Meisha felt like throwing up. The preparation to drop from the wormhole had been meticulous and orchestrated for days. The rest of the Midnight’s crew had been presented with the same options Meisha had given her leaders, and the overwhelming majority had chosen to stick with the ship. As it turns out, a crew being assembled with the distrust of their Admiralty felt rage and justification at the news of what had transpired. Only a handful had decided to part ways with the ship upon arriving at Ephora in the hopes of finding their way back home.

  There wasn’t much they could do to repair the Midnight in the meantime. The fight with the Ferronians had left the ship scarred across her hull and with a few slagged guns, but most of the damage was superficial. Upon closer inspection of the ship’s integrity, it seemed to have taken the brunt of its hits well. Meisha knew that was just because a majority of the damage done to them was from glancing blows, however. A direct impact from one of the larger weapons would still shred them.

  The remaining Hellcats had been rearmed and refueled, as had a majority of their weapons systems. They didn’t have much left after that fight: just a volley or two left from their missile pods, four minutes worth of fire from their PDCs and three shots each for their cannons. And of course, multiple TAR shots, if the system could handle more than one being fired. Luckily, a fight wasn’t expected.

  Fubuki had instructed Meisha to let her do the talking once they left the safety of the wormhole. The Dragon would explain what was going on to the Cenonian officials who lived on Ephora, and who would help the Dauntless Midnight and her crew. It would be jarring, she had warned, but humans would have to interact with more aliens than herself and the Ferronians sometime, and Ephora was the best place for it. Fubuki had promised a rich culture, good food, and ceremonies galore for the tired captain and her crew.

  Meisha didn’t care about any of that. The young captain’s instincts told her that something was off. It couldn’t be that easy, after everything they had gone through. Could it? Perhaps they were due some rest and recovery. Maybe she was just paranoid. But she would rather be paranoid and wrong than complacent and wrong, she thought.

  “Anderson, how’s our systems looking?” She asked for the fourth time in the hour.

  “Still green up and down the board, ma’am. Targeting computers are functioning properly, weapons are loaded and safeties are on at the moment.”

  “We’re functioning at eighty percent on our electronics and communication.” Pirique informed her.

  Meisha nodded and focused on the piloting terminal in front of her, watching the strange cloud-like walls of the wormhole go past. She tested a few of her smaller engines while she waited, making sure the ship would maneuver as well as she hoped, even with less thrust than before. “You’re going to make me nervous soon with all the worrying you’re doing.” A voice from behind her said.

  Fubuki sat in her Captain’s chair, legs crossed and eyes fixed on the data readouts from the ship. She gave Meisha a sidelong glance. “I can sense it coming off you from here. Frantically checking this, flipping that, asking this for the upteenth time. Ephora is a wonderful, peaceful world. Trust me.”

  “I do trust you.” Meisha muttered, checking the reactor’s power levels. “It's the rest of the blasted galaxy I don’t trust right now.”

  “How very dark and brooding.” The dragon replied playfully. “Are you ready?”

  “As ready as I’m going to be.” Meisha sighed. She took a deep breath and nodded. “Ok, Pirique, start the countdown. Make sure everyone is at their stations and strapped in, just in case this gets a bit too bumpy.”

  Alarm klaxons sounded throughout the ship as the crew made sure it was settled in. Fubuki stood on the bridge, breathing deeply for a moment before reaching a hand out and tearing space open right in front of their eyes. The Midnight raced out of the opening back into realspace, thrusters flaring and systems on high alert. In front of them sat a gigantic planet with two icy rings surrounding it, reflecting the light of the system’s star. The planet’s surface shifted with gray weather patterns, revealing massive icecaps, lush green continents, or mountains that seemed to scrape its atmosphere. The crew hesitated, all staring at the beautiful planet. “It's so gorgeous.” Anderson breathed. “I’ve never seen-”

  Something massive shot in front of the Midnight, blocking their view and dominating their camera systems. Meisha yelped and grit her teeth as she reversed the big ship’s thrusters, trying not to collide with whatever was in front of them. Alarms were blaring, and the sensors around the ship began pinging thousands of objects surrounding them, some of them half the size of the ship itself. Meisha twisted the Midnight around the first massive object and began evasive maneuvers, trying to avoid any of the objects in their path. “Pirique, are we being targeted?” She asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

  “No ma’am, objects are stationary. I’m trying to perform a scan of them now, but getting a massive wave of interference from somewhere.”

  “It's a debris field.” Fubuki murmured. “These are ships. Cenonian, by the looks of it.”

  “Not all of them.” Anderson grunted. He zoomed in on one of the objects, and glanced over at Meisha. “That one’s side paneling from a Fleet ship, lightning class transport ship.”

  Meisha was frozen, staring at the side paneling. The whole deck was silent as they waited for her to speak. She drifted the Midnight closer, and shined its spotlight on the scorched debris, shaking her head. “That’s the Rolling Thunder.” She said, eyes watering and voice cracking.

  “Your old ship?”

  “Yeah.”

  Meisha glanced back at Fubuki, who was equally quiet. She looked troubled, almost queasy. “Is that the only human ship fragment?” The dragon finally asked.

  “Don’t think so. Our passive scanners are pinging a few thousand that match ship configurations.” Pirique said. “Best guess is a battlegroup of seven ships?”

  “The Illari had a twenty four ship defense fleet here.” Fubuki growled. “No way they were beaten by just seven puny human ships.”

  “They weren’t.” Meisha said as she tore her eyes away from the corpse of her old ship, fighting back tears. “These are just the wrecks. Whatever battlegroup came here was much much larger. But why the hell would the Admiralty come here and destroy a random alien defense fleet? How did they even find the planet?”

  “Maybe it's a test?” Anderson suggested. “Like Hanaloi was for the Ferronians. Maybe the Ferronians are testing out the Admiralty and using this as a way to spark the conflict?”

  Fubuki was quiet for a long time. Her eyes filled with fear, and she jumped to her feet. “They aren’t done!” She cried, jumping to her feet and stabbing a finger at a silver speck on one of the view screens.

  “Pirique, bring it up now. Active scan of everything around us as well, I don’t care if it's a chunk of ice, I want it pinged and cataloged.”

  “Ay Captain.” The camera zoomed in and the silver speck grew into a massive gray ship. It seemed to be four times the size of the Dauntless Midnight, and was nowhere near as sleek. It had an almost industrial look, being blocky and heavily armored, not rated for any sort of atmospheric flying. Around it, smaller ships zipped back and forth as their mother ship flared its thrusters, positioning itself for something. The ship itself was built around a massive tube that ran the length of the ship.

  “Is that a docking station, or a weapon?” Anderson murmured. “Captain, have you ever seen a ship like this?”

  Meisha shook her head slowly. “I can’t say that I have. Fubuki?”

  “That's a new design to me.” The woman admitted. As the crew studied the mystery ship, the tube it was built around began to light up.

  Anderson’s eyes went wide. “Captain, that's a TAR cannon.”

  “How certain are you?”

  “80 percent.”

  “Shit if they shoot something with a cannon that size, whatever they hit is just vaporized. What are they aiming at?”

  “The planet, ma’am.”

  “They’re going to destroy Ephora.” Fubuki breathed. As she spoke, the massive ship fired. Its projectile moved too fast to see, creating a flash of light that dimmed the Midnight’s cameras. The planet rocked for a moment, shockwaves visible across its surface as the impact sent ripples of dust across continents. The impact itself seemed to have knocked it from orbit, pushing it away from the massive ship and towards the Midnight. And then, it detonated.

  Its surface cracked and shot out like a supernova as all at once its continents and oceans were torn from each other. The clouds that had lazily drifted across Ephora’s surface previously, now evaporated as the planet’s core was shattered and its atmosphere drifted away. Magma and bits of continent were flung in all directions, traveling faster than bullets. In the distance, the massive ship jumped away with its escorts, leaving the planet and the Midnight to their fate.

  The crew stared at their view screens, completely shaken. Pirique was whispering a prayer in French, Anderson stood with his mouth hanging open. Fubuki had clenched her fists so tightly that black blood began dripping from them. Meisha wanted to hide, to look away from her screens that showcased the death of a planet and who knew how many souls. But something in her beat that feeling down, and she grit her teeth. The debris from the planet would be on them in seconds, and if they weren’t focused and very lucky, they could die.

  “Focus.” She roared in a voice that didn’t sound like her own. “We’ve got a ton of shit flying at us and I don’t feel like waiting to die. Anderson, get our PDC’s up and shred anything that gets too close to us. Pirique I want active tracking on anything larger than a grapefruit. Fubuki I need you to do whatever you can and get us out of here.”

  “Half a billion Cenonians.” Fubuki whispered. “A growing, beautiful colony. They killed it. They killed Ephora.”

  Meisha looked back at Fubuki and saw her bloody, clenched fists and wild eyes. She felt a stab of fear, but ignored it and stood from her pilot's seat. She didn’t have much time, and without Fubuki, they stood little chance of surviving. She took a deep breath and slapped the Dragon of the Abyss across the face as hard as she could. It was a mistake. Rather than snapping Fubuki out of her stupor, the dragon went on the offensive almost immediately.

  Meisha was thrown against a wall, Fubuki instantly upon her with her sword drawn against Meisha’s throat. It was already digging into her skin. Red blood made its way down the blade and dripped onto the floor, forming a tiny red puddle. Fubuki didn’t say a word, but snarled. Her eyes were wild and untamed, and Meisha wanted to swallow her fear but was afraid that any movement of her throat would dig the blade in deeper.

  The rest of the bridge crew had drawn sidearms and aimed at Fubuki’s back, but any shot fired had a chance of also hitting the captain, and many of them knew their weapons would most likely not do any good against the enraged alien. Meisha stared cooly at Fubuki, trying to keep her fear from seeping out. Finally she spoke, wincing as the blade cut deeper into her neck.

  “I get it.” Meisha said. “I really do. You loved that place. You loved its people. You knew its landmarks and its cities and everything it had to offer. You were its protector, and now it's gone. I can’t imagine how you must feel right now, Fubuki.”

  “Your kind just slaughtered my people” The Dragon snarled.”If I find out you had been stalling to keep me away…”

  “Now you know how I felt when I saw the citizens of Hanaloi.” Meisha said gently. “We haven't made it in time to help our people. That's why you wanted me as your commander, remember? I’ve seen what the Admiralty and Ferronian’s alliance leads to and I want no part of it. ”

  Fubuki hesitated, and Meisha pressed her advantage. “You keep saying you want me to trust you. And I did. I still do, even though you’re currently stabbing me. You told me that we’d be your flagship. Well your flagship is about to be pelted by a planet, and I’m not sure I’m a good enough pilot to avoid everything. I need you to focus, and I need your help to keep us alive.”

  “We look for survivors when we’re safe.”

  “Agreed.”

  Fubuki removed her sword from Meisha’s neck and touched the cheek that Meisha had smacked. “That really hurt.” She muttered.

