Unity

Chapter 33

While the marines prepped for our departure, I made my way back to the bridge. Luckily, with the main power restored, the transport tubes were working again. The moment I stepped onto the bridge; I called out for a status report.

Lt. Smith, the communications officer, was the first to speak. "We have internal communications functioning. External communications are still down, but we found a way to route external communications through the Orion."

Lt. Haas reported next, "We've got navigation back online. Engines are going through a full diagnostic but should be ready shortly. Weapons are still down, and we're still getting some reports of intermittent power. Your chair is still not functional. Sorry Admiral. It wasn't deemed a critical system."

"That's fine. I won't need it for now," I replied. This gained me some strange looks. "Any idea how long it will be before we have weapons control?"

"Not for a while," admitted the weapons officer.

"Can we still launch ships?" I asked.

"Yes sir," answered Lt. Haas. "What do you have in mind?"

"A little plan I have been thinking about," I answered. "We need to disappear for a while. It would be better if everyone thought we were dead. Prep a cruiser for launch and instruct them to drop some high explosive missiles rigged with a remotely activated timer. I'll let you know when to set the timers, but for now, prepare to jump. I want to stay in system but remain hidden."

"What if we jump further out, but on the other side of Narrisal?" asked Lt. Haas. "Everyone will be looking for us here."

"I like where you are going with this," I replied with a smile. "Prepare jump coordinates. Triple the distance between us and the planet. Engage full AAFG armor right before we jump. Also, call Commander Turner up here and let him know he's in charge. I'll be making rounds through the ship. Notify me when everything is in place." The bridge was a flurry of activity as I stepped out. I had full confidence that my crew could handle this.

I located Sergeant Collins and headed to his location. I used the time to formulate plans of how to capture Zalix. I toyed with the idea of an execution, but I knew if we wanted peace with the Tuleeriri, I would have to let them handle their traitor. Once I reached the hangar where the marines were waiting, I had a pretty good idea of what to do, but first, I needed to fake our deaths. I walked in the hangar and saw the marines loading crates onto a ship. The ship was about the same size as a cruiser, but that is where the similarities stopped. The ship was a sleek design. It was triangular shaped, like an arrowhead, but the bottom was completely flat, and it had a very low profile. It looked like there would be barely enough room to stand in it.

I boarded the ship as the last crate was being stowed. The first room was a small cargo hold that also doubled as a staging area. There was a hatch on the floor that would allow the occupants to cut their way onto an enemy ship. Along the walls were seats where the marines would strap in during flight. I walked through a short hallway and saw a room on the left with bunks stacked close together and bathrooms on the right. The bridge consisted of four seats, the first two of which were occupied by the pilots. Sergeant Collins sat on the left, so I claimed the empty seat to the right.

"Ready to go Captain?" Sergeant Collins asked.

"Just about," I answered. "Waiting for the bridge to give us the go ahead. I don't want to leave until I'm sure I can kill us." Both pilots looked back at me like I had lost my mind. "I'm faking our death." I explained. "I'm guessing that a ship this size doesn't have jump drives on board. That means they will be able to see us leave on long range scanners before we can get there. The Unity is going to fake a self-destruct at the same time it jumps out. We'll stay behind and make our way back to Narrisal. If all goes well, everyone will believe we're dead. That will make our jobs that much easier." I paused to let the information sink before I asked, "How long will it take for us to reach Narrisal?"