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  "That would be greatly appreciated, Captain," Roanoke thanked him. "We have no weapon systems right now, and our engine is only operating at one-third output. Both were damaged in the fight, and we haven't figured out how to fix them yet. Our Chief Engineer stayed with Admiral Hawthorne."

  "It will be our pleasure. McAvoy out." He ended the link and addressed his own chief of security. "Lt. Weyland, take two squads of security officers over to the Athena and investigate it. If you encounter any hostiles, report it immediately and get out of there."

  "Aye, sir," the security chief saluted and left the bridge to carry out his orders.

  McAvoy slumped down in his command chair. If this is normal out here at the border, it's a miracle that Rutledge isn't an alcoholic by now. I'd have to self-medicate. He wasn't kidding when he said that weird stuff happened out here!

  ***

  Danielle sat on a stool in front of the chair that Ridgeway had been chained to. She had been asking him questions about the attack he survived, but she wasn't getting anything out of him that she didn't already know.

  "Alright, let's go over it one more time," she instructed the prisoner. "Don't leave any detail out, no matter how insignificant."

  Ridgeway blinked his eyes a few times, then sighed. "I've already told you everything that I know. Someone set me up to attack that passenger ship. I'm not the monster the media has portrayed me to be, but I was still convicted. I was being transported to Rylos for execution, when the ship carrying my prison cell came apart around me, leaving my cell floating in space. If I hadn't have been in that cell, I would be dead right now." He stopped at took a breath. He could tell be the look on his interrogator's eyes that she wasn't considered with his guilt or innocence, only the details of the actual attack.

  "As the cell began to float away from the wreckage, I saw a ship. I assume it was the ship that attacked us, although I couldn't see the actual attack from my cell. All I know is that it didn't try to rescue me. The ship initially looked similar to this one, but then it started flickering. You know, like a holo-core image. Then it changed into a craft like I've never seen before. Then a few minutes later, it flickered again and disappeared. That is all I can tell you. I don't know what the transport's crew might have seen or known since they didn't bother sharing anything like that with a prisoner." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Look, I know I'm not telling you what you want to hear. I don't know who or what was on that ship. All I know is that if it hadn't have attacked my transport, I'd probably be dead of Rylos by now. You guys saved me, so if there is any way I can help you, I will. I was a captain before all this, so maybe I have some skill that you can use."

  Danielle thought about what she had just heard. She too was a victim of the Commonwealth turning against one of its own based on incorrect information. She didn't know anything about this man, but something about him seemed genuine. It was the hollow look in his eyes. The look of a man that has given up. The look of a man who has lost everything he held dear. She knew that look. She saw it in her reflection in the steel walls of the Odyssey's hangar deck as she had watched Mars fade from sight when she and K'oron had escaped. That was when she knew that she had to find something to give her life purpose again. That is when I decided that No'tok had to die.

  "Let's say I believe you," Danielle offered. "Are you willing to fight your own people? People that aren't bad, just simply following orders? People that want to kill you because they think that you are evil? Can you fight and kill other Terrans? Because that is what this is probably going to come down to."

  "I don't know if I will ever be able to clear my name," Ridgeway replied, "but if helping you will give me a chance to see my family again. I will do it. I made the Creator a promise in that same cell that if I was spared from execution, that I would dedicate the rest of my life to the cause of justice. I give you my word, that I will serve in any way that will set right the wrongs in the universe, starting with helping you hunt down the ship that murdered the crews of my transport and the escort ships."

  Danielle believed him and removed the shackles that were holding him to the chair. She extended a hand to him which he shook. "Welcome to our little group of outcasts, Captain. Now let's get you cleaned up."

  ***

  Peterson was sitting at her desk looking at the data in the file on the Baxby case. She was exhausted. She hadn't slept more than a few hours since this case started. This one was eating at her for some reason.