  “Well you needed it.” Meisha said gingerly, moving back to the captain’s chair. “And by the way your sword hurts a lot more.”

  “Meisha, I’m-”

  “Get us through this alive. Don’t apologize.”

  The first bits of Ephoran debris hit the Midnight just as Meisha jumped back into the pilot’s seat, shaking the ship like it was a jet in turbulence. Thrusters flared as Meisha tried to avoid major chunks of rock and micrometeors, silently praying that Fubuki was more in control of herself than before. The Dragon was, and would push away anything that got too close to the Midnight. Anderson sat ready to fire on anything she might miss to break it up into smaller bits.

  The Midnight moved through the field of debris as it made its way further from where the planet had been. Meisha’s viewscreen was barely visible with all of the rotating and redirecting the ship was doing, and she had long since given up on it for piloting. She used their sensor data to fly between bits of continent larger than their ship, or dive under a moon sized chunk of ice. In a way, it reminded her of navigating the Rolling Thunder through the meteor field against the pirates. Her old crew was probably dead, she realized. She’d have to grieve for them later, alone. Couldn’t focus on it now.

  A chunk of mountain flew up from below them, moving at incredible speed. Meisha yelped and pushed the Midnight to the side but realized quickly that if she moved any faster, they would impact another piece of Ephora that was moving much more slowly. “Fubuki!” She shouted.

  “I’ve got you.” Fubuki replied calmly. The mountain in front of them began to crumble, crushing in on itself more and more until it was a perfect sphere of rock. It then shot out in front of them, clearing a path for the Dauntless Midnight and its crew to leave safely. “Finally had enough mass to clear things out.” She said.

  Meisha moved the ship away from danger, and slowed it to a relative halt. “Pirique, start listening for anything that could be a distress call.”

  “I’ll try, but I’m getting a massive amount of interference from radiation and-”

  “I know.” Meisha said. “Please just try.”

  “Could anybody even survive that?” Anderson asked. “I mean even if they were in a ship in orbit, could they live? We were barely close to them and we were almost shredded.”

  “It's possible.” Fubuki said. She walked over to Meisha and inspected her neck. “I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

  “I know.” The captain replied. “It's alright, it's a rough situation. We need to be as level-headed as we can. Are you ok?”

  “No.” The dragon sighed. “But I can’t time travel so I will have to accept it. And I’m sorry, truly.”

  “I know this is hard on you. Just please try and remember whose side we’re on.”

  “I want to, I just-”

  “Captain, I think I’m getting something over here.” Pirique exclaimed. “Two somethings, even!” Meisha gave Fubuki a sympathetic look, and walked over to where her liaison officer sat. Pirique was pointing excitedly at one of her scenes that showed radio wavelengths. “So look, there’s a lot of clutter in this area, but I think these two signals are both artificial. Both are repeating on the same frequency at the same interval.”

  “Can you get any audio or information from them?”

  “I’ve been trying. Like I said there’s a lot of clutter, but…” The woman’s eyes widened in exhilaration. “I got it!” The bridge filled with the sound of static, then a voice slipped through the speakers, talking in a strange language Meisha had never heard. It sounded vaguely human, but with a mix of sighs and strange noises mixed in. Fubuki looked up at it, a spark of hope in her eyes.

  “That's Cenonian.” The dragon whispered. “Some must have survived.”

  “What are they saying?”

  Fubuki tilted her head to the side, listening. “There’s a Cenonian Cruiser that survived the fighting and the planet destruction. They’re calling out asking for assistance against… an alien ship that's heading towards them. They say their engines are damaged and they are drifting, unable to flee.”

  “Could they mean us?” Meisha asked.

  “Possibly, but I don’t think so. They report it being damaged from the planet’s explosion.”

  “That lines up with what this other signal seems to be.” Pirique said. “It appears to be a Fleet SOS signal. Audio patching through now.”

  The Cenonian voice cut off and was replaced by a much more familiar language. “This is Admiral James McHarnon of the Everest’s Peak Paladin class destroyer. We have sustained critical damage with high casualties and leaking reactor coolant. Our plan is to board and control a local alien vessel in the region and return to allied space. Any survivors or remaining fleet personnel, please respond.”

  Meisha leaned back and stared at the ceiling. “Shit.” She muttered.

  “You can’t let them board the Cenonian cruiser.” Fubuki said in a steely tone.

  “I know that but they’re leaking coolant. Their reactor could detonate any time.”

  “They chose their side. Just like your mutineers.”

  Meisha turned to stare at Fubuki for a long time. She studied the alien woman’s face, seeing the familiar suppressed storm of rage inside her eyes. For as powerful and inhuman as the Dragon was, her emotions still controlled her like everyone else.

  “To hell with that.” Meisha said.

  “What?”

  “To hell with that line of thinking, and the idea that people don’t deserve a chance to survive because they messed up. I understand that you want vengeance, or justice, or whatever you want to call it. That ship out there? They’ve been played by the Admiralty and the Ferronians. They didn’t pull the trigger on the gun that destroyed Ephora.”

  “They helped destroy the fleet that defended it.”

  “Does that mean we sit back and let them die from intense radiation or a reactor explosion? Or do you want me to fire on them and put them out of their misery?”

  “I don’t care what you do as long as no more Cenonians die.” Fubuki growled.

  “Noted.” Meisha responded curtly. “I need you off my bridge.”

  Fubuki stared at her. “That's not going to happen.”

  “You are emotionally compromised and biased. You’re distracting me and my crew and preventing us from acting. I won’t ask again. This is still my damned ship and if you don’t let me work both the Cenonians and the Everest’s Peak will be gone.” The air was thick with tension as Meisha spoke with an authority she didn’t feel. Fubuki opened her mouth to reply, but Meisha cut her off. “Do you really want galactic peace? Then leave.” Fubuki’s eyes narrowed, and she turned to leave the bridge. Meisha called out to her one last time.

  “And Fubuki: find somewhere to process and grieve for Ephora. When you’ve got yourself good again, we’ll be happy to have you back.” The Dragon grunted and stepped off the bridge, doors hissing shut. Meisha let out a quiet breath, knowing she would have to deal with an upset Fubuki later, and turned to Pirique. “Hail the Everest’s Peak please. Priority channel.”

  Pirique began flipping switches and speaking into her headset. “UCDF Everest’s Peak, please respond. This is UCDF Dauntless Midnight.” There was a pause, and Pirique glanced back at Meisha. “Admiral McHarnon is on the comms, Ma’am. Shall I patch him through to your private channel?”

  “Do it.” Meisha responded. “And get their estimated location on my star chart, I want us closing in as fast as possible.”

  There was a rush of static in Meisha’s ears as the cosmic background radiation of space took over her radio, before a tired voice broke through.

  “Captain Al-Jihlani, is that you? We thought you guys were killed at Hanaloi with the colony.” The voice was unfamiliar, but the relief in it was genuine. It seemed like news of the Midnight had spread faster than Meisha had realized. Had the Admiralty moved that quickly with their own version of events at Hanaloi? She pushed those thoughts out of her mind and gave a tired chuckle.

  “It's a very long story, Admiral McHarnon. And the way I understand it, Everest’s Peak doesn’t have time as a luxury right now. How bad is the reactor?”

  “Bad. We took a direct hit by some sort of energy weapon right to our core. Been trailing coolant into the vacuum since, and we’ve lost all communications with the rear half of the ship. The team I sent to perform a damage assessment informed me that they were detecting over two hundred thousand roentgen an hour down there. Blast must have torn away some of the fusion reactor’s shielding. Control systems have been long since fried. We’re a ticking time bomb.”

  “You still have people aboard? Why not launch escape craft?”

  “We launched everything we had. About fifty in total. They’re moving towards the alien ship with us. Between the threat of enemy reinforcements and the reactor detonating, the rest of the battle group determined it would be too risky to try a rescue effort, so they left us here. My hope is that we can latch onto that alien vessel that's drifting and take it over, repair the engines or whatever it has and escape before this heap of slag goes nuclear.”

  Meisha was quiet for a moment. “Do you think you have enough time for that?” The reply that came back was almost a whisper, filled with remorse and sadness.

  “No, Captain. I’ll be honest I’m surprised we already haven’t detonated. The fusion reactor’s magnetic bottle is still intact, but it's only a matter of time until our coolant runs out and we detonate. Our failsafes aren’t responding. But the idea of trying to take the alien ship, this chance keeps the crew hopeful and focused. And if we get close enough, we can at least take the last of the alien bastards with us”

  Meisha thought for a moment. “I have a different idea. I’ve only got half a crew on board right now and could use a ton of extra help. I’ve got a handful of Hellcats on board that should be able to snatch your escape crafts and carry them into my hangar.”

  “I’d appreciate you saving them Captain, but we could use your help more taking that ship.”

  “It's a bit more complex than that, McHarnon.” Meisha said. She looked at her viewscreen, watching the Cenonian and Human ship get closer and closer. “I’m going to need you to stop advancing on that ship.”

  McHarnon’s reply was brief and calculated. “Why would we do that Captain?”

  “Do you really think assaulting them right now is the best course of action? What happens when they decide to fire on you or just detonate their own reactor to prevent you from taking the ship?”

  “I have to try.” McHarnon said softly. “There are too many injured to move, and too many men left aboard here. I won’t leave them. I also have a family on Earth. I can’t just give up and wait to die.”

  “I have an idea on how to save you. It's wild, but I’m certain it will work. How many crew members do you still have on the aft of your vessel?”

  “If anybody is still back there, they’re most likely dead from the weapon impacts or the reactor’s radiation. As much as I hate to say it, the chances of surviving back there are… not very high. Why do you ask?”

  Meisha took in a deep breath, steeling herself. “I’m going to cut it off.” There was a long silence as everybody on the bridge stared at her as if she were insane. McHarnon didn’t speak for a long time. When he did, his voice sounded constrained.

  “Excuse me? You want to cut my ship in half? How would you even do that?”

  “With my PDCs. While my Hellcats are picking up your escape craft, I figure I can position the Midnight over you and cut through the hull plating with what ammo I have left. Once you’re split, I’ll have the Hellcats tether you to our belly so we can safely evacuate the rest of you and let the reactor blow in peace.”

  “Shit, that's actually not a terrible idea.” McHarnon mused. “I can seal off all of the bulkheads so this half will stay airtight. We should have enough oxygen on board for at least six hours before things get bad. It might get a bit warm in here from a lack of cooling but shouldn’t be a huge problem. I’d rather be uncomfortable and alive than dead. Battery backups should give us twenty hours of light and we can stretch that even further if need be.” He paused. “This could work. I’ll send you a cross section of the Everest’s Peak and highlight where you’ll need to cut. If you’re off target, you could breach our sealed hull and kill the rest of us. No pressure.”

  “Should be easy for my crew.” Meisha promised, speaking with more confidence than she felt. She looked over at Anderson, who was watching her with an unreadable expression. “Do you think you can do it?”

