Storm' Fury: The Shenkar War (43 page)

January 26
th
, 2014 12:52am EST

Cathergon freighter,
Farrow
, Shenkar Federation space

              Steve entered the bridge followed by his escort. Liam immediately noticed something off about Steve by the pale complextion and the sheen of sweat upon his face. As he drew closer, Liam also noticed several small red marks upon his face, but it was the smell that stood out the most as Steve came to stand before him. Involuntarily Liam’s hand covered his nose as Steve face dissolved into embarrassment.

              “Um….Steve….did you…uh…lose bowel control?” Liam asked, his voice muffled by his hand.

              But it wasn’t Steve who spoke, instead it was Cryta who spoke first.

              “You were bitten by several Turrin weren’t you?”

              Steve grimaced as a hand shifted to his lower intestine.

              “Yes….and one very big ugly Turrin but they are all dead now,” Steve explained as he moved towards a nearby console.

              “The bite of the Turrin is poisonous, nothing too deadly but enough to cause side effects. One of those side effects is the loss of bowel control but otherwise Lieutenant Barrow’s should be okay. The side effects should wear off in within twenty hours,” Cryta explained to Liam.

              Liam looked over at his friend and thought of all the times his friend had given him a hard time with his smart-assed comments. Knowing Steve was going to be all right was probably what drove Liam to speak without thinking.

              “So, in short, Steve pooped his pants?”

              Steve stopped typing upon the console to look over at Liam.

              “Oh, ha ha, funny guy!”

              “So señor squishy pants, shall we get you some adult diapers?” asked Liam, a broad smile upon his face.

              “You cut me deep Liam, you cut me deep,” Steve said over his shoulder as he continued to work.

              Liam laughed as he turned back to Cryta.

              “Do me a favor, could you run back to the ship and get a spare uniform from Lieutenant Barrows quarters so we can spare him the embarrassment of his situation with the rest of the crew.”

              Cryta nodded and quickly left the bridge.

              As Steve worked, Liam walked around the small bridge. The Cathergon bridge crew went about their business but on several occasions Liam caught several of the crew stealing quick glances at him when they thought he wasn’t aware.

              A sound at the entrance to the bridge made Liam look around. Cryta returned carrying a uniform. Steve quickly walked over and took the uniform from Cryta before turning to Liam.

              “Navigation systems have been linked, we can get underway anytime now. Do you need me for anything else or can I get cleaned up?”

              “Yeah, that would be fine; I will see you back on the
Poseidon
.”

              Steve quickly, albeit awkwardly, walked off the bridge taking the smell and Cryta with him. Once the two had left the bridge,with their escort in tow, Liam turned back to the captain.

              “Now we go to this asteroid base you mentioned.”

              The captain nodded nervously but otherwise said nothing else. Holding the captains gaze for a few moments longer, Liam then turned and left the bridge. The sounds of of his escorts footsteps sounded behind him as the guard ran to catch up with Liam. Liam did not slow as he knew the way back to the airlock where the docking tube was connected.

January 26
th
, 2014 1:18am EST

EDF
Poseidon
, Shenkar Federation space

              “Communications get me the Kraken, tell them I need to speak with Admiral Kelvin as soon as possible,” Liam said as he marched onto the bridge.

              Taking his seat in his command chair, he activated his personal tactical display. The latest telemetry revealed the Cathergon freighter was well underway and headed further out into deep space, away from the Shenkar held space. He wondered again if made a mistake in intervening, their whole mission depended on them reaching Lykaa and destroying the clone facility. He only hoped that he had not overstepped his authority either by arranging this meeting. This would bring the humans forces in this sector to where the Shenkar could ambush them if they were informed. Liam’s thoughts were interrupted by Leah addressing him from the communications station.

              “Commander, I have Admiral Kelvin and Captain Dunklin on the line for you, you can take it anytime you are ready.”

              Liam took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he keyed his personal commset.

              “This is Commander Brennan, I have you on a secured channel, we have encountered a unique situation that I felt you two should be apprised of.”

              Liam proceeded to explain the situation in detail, from his intervention and subsequent destruction of the Shenkar destroyer to his arranged meeting with the Cathergons. He missed no detail in regards to his interpretation of the new race and what they could bring to the table as well as the information Cryta had provided him. The whole time, both Admiral Kelvin and Captain Dunklin remained silent, except when they needed some further details, until finally Liam had finished his story.

              “I am not going to lie, I probably would have questioned whether we should have intervened. This mission is just too important to run that risk and we have to insure we can contact the Lykaans without a hitch. ” stated Captain Dunklin.

              “I do not disagree with the captain but I personally would have done the exact same thing as you did, Commander. Either way, at this point we are in all the way so we will meet you at the specified coordinates. We will get underway in the next few minutes and meet you there,” Admiral Kelvin explained.

