Vrae Galaxy

Stars whizzed on the main bridge screen, but the Kamtrinian ship was faster, leaving the Intrepid in the dust.

Nucl pressed flashing buttons rapidly on his navigation and security board. “Captain, the Kamtrinians are out of our phaser range. We’re losing them!” His panicked voice matched his shaking fingers.

Tash, captain of the Intrepid, leaned forward on his command chair that had control panels on each side of the arms. The right panel readings listed the damage to the colony––buildings disintegrated, vegetation burned, and lifeforms dead. “I can see that helmsman. We need to remain calm.” His heart was thundering, pumping adrenaline at ultra speed, but his voice remained in control. His bear demanded to be set loose so he could tear apart a Kamtrininan, but he drew on his training as a United Planet Confederation Captain to push back his anger and control his animal.

The Intrepid rattled as it chased after the faster ship.

Tash’s intercom binged on the left control panel. “Captain?”

Tash cringed. It was his youngest brother, Ryruc and the chief engineer. “Yes, Ryruc.”

“Damn it, Tash. What the hell are you doing? The engines can’t take much more of this. The Intrepid will shake apart.”

Ryruc was the alarmist of the family and the one with the shortest temper.

“Captain,” Vaughn, the Intrepid’s science officer and Tash’s brother, looked up from his red-colored scanner. He narrowed his green eyes. “If we enter the Chronos Star Solar System, we will be violating Confederation Command.”

Knup tapped his headset and punched the smooth buttons on his blue keyboard. “The Kamtrinians are demanding contact, Captain.”

Tash sank back into his black chair. “Put them on the screen.”

A tall, muscular humanoid with smooth white skin and three black eyes flashed onto the soft gray screen. “I am Yagok, Captain of the Executor. You are about to enter our solar system, which is a violation between our two confederations.”

Tash refused to show fear, but something about those three beady eyes reminded him of swirling, black holes and sent the hair on the back of his neck standing up. “This is Captain Tash of the Intrepid. You murdered innocent men, women, and children on Taurous. We have––”

Yagok growled, his eyes glowing darker. “They were invaders.”

“Taurous and Sutois are part of our solar system. You had no right to destroy them.”

Yagok smiled. “Only the strongest will survive, which you will soon discover. Prepare to be destroyed. Communications out.”

Nucl turned around, sweat glistening off his temples. “We have to do something. We have to destroy them. They decimated the colony!”

“I’m very aware of what they did, Nucl.”

A group of scientists had recently set up a settlement on the farthest orbiting moon––Taurous––of Sutois, which was the farthest and unknown planet of the Vrae Galaxy. Their mission had been to study the unknown planet of Sutois for possible life and development for the Confederation.

“The engines are overheating,” Ryruc growled. He was very close to letting his bear escape. The Intrepid was his baby and his bear was fiercely protective of her.

Nucl gripped his console. “Captain, we can’t reduce speed.”

“She’ll break apart,” Ryruc snarled.

“I suggest, navigator,” Vaugh said. “That you remain calm and not endanger the ship. Or you risk tangling with our chief engineer.”

Nucl’s face turned several shades of grey. Ryruc was twice the bear he was, and when the Intrepid was in danger, he showed no mercy.

“But…”

Tash clutched his navigator’s seat, dominating the bear’s fear. “Nucl, stay on course. Reduce ultra-speed to nine. I’m not sure what Yagok is planning, but we have to keep our wits together.”

“Aye, aye, sir,” he grumbled. He was wise enough not to argue with Tash, since Ryruc was still listening.

Tash swiveled his chair. “Knup, have you been able to reach Confederation command?”

Knup shook his head. “No, Captain.” He furiously typed on his beeping keyboard. “Static is blocking our communications. It’s coming from the Kamtrinian ship.”

“Vaughn, what do we know of Sutois?”

“Not much, Captain. The atmosphere is similar to Aria–oxygen atmosphere, water, plants, minerals–and the planet can support life. No advanced civilizations inhabit the planet. However, the scientists had reported before their demise that there was life on Sutois. They were preparing to investigate when they were attacked.”

Tash rubbed his chin. “Maybe that’s why they were attacked.”

Vaughn nodded. “Possibly.”

Nucl glanced over his shoulder. “Captain, the Kamtrinian ship is slowing down.”

“Be prepared. Yagok said they planned to destroy us.” Tash stood. “Why wait until they reach the edge of our galaxy? Vaughn?”

Vaughn had returned to his scanner. “Unknown, Captain. But they appear to be firing up their weapons. Wait, there’s a second ship.”