  “Captain, if you can hold the Midnight steady, I can hit any target you want.” Anderson turned back to his station with a smile on his face. “Though I’m a gunner, not a surgeon.”

  “I’ve got the rest of the Hellcats prepped and ready.” Pirique exclaimed. “They can launch as soon as you want them to.”

  “Launch them.” Meisha ordered. “We don’t have a moment to spare. Let's get these guys to safety.” She began maneuvering the Midnight through the debris field towards the stricken human ship, watching as her Hellcats sped past the gigantic battleship. They began attaching what resembled small pieces of metal debris to their undersides, and arched back towards their mothership. If nothing else, some of the escape craft would make it. Meisha frowned, and contacted Briggs.

  “Briggs I want you in the hangar with a force of armed troops. When they bring these guys in, I want them disarmed, and any high ranking crew detained. We don’t want another Vasquez situation.”

  “Understood Captain. If they resist?”

  “Non Lethal response. Have our REAPERS there as well. Should make things go much more smoothly.”

  “I see. We’ll make it happen.”

  Meisha switched her comms back to the Everest’s Peak and positioned the much larger Dauntless Midnight over the damaged craft. It was rare for ships to be this close in the void of space, and Meisha knew that she had to be cautious. Any wrong movement could send her crashing into the volatile vessel below and end them both. As the two ships matched drifting speed, Meisha switched her view to the PDC’s camera. “McHarnon, are you all sealed up?”

  “As sealed as we’re going to get. Our lives are in your hands, Captain.”

  Meisha turned to Anderson, who was focused on his consoles. “Ok Anderson, open fire. Short bursts, nice and slow.”

  Without a word, Anderson opened fire with a single PDC, watching as the tracer rounds flew out and began shredding through the steel plating of the damaged ship below them. The bullets left jagged gashes and glowing red fragments of debris where they impacted. It only lasted a few seconds before Anderson ceased fire, waiting for the debris to clear so they could all admire his handiwork. Seconds later Fubuki burst onto the bridge, worry and panic in her eyes.

  “I felt the ship firing, are you ok?” All previous anger and hostility from the woman’s voice was gone, and Meisha smiled at her, relieved.

  “We’re fine, Fubuki. Anderson is using our PDC’s to cut off the Everest’s failing reactor. Gives us plenty of time to perform a rescue and transfer whatever supplies they have left, and stops them from running into the Cenonians.”

  Fubuki looked at her with curiosity. “You found a solution that didn’t involve letting them die or attacking anybody?”

  “Of course I did. It's what I said I’d do. Did you have time to cool off?”

  “Yes. And I am sorry. I haven’t seen a planet crack like that in… a long time. I had a house there, with a garden I let run rampant. I loved that planet.”

  “You’ll have to tell me about it sometime.” Meisha replied softly. She didn’t blame Fubuki for the way she had been acting. Meisha herself had almost lost it when hearing of the Admiralty’s betrayal. She couldn’t imagine how it felt to have your planet destroyed in front of you. The cut on her neck still burned, but she ignored it and instead extended an olive branch towards the Dragon. “Is there anything you could do to help save some lives, or are your abilities only offensive?”

  Fubuki stepped up, smiling at the unspoken offer of forgiveness. “I can hold you steady while Anderson fires, and pull the reactor away once there’s a clean split. Can also keep you still while the rescue and transfer of resources is going on. Make it easier to get everyone on board safely.”

  “Well then by all means!” Meisha exclaimed, standing up and gesturing to the pilot’s chair. “Controls are unlocked, you’re free to fly it how you please.”

  “Letting your boss do your job? A bit lazy, isn’t it?”

  Meisha gave Fubuki a smile, but the grin never reached her eyes. “It may be your fleet that we’re building Fubuki, but this is my ship. And I’m helping you because I believe that your heart is in the right place. Not because I pledged myself to your service or something like that.”

  Fubuki tilted her head to the side in mock consideration of the captain’s words. “Yes, yes, very tough and strong. You are super cool, Meisha.” She sat down in the pilot’s station and made a show of adjusting the height of the seat and screens for her taller form, acting as if it had been more cramped for her than it really was.

  “Can you hurry? They could die at any second.” Meisha growled, her cheeks beginning to redden.

  “Don’t get short with me.” Fubuki said, flashing a playful smile at the stressed captain. “I won’t let your precious humans die.” She grabbed a hold of the controls and started making microscopic adjustments. “Ship is as steady as she can get, Anderson. Keep firing.”

  Meisha took her seat at the command station, happy to be back where she belonged. She observed as the PDC’s slowly cut deeper and deeper into the destroyer’s hull, now chewing through empty hallways and rooms. Their ammo count was very low, with their stores only at ten percent of the Midnight’s actual capacity. If they didn’t get supplies soon, a simple torpedo could cripple them without a PDC there to stop it. Or, they could just have Fubuki flick it away.

  Suddenly, the two halves of the Everest’s Peak began drifting away from each other, the aft part with the reactor being flung at a much higher speed into the debris field of the planet. Fubuki had a single hand held out, keeping the front half of the ship directly underneath the Midnight. “Alright captain, what next?”

  “We need to line up one of their airlocks with one of ours.” Meisha said, anxiousness gnawing at her gut. Now that the cutting was done, they would need to connect to the ship via an emergency docking tube, which could be deployed by remote drones from the command center. The issue with this was that the ships would need to be extremely close and matched perfectly in speed, or the docking tube would rupture and most likely kill whoever was inside. “Fubuki, pull them to our port side and line them up with airlock A7. That one should give us the most clearance for moving people and supplies. I need you to hold us as still as possible.”

  “Simple.” Fubuki exclaimed. “I could do that in my sleep.”

  “Pirique, get a docking tube ready to go. Pressurized and a breathable atmosphere as well. I don’t know how many of them have oxygen, but from what it sounds like, they have a lot of injured and we need to make this quick and easy.”

  “Aye, Ma’am.”

  “And Anderson? Good job. That was some clean shooting.”

  The older soldier gave Meisha a warm smile. “It's easy to hit things when they aren’t teleporting away.”

  Meisha smiled back at him, and then reached out to Briggs. “How’s it going in the hangar?”

  “Well Captain,” The gruff man started. “We’ve got about seven boats of people aboard now. Count seventy-three so far. Seventeen officers, fifty six crewmen. They’ve been grateful for the most part, only had one who was unwilling to surrender his weapon.”

  “Can you do without Gabriels and his men?”

  “Absolutely. Where do you need him?”

  “Have him get Serrano and meet me by Airlock A7.”

  “Affirm.”

  Meisha drew her sidearm and made sure it was loaded. Pirique was watching her, with curiosity on her face. “What are you thinking?”

  “Well.” Meisha sighed. “The Everest’s Peak should have recordings of all of the orders that they were given. I want that evidence. And if McHarnon was in on the destruction of this planet… He may not be leaving the ship. We’ll see. While I’m gone, Pirique has Command.”

  “Isn’t this a little risky?” Fubuki asked.

  “I’ll have you to make sure nothing bad happens here, and Gabriels to make sure nothing bad happens there. It’ll be ok.”

  Fubuki frowned, a distant expression on her face. “I hope you’re right, Meisha. Something feels off. Be careful, ok?”

  With a single nod, Meisha turned and left the bridge. The halls empty; all but a few individuals strapped into their battle stations and on high alert. Perhaps in peacetime, Meisha would grow to love wandering the halls and exploring the breadth of her vessel, but she was still new to the Midnight for the most part, and had to constantly use her headset’s visor to navigate. Eventually she arrived at Airlock A7, where Gabriels and a team of about fifteen stood with Serrano and her drones. A single REAPER stood with them, Lupus giving her a salute. Gabriels tossed her a rifle and a bulletproof vest, grimacing at her dress blues.

  “I can’t convince you to take an extra five minutes and suit up, can I?” He asked, sighing as Meisha shook her head.

  “No time. Don’t worry, I’ll stay behind Lupus.”

  A dull thump resounded throughout the Midnight’s hull, followed by a few more. The docking tube attaching itself to the outer airlock. A low rumble could be heard as the airlock’s oxygen pumps started up, pressurizing the tube and making it breathable. The atmospheric indicator lights flashed from red to green, and the airlock door hissed open to reveal a long corridor, made of thick layers of glass, steel, and sealant. The docking tubes in themselves were low tech, its design principle simple: The less complex it was, the less could go wrong. It was in essence a portable hallway that was reinforced and sealed to the outer hull of airlocks. It had no lighting or electricity. The Midnight would supply them oxygen.

  “I hate these things.” Lupus growled, his voice amplified by the REAPER suit’s external speakers. “Anything hits us and we all go careening out into the vacuum.”

  “Well that's why it has windows.” Meisha said, walking into the tube to try and fight against her own queasiness. Lupus was right, of course. The windows would allow them to see oncoming threats to the tube and get out, but if something came fast enough they could all die in an instant. Tubes themselves were dangerous enough, not to mention using them in a planetary debris field.

  At the other end of the glorified hall, a battered and dented airlock door hissed open. A team of people in Fleet medical uniforms came rushing through with stretchers between them, wounded crewmen following. Some carried boxes of equipment or supplies, but many carried nothing. Serrano and her drones rushed to meet them, barking orders and helping some of the more critically injured. Meisha pressed herself to the side of the tube to let them pass, cringing at the feel of the cold glass against her back. If it were to break…

  “Captain.” A cold mechanical voice growled. Meisha turned to see a massive black figure standing in front of her. Someone in REAPER armor, though not the configuration that her soldiers used. This one lacked the massive shredder, and instead had a thick shield on its forearm, and a massive auto-shotgun resting in its other hand. Micro-missiles rested on its shoulders, and small smoke launchers were visible on its legs. PRAETOR armor, Meisha realized. Armor worn by defenders of higher admiralty. A single suit could hold nearly any position, using its shield as a rest for its shotgun and creating a constant wave of death. If Admiral McHarnon had this sort of bodyguard, it didn’t bode well. This particular bodyguard stood in front of her as the rest of the Everest’s Peak’s crew rushed past, waiting for her reply.

  “Yes?” Meisha said hesitantly. She heard Lupus shift behind her, his armored form tensing up. If McHarnon was in with the rest of the Admiralty, things would not go well. Meisha regretted refusing to take the extra time and don her armor.

  “Sergeant Vega , Everest’s Peak defensive guard. The Admiral is on the bridge. He would like to speak with you.” The woman stated tersely through her external speakers. Her voice was gruff and matter-of-fact, as if she was giving an order to a green private. Meisha’s eyes narrowed slightly.

  “I’ll talk with McHarnon. Meanwhile, any PDC ammo you have left I want.”

  “I will confirm with Admiral-”

  “No.” Meisha said defiantly, staring up at the armored woman. “We burnt through almost all of our light weapon ammo saving you from your reactor. I’m not wasting my big guns on incoming missiles. I want any remaining ammo you have.”