  She had worked some bizarre cases during her career, but this one was topping the chart for oddities. She was going over everything another time trying to see if she overlooked anything. Baxby's apparent suicide was really a staged murder to possibly hide his involvement in some shadow conspiracy that framed the captain that destroyed that Rylan passenger ship. Roscoe Harrison killed Baxby and is now dead himself thanks to the quick trigger finger of Detective Cordell. Harrison is obviously working for someone else, someone yet unidentified who is a power-player in the government. She rubbed her temples in frustration.

  Her comms device began chirping in her pocket. She placed it in her ear and tapped it to open the channel. "This is Peterson," she answered, stifling a yawn. The exhaustion apparent in her voice.

  "Detective, this is Leann Stakowski," the voice on the other end replied. "I was the tech that was helping you trace that call? The sniffer just got a hit on the comms device you were tracking. It just received another call, and I was able to get an approximate location for you."

  "Can you send me the address?" Peterson asked.

  "Yes, I can, but there is something else you need to know, something delicate," the tech seemed to be hesitant to continue. "I was able to get the id of the device that made the call to the one we were sniffing."

  "Could you trace that one too? Who is it?" Peterson was fully alert now.

  "That is the delicate part," Stakowski replied. "The originating device for the call was an onboard comms unit in one of our police shuttlecraft."

  Peterson felt like the wind had just been knocked out of her. A cop is involved in this! This definitely complicates matters more so than they already were.

  "Who is it? Who is the cop?" Peterson inquired, not sure if she wanted the answer or not.

  "The call came from Detective Cordell's assigned shuttlecraft," Stakowski answered.

  "Please tell me that he logged in a data core since he left the crime scene," Peterson asked, although she felt like she already knew the answer.

  "No, ma'am, he did not," came the tech's reply.

  "Okay, thanks for the update, Leann," Peterson acknowledged. "Do not file any of this in a report yet. We don't know who else might be involved, and I don't want Cordell getting tipped off."

  "Understood, Detective," Stakowski responded, and then ended the call.

  Peterson removed the comms device from her ear and placed it back in her pocket. So, Cordell is part of this conspiracy. I wonder if anyone else in the department is involved. Just how high up the food chain does this go? She shrugged off the wave of paranoia that was trying to take hold.

  She noticed that she had a message on her console screen, and opened it. It was the address that Stakowski had sent her. She performed a lookup on the address and got a name. Itsuki Tatsuda.

  CHAPTER 15

  Danielle and K'oron were hurrying to the palace. They had received word that the Emperor requested their presence as soon as they were able. Danielle was sure that the Emperor had a million questions concerning the recent events that had taken place. She still had a few questions of her own and was looking forward to interrogating Ridgeway to hopefully get some answers.

  They entered the throne room and found the Emperor waiting as they expected. What they didn't expect was to find Lt. Commander Whitley Paige standing off to the side looking at them as though she was waiting for them too. The two approached the throne and knelt in front of the leader of the V'drell Dominion.

  "Friends," Emperor Glars'n motioned for them to sta
nd, "I am relieved that you have returned unharmed. Unconfirmed reports of your battle with the Commonwealth are being told far and wide. Is it true that you defeated three of the greatest warships?"

  "It was Danielle's strategy that brought us victory, Your Excellency," K'oron acknowledged.

  Glars'n eyed the Terran female. "My dear, you are a blessing to our people. Th'warzin's power is strong in you. Thank you for aiding my people. If not for your knowledge of the enemy, a great many lives could have been lost."

  "She was even able to convince the Commonwealth ships to surrender," K'oron bragged.

  Danielle blushed slightly. "Both of you are too kind. It wasn't a big thing. I just know the strategies and weaknesses of the Terran Fleet, have once been a member. I only used that knowledge to aide our ships."

  Her mind just registered the words she had used. Once been? Our ships? I guess I don't even think of myself as Terran anymore. I guess this place and these people have become my home now.

