So, what is this?” Andy asked, leaning forward and pointing to another button on the console.

“The port and starboard weapon turrets. If you push this one, there are slides on each side that will extend. Each contains an XE450 laser cannon. Whoever owned this ship before made sure that it was upgraded with the best equipment. The XE450 came out fifteen years ago. I would say the ship was in the landing bay for at least three years based on the records I was able to retrieve,” Edge explained.

He looked up when Lina stepped onto the bridge. They had been traveling for three days and had just left the inner boundaries of the Waxian star system. Andy and Mirela were very enthusiastic about learning how to operate the ship and its weaponry.

“How long will it take until we arrive on Rathon?” Lina asked, sliding into one of the vacant seats.

“A month, possibly longer. We will be traveling through some hostile regions and must proceed cautiously,” he explained.

Andy turned in her seat to grin at Lina. “We couldn’t have found a more kickass spaceship. This thing is fully loaded! It has shields and blasters and supercharged engines,” she crowed with a beaming grin. “Gail and I are going to go check out the upper and lower gun turrets.”

Lina chuckled. “You sound just like Bailey, only she was raving about the medical unit,” she replied.

Gail snorted. “You should have heard Mechelle talking about the galley and the washing machines. She also found out where the captain was stashing her personal items,” she said.

“Her?” Lina replied in surprise.

Gail nodded. “We are assuming it is a she. It would appear the former captain liked to wear fine clothing on occasion along with lots of black leather,” she said.

“I wonder what happened to her?” Lina speculated.

Andy shrugged. “Her loss is our gain. We’ll see you later,” she said, rising from the co-pilot seat.

Lina nodded. Edge didn’t comment, his gaze was focused on Lina. He waited until Andy and Gail left before he reached over, cupped Lina’s hand, and brought it to his lips.

“Bailey told me that you’ve been by the medical unit,” she murmured, searching his face.

Edge felt his gut tighten in response. He slowly released her hand and turned back in his seat. Staring out into space, he didn’t reply at first.

“It is nothing,” he finally responded.

He turned his head when Lina touched his arm. Tightening his lips, he shook his head and focused on the scanners.

“I thought the residual effects from the drugs had almost stopped,” she continued.

“I told you, it is nothing,” he said.

She released a loud sigh. “What are you doing?” she asked, changing the subject.

“The shield systems are emitting an unusual signal. It doesn’t happen often, but I don’t want to meet up with any Waxian or Drethulan forces and suddenly discover the shields are not at one hundred percent,” he said, checking the system again and continuing to explain about the other systems on-board.

In the back of his mind, he deduced that Bailey must have suggested to Lina that she should stay close to him. The thought of his weakness gnawed at him. The episodes of uncontrollable shivers and the visions of insects crawling out of the walls and over his body were less frequent, but they still left him weak and his mind filled with chaos. The unbidden, mind-shattering swirling of random thoughts and flashes of memories worried him the most.

Even now, he fought against the trembling and visions. His fingers itched to crush the insects climbing out of the console in front of him. He had to keep telling himself that none of them were real.

The surgery bed scanner was still analyzing the compound that Deppar had used on him. Bailey had sympathetically explained that it would probably take some time and that he might need to accept that there would always be moments in his life when he might suffer from flashbacks. There had been no need for him to ask Bailey what she meant.

“Is there anything I can do to help you?” Lina asked when his voice faded.

He understood the double meaning in her words. Turning to look at her, he could see the troubled expression in her eyes. He decided right then and there that he would thank the Goddess every day for sending him such a beautiful warrior to be his Amate.

“Stay close to me,” he admitted.

She stood up, wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, and pressed a kiss to his forehead. The simple, intimate act had the power to still the trembling in his hands and calm the doubts in his mind. He was about to pull her onto his lap when the sound of an alarm resonated from the console. They both turned to look down at the screen.

“What is it?” she asked with a frown.

His lips tightened. “We have company. Warn the others,” he instructed.

Lina nodded and turned. He heard her shouting to the others as he scanned the visuals appearing on the screen in front of him. A Waxian Class One Starcruiser. It was one of the oldest and smallest of the Waxian warships, but it was still deadly.