  “Admiral McHarnon is now the senior officer on site and as such the control of this operation is under his behest. Once he gives the orders, I will move the ammunition.” Her tone was not confrontational. Nor was there any room for disagreement. That wouldn’t do for Meisha. The Midnight needed supplies, and every moment the docking tube was up was a moment it could be damaged by debris.

  “Lupus, arrest Sergeant Vega and find someone who will get things done please.”

  “Excuse me?” Vega growled, her finger resting on her shotgun’s trigger guard. Meisha turned back to her, fury on her face.

  “I don’t have time for your petty rank and file bullshit, sergeant. I’m not asking or playing military politics with you right now. Either get me my ammo or I’ll find someone who will. I’ll have Lupus here peel you out of that damned tin can of yours and you can spend the length of this war in my brig.”

  “Or I could throw you in the brig.” Vega mused. “Seeing as how you’re threatening the authority of the Admiral and those under him. You’ve lost military bearing, Captain.”

  “You think so?” Meisha growled back.

  “Could we NOT do this right now?” Serrano said tersely, briskly walking past with her army of drones. “There are bigger issues at hand than authority games.” Meisha stared hard at Vega and gave a single nod. This woman was part of the Admiralty for sure. She would be a problem sooner or later. Without another word, Vega turned and boarded the Midnight.

  “I hate her.” Meisha grumbled, turning to go the other way.

  “Of course you do.” Lupus replied. “She’s an enlisted version of you.”

  Meisha shot a dirty look back at him, and then to Gabriels. “Can you believe this guy? Absolutely unreal.”

  Gabriels had a helmet covering his face, but Meisha could hear his smile through his voice. “Absolutely shameful, ma’am. He’s totally wrong.”

  Meisha rolled her eyes, pushing her way into the Everest’s Peak. In its prime it would have been an impressive ship, but now it was filled with dull emergency lighting, hanging wires and sparking panels, and groups of individuals rushing to and fro. There was no panic yet, but Meisha could sense the beginnings of madness that would have erupted if their precarious situation hadn’t been solved. The air was still tense, but the situation was at least stable for the time being.

  The captain and her entourage followed the ship's hallway markers to the bridge, which had its doors open. It was a smaller room than the Midnight, with only a handful of remaining officers at their stations. Red warnings constantly flashed from screen to screen. McHarnon stood in the center of the room, an unlit cigar in his mouth and a gray beard hiding his Admirals bars. He looked exhausted, his cap crumpled and his uniform disheveled. Despite this, he gave Meisha a genuinely warm smile as she walked up.

  “I didn’t think I’d get saved by a dead captain today. You sure have a knack for doing incredible things, Captain Al-Jihlani. Reports said you had died the moment you arrived at Hanaloi station.”

  “Unfortunately the real story kind of sucks.” Meisha admitted. She surveyed the bridge, then glanced back at McHarnon. He seemed friendly enough, but she had no way of knowing what his intentions really were. “Your PRAETOR refused to transfer extra PDC ammunition to my ship. Why is that?”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  McHarnon furrowed his brow. “Sergeant Vega? You’ll have to forgive her mannerisms, Captain. She doesn’t do anything that doesn’t come from my orders alone. PRAETOR training is some of the hardest in the galaxy. Vega is a no-nonsense soldier who won’t bend from the code of military order no matter what's going on.” He gave a small chuckle. “She’s got the personality of a cactus but she’d take a bullet for anybody, any day of the week. I’ll let her know to transfer any bit of ammunition that's not bolted down. We have a few nukes left too, those should come in handy.”

  “You’re being awfully charitable.” Meisha said, raising an eyebrow. McHarnon gave a gruff laugh.

  “Given the situation, I don’t think the Everest’s Peak will need them anymore, Captain. Although I’m still curious on how you even arrived here in the first place. They broadcasted your death almost constantly for a week. Hell, I’ve never seen the high admirals mobilize the fleet so fast. Citizenship practically demanded that the UCC get out of the way and let the fleet run its business.”

  Meisha shook her head sadly. “McHarnon I wish that were the truth, I really do. The Admiralty orchestrated all of this to grab power. Hanaloi was a set ambush because they knew I would speak out against it. That planet you just helped destroy? They had nothing to do with the attack.”

  McHarnon was shaking his head before Meisha finished speaking. “Listen, Captain. I don’t know where you got those ideas but that's not possible nor true. I’m not going to stand here and listen to you spout conspiracy theories.”

  “It's not a conspiracy, McHarnon. I have Admiral Jessica Thorenton in custody after she tried to melt down my reactor. She admitted the whole plot. I also have an alien… being on my ship who’s helping us stay alive and has quite a lot of experience with this stuff. Hell, McHarnon, when has it ever been doctrine to blow up a planet?!”

  “Never, but these aren’t humans, they’re-”

  “They’re close enough to us.” Meisha growled. “Humanity just fell right into a trap and committed a massive genocide against a species who never attacked us, while the people who did attack us are leading us from the top. Which leads me to wonder if you were in on the plan.”

  McHarnon’s eyes narrowed. “What are you accusing me of, captain?”

  Meisha placed her hand on her sidearm, holding it against her hip. “I’m not accusing you of anything yet, admiral. I’m not sure who I trust. But my crew and I swore to defend Earth and her colonies, and I promise you I’ll find whoever was involved in this plot and bring them to justice. Right now, I can’t trust you. You did just help a fleet blow up a planet, so the alien confederation probably would see you as a war criminal regardless. If you were manipulated, we can go from there. But if you were in on this…”

  “There’s nothing to be in on!” McHarnon spat angrily. “You had better have some pretty solid evidence for this, Al-Jihlani. This is treasonous.”

  “I’ll be happy to show it to you if you comply with me.”

  McHarnon stared at her, and studied the armed force behind her. “I suppose you already have your mind made up, and I don’t have many options. I’m not going to fight against you. If you really are speaking the truth you’ll have evidence. If this is treason, then you’d kill no matter what I say. So what do you want?”

  Meisha relaxed a bit, happy to hear that McHarnon wasn’t looking for a fight. “I’m glad you can see reason. I want all transmission data and order logs from your ship, as well as your data backups and UCDF identification tags. All ammunition, fuel, and food you have left on board as well. Your officers and enlisted will be used to fill gaps in my crew roster, and you’ll be detained until we sift through your communications and determine your innocence. If we find out you were in on this conspiracy, you’ll be tried and charged. If not… well I could use help.”

  “That sounds reasonable.” McHarnon admitted. “If you’re right, and you have evidence to back up your claims, we’ll take it from there. I’ll give the orders and get the supplies we have left transferred, as well as the requested data. We’ll comply with your investigation, Captain.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.” Meisha said, smiling and reholstering her sidearm. I don’t have many allies right now McHarnon, and you had better believe that I want you to be innocent.

  “I’m here to keep peace, Meisha. Not wage war. If this is a power grab, I want no part in furthering it.” McHarnon turned and started to order his bridge officers around, an expression on his face that made him appear sad and exhausted. He looked over his shoulder at Meisha. “We’re jettisoning our extra supplies. Your helldivers should be able to grab the containers. Bridge crew is all that's left on board.”

  “Captain!” Pirique’s voice crackled in Meisha’s ear. “Captain, we have three unknown contacts that just pinged off our sensors. I’m not sure where they came from but their profiles match the Ferronian destroyers we ran into earlier. Two are heading for us and one is heading towards that alien vessel.”

  Meisha cursed, and turned her com’s loudspeaker on so everyone could hear the conversation. “Have they spotted us yet?”

  “Pretty sure they have, that overheating reactor is lighting up sensors like a christmas tree.”

  “Can’t Fubuki just wipe them out like she did last time? She seemed invincible.”

  “Yeah Fubuki, just use your space magic and fix the problem.” Fubuki sighed, her voice sounding as if she was standing with them rather than speaking through the radio. “I only have so much energy, Meisha, and as much as I would love to be in two places at once, I can’t protect both you and the Cenonian ship at the same time. I have a choice to make here.”

  Meisha was quiet for a moment, thoughts racing. “Last time we tried to shoot them down, they jumped out of the way. We can’t fight that alone.”

  “You can. I believe in you.” Fubuki replied softly. “If nothing else, hold out until I get back ok?”

  “Shit… Hold us to the Everest until we get back on board, then go.” Meisha said more calmly than she felt. “I have a couple of ideas on how to do this.” She turned to McHarnon. “How good is your pilot?”

  “Pilot died from an electrical shortage when we got hit.” McHarnon said, regret in his voice. “She was damned good. The reason we’re alive today. I’ve been flying the boat for the past few hours.”

  “Are you any good?”

  McHarnon raised an eyebrow. “I started as a pilot, Captain. I didn’t get this rank by doing paperwork.”

  “Then you’ll be flying the Midnight.” Meisha said. “My pilot is in the brig right now, so you’ll have to do. Think you can take an order from a Captain?”

  “If that's what it takes for us to survive. I believe I’m out of my depth here, and you’re more familiar with that beast of a ship than I am.”

  Meisha nodded her thanks. “Pirique, how much time do we have?”

  “Over a minute before they’re in weapons range. Better move fast, Captain.”

  Gabriels cursed. “We had better leave, Cap.”

  “Yep. Everybody out, let's go. You stay or hesitate, you get left behind.” Meisha ordered, grabbing one of the bridge officers and ushering them towards the hallway. She continued to direct people until Lupus put his armored hand on her shoulder and began steering her towards the docking tube.

  “You don’t get to be the last one off, captain.” He said. “We need to get you to the bridge ASAP. Gabriels and I will make sure everyone gets off safely.”

  Meisha cursed, but Lupus was right, as always. If she wasted time directing the evacuation, they could be blown away before the docking tube was even separated. She began running back to the docking tube, with McHarnon hot on her heels. As they ran through the long glass tunnel, pinpricks of light that resembled lazily moving stars could be seen, growing brighter and brighter. With the docking tube still attached, the Midnight could perform any sort of evasive actions if they were fired upon. They had to be quick.

  Meisha burst into the Midnight’s bridge, sliding into the captain’s chair and donning its visor. Fubuki was calm, but Pirique flipped between scans and sensors every couple seconds. Anderson was already warming up the weapons systems. McHarnon walked up to Fubuki and stopped, his jaw opening as he saw her horns.

  “Human, if you so much as look my way, I will make sure that you know what it feels like to be torn apart atom by atom.” Fubuki growled without even looking at him.

  “He’s taking your seat.” Meisha said, bringing up Gabbriel’s suit feed on her HUD. “Looks like everyone is back on board, we’re good to drop the tube and engage.”

  Fubuki rose from the pilot’s chair and let McHarnon take over, the ship becoming much more turbulent as the tube separated and the Everest’s carcass began to drift away. She stared at Meisha for a moment. “I… Just hold on and don’t die.”

  “Go save your people.” The young captain replied. Fubuki nodded once, and with a flick of her wrist, tore open a hole in the atmosphere of the bridge. She stepped through and vanished, the wormhole closing behind her.

