Never Too Late

Chapter 1

"Bravo Team I have an update on the target." Kenzi spoke into her linkcomm, "I'm sending you the new position now."

"Copy that, Control," Bravo Team leader replied. "I'm receiving the new nav point."

Kenzi leaned back on her chair and watched everything play out on her screens. She stretched out her legs and leaned back on her chair with her hands behind her head. This was so relaxing, she could almost fall asleep.

From the shuttlecraft, she could control all the elements of the operation without having to step a foot out in the hostile environment. The frozen planet of Niruri lay out in front of her on the shuttlecraft's viewscreen like a picturesque painting. The best seat on the house. Nice and comfy. It was on missions like these that she especially enjoyed her job.

She chuckled to herself. While Bravo Team was freezing their asses off in the subzero temperatures, she got to sit here and enjoy the view. Not bad. If she had a drink with her, this could be almost like a vacation. This could be...

A long beep accompanied by flashing red dots on a terminal screen interrupted her gloating.

"What the..." Kenzi sat up so fast her arm smacked the side of the station as she righted herself. "Ow..." She muttered as her fingers flew to the holo keys to bring up the data in front of her.

"Impossible." She gasped as she quickly analyzed the reading. Even as she was reading it, more dots were showing up on the screen. "No...no..."

It couldn't be possible. About a dozen red flashing dots seemed to appear out of nowhere. There was no place to hide on a planet like Niruri, and yet here it was, dots showing up on her screen when they had no business being there.

She jumped on the comms, "Command, this is Control, we might have a problem."

"Go ahead, Control." The UFS Caspian's CIC answered her hail a couple of minutes later while she waited tensely. The planet's magnetic core was causing interference with comms to the ship. She immediately recognized the voice of Lt. Yarlen, her commanding officer and counterpart on the ship controls for this mission.

"Sir, my sensors have picked up fourteen unknown heat signatures on the planet surface." Kenzi explained her findings and analysis. "They were not there when I ran a complete sweep of the planet. I don't know how the sensors could have missed them." She concluded.

"Have you accounted for the magnetic core interfering with the sensor sweeps?"

"I took that into account, Sir, and recalibrated the sensors. There should be no false readings." She replied. "But I double checked my data and ran another assay suite to be sure. It's not an error, Sir. Something or someone has the ability to hide from our sensors.”

"That is a disturbing problem, Lieutenant." Lt. Yarlen said.

"Yes, sir. Permission to engage?"

"You can decide on the appropriate action."

"Yes, sir. I am requesting air support at the LZ."

"Alpha Squadron is on its way."

"Copy that. Control out." She flipped to the comms with her team. "Bravo Team, this is Control, we have a situation at the LZ."

"What's the situation, Control?" Troy Ronso's voice was calm and clear over the comm.

"I have fourteen unknown heat signatures on the southern border. They're heading in the direction of the shuttlecraft." She told him.

"Where did they come from?" He sounded puzzled. "I thought us and the good doctor were the only souls crazy enough to be on this hunk of frozen rock."

"I don't know how that could have happened." She admitted.

"Any matches for the signatures?"

"No. No IDs."

"Fourteen unfriendlies are a lot to handle on your own, Miya." Wilson commented.

"What's your order, Control?" Troy asked.

"Stay on your target, Lieutenant, I have air support coming." She told him. "Besides, the team's too far away to be of any good to me."

"You have it under control, Miya?" Troy sounded a little concerned.

"Control is my middle name."

Troy and the others chuckled.

"I knew we should've taken the shuttlecraft with the turret." Wilson said.

"That's a big boy weapon, Wilson, you couldn't handle it." Diaz said.

"Are you implying something, Diaz? Didn't I show you enough control last..."

"People, focus." Troy interrupted. "Let's bag our target and get back to the LZ to save Miya."

Kenzi scoffed. "I'll be waiting with bated breath, Ronso. Control out."

She flipped off the comm and concentrated on the data in front of her. The blinking red dots on her screen was moving faster than any normal human could move, even with booster equipment on. It could be an alien life form, but the entire Anteus System was uninhabited with Niruri being the closest nontoxic surface. So what were those dots? And why were they making straight for her shuttlecraft?

Kenzi got off her cushy chair and reached for her weapon. Maybe it was time to find out.