but we were never given any. I think they wanted to keep us in the dark about what was going on. If we got captured, we couldn't reveal information to the enemy if we didn't know."
I replied, "Wouldn't they have the colony information from those planets they raided? The colonies of the New Alliance didn't have restrictions on that kind of information."
Carson half laughed. "They don't exactly tell you what's going on out here. You just get your orders and they expect you to follow them."
I gestured towards the Captain's chair. "Mr. Carson, I hereby promote you to Captain of this ship. Take us to Doomlight or wherever else you think those transports are headed."
Carson drew a long breath. "I just hope we can find them before they hit the planet. Your friends might not even make it to the surface."
Go cut in. "Those transports only came through a couple hours ago. This fleet is faster than they are. Point me in the right direction and we'll catch them."
Jack Carson punched coordinates into the holo-display hovering over his arm pad. "I would expect them on this path, Mister ... what is your name anyway?"
I laughed. "We just call him Go. Don't get him started about it unless you want a long story."
Jack smiled. "Got it. Just keep us heading towards those coordinates, Go, and we'll be at Doomlight in six days. Hopefully, we'll catch up to the transports well before that happens."
Jack stood from the captain's chair and began to pace the deck of the bridge.
"What's on your mind?" I asked.
Jack stopped. "I just can't believe I am back here already, that's all. I've been such an avid supporter of the New Alliance for all the things we discussed that I never stopped to consider how I might feel if it was my family being conscripted. I just thought that was impossible. Now … I don't think I owe any loyalty to the Alliance at all. Why would I?"
I walked over to place my hand on Jack's shoulder. "Have a seat. You know, I've run that same scenario through my head a thousand times. What if they went to my home and took my family? What would I do?"
"And?"
I sat beside him. "I always came back to the same conclusion. Without the New Alliance my family would end up involved in a war anyway. At least with the New Alliance, most families won't. I know it's a very difficult justification to make, but it's there none the less. I don't like it, I don't even prefer it, but I understand it, and from that I accept it."
Jack frowned. "It sounds like your conviction isn't very deep either."
I nodded. "It's not. But every time I run it through my head I keep coming back to 'It's better than all-out war between the colonies.'"
After nearly a day of travel, Go had good news. "I have the fleet on deep sensors! We'll be within visual in about twenty minutes."
I gestured towards the captain's chair for Jack. "I'm giving full command of this ship over to you, Mr. Carson. If you'll take it. That will free me up to think about what we need to do next. I want to contact Garrett to get status."
Jack replied, "I can do that, Mr. Beutcher. It might help take my mind off of the anger and rage I am feeling right now. Betrayal does not stir healthy emotions."
Several minutes later Garrett Rourke was on the comm. "Glad to see you made it through! I managed my way into the fleet's systems, and I've tapped into their comms. I have the transport identified that Joni is riding on. Jontik is on a different one. I'm forwarding that data to you now. We know how many guards are on the transports and how many troops on the destroyers. We know how many crewmen are on each vessel as well. Their nav says they are headed to a system with a planet called Doomlight. They have limited information on what's there."
I pressed the comm button on my arm pad. "Garrett, we have a new member on our team. Captain Jack Carson. He was piloting the damaged destroyer you saw that came back through the portal. He's willing to assist us if we can get him to Doomlight. We
I replied, "Wouldn't they have the colony information from those planets they raided? The colonies of the New Alliance didn't have restrictions on that kind of information."
Carson half laughed. "They don't exactly tell you what's going on out here. You just get your orders and they expect you to follow them."
I gestured towards the Captain's chair. "Mr. Carson, I hereby promote you to Captain of this ship. Take us to Doomlight or wherever else you think those transports are headed."
Carson drew a long breath. "I just hope we can find them before they hit the planet. Your friends might not even make it to the surface."
Go cut in. "Those transports only came through a couple hours ago. This fleet is faster than they are. Point me in the right direction and we'll catch them."
Jack Carson punched coordinates into the holo-display hovering over his arm pad. "I would expect them on this path, Mister ... what is your name anyway?"
I laughed. "We just call him Go. Don't get him started about it unless you want a long story."
Jack smiled. "Got it. Just keep us heading towards those coordinates, Go, and we'll be at Doomlight in six days. Hopefully, we'll catch up to the transports well before that happens."
Jack stood from the captain's chair and began to pace the deck of the bridge.
"What's on your mind?" I asked.
Jack stopped. "I just can't believe I am back here already, that's all. I've been such an avid supporter of the New Alliance for all the things we discussed that I never stopped to consider how I might feel if it was my family being conscripted. I just thought that was impossible. Now … I don't think I owe any loyalty to the Alliance at all. Why would I?"
I walked over to place my hand on Jack's shoulder. "Have a seat. You know, I've run that same scenario through my head a thousand times. What if they went to my home and took my family? What would I do?"
"And?"
I sat beside him. "I always came back to the same conclusion. Without the New Alliance my family would end up involved in a war anyway. At least with the New Alliance, most families won't. I know it's a very difficult justification to make, but it's there none the less. I don't like it, I don't even prefer it, but I understand it, and from that I accept it."
Jack frowned. "It sounds like your conviction isn't very deep either."
I nodded. "It's not. But every time I run it through my head I keep coming back to 'It's better than all-out war between the colonies.'"
After nearly a day of travel, Go had good news. "I have the fleet on deep sensors! We'll be within visual in about twenty minutes."
I gestured towards the captain's chair for Jack. "I'm giving full command of this ship over to you, Mr. Carson. If you'll take it. That will free me up to think about what we need to do next. I want to contact Garrett to get status."
Jack replied, "I can do that, Mr. Beutcher. It might help take my mind off of the anger and rage I am feeling right now. Betrayal does not stir healthy emotions."
Several minutes later Garrett Rourke was on the comm. "Glad to see you made it through! I managed my way into the fleet's systems, and I've tapped into their comms. I have the transport identified that Joni is riding on. Jontik is on a different one. I'm forwarding that data to you now. We know how many guards are on the transports and how many troops on the destroyers. We know how many crewmen are on each vessel as well. Their nav says they are headed to a system with a planet called Doomlight. They have limited information on what's there."
I pressed the comm button on my arm pad. "Garrett, we have a new member on our team. Captain Jack Carson. He was piloting the damaged destroyer you saw that came back through the portal. He's willing to assist us if we can get him to Doomlight. We
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