  “Captain, they’re just about in range!” Pirique cried out. Almost heeding her words, the two Ferronian ships rounded some debris and were now visible on the Midnight’s cameras. Their dark gray hulls blended in well with the background of the void, but lights and thrusters could be seen firing, giving them away. Bits of the planet and destroyed ship floated between them and the lone human vessel, blocking shots and disrupting sensors.

  McHarnon cleared his throat as he adjusted to the Midnight’s controls. “Well Al-Jihlani, you said you had some ideas. I’d love to hear them.”

  “Shock and awe.” Meisha growled. “Anderson, how long to clear a firing lane to one of those bastards?”

  “Too much in the way for a totally clear lane. I’d say our best bet is see if we can goad them into firing one of those energy beams at us again.”

  “Send a couple cannon rounds at them then and let them know we’re here. Start charging a TAR round as well, the moment we have a clear path of fire I want one of them dead.”

  The bridge fell silent. “We’re going to fire the TAR?” Pirique asked quietly. Meisha nodded.

  “They nearly got us last time. I’m not taking any chances with these guys. They chose their sides. If nothing else, a hit makes this a one on one fight. We might be able to not only survive, but win.” She studied her crew, a toughness in her eyes. “If we can’t fight without Fubuki, then we’re useless. We need to be able to defend ourselves and destroy any threat, regardless of how alien it is. We’ll learn how to kill these bastards and their jump tech.”

  Something felt different about the way the energy flowed through this patch of the universe. Fubuki was on edge as she stepped out of her wormhole and into the vast expanse of nothingness that hung in front of the damaged Cenonian ship. Normally, the energy currents flowed like a gentle summer breeze, comforting her like a familiar friend. Now it seemed to gust like a stormfront, as if it were angry at her very presence.

  The Cenonian ship behind her was in worse shape than Fubuki had imagined. Its hull was covered in scars and scrapes, with breaches pocket marking its surface. It was a cargo carrier of some sort, huge and bulky without any weaponry or defenses. If her eyes weren’t as sharp as they were, she almost would have missed the smaller military ships hidden along its hull, using the ship’s damage as cover. What was left of Ephora’s defensive fleet was there, waiting to show their hand. It was a desperate act of defense.

  The Ferronian ship closing in on them was different from the ships at Hanaloi as well. It was a pattern Fubuki had never seen before; much sleeker and smaller than the bulkier destroyers and battleships the Ferronians often employed. It didn’t fit their normal combat patterns at all. Fubuki studied it as it approached her and the Cenonian survivors, an unfamiliar feeling of dread rising in her stomach. Something was not right about this ship. “Why should I be scared?” She mumbled to herself. “I’m not scared. It's just another ship.”

  “I’ll give you this one chance to turn back.” She stated more firmly than she felt, broadcasting her voice through radio waves so that both the Cenonian defenders and the Ferronians could hear her. “You’ll not harm this ship. Any further and you will not be given the chance to surrender.”

  The Feronnian ship cut its engines for a moment, then flared its drives and started accelerating. A dull glow began growing in the ship’s laser cannons, rotating and angling towards Fubuki and the crippled Cenonians. Fubuki held her hand up, concentrating on the path she wanted the energy to take. She would bend the shot around herself like light around a black hole’s event horizon, bending it and firing it back off at those who dared to attack her. As she began to manipulate the space around her, she gasped. Something strong was disrupting her powers, causing gravitational waves to pulse and ripple through the space around her. She cried out in pain, as the void turned against her, ripping at her very being.

  Black blood began to leak from her nose as Fubuki struggled with everything she had to keep the gravity around her from crushing in on herself. Her mind abandoned any rationality as she fought with an animalistic vigor to resist this unseen force. She was the Dragon of the abyss. One way or another, she would win. She screamed into the void; into the stormfront of waves and forces that dared to challenge her.

  The Dauntless Midnight roared as it shot past the destroyed hulk of a human destroyer, ducking behind it as the Ferronian’s laser barrage slammed into the doomed vessel. Meisha shook her head and cursed, looking at the warnings on her heads up display.

  “Shit they’re quick,” she growled, “status update, now!”

  “Trying my best to jam their sensors, Captain!” Pirique responded as she tapped away at her terminal. “I’m throwing everything I have at them but their countermeasures are fantastic.”

  “Reloading our PDCs and cannons. TAR is almost charged, but we’re going to need to be as stable as possible to hit this thing.” Anderson grunted.

  McHarnon chucked. He had taken to the Midnight’s controls well, and seemed to be enjoying himself more than anyone else on the bridge. “That won’t be a problem, gunner. With how this lady handles, we’ll be right as rain.”

  Meisha couldn’t suppress a small smile at McHarnon’s bravado. He was definitely a skilled pilot, better than she was by far. He had managed to keep the ship unscathed throughout this fight so far. She could only imagine how frustrated the Ferronians would be. “Just keep in mind that we haven’t hit them yet either.” She said matter-of-factly. “There’s still two of them and one of us, and they have some pretty high tech stuff. Don’t get stupid with this.”

  “Rodger.” McHarnon replied. “Your orders?”

  Meisha’s mind raced as she studied the 3d battle map in front of her. Chunks of rock and debris were constantly flying between the Midnight and the Ferronian ships, blocking any chance for clear shots with the TAR. It was a blessing and a curse; the debris had taken many hits in place of the Midnight, but it was also protecting the alien bastards. She watched for a pattern of movement from the two ships, searching for a clear shot. And then she smiled.

  “McHarnon, I’m mapping a path for you to fly, speed included. Follow it to the millisecond. Anderson, your firing orders should be popping up along with the path. Sync it up as perfectly as you can make it. I want it exact. Pirique, focus on defense and maintaining our own systems. Let them see what's coming.” Meisha was grinning devilishly. She felt something she hadn’t felt since deploying cannons on an asteroid, weeks ago. A resounding chorus of “Aye Captain!” solidified her belief in the plan she had just concocted. It was time for the Ferronians to realize that the Midnight had its own bite.

  The ship swung around the debris, drive engines screaming while its smaller maneuvering thrusters spat to adjust their course. The PDCs chewed up any debris that was in their way, while Anderson deployed their torpedo load. He staged them behind debris that Meisha had marked, parking the missiles near the bits of ship and planet while the Midnight screamed past. They flew in a wild ring around the Ferronians, circling them like a shark as they dodged the energy shots from their enemies. If it weren’t for their inertial drives canceling out the effect of the gravity forces on their bodies, the crew of the Midnight would have been long dead from the changes in thrust and direction.

  McHarnon swung the Midnight’s back end, angling their nose and the TAR cannon in the direction of the Ferronian ship that was further away from them. “Are you sure about this Meisha?” He asked as they began to accelerate straight at the enemy.

  “Yes.” Meisha said, sounding much calmer than she felt. “This ends now.”

  Pirique turned to her, confusion on her face. “Won’t they jump to safety like last time?”

  “Oh, they will.” Meisha replied. “But if it's anything like last time, they had to wait a minute before they could jump again. So we bait them into jumping and slam them when they fall for it.” She looked over at Anderson. “Full salvo from the cannons. Make them squirm."

  The Midnight’s cannons thundered as it sent a swarm of shells in the direction of the alien vessels, just as they had done before at Hanaloi. Several of the shells impacted debris on their way, detonating into white puffs of superheated matter. Just like Hanaloi, the two Ferronian ships jumped away from the attack, trying to flank the Midnight and catch her in a crossfire. And that was their fatal mistake.

  The Midnight’s nose swung hard as McHarnon yanked the controls, leveling out on the ship on their starboard side while Anderson spun in his seat. “TAR is fully charged!” He shouted.

  “Fire now! Pirique, take control of the torpedos and hit that bastard behind us.” Meisha roared.

  The ship shook as its massive TAR cannon released all the energy it had been storing in an instant. A roar of thunder resounded throughout the hull as machinery snapped and buckled. The lights and engines flickered, and the camera feed stuttered as a massive object shot forwards and crossed the distance between the Midnight and her target at incredible speeds. The Ferronian ship tried to adjust its course, but the TAR projectile was too fast. It slammed into the ship and pierced its side like a pencil through a sheet of paper, and seemed to sit there for a second before detonating in a bright supernova that obscured the ship and everything surrounding it. As the light faded and the Midnight’s cameras undimmed, the Ferronian ship was gone.

  Behind them, the second ship was being hammered by the hundreds of torpedoes Anderson had dumped during their flight. They had activated and converged all at once, impacting the Ferronians as they waited to recharge. Their defensive weapons had been able to pick off some of the missiles, but a few had slipped through and hit critical parts of the ship. The Midnight’s cannons rotated to face the crippled ship, and began beating it with salvo after salvo. After a few moments of steel rain, its engines flickered and died. Its lights went out, and it began to drift, atmosphere spitting out hundreds of craters across its surface. Raging fires could be seen in between armor plating, and smaller explosions shot bits of ship into space, mixing into the debris field.

  Meisha fought back a grin of satisfaction as she took in the sight of the burning ships. The Ferronians were hard to fight, but the Midnight could defeat them without Fubuki’s help. It was a confidence booster her crew needed. Her crew had begun to cheer, she realized; whooping and hollering.

  “We beat them. We actually beat them.” Pirique whispered.

  McHarnon laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. “This is a hell of a ship you have, Captain Al-Jihlani. Mind if I keep flying for a while?”

  “Focus up.” Meisha responded, switching her view to the Midnight’s long range sensors. “There were three ships in this battle group, remember? We took out two, but we have a hostile third party with Fubuki’s people, and the ship heading toward them. Let's try and intercept if possible.”

  The mood on the bridge shifted back to an air of precise movements, but Meisha could tell her crew’s motions were just a little more sharp than before. After countless mishaps and losses, a victory had given them an edge. There would be time to celebrate later; for now there was one more enemy to destroy.

  There was a crackling of energy as reality was once again torn apart on the bridge of the Midnight, another wormhole opening up. Fubuki fell out onto the deck, breathing in ragged gasps. Meisha’s eyes went wide at the sight of the damaged woman and she immediately rushed to her side along with Anderson and Pirique. “Holy… Fubuki what…?

  “We need to run.” Fubuki gasped out, shivering in a pool of her own blood and sweat. Her eyes were open and wild with fear as she stared at Meisha. “We need to escape. To escape right now.”

  “Fubuki, slow down. What about the Cenonians?”

  “I can’t save them.” The dragon responded. She wiped sweat away from her eyes and grabbed Meisha’s hand, her own slippery with blood. “Meisha, I'm going to open a wormhole. Fly away as fast as possible. Please. If they catch us, it's all over.”

  The Midnight’s sensors chirped as it detected a new contact. Meisha whipped her head around, looking at her data display. It was the third ship. It had detected them as well, and was burning fast on an intercept path. “Shit. Pirique, Anderson get back to your stations. This isn’t over. And someone get Serrano up here immediately.”