Data that he had forgotten suddenly filled his mind. The Class One could hold a crew of one hundred, along with fifteen fighter ships. Twin C-10 laser cannons on the upper sections were protected by smaller automated turrets. There were four small C-5 laser cannons located at the bow and stern of the Starcruiser. Both sets of cannons had a limited range of fire.

His attention snapped to the communications controls when the console lit up, indicating an incoming message. He was surprised when a Waxian hologram suddenly appeared on the screen. This must have been the previous captain of the ship.

“This is the Dauntless Explorer, freighter license XZ528, state your business,” the automated voice stated.

“This is Captain Adkindas of the Waxian forces. Under the orders of the Prime Ruler, you are to be boarded for inspection,” the Waxian captain replied.

The image next to him flickered, before repeating itself. There was a moment of silence on the other end. Edge used the time to program a new trajectory.

“I repeat. This is Captain Adkindas. Prepare to be boarded or we will disable your vessel,” Adkindas ordered.

“This is the Dauntless Explorer….” the computer-generated image began to repeat before Edge cut it off.

He opened internal communications. It went against every atom in his body to put the women at risk and ask them to fight back. The ship was small enough and fast enough to outrun the Starcruiser but not the fighters onboard. If they jumped now, it would burn crucial energy and leave them vulnerable because the fighters would simply follow them. They needed to disable the Starcruiser first.

He activated the shields and powered up the gun turrets. Whether he liked it or not, if they were to survive this journey, he would have to depend on the women.

“I’ve activated the gun turrets. Be prepared for a fight,” he calmly stated over the central communications system.

A startled chuckle escaped him when he heard the loud responses. The hoots and hollers followed by ‘hot damn’, ‘yippie-ki-yay’, and ‘let’s kick some ass’ were far different from the familiar responses of his peers. He looked over in surprise when Lina reappeared next to him.

“I’m your co-pilot. I don’t know shit about flying a spaceship, but if you have weapons controls here and can tell me which buttons to push, I’m pretty damn good at that,” she said with a grim smile. “Gail has the top turret. Mirela and Mechelle have the two sides while Andy has the bottom one. They are all kick-ass shooters. Bailey will monitor them, and she has the sick bay ready in case we need it.”

Edge cast a quick glance at her before he focused on the first target. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you had practice at this,” he teased.

She was quiet for a brief second before she replied. “We did—against the Trivators,” she said.

Before he could reply, a group of fighters began pouring out of the back of the Starcruiser. They had the element of surprise in the well-armed ship they had appropriated, and the women were well versed in using it. The first four fighters were destroyed the moment they were visible. Lina was right, the women were kick-ass shooters.

“Shields are up. Lina, aim for the top turrets. We have to take out the largest cannons,” he ordered, guiding their smaller spacecraft toward the Starcruiser.

* * *

Nebula One:

Jag looked over the reports coming in. He glanced up when the door opened and Thunder and Vice walked in. He nodded to the two men before returning his focus to the most current reports from Jordan Sampson.

“Torch has installed the cloaking system, and it is online and working. Those Kassisan bastards have some very interesting technology. I’m glad they are on our side,” Thunder commented, turning around the chair across from Jag so he could sit down.

Vice did the same with the other chair. “I’d feel a lot better if we knew what else they had,” he added.

Jag frowned at the two warriors. The conditions on the Nebula One were more relaxed than normal, but he was still their commanding officer. He could tell by the way they glanced at each other that they were baiting him.

Lifting his hand, he rotated the holographic screen so that each man could see it. He sat back and waited as they scanned the material. Their eyebrows rose in surprise and Vice softly whistled.

“Oculus IX destroyed? Prymorus has taken over as Prime Ruler, and the might of the Waxian military forces are searching for an escaped Trivator and his human accomplice,” Vice murmured.

“Human?! How in the hell did a human get that far into Waxian territory?” Thunder demanded with a frown.

“You don’t think this could be one of the missing women, do you?” Jag asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table.

Vice ran a hand over his smooth head. He was one of the few Trivator warriors who shaved his head. Elaborate tattoos, bearing the symbols of the desert regions, his home, decorated his arms and chest.

“It’s possible, but from what we found on the ship carrying the other women, it was an Armatrux ship which took them. The Armatrux deal with the Waxians on occasion, but they have always had a strained partnership. Both sides would sooner cut the middle man out of a deal for a few extra credits,” Vice replied.