Tash’s adrenaline whisked through him, his bear demanding to be released. The hairs on his back rose and his nails lengthened. He clenched his fist, struggling to remain in control. “How could we have missed them?”

Vaughn jerked his head up. “The second ship appears to have had a cloaking system.”

Tash’s mouth ran dry and the adrenaline pushing through his veins spiked, making him sweat. He hit the alert button. He scrambled for his captain’s voice, almost got it. “Red alert, red alert. All crew members report to battle stations.”

Rather than calm, cool and collective, he growled. “Nulc, raise our shields!”

Nulc cried, “They’re firing, Captain!”

Two torpedoes fired. The spinning white lights slammed into the Intrepid’s shields, and she jerked.

Vaughn pushed the shields’ control on his panel. “We lost shield number one.”

Tash ordered. “Return fire!”

Nucl fired photon ruptors. The ruptors smashed into the first ship, but the second one disappeared.

Another hit slammed into the Intrepid from behind, and she lurched forward.

“The second ship is behind us, Captain,” Vaughn said. “We’re trapped.”

“Not yet, we’re not. Nulc, navigate to maneuver five.”

Maneuver five meant the ship would move down rather than forward or backward. Just as the first ship was to return fire, the Intrepid vertically dropped, so the two Kamtrinian ships were facing each other. A crash rocked overhead.

“Captain?” Vaughn smiled. “The first ship fired on their own ship, but it disappeared.”

“We were lucky,” Tash said. “I doubt we will be again. Nucl, circle around to the first ship.”

“Aye, Captain.”

“Vaughn, scan for the second ship. Look for any unknown gas.”

“Yes, Captain.”

The Kamtrinian ship filled the screen. “Fire, Nucl. Full proton torpedoes.”

Torpedoes blazed toward the Kamtrinian ship. Victory was at hand, but another blast slammed into the Intrepid, sending her into a spinning nose dive. Tash somersaulted, the bridge rushing around him. He crashed into a wall, dots blurring his vision.

Sparks bursts through the bridge like a chain of explosions.

“Captain!” Ryruc yelled over the intercom. “We’re down to one shield and one engine.”

Tash slowly crawled to his feet, ignoring the pain throbbing in his back. “Vaughn, what the Jiarus happened?”

“That second ship has a new weapon, Captain. I should have surmised this.” Vaughn was surprisingly still at his post, his hands gripping the scanner. “We can’t withstand another direct hit.”

Knup snatched his hands off his flickering console. “Our communication system has short-circuited, Captain. Even if we get out of here, I can’t reach Confederation command.”

Phasers zapped the ship. Lights blinked. The Intrepid jolted, then slowed.

Ryruc buzzed. “Captain, we need to make repairs or we’ll be dead in space.”

Tash’s gut dropped to his feet. The Kamtrinians would blow the Intrepid into oblivion. “Evasive procedures, Nucl. We have to save the ship. Set a course for Sutois.”

“But Captain, we have to fight.”

“Nucl, there are over three hundred crew men and women on board this ship. I’ll not risk their lives to satisfy your lust for revenge.” He narrowed his eyes. “That’s a direct order.”

His body bulked up with the bear threatening to cut loose. The navigator flinched and immediately set a course away from the two starships.

“Ryruc, divert all power to shields. Nucl, maneuver six.”

“Aye, Captain,” they both answered.

The ship jumped straight up, just as the two Kamtrinians fired, hitting each other. Explosions flared on the Kamtrinians’ bridge. They tipped forward, hanging in midair.

“Considerable damage on the two ships, Captain,” Vaughn reported. “This may give us the time to make repairs on Sutois. I would suggest that we land on the planet itself instead of the star port on the moon. The Kamtrinians will be expecting us to land there.”

“Agreed.” Tash set back in his chair, his heart slowing to a steady pulse. “Let’s just hope we can make repairs before the Kamtrinians find us.”

“Life forms have been reported on Sutois’s surface, Captain,” Ryruc interrupted over the intercom. “I suggest we be prepared for hostile creatures.”

“They could also be non-threatening,” Vaughn argued. “We need to study before we attack.”

Tash glared at Vaughn. “We will be on yellow alert until I know it’s safe for our people.”

Vaughn huffed and whirled around. He returned to his station, muttering. Sometimes his voice of practicality and reasoning drove Tash crazy. His choices were nil. The Intrepid wouldn’t survive another battle with the Kamtrinian ships. To survive, they needed to make repairs.

He rubbed his sweating forehead and gritted his teeth, hoping he hadn’t made a deadly mistake.