  “Please. Run…” Fubuki muttered, her eyes fluttering as she fought to maintain consciousness. Her voice was weakening. “Meisha please listen to me. Whatever, whoever they are, they're stronger than me. I couldn’t...” She reached out her free hand in an attempt to open the wormhole, and slumped forward.

  Meisha grunted, helping Fubuki to her feet and setting the injured alien in the captain’s chair. The chair read basic vital signs, and as soon as it detected Fubuki, it deployed several injections to begin healing internal hemorrhages, stop pain and relax the woman. Fubuki visibly stiffened, and then seemed to melt into the chair, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. Meisha looked around as she stood in the middle of the bridge. The edge her crew had just displayed was now gone. They were shaken, and Meisha herself was severely rattled. Her hands were shaking and she balled them into fists to hide her fear. Whatever was strong enough to do this to Fubuki would destroy them in seconds.

  She had to do something. To give an order. If they sat here in fear, they’d certainly die. Better to try something, anything, than give up. Her mind raced. “McHarnon, can we outrun this bastard?”

  “Um, no.” He said shakily. “They’re moving at almost double our top speed. They’ll intercept us soon.”

  “Captain, I’m jammed.” Pirique said. “I’m not getting anything on sensors or comms anymore. Even our radiation meters are unusable.”

  “And I can’t get any targeting data.” Anderson growled. We’re sitting ducks. If we did try and fire anything, we’d be shooting from our hip. No sights or accuracy.”

  Meisha ran her hands through her hair. “Shit… I have an idea. McHarnon I know you said that these guys are outpacing us, but at full burn how long do we have before they catch up?”

  “About fifteen minutes until they’d be in conventional weapons range.” McHarnon replied. “Captain, I'm not sure what we can do here.”

  “I am.” Meisha said, false confidence in her voice. She stood in the center of the bridge, looking over the shoulders of her crew while Fubuki rested in the captain’s seat. “Pirique, you didn’t happen to tag and track the reactor half of the Everest earlier, did you?”

  Pirique blinked a few times. “Sure I did. I wanted to make sure we weren’t anywhere near it if it happened to explode.”

  “How far away are we if we do a full burn towards it?”

  “Uh, I’d say ten minutes moving fast.”

  “Ok, Here’s the plan.” Meisha said. “We’re going to fly as close to the Everest’s reactor as we can and trigger its meltdown ourselves. If we're lucky, we may be able to use the explosion to throw these guys off."

  There was a moment of silence as her crew processed what Meisha was asking. "You want us to let a starship reactor melt down on us, and hope that if the blast doesn't destroy us, their sensors will maybe not pick us up?" McHarnon replied incredulously.

  "Unless you have a better idea." Meisha said coolly. "At least this gives us a chance."

  "IF the blast doesn't kill us, which is a massive possibility. IF it somehow throws them off… then what? We pretend to be a piece of space junk and hope they don't see us as the debris field clears?"

  "Let's focus on getting that far first."

  Serrano ran onto the bridge, flanked by a few of her medical drones. She faltered seeing Fubuki lying unconscious in the captain's chair. "Captain, I work on humans. I don't even know if her biology is even remotely similar to ours. There may not be much I can do to help."

  "Do what you can. She looks similar to a human and she bleeds." Meisha glanced briefly at Fubuki, wondering what could have damaged her that much. "Don't move her until you're sure she's stable. If she dies, we're stuck in this corner of the galaxy. Pirique, McHarnon, plot a course to the reactor. This isn't up for discussion. Get us there. Anderson, I doubt this reactor is going to melt down and explode on our timeframe. Figure out how to make it happen without making it too obvious."

  "Aye, captain." Anderson replied. "We're running out of ordinance to work with though."

  Meisha closed her eyes for a moment. "I know. We don't have much time to rig something up either."

  Anderson paused. "I'll figure something out, Captain. We'll make it work."

  "Good. Pirique, send me a plot of our course and the enemy's conventional intercept range."

  "Yes Ma'am." Pirique said. A blue line and a red line appeared in Meisha's HUD, with a timer counting down next to each. Twelve minutes to intercept. Seven to the reactor.

  Meisha watched Serrano work in silence. The crew had their orders, and shortly they would find out if Meisha had given them the correct ones. McHarnon was right of course: to fly this close to a detonating fusion reactor was suicidal. But something about seeing Fubuki this damaged shook Meisha to her core. Anything that could injure the Dragon of the Abyss that much and scare her that badly was more terrifying than dying in an explosion. Still, Meisha hadn't resigned herself to death quite yet.

  "Anderson, any ideas on how to pop the reactor?"

  "We have a few nuclear torpedoes left. I had a schematic of the Everest's class layout on hand, and programmed a torpedo to navigate through its primary engine duct and to the reactor core. I think if we detonate a smaller nuke there, it could act like a primer in a conventional weapon and trigger the meltdown. We'll have to wait until we're behind the hull of the Everest to fire though. Don't have the time to program another if this one somehow gets intercepted."

  Meisha nodded. "As soon as we fire it, I want this ship locked down in Starshot mode. We won't have weapons or sensors, but we may be able to survive the blast."

  As the Midnight grew closer to the wreck of the Everest, the atmosphere on the bridge grew more tense. Meisha realized she was holding her breath in anticipation, steadily watching their small blue dot get closer and closer to the point Pirique marked on their navigation system.

  McHarnon spun around in his seat to look at Meisha. "We just entered into the shadow of the Everest’s hull. That ship shouldn't have line of sight on us anymore. If we are really going through with this, it has to be now."

  Meisha nodded once and turned to Anderson. " Is that nuclear torpedo ready yet?"

  "Yes ma'am"

  "Fire it. Pirique, lock us down. McHarnon, engines off. Power down everything except passive scanners and air recycling." Meisha ordered. The lights dimmed to a dull red, and massive clanks resounded throughout the Midnight’s hull. The crew’s sensors and information feeds powered down and with one last loud echoing thump, the final armored panel slid into place. The Midnight turned into just one more piece of scrap drifting in the asteroid field. The crew held their breath, waiting for the nuclear torpedo Anderson had sent on its way to find its target. Anderson sent a countdown to their HUDS. Seconds ticked away. Three, two, one…

  “Captain, shockwave incoming!” Pirique cried. “Our inertial drives can’t keep up. It's going to-”

  Meisha was thrown from her feet and into the ceiling of the bridge as the shockwave impacted the Midnight. If they had been working well, the inertial drives would have mitigated the blast, or, failing that, being strapped into the captain's chair would have at least kept her in place. At least Fubuki is safe, she thought as the momentum shifted to the side. Her head cracked against something; a dashboard or railing maybe, and she was flung back to the floor in a heap.

  "Inertial drives have rebooted" Pirique announced groggily, the sudden changes in g-force bringing her to near unconsciousness.

  Serrano had fared a little better, having enough time to grab ahold of the Captains chair and hang on as tightly as possible with some help from her drones. A few other junior officers had been thrown as well, but overall nobody appeared gravely injured.

  Meisha knew she had been knocked in the head pretty hard. Her vision was blurry, and she blinked to clear it as she tried to rise to her feet and steady herself on the railing she had knocked into. One of Serrano's drones buzzed up to her and began scanning her head. Meisha waved it away. "Was that it?"

  “Should have been.” Anderson replied. He was bleeding from a gash on his forehead where he had hit one of his terminals.

  “Lets boot the Midnight back up then. Slowly though. If we really did manage to shake them off, we don’t want to give ourselves away.” Meisha closed her eyes for a moment, whispering a silent prayer. “How rough of a shape are we in?”

  “Pretty beat up, Ma’am.” Pirique reported. “Several systems overloaded, a few fires were put out by the suppression system, and we lost a few inertial drives. Can’t push the Midnight as much or else we risk losing the drives completely and crushing ourselves. Some injury reports are trickling in from other parts of the ship as well.”

  Meisha caught Serrano’s grim look, and nodded in Fubuki’s direction. “If she’s stable, go help them.”

  “Her tissue seems to be repairing itself.” Serrano replied, gathering a few of her tools. “She’ll be fine. Drone scanned your head as well. No concussion from that hit you took, but I’m sure it’ll bruise.” She hurried off the bridge, drones in tow as Meisha studied Fubuki.

  Her breathing had slowed down, and become more rhythmic. If it was not for the dried blood on her face, she would look almost serene. As Meisha was staring at her, an alert resounded throughout the bridge.

  “Sensors are back online.” Anderson announced. “It appears that we’re not being jammed anymore either. Where is that last son of a bitch?”

  Pirique flipped through a few screens, marking the enemy ship on their displays. “It's turned back and seems to be making its way to the Cenonian survivors. I guess our trick worked!”

  “Good thinking, Captain.” McHarnon said with a smile. “I wasn’t sure how we were going to get out of that.”

  Meisha shook her head. “We’re not. Anderson, get me a firing calculation for a TAR round. Pirique, make sure we won’t turn to jelly from firing it with damaged inertial drives. McHarnon, stop our spin and see if you can get our nose pointed in the right direction.”

  Pirique hesitated. “But Fubuki said we couldn’t beat them. Are you sure about this?”

  “Yes, not in a fair fight. But a TAR from behind when you don’t expect it? I doubt they’ll be able to react in the few nanoseconds it takes to impact. Besides, I told her that I’d save both McHarnon and her Cenonians, and I intend to keep that promise.” Meisha looked back at Fubuki, and then her crew. “What are we waiting for? I gave an order. Let's kill this bastard and get some well deserved rest.”

  The crew was silent for a moment, then Anderson cleared his throat. “Well you all heard the lady, let's get to it!” The Dauntless Midnight shifted and began to move under thrust again, positioning its nose in the direction of the enemy. Lights began to flicker and dim as the wounded ship redirected power into its main weapon.

  “How long Anderson?” Meisha asked.

  “Just a few more seconds ma’am.” Eventually the lights stabilized, and Anderson nodded. “On your orders.”

  “Fire.”

  The ship rumbled underneath their feet, systems sputtering as the massive amount of stored energy released at once. The TAR round shot forward in the blink of an eye. Unlike before when the Ferronian ship had seen its demise and tried to respond, this enemy had no such opportunity. The round smashed into the rear of the ship and detonated almost immediately, turning the enemy into a ball of white light so bright that the explosion burned itself into the image of anybody watching the camera feeds, even as the Midnight attempted to dim the images.

  Meisha stared into her HUD, watching the debris and particles from the TAR shot slowly disperse. Part of her expected to see an enemy that Fubuki was so afraid of drift through the bloom and dust of the nuke, ready to crush the Midnight for daring to trick them. No such ship emerged, and as the light began to fade away, Meisha’s smile grew wide. “We did it. We got all three.” She turned to her crew in disbelief, and laughed. “Holy shit we actually did it!”

  “I won’t lie Captain, I thought you had killed us with that order.” McHarnon said with relief. “You’re the most stupidly lucky person I’ve met.”