              “Thank you sirs, will you be coming with the
Kraken
or using one of the frigates?”

              “Oh, I think if want to show them what we are capable of then we need to show them what the Shenkar will be facing,” Captain Dunklin explained, not confirming nor denying they would be arriving in the
Kraken
.

EDF
Poseidon
, unknown region of space

              The
Poseidon
had been following the Cathergon freighter for a little more than two hours when they arrived at a massive asteroid field. Liam could understand why the Cathergons had chosen this area of space for their base. Scans revealed nothing special about the area, no planetoids nor was there any star nearby. From what he knew of the Shenkar they would have surveyed this area long ago and finding nothing would have not wasted any further resources.

              “Commander, the Cathergon freighter is slowing. I am also intercepting a transmission from the freighter beamed into the asteroid field,” Steve said from operations station.

              “Helm, bring us along side of the freighter.”

              The bridge remained silent as the minutes ticked by, awaiting something from the freighter.

              It was Steve who once again broke the silence.

              “Commander, I am picking up movement within the asteroid field.”

              “Tactical, what do we have out there?” Liam asked.

              Callen keyed the holographic display which created a three dimensional display of the area around the frigate. Displayed in the center was the Cathergon freighter and the Poseidon, just forward of them several images shown of asteroids. Beside one of the largest asteroids revealed the new addition. The ship was larger than the freighter but smaller than their own frigate.

              “New signature is nothing we have on file but preliminary scans indicate the ship is equal to a corvette class warship. I am detecting light energy cannons and one torpedo launcher, nothing the
Poseidon
could not defeat if necessary,” Callen explained as he studied the display.

              Just as Callen completed his sentence something drew his attention back to his console. Callen studied it for a few moments, his forehead furrowing, his expression growing grim.

              “Commander, it seems I have spoken too soon, I am detecting new signatures….many more signatures, all corvette class,” Callen explained as he worked the keeps on his console.

              Moments later the area surrounding them upon the holographic display shown with several more signatures. Seventeen more signatures moved from the asteroid field to surround them.

              “Commander, I am not detecting any shields but it seems they have some sort of ablative armor. I am detecting weapons lock upon us and their weapons are charged.”

              Liam studied the display before him for a few moments before looking to his tactical station.

              “What are our chances if this turns ugly?”

              Callens face was grim when he looked up.

              “We could defeat,maybe at most, five but eighteen is just too much.”

              “Commander, I am intercepting a transmission between the freighter and the lead warship. It seems Captain Frozt is arguing in our favor but the captain of the lead warship is calling him a traitor to his kind,” explained Leah from the communications station.

              “Commander, shall I power up the shields?” Callen inquired.

              “No, that could just provoke them into thinking we are here to do them harm. Keep an eye on their weapon systems, if you detect any energy spikes indicating they are about to fire then bring the shields online. I know they wouldn’t power up to full strength before we were hit but it might be enough for us to get out of here.”

              The moments passed by as they awaited some sort of response for their intrusion into this area of space.

              “Commander, I am receiving a transmission from the captain of the lead warship,” stated Leah. “He wishes to discuss the terms of our surrender,” she explained, surprise upon her face.

              “Tactical, power up the shields but do not arm our weapons. Comm station, put me on with the captain for everyone to hear.”

              Leah tapped a few keys and then nodded to Liam to go ahead.

              “This is Commander Brennan of the EDF
Poseidon
; I wish to speak with the captain in regards to his demands.”

              A scratchy voice responded almost immediately, heavy with disdain.

              “This is High Captain Betz, you are completely surrounded. If you wish to live, you will drop your shields, and surrender yourself to us immediately. I promise you will come to no harm until you are fairly tried before the council.”

              “High Captain Betz, I believe there has been some misunderstanding, we were invited here by one of your brethren, the captain of the
Farrow
. If they haven’t explained already, we have already engaged and destroyed one Shenkar destroyer, so I can assure you we are not your enemy.”

              “Yes, I have heard of this convenient victory but I do not believe it. Oh, I believe you destroyed a ship but I know how tricky the Shenkar can be when they wish to root out information.”

              Before Liam could respond, Cryta’s voice spoke loud and clear.

              “High Captain, if you believe that then you truly do not know the Shenkar. They would not go to such lengths to root out information but instead would simply torture it from you.”

              “Oh, I think I know them better than you humans, we have been under their rule for a very long time.”

              Liam held up a hand for Cryta to keep silent as he spoke.

              “High Captain, you do not have all the information then…the one who just addressed you was none other than a Shenkar so I believe he can say what they would do. His name is Cryta and he is of the elite but I can assure you he does not wish you harm. He in fact seeks your help, as we do, to help us remove the Shelecore and his council from power.”