Lessons in the Stars

Chapter 8 - Heartfelt Truths

Jon let out a few choice curses under his breath. They were gathered around the Bridge's main computer, the retrieved data pad plugged in. Rogue shook her head.

"This was all planned." Sam looked away, "How could humanity's senior General be party to that?"

Rogue closed the file, "For some people money and power means more than their fellow race." She sounded bitter.

"So, the entire thing was an orchestrated deal between the Daemoniums and the General? I still don't understand it." Benny wished it wasn't true. The General was someone they had always looked up to and admired, the person who commanded them all. The person they would have been serving in just a couple months.

"Yep." Rogue sighed, "The plan was for the Daemoniums to take control of the Starfleet for a short time period, then gather a certain number of people from Orion with no opposition. The Daemoniums got tough slaves and in exchange they would give General Hash an extremely powerful and valuable energy source.

"We can't let him get away with this!" Scarlett exclaimed. The others stared at her, they had never heard Scarlett express so much emotion over anything before. "We trusted him, everyone in Starfleet did, and he does this. We need to stop them!"

"Agreed," came the chorus of agreement.

Rogue rested her hand on Scarlett's shoulder, "Any ideas anyone?"

Scarlett nodded, "The Daemoniums are vulnerable to Argon gas."

"Okay..." Jon prompted.

"Every Saturday, the Earth-base is set to reboot all oxygen stores automatically. If we can change the settings, and mix in some Argon gas, the Daemoniums would breathe it in. The gas would weaken them enough for us to get in and neutralise the leader. Due to the way their bodies are built, the Argon gas acts as a poison to their blood. They can't handle it, they would collapse into pieces for at least twelve hours, meaning we could free the captured fleet officers and reclaim the base." Scarlett explained.

"Scarlett, you are a genius!" Sam exclaimed.

"I know." Scarlett cocked her head, obviously confused. "I have a genius level IQ."

"That's not what I... Just forget it," Sam finished with a short laugh.

"Well, that means we have three days to get it all set up and get ready. So, we have got to get to work," Jon ordered.

"Wilco." Rogue grinned at him. The prospect of actually winning had brightened her mood.

They talked over details for several hours before realising that they needed to find a place to load up on Argon gas. They set the ship to go back to Bal'Takar for supplies. When they arrived, Cas'ta was over the moon to see them again, and very willing to help, even going as far as to send people to look at Rogue's adopted Starfighter. They fixed a few of the minor problems in the wiring and then left the students to their mission.

Jon left Scarlett in charge of the Argon, which she locked it away in a holding tank. When they had returned to Bal'Takar, there was only a day and a half until their plan needed to be put into action and all they could do was wait. They ended up back on the recreation deck.

"You know, we never did get to finish our game of truth or dare," Benny reminded them all. "We could finish that? Though we might as well just call it Truth, and forget about the dare part." His voice conveyed his uncertainty, and he glanced towards Rogue. Rogue took a deep breath and nodded her assent. The others also muttered their agreement.