  The Emperor smiled at her. "You serve our people, and your Order, well." Then he turned his gaze to Paige who had been standing to the side quietly waiting. "The Lt. Commander has something she wants to share with us."

  Paige took a step toward K'oron and Danielle, then offered the Emperor a bow. "Thank you, Your Excellency. I do have some exciting news to share. At the Emperor's encouragement, I have been working with the Imperial Science Division to find ways to allow the Dominion ships to stand against the Legion's new ship." Paige walked over to a large comms screen that had been sitting just to the left of the main dais. She rolled the screen in front of them. "With Your Excellency's permission, I would like to open a comms channel to Tray'la. She is on site with what we would like to show you."

  The Emperor nodded his agreement and initiated the call. In a moment the face of the head of the Imperial Science Division was visible. She appeared to be on the bridge of a ship.

  "Your Excellency," Tray'la bowed. "It has been a pleasure to work with Lt. Commander Paige on this project. I think you will be pleased with what we have to show for our efforts. I am standing on the bridge of one of the Imperial Fleet's newest ships. It is a hybrid ship utilizing the best of V'drellian and Terran technologies."

  Paige continued the presentation. "Using technology from the Odyssey, we have been able to take two of your ships and modify them to be a formidable threat to anything that would dare to stand against them. We both feel that this ship should be capable of standing against the Legion's new ship. These ships have the most advanced shielding and camouflage system of any ship either of our governments has ever put into service. Both are also equipped with a new type of missile made by replacing the traditional neutron core with a new core that utilizes Commonwealth proton pulse blast technology. Upon missile impact, the core will explode in a multi-directional pulse blast. The missile body is also covered in a phase-shifting skin, that should allow it to pass through any shielding that cannot shift frequencies at the same rate of the missile."

  "This is amazing!" Glars'n beamed with joy. "Both of you have exceeded my highest expectations."

  "Truly remarkable," K'oron agreed.

  Danielle smiled. "So when do we get to take them for a test run against the Legion?"

  "As soon as the Emperor wants," Trey'la responded. "There is only one matter left to take care of."

  "What would that be?" Glars'n inquired.

  "We need to name them," Paige smiled, "and we have two names to recommend."

  Tray'la continued. "In recognition of the unified effort of our two races to stop the Legion, we suggest Th'warzin's Wrath and Creator's Justice. Let the true gods of the universe strike down the false-god, Kamseth, and all that would follow him."

  "I think those are excellent names," the Emperor agreed. "What say you, K'oron?"

  "I believe we finally have a good chance of stopping the Legion, instead of always cleaning up the aftermath," K'oron replied with a smile.

  "I think I've got some new crew members for you too, Lt. Commander," Danielle offered. "Captain Ridgeway would like to offer his services."

  "Ridgeway? The guy that viciously attacked a passenger ship? No thanks." Paige responded curtly.

  "Yes, Ridgeway, the guy that was accused of something that he swears he didn't do," Danielle answered. "Like the Sovereign Angel that assassinated the Rylan Prime Minister, or the Lt. Commander and her crew that defected to the Dominion and is now trying to destroy the Commonwealth."

  Paige chuckled. "You've got me there. I guess there have been enough false accusations flying around lately. If he wants to help, I'm sure that we can use him. You used the plural 'members'. You've got more?"

  K'oron smirked. "You could say that. A large portion of the crews from the Commonwealth ships that attacked us have decided not to return to the Commonwealth, but instead would rather stay with us and help us stop the Legion. Including Admiral Dale Hawthorne. I believe that he was your supreme military commander, yes?"

  Paige looked like she could faint. "Fleet Admiral Hawthorne was on one of those ships, and he swapped sides? That is too crazy to believe. If we have that many men and women that were willing to join the cause, we might just pull this thing off."

  "Great. Now, let's go hunt down the Legion," Danielle grinned. Your time is just about up, No'tok. I'm coming for you.