  Meisha felt her adrenaline begin to wear off and leaned against the 3d battle map console, giving McHarnon a tired smile. “I’ve been told something similar before.” She looked around at her crew. “I’m proud of you all. You did great. Go get some rest, something to eat.”

  “What about the Cenonian ship? The Cenonian survivors?” Pirique asked. Meisha shrugged.

  “Well we don’t speak their language and our translator is out for who knows how long. Their engines are busted, so they won’t be going anywhere. We have plenty of time to settle down and make sure we’re in good shape before we press forward.” The young captain fell quiet. “And, I’m not sure where we go from here. This was our stop to rearm and figure out what was going on. Now I’m afraid we might be too late to make a difference in anything.”

  The bridge was quiet for a moment, before Anderson grunted. “Well no point in letting time go to waste. Do you want me to take watch while everyone else gets some chow?”

  Meisha shook her head. “Thanks for the offer, but I’ll take watch. I want you fed and focused in case we need your aim again. Things have been way too exciting for me, I could use some peace and quiet.”

  The crew stayed put for a moment as if afraid to leave the bridge, and then slowly began to file out. Anderson gave her shoulder a reassuring pat, and a warm smile. Pirique hesitated for a moment, before silently mouthing ‘thank you’ and scurrying off the bridge. As McHarnon began to pass by, Meisha grabbed his wrist.

  “You and I still have a lot of talking to do.” She said, staring him directly in the eyes. The senior admiral stared back, searching the younger captain’s expression.

  “Well…” He sighed. “You made quite the claim back on the Everest, but also risked your life and ship to save my crew, and fought some of the alien bastards. I’m not quite sure what to make of you, Captain, nor that… thing.” He said, jerking his head in Fubuki’s direction. “I mean what the hell even is she?”

  Meisha laughed, looking at Fubuki. “My new boss. I saw her manipulate reality itself and crush a ship just by moving her hand. She had a pretty grand plan to end this fighting and unite Humanity and her big group of species. That was before this planet got turned to rubble though. I’m not sure what she’ll do now. Or what we’ll do.” She turned back to McHarnon. “I guess the only thing I’m certain of is what I’m going to do with you and your crew.”

  McHarnon’s eyes narrowed. “And what is that, Captain?”

  “Well I’d like you to join my crew, preferably. I’ve been short staffed since we launched, and it's been a struggle ever since. Way I see it is that the Admiralty has turned its back on both of us, and our people. You need a ship, and I need some good crew members to fill my ranks.”

  McHarnon shook his head. “Two things: You haven’t yet provided any proof of your claims that the Admiralty has been manipulating all of us from the shadows, and why would I join your crew? I’m the senior ranking member here, technically speaking you should have forfeited command to me. I didn’t push it, and I’m not saying I will. But convince me why I shouldn’t.”

  “Well She really wouldn’t like it.” Meisha said, pointing at Fubuki. “I don’t think Briggs or my REAPERS would either. They don’t like admirals much. Regardless, I’m looking for a friend, not a fight.” She paused for a moment. “As for proof, go down into the hangar, and find Lieutenant Gabriels. Have him take you to Admiral Thorenton’s holding cell, and you can ask her anything to your heart’s content. Then have Gabriels take you to your crew. Talk it over. After all of that, if you think I’m misguided or lying, we’ll keep your crew comfortable and confined in the hangars until we can find somewhere to offload you. You have my word no harm will come to any of your people unless they do something stupid.”

  McHarnon was quiet for a moment as he considered Meisha’s proposal. “I guess I also don’t have many options.” He said. “How long do I have until you plan to get moving again?”

  Meisha shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet. However long it takes for everybody to refresh. No use flying into a dangerous situation hungry, tired and divided.”

  “Fair enough.” McHarnon grunted. He studied the now empty bridge. “Will you be alright up here on your own?”

  “Sensors will alert the crew if something problematic is detected.” Meisha said with a shrug. “I’ll be alright.”

  With a nod, McHarnon left the bridge, the bulkhead doors sealing shut behind him. Meisha was left in silence for the first time in a while. She leaned against a wall and slumped to the ground, staring out at the ruins of Ephora. What was left of the planet gently drifted past the human vessel, paying them no mind. If not for the bits of starship mixed in, it would have seemed to be just another asteroid field, lost among the stars.

  Meisha let her mind drift, wondering what Ephora used to look like. She imagined it as Earth, a chill running down her spine as images of her sister and their family staring in horror as the continents were torn asunder filled her thoughts. She thought of the home and wild garden Fubuki had spoken of, and felt a pang of sadness that she would never be able to see it. Part of Meisha’s mind was still unable to process that the rubble in front of her had been a planet: with its own culture and ecosystem and history. Destroyed in the blink of an eye on a scale thought impossible. Done by her own fleet.

  Someone slid down and sat next to her, and Meisha Glanced over to see Fubuki staring out at the ruins with her. Serrano had cleaned most of the blood off Fubuki’s face and wrapped her wounds, but the all-powerful alien still appeared incredibly haggard. Her horns were no longer polished, but scuffed and scratched. Similar to the Midnight, Meisha thought.

  “You gave me quite a scare.” The young captain said softly. Fubuki did not respond but continued to stare out into the stars. Meisha studied her, a sad smile on her face. “I thought you were going to die for a moment. Wasn’t quite sure what I would do without you.”

  “You didn’t run away.” Fubuki said as more debris drifted past the window.

  Meisha shrugged. “We didn’t have much of a choice. We got lucky. Couldn’t outrun them so we outthought them.”

  Fubuki responded with a soft laugh. She looked over at Meisha, tears in her eyes. “I ran away.”

  Meisha blinked in surprise at the simple confession. “So? Nothing wrong with retreating when things go south. Better than trying to push past your limits and getting yourself killed in a stupid, preventable way. Especially with you of all people.”

  “That's just it, Meisha. I’ve never had limits.” Fubuki drew her knees to her chest and hugged them, almost like a scared child. “For hundreds of thousands of years, I was invincible. I could destroy what I wanted and protect what I wanted. When I finally chose to be a benevolent ruler and brought the races together in peace, the biggest threat to that was myself. I’ve never feared for my life.”

  “Until today.” The captain said. Fubuki nodded.

  “It's a strange feeling, going from feeling immortal to being reminded that you are able to be snuffed out in an instant. I think I’m afraid, but I am not really sure what I feel. I should be mourning the death of Ephora, or furious at the betrayal of my people by the Ferronians, or hate towards the humans who dared to stand against me. But Meisha, I just feel… broken. I once was able to stand against everything. Now… I am defeated, my empire is crumbling, my people are dying and I am unable to save them.”

  “You aren’t broken yet, Fubuki. Remember that speech you gave me about how challenges were a chance to become a better version of yourself, and how we were all in this together?”

  Fubuki laughed bitterly. “Yes, well that was before Ephora was obliterated, before I was nearly killed and ran from a fight. I envy you, you know. You put yourself in harm's way knowing very much that you are mortal and have so much left to lose. You have such a fleeting life and a very weak body, yet you constantly damage it and risk yourself in order to fight on others behalf. It is not bravery for me to fight creatures who cannot possibly harm me. It is bravery for you to fight against the unknown regardless of how strong the enemy may be.”

  The two sat together in silence for a while as they both thought about Fubuki’s words. “You know, Briggs once told me that you never know who someone is until you get punched in the face. Seems to me like you just took a beating.” Meisha said, giving Fubuki a reassuring smile. “So yeah, you got freaked out and ran. You didn’t expect the hit, and that's when they stun the most. Still you had an awesome starship captain and her wonderful crew to finish the job, because that's what friends do. You can’t always see things from every angle, no matter how much you’ve experienced or how long you’ve lived. We managed to get whatever it was that hurt you from behind. They didn’t expect the hit either. So the problem is taken care of, and we move forward.”

  “That doesn’t excuse my cowardice, Meisha. Nor my not being here to save Ephora, nor my allowing the Ferronians to rebel, nor-”

  “Hey.” Meisha said sternly, grabbing Fubuki’s shoulder. “You can sit here and spiral and beat yourself up over everything you could have done differently for hours. It's not going to help anybody. It won’t make you feel better and it's not gonna change the past. You aren’t perfect, we’ve established that.”

  “No but my penance for my past was to become the reliable protector for my people. And I am unable to do that.”

  “Nah.” Meisha replied simply.

  Fubuki turned and looked at her incredulously. “No? Meisha, take a look outside. Those rocks you see are Ephora. The remains of half a billion colonists from thirteen different races across the galaxy. Ask them if I protected them well.”

  “Two things, dear Dragon.” Meisha said, smiling as she reflected one of Fubuki’s

  saying back at the woman. “One, we were too slow to Ephora to save it. We didn’t know that they were under attack; if we had known, I’m sure things would turn out differently. That we can’t change. Two, and this is the important one, you need to decide who you are.”

  “What do you mean?” A confused Fubuki asked. Meisha shrugged.

  “Well, are you merely acting out the role of leader and protector to pay for your past actions, or are you a protector and leader of your people?”

  “After thousands of years, you think I would have figured that out by now.” The dragon responded. “And now faced with my own mortality, I am even less sure.” Fubuki shook her head. “How do you find the courage to fight, all while knowing you could be snuffed out in an instant? What are you doing all of this for?”

  Meisha smiled. “Why do you think I’m doing this, Fubuki?”

  “My guess would be that you are a brave and noble warrior who is determined to better her species.”

  “Far from the truth.” Meisha replied with a barking laugh. “I’m out here because I want to be. It's a purely selfish reason.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Meisha sighed. “My family is extremely wealthy. They own several of the starshot stations used by the inner colonies, and control the fees and processes from those stations. My father personally owns three in Earth’s orbit.

  Growing up I experienced almost every luxury that Earth had to offer. Clean air, clean water, no struggles. Private schooling ensured that I would be accepted by only the most prestigious universities. I was supposed to get my education in interplanetary trade and intern under my father for a few years before purchasing my own starshot station. Then I would spend the rest of my days mingling with high society and living however I wanted.

  Only issue was, that wasn’t me. I would sneak out at night and watch starships launch from the docks, and wonder what lay beyond our arm of the galaxy. Earth bored me, high society bored me and the idea of crunching trade numbers nearly killed me. Turned out that my private schooling gave me an edge and a chance to enter the academy instead of a university.

  My family wasn’t happy with that. Out of all of my siblings, my oldest sister is the only one I keep in contact with. The rest were sure that I was throwing my life away to become a dirty, poor government employee who would die cold and alone in the void of space. They were sure it was a waste.”

  “Do you think it was?”

  Meisha side-eyed Fubuki and smiled. “I got to meet you, didn’t I? I think it was the best choice I ever made. Instead of having everything handed to me, I had to work for this. The Academy isn’t a free pass, and if I had gotten drummed out or couldn’t cut it, I’m not sure what I would have done. But I did make the cut, and got my own transport ship assigned to me. I’m not sure if that's selfish or not, but I’m out here for me. And in turn, my crew, because I am responsible for them. And in turn, their families, the systems that support their family’s ability to thrive and survive, and whatever supports those systems.