“The last information we had on the Armatrux ship that took them was from over two years ago. All records indicate it was destroyed in a battle with a Jawtaw freight tanker,” Thunder said, glancing at Vice who nodded.

“There is a possibility the Jawtaws took the women before the ship was destroyed. We have an informant working with the Jawtaws to find additional records on what happened. It appears the captain of the freighter didn’t always record new acquisitions correctly,” Thunder dryly replied.

“Not to mention the Jawtaws outlawed slave trafficking decades ago. They have a very stiff penalty for those who violate that specific decree,” Vice added.

“Well, our mission has just become even more complicated now that Prymorus has taken over the position of Prime Ruler,” Jag interjected.

“I thought he was killed in the battle on Earth,” Thunder said, leaning forward.

Jag shook his head. “He was wounded, but managed to escape. With a small contingent of Drethulan Battle Cruisers, he has returned to the Waxian home world. Reports indicate that when Prymorus took over the position of Prime Ruler from his uncle, there was a major change in the power structure of the Waxian ruling class. An unknown number of his uncle’s trusted generals were replaced,” he added dryly.

“I’m assuming the replacement was cordial,” Vice commented with a wry grin. “At least if Prymorus is killing off his own government and military, it will help eliminate a few of the bastards.”

“Not enough. It looks like Prymorus is expanding what he began on Dises V. Jordan intercepted communication transmissions between Prymorus and the Drethulans. She is working on deciphering the encrypted messages. What we know about the current situation so far is from communications between the warships and activity surrounding Oculus IX. It seems that several days ago, there was a massive underground explosion on the Spaceport. The environmental and life support systems were severely compromised. Failure of the systems led to a mass evacuation of the Spaceport. It is believed that during the evacuation their Trivator prisoner and a human accomplice escaped,” Jag relayed.

Jag watched as both Thunder and Vice studied a hologram of the evacuation and the probable trajectories of the fleeing ships. Most headed for the main planet below, but there were at least two dozen which headed for open space on various trajectories. Out of the two dozen, there were only six of them heading in the direction of safe space for anyone trying to escape the Waxian’s reach.

“Our new mission is to intercept each of those six ships before the Waxian military does. Any engagement between our military and the Waxian or Drethulan forces will be without any assistance from the Alliance,” Jag warned.

Thunder and Vice nodded at him. He would make this same announcement to the rest of the crew. They each had known when they signed onto this mission that it could be a one-way ticket. The mission had now changed from a search and rescue to something far more difficult. Jag’s gaze moved back to the screen. At the speed they were traveling, they would intercept the first vessel in forty-eight hours. Unless Jordan could find additional information, they would be potentially revealing themselves multiple times. Each time the Nebula One reappeared would increase their risk of discovery.

“I will let you know when we have more information. Be ready for a quick boarding, and see if Torch can replicate that damn cloaking device. I want that technology on each of the fighters,” Jag ordered, rising from his seat.

Thunder and Vice nodded and stood up. “We’ve already got him working on it. The Kassisan must have realized that we might try it. He sent additional units. We can help Torch install them on the fighters,” Thunder replied.

“Make it happen. Dismissed,” Jag said.

Vice smothered a gruff chuckle as the door opened. “I told you he’d try to go all Captain on us before we left. You owe me a glass of whiskey,” he said with a slap on Thunder’s shoulder.

“I don’t know why I ever bet with you,” Thunder growled as the door closed behind them.

Jag shook his head in amusement. Sinking back down in his seat, he rotated the screen back toward himself again. He scanned the information before moving to the projected flight patterns of the fleeing ships. There were three heading in a direct line toward Alliance territory. He would focus on those three first. The other three were spread out further. He leaned forward and studied the ship along the outer rim.

He looked at the report. Jordan had noted that it might not be a ship because it faded in and out of the long distance scanning software, so it could be a glitch. She would monitor it to see if there was a pattern. If there was, that would prove there was something real there.

Rising out of his seat again, he walked across the room to stare out of the window. Faint streaks of light were a testament to the speed the Nebula One was traveling. He wondered if Torch might be able to get a little more out of the engines. Something told him that Edge and his human were going to need their help sooner rather than later.