?" I yelled angrily. "What was the point of asking advice if she is going to ignore it? Doesn't she realize that it's not only her people at stake, but mine as well?"

The excitement in Shahae's face was quickly replaced with anger. "Will you stop talking and listen?" Shahae yelled as she slapped her hand on the table. This sudden outburst caught me off guard.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. "I guess I had better hear everything before passing judgment. What does she have planned?"

Shahae took a deep calming breath before responding. "You may have heard how we lost our colony that supplied most of our food. Queen Shaniir has made taking back that colony a priority. The name of the planet is Fraewei, and it is an extremely fertile planet. We developed technology that allowed us to harvest crops at an accelerated rate. We have converted most of the planet's surface into farmland."

"How do you know it's still usable?" I interjected.

"We sent a ship to scout the system," she answered. She then activated the holotable, and I saw two bright yellow stars orbiting each other. Orbiting the two stars was a single planet. I was about to ask a question when Shahae stopped me. "Yes, there are two stars in a stable orbit, as well as a habitable planet. The rarity of this system is beyond comprehension, but we must focus on the matter at hand." She manipulated the image, so it focused on Fraewei. As the display zoomed in, I could see the green hue of the planet. I also saw many black objects in orbit around the planet.

"Are those Zrynt ships?" I asked.

"Yes," she answered. "Instead of decimating the planet and moving on, it appears that the Zrynt are making use of its bountiful harvests. We believe most of the ships in orbit are cargo ships, waiting to be filled. If we can strike before they have a chance to fill those ships and leave, then we can deal a significant blow to the Zrynt, while securing the supplies for ourselves."

I could see now why she was so excited. "You think that those ships will be filled and leave soon?" I inquired.

"Yes. According to the data we received before we lost that system, a fourth of the planet will be ready to harvest today."