ship were the Hippasrus and its group, which maintained their course. To make matters worse for the Petran defenders, the Meerte Manev and its task force had finally arrived; soon, their flagship’s shields failed.
“The transports are finally launching,” the tactical officer reported.
“Excellent - have our group move to take them in. All other ships, proceed with withdrawal.” When Poteran said that, all of the ships in the other groups jumped into hyperspace as quickly as possible with no specific destination. Meanwhile, the shuttles returned to the Hippasrus’ group, which followed the example set by the others.
While all this was taking place, the Ivory Eagle silently sped through hyperspace towards the Daserus system. Fanra Kaa’nt was tinkering with some of the Tarhedian tech installed in its cargo bays, trying to discover how it worked when Zeshaira entered the one she was in. “I hope you intend to reassemble that when you finish,” the Tarhedian commander calmly said.
A startled Fanra tried to get up from under the transporter control panel - forgetting about its presence - and hit the panel with the back of her head. “You really shouldn’t sneak up on people like that,” she complained, getting up and turning towards Zeshaira. “Anyway, yeah, I’ll put it back together. At least I think I will - I’m not entirely sure how to do it. I don’t suppose you have schematics or something…?”
Zeshaira smiled. “I do not possess the schematics and I am uncertain as to whether I know how to repair it, but perhaps if we work together, we could succeed.” she proposed.
“Well, two heads are usually better than one, so… sure. My toolbox is your toolbox, I guess.”
“Or,” Lanis noted from the door, having overheard the entire conversation, “you could ask me, and I’d tell you I made sure I had schematics for every single piece of equipment we got, except for closely guarded Petran secrets.” He pressed a few buttons on his datapad’s screen and tossed it to Fanra. “Just try not to break anything,” he added as Fanra barely caught it.
“Uh, okay. By the way, when will we get to Daserus?”
“Well, with your upgrades, we’re going at a hyperspace factor of roughly 5.4, so… two hours, give or take a few minutes. At least I think so.”
‘Two hours, give or take a few minutes’ later, the Eagle emerged from hyperspace near Daserus Three. There seemed to be very little activity in the system as the ship entered a stable orbit over the lush, fertile - and largely uninhabited - world. Its crew met in the main hold to discuss what to do next.
“How come we haven’t landed yet?” Herrun asked.
“Because we can beam down to the surface - it’s safer,” Lanis explained. “Besides, I wanted to go down there with a plan.”
“What’s there to plan? We go down, we turn a bunch of rubble upside down, we figure out what links it to the one on Cartha Three,” he answered.
“If only it were that simple… Fanra, what do you think?”
“I think I should bring an environmental suit. Who knows what kind of alien germs I could pick up down there...?” she mused absently.
“Uhh… yeah. Okay. Not exactly what I was asking about, but whatever. Zeshaira?”
“I believe Herrun should remain aboard and hide the ship somewhere. Possibly on the planet surface. Of all of us, he is the one whose skills and abilities will probably be needed the least,” the Tarhedian noted.
“No argument there,” Herrun said, “and I might be able to find something to do while I wait.”
“Right. Drones?”
“Maybe we should bring all of them,” Fanra suggested, finally paying attention, “just in case we need them.”
“Well, that’ll make us more visible, but we could use the extra help,” Lanis answered. “I think that’s everything. Anybody else got anything?” Everyone was silent. “Let’s get to work.”
Within a few minutes, Lanis, Zeshaira, Kaa’nt and all the Tarhedian
“The transports are finally launching,” the tactical officer reported.
“Excellent - have our group move to take them in. All other ships, proceed with withdrawal.” When Poteran said that, all of the ships in the other groups jumped into hyperspace as quickly as possible with no specific destination. Meanwhile, the shuttles returned to the Hippasrus’ group, which followed the example set by the others.
While all this was taking place, the Ivory Eagle silently sped through hyperspace towards the Daserus system. Fanra Kaa’nt was tinkering with some of the Tarhedian tech installed in its cargo bays, trying to discover how it worked when Zeshaira entered the one she was in. “I hope you intend to reassemble that when you finish,” the Tarhedian commander calmly said.
A startled Fanra tried to get up from under the transporter control panel - forgetting about its presence - and hit the panel with the back of her head. “You really shouldn’t sneak up on people like that,” she complained, getting up and turning towards Zeshaira. “Anyway, yeah, I’ll put it back together. At least I think I will - I’m not entirely sure how to do it. I don’t suppose you have schematics or something…?”
Zeshaira smiled. “I do not possess the schematics and I am uncertain as to whether I know how to repair it, but perhaps if we work together, we could succeed.” she proposed.
“Well, two heads are usually better than one, so… sure. My toolbox is your toolbox, I guess.”
“Or,” Lanis noted from the door, having overheard the entire conversation, “you could ask me, and I’d tell you I made sure I had schematics for every single piece of equipment we got, except for closely guarded Petran secrets.” He pressed a few buttons on his datapad’s screen and tossed it to Fanra. “Just try not to break anything,” he added as Fanra barely caught it.
“Uh, okay. By the way, when will we get to Daserus?”
“Well, with your upgrades, we’re going at a hyperspace factor of roughly 5.4, so… two hours, give or take a few minutes. At least I think so.”
‘Two hours, give or take a few minutes’ later, the Eagle emerged from hyperspace near Daserus Three. There seemed to be very little activity in the system as the ship entered a stable orbit over the lush, fertile - and largely uninhabited - world. Its crew met in the main hold to discuss what to do next.
“How come we haven’t landed yet?” Herrun asked.
“Because we can beam down to the surface - it’s safer,” Lanis explained. “Besides, I wanted to go down there with a plan.”
“What’s there to plan? We go down, we turn a bunch of rubble upside down, we figure out what links it to the one on Cartha Three,” he answered.
“If only it were that simple… Fanra, what do you think?”
“I think I should bring an environmental suit. Who knows what kind of alien germs I could pick up down there...?” she mused absently.
“Uhh… yeah. Okay. Not exactly what I was asking about, but whatever. Zeshaira?”
“I believe Herrun should remain aboard and hide the ship somewhere. Possibly on the planet surface. Of all of us, he is the one whose skills and abilities will probably be needed the least,” the Tarhedian noted.
“No argument there,” Herrun said, “and I might be able to find something to do while I wait.”
“Right. Drones?”
“Maybe we should bring all of them,” Fanra suggested, finally paying attention, “just in case we need them.”
“Well, that’ll make us more visible, but we could use the extra help,” Lanis answered. “I think that’s everything. Anybody else got anything?” Everyone was silent. “Let’s get to work.”
Within a few minutes, Lanis, Zeshaira, Kaa’nt and all the Tarhedian
Similar Books