  So I think maybe it starts out as a selfish desire for freedom, adventure and the chance to walk my own path. It still ends up as my love of independence and adventure, but also my love of my crew and in turn colonies and people as a whole. Maybe not bravery. A desire to protect what I love and to maintain a good life. Sorry if that ruins your noble image of me.”

  Fubuki laughed. “No less ruined than my fleeing the battle has done for your idea of me.”

  “Nah I’m still plenty impressed.” Meisha said. “Seeing you destroy the Ferronian ships, or walking through the Midnight’s server room… it's hard to wrap my head around the fact that you’re still the same lady who saved me on Hanaloi.”

  For the first time since Fubuki had sat down, she relaxed. “So, Meisha who is wise beyond her years, tell this ancient being who you think she is.”

  “ I think the answer to who you are is simple: You’re just like everyone else, but because of past mistakes you have a heart set on doing as much good as possible and you don’t want to let us down. And now feel that by not being invincible and not saving Ephora you have.

  You haven’t. At least to me, I am still very impressed with the mysterious stranger who saved my life. I’m sure when the Cenonian survivors see you, they’ll be relieved, just like I was when you came back for us on Hanaloi. And for the rest of your people… With destruction this massive there will be a lot who are confused and hurting. They need their queen back to stand against the Ferronians and the Admiralty. And if you get injured again, just remember a selfish human captain cares very much for you and doesn’t like letting things she loves be taken from her. I have your back and the Midnight and I will destroy whatever steps in our way to keep us from coming to your aid.”

  Fubuki stood up and studied Meisha, her horns reflecting the light from space. “You, Meisha, have a silver tongue indeed.” She said with a smile and a wink. “I’m a very stubborn creature and yet you’ve talked me out of my moping and brightened my spirits. You’re right of course. My people need me, regardless of whether I truly am invincible. They look to me for my strength and it's up to me to give it my all. Only when I give up will I be letting them down.” She was quiet for a moment, and then gave a soft laugh. “It's funny, you know. I have experienced so much, yet the wise comforting comes from you. I suppose you are my guiding light, in that regard.”

  “Oh no, flattery doesn’t work on me, Fubuki.” Meisha said with a smile. “Find me some ammo for the Midnight and then we’ll talk.”

  “How are you holding up?”

  Meisha shook her head. “Honestly? We’re in a bad spot, Fubuki. Two more shots left for the TAR cannon, maybe a couple salvos left for the missile batteries and cannons. PDCs are all but out so our countermeasures are basically ‘fly fast and hope we can outrun the missiles.’ But we can’t fly too fast because our inertial drives are damaged and too many Gs will crush us easily. Crew is overwhelmed and tired. McHarnon and his people, hell, I’m not even sure what state of mind they’re in.”

  “Alright so the Dauntless Midnight is in bad shape. What about you, Meisha?”

  “Oh I’m just peachy.” Meisha replied with a smile. “Don’t know why but I think I’m past the point of worrying and freaking out. I’ll do the best I can and whatever happens…” She shrugged.

  “I knew I picked a good one.” Fubuki said. She stared back out at the ruins of Cenonia. “Those survivors out there have some defensive ships helping them out. I can move them on my own if their engines are damaged, but they’d have to have enough space for the Midnight. Too far apart and I will be stretched too thin to move everyone. Which means we will most likely have to approach and convince them that you are a friend.”

  “You’re their queen. Shouldn’t you be able to do that?”

  Fubuki shifted uncomfortably. “To be honest I’m somewhat afraid to see them. It’s been at least a few centuries since I have interacted with my people. Now with the Ferronian betrayal… I’m not sure how they will accept my presence.”

  “Well they sure as hell won’t have any love for me or mine.” Meisha pointed out.

  “I suppose this will be uncomfortable for everybody involved.” Fubuki mused. “I should be able to bend their soundwaves into a language you can understand so communication shouldn’t be that difficult. Maybe seeing you destroy the Ferronians will have had some impact on them?”

  An alarm chirped on the bridge, and Meisha’s head snapped up. “Incoming unknown contact.” She said with a curse, bolting to her feet and to the battlemap. On the screen, six small contacts were burning towards the drifting human vessel on intercept paths. Meisha cursed again. “We don’t have enough ammo to fight all six. Half of the crew is resting… This is not a good time for a fight.”

  Fubuki blinked for a moment and shook her head. “It's not a fight. The way these ships are moving through the space near us, it's the Cenonian defense ships. They must be curious about what's taking us so long to attack or interact with them. With the lead ship crippled, they’re an easy target.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “Well I have been a wayward Queen for far too long.” Fubuki said. “I think it's time I start leading my people again. Let's see if we can talk to these Cenonians.” Her horns glowed faintly again, and the air around the captain and the Dragon seemed to electrify. “Cenonian vessels, this is Fubuki, Dragon of the Abyss, Defender of the Federation. I… am sorry that I did not have enough time to save Ephora. How many were you able to save?”

  There was a pause, and then sound seemed to come from all around Meisha, a voice speaking clearly in a language she understood. “My Queen, we had feared that you were… well the Ferronians had claimed that the Human beasts had killed you! Your humble servant speaking is Commandant Vauntoo of the Ephora Defense Fleet. I am the highest ranking military officer remaining after the brutal and savage attack from the beasts. I do not know the status of the survivors, the Governor would be able to answer that better than I.”

  “Any rumors of my death are laughable.” Fubuki said, giving Meisha a smile. “As for the Ferronians, they have turned their back on the Federation and allied with parts of the human fleet. Not all of the humans have joined them however. The human vessel you are currently flying towards is my chosen flagship. The Captain here is sympathetic to our cause and is the reason you and the survivors are still alive. Say hello to Commandant Vauntoo, Meisha.”

  Meisha blinked. “Erm, My deepest condolences for what happened to Ephora. My crew and I will be happy to assist your people in any way we can.”

  There was silence for a moment as the Ceconian commandant poured over Meisha’s words. “Well spoken, for a beast. Queen Fubuki, while I am ecstatic to have you back with us, please forgive me for asking for a sign from you. I am slow to believe any voice claiming the Ferronians have turned on the Federation.”

  “Understandable, Commandant. However I would like to point out I am already manipulating your soundwaves and translating for both yourself and the human captain here. But, if a more impressive sign is what you wish, I’ll make it so.” In a moment, Fubuki stepped from the bridge of the Dauntless Midnight and into nothingness. Meisha looked around for a moment, before a hand grabbed her wrist and yanked her.

  The sensation was strange as Fubuki pulled Meisha through the wormhole, like pins and needles across her entire body. It lasted only for a moment as the two emerged in the vacuum of space, surrounded by nothing. Meisha’s eyes went wide as she studied her surroundings. Her instincts screamed at her to panic. The feeling of weightlessness was totally different from being in a suit. She felt… nothing. Emptiness. It would be so easy to get lost out here, no points of reference or sense of direction. She could just drift for ages…

  Meisha didn’t realize she was beginning to hyperventilate until Fubuki squeezed her shoulder. “Hey.” The dragon said softly. “Don’t lose yourself out here. Focus and don’t worry about the radiation, temperature or such. I have you.” Fubuki pointed forward, at a distant star burning bright. “That's the lead Cenonian ship. They should intercept us soon. We’re halfway between them and the Midnight.”

  Meisha glanced back over her shoulder. “I can’t even see the Midnight from here. This is wild. I always knew space was vast but this… I feel so small. I want to go back to the Midnight.”

  “Soon.” Fubuki promised. “Try not to get caught up in astrophobia. Spacewalking like this can be overwhelming and plenty of people have panicked. Just don’t wander away from my side and you’ll be fine.”

  “I can’t really wander anywhere Fubuki, there’s no gravity. I’m stuck here.”

  “There’s the cynical captain I know.” Fubuki said with a smile. “Look, the Cenonians are here.”

  Sure enough, in a matter of moments, the distant bright stars had morphed into burning thrusters and massive starships emerged from the inky blackness. They looked nothing like the blocky human vessels nor the angular, sharp Ferronian ships. These ships were similar to Fubuki’s shop before it had been destroyed; long and sleek, with rounded edges and a glittering blue surface. What Meisha assumed was a cockpit was gold; reflecting light from the nearby star. She couldn’t see the pilot or crew.

  The four ships slowed as they approached the two figures drifting lazily in space, circling the two of them like vultures around a fresh kill. Meisha’s hand twitched towards her sidearm, but she knew the small caliber pistol wouldn’t do much against the armored spacecraft. She gazed back in the Midnight’s direction, wishing for the comfort of her bridge.

  “By the void it really is you!” Commandant Vautoo said with relief, their voice just as clear as it was on the bridge of the Midnight. “We had hoped but as Ephora cracked I believed all was lost. And the human next to you, are you sure you do not wish her destruction for her people’s crimes?”

  “As much as there are some humans I would very much like to kill, this is not one of them.” Fubuki said sternly. “Any attempt to harm her or her crew I will take as an attack on myself. If we agree on that, then I would like to be brought to the survivors. We need to figure out how bad things are and what our next move will be.”

  Vauntoo did not respond for a moment. The Cenonian ships continued to circle them, and Meisha fought against every instinct telling her to flee. Finally the Cenonian commandant spoke. “My Queen, forgive me. I have faith in you, but I don’t trust the human. We do have enough space in the evacuation ship for them to land, but if they open fire while inside our hangars we will be finished. If you were to join us on the evacuation ship however and provide your protection, I would be more willing to escort the beasts.”

  “Is that the only way you will be satisfied?” Fubuki asked, rolling her eyes.

  “Yes.”

  “Very well then, it will be done. I will join you momentarily.” Fubuki glanced over at Meisha. “ Well, I suppose I’ll meet you there. Try not to upset these guys as you’re flying the Midnight in. I won’t be around to translate so be very careful. Don’t want any misunderstandings turning into a shootout.”

  “I understand.” Meisha said. “Can you please send me back now? I don’t like being out here.”

  Fubuki smiled. “Alright, no more spacewalks for you then.” She gently shoved Meisha, and the captain stepped back on the bridge of her ship. She breathed in deeply, the comforting taste of the stale, familiar air calming her nerves.

  “Captain?” McHarnon asked, some concern in his voice.

  Meisha shook her head. “I’m good McHarnon, Fubuki just took me on a space walk. I wouldn’t recommend it. You get to speak with Thorenton?”

  McHarnon’s face was grim. “I did. Until we get access to a new ship, you have my support. After that, I’m not sure. My crew want to make sure their families are safe.”

  “Understandable.” Meisha said with a smile. “Glad to have you with us.”

  “Well then, where do we go from here?”

  Meisha pointed to the dots marking the Ephoran survivors on the battlemap. “We’re going there. Let's get the bridge crew up here, we’ve been invited onboard.”

  “What happens if they open fire on us?”

  Meisha frowned. “Then we’ll have to hope Fubuki likes us more than them.”