She shook her head and shrugged. “My scanner says you're fine, a little heightened electronic activity, but it's gone now.”
He put his arm around her shoulders. “Ready to perform another rescue?” he asked her.
She looked up at him confused at first then smiled. “Aye.”
“Are you sure you're all right sir?” Stephanie asked, eyeing him.
“I'm better than all right. I'm ready,” his smile was broad and had a hint of something dark behind it.
Seneschal
Alice sat beside Captain Valance, he was every inch the figure Jonas was. There was something new, however. He seemed so much more alert and in the present. His orders were more certain, and she was reminded of a time not so long ago when she finally felt comfortable in her own skin.
They were in hyperspace, all the final tests had been run, their cloaking systems were all in perfect working order. What they had done with the ship was nothing short of a miracle. The crew had come together, the bridge actually looked like it was properly manned, not filled with people pretending or hurriedly training at their stations. Ashley was flanked by two navigators, one at either side. The engineering and operations section of the bridge to her right was fully manned by five, and tactical was crewed by Price and another pair of crew members she didn't have a chance to get acquainted with, since they were on day watch.
Stephanie was manning the security station, she had grown much more proficient at running that terminal thanks to practising in simulations, focusing on just her job. Keeping her in as First Officer would have been a mistake, but as Chief of Security she had everything well in hand.
Cynthia wasn't alone at the bridge communications post, she had two more people with her and Alice knew there were a dozen or more in the intelligence office just on the other side of the reinforced bulkhead behind her station.
Below, Paula, whose demeanour had calmed over the last day or so stood at the main flight deck station. Alice checked the status of her section just out of curiosity. Hangars one and two were completely clear while hangar three still had a bit of damage in one section and some cargo. Chief Vercelli had already marked it for repair after this excursion.
They had all eight reactors running. Six were fuelled by the last of their uranium stores, which could last them three weeks, while the other two drew energy from the recycled emissions material given off from the ship. Reserve power was up to full, the shield systems as well as weapon and cloaking systems were all powered up and ready.
In ten minutes they would arrive in the Enreega system, and if their emissions capture and the cloaking systems were working, no one would see them.
“Addressing the ship,” Captain Valance said as he stood and walked into the center of the bridge. He was in his long coat, the white scarf Ayan had given Jonas hung loosely around his neck, and the silver skull was clearly imprinted on the left side of his chest along with seven silver bars around the cuffs of his coat and vacsuit, designating him as the Captain. Behind him the two dimentional displays on the wall shifted and glowed with glimmering stars, solar winds, and nebulae that were distorted by the particles that made up the hyperspace field all around the ship.
Cynthia nodded, indicating that the whole ship could hear him.
“Hard days. Long, sleepless nights. I know first hand what they're like. I haven't had to learn like you have, to practice like you have, to sacrifice as you have. My burden has come in a different form. I have had to trust. In my life I have trusted so few. That is until I assumed command of the Triton, and if you knew what kind of birth I've had you'd understand. Taking all of you on board has been the greatest challenge I've ever had. I had so few incentives to give you in exchange for your loyalty, your hard work. Each and every one of you carry a gift that, until now I have given to five people in my entire life. My trust, my faith is with each and every one of you.
I trust that you will use the skills you brought on board with you, what you've learned since, and that you will have faith in me. We go now to do something else that I haven't done often. Help the helpless. There are two people unaware of what awaits them in the Enreega system, they are defenceless, helpless. If we don't take them aboard, give them refuge, Regent Galactic will capture them, interrogate them, and pick them apart until they are sure they have taken all their knowledge.
I hope we do not have to fight our way out of this system, but I am confident that we can. The Triton is a steady, hard ship. She is named after the son of a God who could send giants running in all directions with a blow of his horn. I say that if we are forced to fight our way out, we leave such a mark that they will know why the giants fled at the very sound of Triton's horn. Triton!” h is holographic image called from everywhere in the ship.
In Engineering, on the flight deck, the gunnery deck and all places in between everyone raised their fists into the air, armour clad and otherwise and shouted the response; “Deploy, Dominate, Disappear!”
“That is faith. That is what our enemies will never understand. That is how we will burn them to cinders and scatter their ashes across the galaxy,” Captain Valance said through a grin that most could only describe as malicious.
He cut the channel using his command and control unit then returned to the command chair.
“You better give us somethin' to shoot at after that Captain, my boys are on fire up here,” Frost said through his communicator. The Chiefs were all tied into one encrypted channel.
“I think we're all on edge Gunnery Chief. We're just waiting to play catch down here,” added Deck Chief Vercelli.
“I don't envy a boarding party if they manage to get close enough,” Stephanie said. “We're set in strategic positions all across the ship, sir. Some of my people are actually hoping someone boards us, they're spoiling for a fight.”
“Good. Three minutes and we'll arrive in the Enreega system. Then we'll find out if our cloaking device is working,” Captain Valance said calmly.
“Don't worry about that Captain, just watch your sensors for that lost ship of yours. Everything's as it should be down here, probably for the first time in decades,” Engineering Chief Grady replied.
The bridge was busy, everyone was rechecking systems, getting ready for the power shift that would take place as soon as they arrived. The tactical station crew were white knuckled nervous. They were responsible for finding the Silkstream IV as soon as they arrived. They had support personnel from communications and intelligence who would be checking scan results as well, and they would forward any important finds to Agameg, who glanced at his main monitoring displays one after another, over and over again to satisfy a nervous need to do everything just right. Alice and Jake checked and rechecked status reports from across the ship. Everything was ready, all unnecessary sections of the ship were closed off and locked down completely. The Botanical Gallery and civilian quarters were sealed behind many layers of internal and external armour, they were in the safest section of the ship.
They watched the counter drop from 00:02:00 to 00:01:59 and it seemed like another eternity was yet to pass before they arrived. “Is lower gunnery and torpedo control ready?” Captain Valance asked Price.
“Aye sir, tactical is ready across the board.”
“Thank you. Ashley, as soon as we emerge, fly us into a position that will give the nearest ship the smallest possible target.”
“Yes sir. I'll show them our side profile.” Ashley said as she unlocked the controls, making final preparations for their arrival.