moment; or have you forgotten the stakes?”
Nathan glared at Jessica. He hadn’t forgotten what was at stake and she knew it. He had a damaged ship and an injured crew in orbit, and they still had a long way to go in order to get back to Sol and help defend their own world from an invasion by the Jung. “We only wish to help.” It was an obvious answer, and not very informative, but it was the best he could muster on short notice.
“Help?” the aide asked. “In what way?”
“By driving the Ta’Akar from your system,” Jalea interrupted, “once and for all.”
The aide translated Jalea’s bold statement for the Prime Minister, who immediately began to ramble on in Corinairan to his aide.
“I may not be armed,” Jessica whispered to Jalea from behind, “but I can still just as easily break your neck.”
“It may not be as easy as you think,” Jalea responded in similar tones.
“Then it is true,” the aide translated for the Prime Minister. “You are the Na-Tan of legend. You are the one who is to lead us to freedom.” It was more of a statement than a question, as if the Prime Minister had not really believed it before back at the spaceport, but rather had been playing to the crowd’s expectations. Only now he was beginning to believe it was true.
Nathan felt a sinking feeling. There was no turning back from this role. He had to mitigate the situation, down play it somehow. Then he remembered his brief conversation with the crew chief on the airship. “I am just a man, who happened to be at the right place, at the right time. I only did as any other man would do. I helped someone in need.”
“But you are from Earth, are you not?” the aide asked.
“Yes, we are.”
“And you are called Na-Tan?”
“Well, Nathan, yes.”
“And there was the sign.” The aide was obviously getting swept up in the realization to a degree that it appeared there would be no convincing him otherwise.
“The sign?” Nathan asked.
“And your ship is very powerful as well.”
“I don’t know if I’d go that far—”
“You defeated a Ta’Akar warship; did you not?”
“Well, yes. But it was only a cruiser. And—”
The Prime Minister and the aide again exchanged words in their language before the aide continued.
“The Prime Minister says that when the Ta’Akar warship in orbit fails to report in, more ships will come. Maybe even a capital ship. Can you defeat such a ship?”
Nathan stumbled for a moment, unsure of how to answer.
“We already have.” It was Jessica that interrupted this time.
“We did?” Nathan mumbled under his breath.
“Na-Tan defeated the Campaglia at the battle of Taroa,” Jalea explained.
The aide excitedly translated her words for the Prime Minister.
“The videos,” Jessica reminded him.
Nathan remembered the video footage being broadcast on the wireless nets the night before. The scenes had been horrendous, and the destruction on the planet where the Karuzari base had been hidden was nearly complete. Had they not accidentally jumped into the middle of that engagement—and within the Campaglia’s shield perimeter—that entire world would have been destroyed. There had even been gun camera footage that showed the Aurora launching torpedoes at the massive Ta’Akar warship. At the time, it had been an act of desperation by Captain Roberts; one that had saved their asses as well as the rest of the people still left alive on that world.
“He also defeated three patrol ships in the Korak system, as well as escaping a confrontation with another cruiser in the Haven system only a day ago.”
“But this cannot be,” the aide protested. “No ship can travel that fast. Even the comm drones cannot transit such distances in less than a few weeks.”
“We can,” Nathan said, a smile on his face. “How do you think we got here all the way from Earth?”
The Prime Minister and his aide continued to converse in Corinairan for several minutes, during which
Nathan glared at Jessica. He hadn’t forgotten what was at stake and she knew it. He had a damaged ship and an injured crew in orbit, and they still had a long way to go in order to get back to Sol and help defend their own world from an invasion by the Jung. “We only wish to help.” It was an obvious answer, and not very informative, but it was the best he could muster on short notice.
“Help?” the aide asked. “In what way?”
“By driving the Ta’Akar from your system,” Jalea interrupted, “once and for all.”
The aide translated Jalea’s bold statement for the Prime Minister, who immediately began to ramble on in Corinairan to his aide.
“I may not be armed,” Jessica whispered to Jalea from behind, “but I can still just as easily break your neck.”
“It may not be as easy as you think,” Jalea responded in similar tones.
“Then it is true,” the aide translated for the Prime Minister. “You are the Na-Tan of legend. You are the one who is to lead us to freedom.” It was more of a statement than a question, as if the Prime Minister had not really believed it before back at the spaceport, but rather had been playing to the crowd’s expectations. Only now he was beginning to believe it was true.
Nathan felt a sinking feeling. There was no turning back from this role. He had to mitigate the situation, down play it somehow. Then he remembered his brief conversation with the crew chief on the airship. “I am just a man, who happened to be at the right place, at the right time. I only did as any other man would do. I helped someone in need.”
“But you are from Earth, are you not?” the aide asked.
“Yes, we are.”
“And you are called Na-Tan?”
“Well, Nathan, yes.”
“And there was the sign.” The aide was obviously getting swept up in the realization to a degree that it appeared there would be no convincing him otherwise.
“The sign?” Nathan asked.
“And your ship is very powerful as well.”
“I don’t know if I’d go that far—”
“You defeated a Ta’Akar warship; did you not?”
“Well, yes. But it was only a cruiser. And—”
The Prime Minister and the aide again exchanged words in their language before the aide continued.
“The Prime Minister says that when the Ta’Akar warship in orbit fails to report in, more ships will come. Maybe even a capital ship. Can you defeat such a ship?”
Nathan stumbled for a moment, unsure of how to answer.
“We already have.” It was Jessica that interrupted this time.
“We did?” Nathan mumbled under his breath.
“Na-Tan defeated the Campaglia at the battle of Taroa,” Jalea explained.
The aide excitedly translated her words for the Prime Minister.
“The videos,” Jessica reminded him.
Nathan remembered the video footage being broadcast on the wireless nets the night before. The scenes had been horrendous, and the destruction on the planet where the Karuzari base had been hidden was nearly complete. Had they not accidentally jumped into the middle of that engagement—and within the Campaglia’s shield perimeter—that entire world would have been destroyed. There had even been gun camera footage that showed the Aurora launching torpedoes at the massive Ta’Akar warship. At the time, it had been an act of desperation by Captain Roberts; one that had saved their asses as well as the rest of the people still left alive on that world.
“He also defeated three patrol ships in the Korak system, as well as escaping a confrontation with another cruiser in the Haven system only a day ago.”
“But this cannot be,” the aide protested. “No ship can travel that fast. Even the comm drones cannot transit such distances in less than a few weeks.”
“We can,” Nathan said, a smile on his face. “How do you think we got here all the way from Earth?”
The Prime Minister and his aide continued to converse in Corinairan for several minutes, during which
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