  ***

  The trip from the desolated planet of Morgal to Zophitan had been without incident. Which was a good thing for Lakeisha Johnson. How would I explain the presence of a Commonwealth officer inside the Protectorate with ‘it’ back there? She turned to glance at the large cylindrical object in the cargo area of the small ship. As soon it as it had been loaded, she had a tarp draped over it. Presumably to stop prying eyes, but truthfully she was scared to look at it. She was nearing the Legion's base of operations and was ready to let someone else deal with her cargo.

  Upon approach to the third moon, she received a transmission from the Legion's hidden base. It was the challenge-response greeting used by the Legion to thwart would-be spies and careless travelers. She gave the appropriate response and was given coordinates on the surface of the moon to land at. As she neared the surface location, she could see a small landing pad. It had been painted to camouflage it into the surrounding foliage of what looked to be a jungle. She set the shIp down on the landing pad, and immediately several armed soldiers appeared from the edge of the dense jungle vegetation. They too were camouflaged to blend into their surroundings. One of the soldiers approached her craft and motioned for her to exit. She opened the rear hatch and stepped out onto the landing pad.

  The air was thick and moist, unlike anything she had ever experienced before. The temperature was warm, almost to the point of discomfort. The soldier that had motioned to her was now plainly visible. She could now tell that the soldier was a female Terran, like herself.

  "Lt. Johnson, I'm General Julia Harmond," the soldier introduced herself with an outstretched hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. You are among friends here. Gaelon said that you had some cargo for us?"

  "Always good to be around friends," Lakeisha shook Harmond's hand. "Yes, I do have some extremely valuable cargo. Did Gaelon give you any instructions?"

  "No ma'am," Hammond shook her head. "He said that when you arrived, you would tell us what we needed to know and when we needed to know it. How can we help?"

  "First of all, the cargo is not to be uncovered," Lakeisha informed the other Terran woman. "It is heavy and will require an anti-gravity lift to move it to your lab. Once there, I will go over things with you and the head of your science group."

  "Understood. We'll get right on it," Harmond saluted.

  "General," Lakeisha replied, "I think I should probably be saluting you. You far outrank me."

  "Nonsense," Harmond responded. "A Triumvir is worthy of a salute, and outranks me by any measure."

  Lakeisha was shocked. No one was supposed to know that she was a member of the Legion's highest governing body. "Who told you t
hat I was a member of the Triumvirate?"

  "Gaelon did," the general answered. "No one on Zophitan base ever leaves, so it isn't a security threat. This is the Legion's home base, here we don't hide our identities. We even have traditional worship led by a Morgalan priest of Kamseth. Like I said earlier, you are among friends. Be proud of who you are. You are doing us, and the entire universe a great service. We will do what the great Morgalan Empire could not. We will conquer the entire universe in the name of Kamseth. You and Gaelon will lead us. When the time is right, you will choose a replacement for the weak-minded, traitorous, Th'arn."

  Lakeisha was astounded. This was not the welcome she was expecting, even from a Legion controlled installation. She watched as Harmond had a crew carefully unload the cargo from her ship and slowly moved it along a path that went away from the landing pad. She walked beside General Harmond, as they brought up the rear of the procession. The work crew stopped and the crew lead walked over to a tree beside the path. He slid open a panel in the tree trunk and placed his palm flat against the console inside. There was a rumbling sound and the ground in front of them began to rise. Hidden beneath the surface was a large lift that went down into the planet.

  Harmond noticed her staring. "When we decided to use this moon as our base of operations, we thought that an underground facility would be harder to detect by any ship that might scan the surface. Pretty clever, huh?"

  "Very," Lakeisha answered.

  They maneuvered the cargo onto the lift, and everyone circled around it. The rumbling started again as the lift slowly began descending into the ground. Once below the surface, she found herself at staring into a large area with walls of metal. The could see various types of small personnel carriers for land, air, and water-based travel. There were people of all races going about their duties below. She even noticed a few V'drellians in the workforce.