Close, But No Cigar

The Musings of Ed Mercer

Captain Ed Mercer pondered on all the changes he experienced recently. After just starting as captain of the USS Orville, a few tumultuous months later, he became the captain of a different exploratory class starship, the USS Xavier, subsequent to having been kidnapped, along with his ex-wife and current first officer, Commander Kelly Grayson, by a technologically advanced race known as the Calivon, who regarded those not at their technological level as inferior, to the point that they would display them in a zoo, a fate that befell Ed and Kelly until they were rescued by their now security chief Alara Kitan, who actually resigned from the Fleet at the time, and science officer Isaac, with the help of their now reinstated helmsman Gordon Malloy, then discharged from the fleet (a result of the court-martial brought about by his attempt to take a shuttle against orders and head into Calivon territory to find his friend and captain) and a band of mercenaries. As he looked around the bridge, he noted how the crew complement, including Lieutenant John Lamarr, was much the same as when he commanded the Orville, a ship now officially determined to be destroyed in a dark matter storm with all hands lost. Of course, there were differences. His second officer was no longer Lieutenant Commander Bortus, his ship's doctor was new to him, no longer was it Lieutenant Commander Claire Finn.

One thing that had remained constant was the relentlessness of the Krill, a race of pale lizard-like beings bent on conquering and attacking seemingly with abandon any and all non-Krill races and civilizations they encounter. The latest examples were the colony of Kastra 4, which the Krill attacked and practically decimated before a fleet of Union ships managed to destroy the Krill battlecruiser Kakov, and Rana 3, devastated by a neutron radiation blast that wiped out all the colony's inhabitants. The Krill destroyer that attacked it, the Yakar, was tracked down and destroyed by Union Fleet ships as well.

Yet, instead of increasing escalation, the Krill response seemed to be tempered by another development, the Calivon situation, something that the Union was feeling pressure to deal with, especially since knowledge of the zoo became public, causing much public outcry. Ed had been apprised that various scenarios are being considered, and a decision was coming down the pike. But the Planetary Union was not the only entity involved. The Krill have increasingly focused their attention on the Calivon as well since the existence of their zoo was exposed to the known galaxy, including the disclosure that there were Krill among the zoo specimens.

For now, the Xavier crew was focused on its own mission, investigation of a situation involving two anthropologists who inserted themselves into a local society on the planet of Sargus 4, now almost three months late checking in with updates on their observations. A ship would have been sent sooner, but the Calivon situation resulted in redeployments of Fleet ships in order to have an enhanced presence along the border, and only now was the Fleet starting to get back on a normal footing.

"Gordon, go to quantum and take us to Sargus 4," Ed ordered his helmsman.

"Aye, sir," Gordon responded as he complied with Ed's order.

As they headed toward their destination, Edtried not to dwell on the thought that just occurred to him, that if he werestill on the Orville when it encountered the dark matter storm, he and the membersof his bridge crew that were formerly on the Orville would have met the samefate as the others on that ship.