The Theron Residency (Brides of Theron Book 4) (32 page)

Zirlo was at the controls navigating to the Mithuna System. He turned to Ceran and said, “We are on schedule. We should be there before the others so that we can brief them as they come in. The Eternity, Karnak, Gauntlet, and Leviathan have contacted me to tell me that they are on the way.” Zirlo had woken early and found more than half the command center staff on the bridge. They couldn’t sleep either. Ceran was the second to report to duty. They had enough people to man the bridge so they decided to depart early in the hopes of being able to brief the fleets as they arrived. The hum of the ships thrusters and gravitational generators vibrated in the floors and walls of the ship as he fired them up and set course for the first of two wormholes that would bring them to Mithuna. “Can I ask you something?” Zirlo said as he studied the screen in front of him.

“Sure,” Ceran said as he regarded his commander.

“Is this your first mission with a battle sequence?”

“Well, yes it is my first actual pre-meditated battle sequence. I was in command when Zeb went to UV-49 to rescue Avery. In that case, I took control of the ship in his stead. I followed the scenarios that we had practiced in the numerous simulation programs at the Academy.” He looked at the messages on the workstation in front of him. “Why do you ask, Commander? Is there anything that I should be made aware of?”

“Well, now that you mention it, I guess I was probing your willingness and ability to lead the men down on the surface of Drylon. Yaza only agreed to let me take this commission if I promised that I wouldn’t step foot on Drylon when we got there.” He looked over at him, “I know it seems cowardly, not leading the men out to battle. But, I see this as a co-commandership anyway. Besides, I’m not sure that I could handle walking into those mines again. How would you feel about leading the ground attacks Ceran?”

Ceran smiled and said, “I had every intention to go down in your place. I only hoped that you wouldn’t give me a hard time about it. Besides, wasn’t that was the reason why I was sent away for training?” Talk about coincidences, the tall blue Eldorian ducked under the threshold leading up to the bridge, “What can I do for you, Zion?”

He looked at the constellations that passed quickly by in the large window in front of the commander’s chair. “
Good morning, I was under the assumption that we were scheduled to leave at this time, not that we would be halfway there
.”

“I trust you slept well,” Zirlo said.

“
Yes, I did
.” Zion stood next to Ceran at his workstation.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Zirlo said. “We had enough crew when I came back here. I took a vote and everyone here agreed that we should leave early. That way, we could be the first ones to arrive. It would be easier to brief the incoming ships as they arrive, would it not?”

Zion nodded. Ceran watched him, carefully taking note of how he stood in this space. He was comfortable on the command deck. “Do you often travel on ships like this?”

“
I do. On the ship I’m stationed on, I am the navigator
.” He reached out at touched the images of the plotted course. “
We can get to Mithuna faster if we take this route
.” He flicked his finger in the direction of the commander’s chair and the information was instantly brought up in front of him.

Zirlo examined the suggested course and replied, “You are right. I didn’t think to go this way. We could shave off several parsecs.” He nodded at Zion, who bowed his head in respect to the commander. “Make it so, Ceran. We will follow Zion’s suggestion.”

“Yes, sir.” Ceran elbowed Zion in the side and smiled whispering, “Show off.” His fingers were typing fast on the workstation. Zion looked away chuckling and finding humor in Ceran’s comment. If he was anything, he was modest. “Did you want to hang out up here? I am sure that we can find you something to monitor.” They laughed and Ceran got him settled on the bridge.

Coming out of the last wormhole that led directly to Mithuna, they came to the stars that marked Orion’s belt. They looked just under to the Gemini constellation to the stars Castor and Pollux. The edge of this system overlapped the Milky Way Galaxy. He loved the old fables of the Gods and Heroes of old that Laura had shared with him. Three sets of twin stars were in front of them as they continued to the rendezvous point past Gemini. When they arrived, they found the starships from nearby Pleiades and Sirius waiting for them.

“We are being hailed, commander,” Alista said from the communications desk.

“Put it up on the main monitor,” Zirlo replied.

The glass that once displayed a view of outer space turned to static and was replaced by the image of a woman with long blond hair and very large crystal blue eyes. “Commander Zirlo, it is nice to finally meet. I am Nivea the commander of the starship Karanja from Pilades, sent by Lord Ashtar to assist you on this mission. My sistership, the Colwyn, is headed by Nukificos of Sirius. I was instructed to tell you that Lord Ashtar sends his regards and highest blessings for a successful mission.”

“It is very nice to meet you Nivea. We are honored to have you with us. Please pass my thanks to your Lord Ashtar. We appreciate all the help that can be mustered to bring the prisoners held on Drylon freedom from Gatton. I have word that the other starships should all start arriving shortly and we will proceed as planned through the wormhole into Drylon territory. I am sending you a detailed copy of our battle plan. You can assist where ever you see fit. We are a little weak when it comes to battling small fighter craft. If you can try to put as many fighters as you can spare in this capacity, we should do quite well.”

“Sounds good. You will have all that you need. We will be waiting for further instructions.”

“Roran, send a cloaked probe through the wormhole to make sure that there are no obstacles in our way,” Zirlo said.

Roran typed on his keypad and the image of space changed again to the picture captured by the camera of the probe. They all watched the probe pass through the wormhole and emerge on the other side. Nothing could be seen but darkness and the tiny planets that shared the solar system with Drylon in the far distance. Several loose rocks were floating by and the probe’s hadron lasers vaporized them. “All is clear, sir,” Roran said as he relaxed in his chair. The view from the probe was minimized and the view of space resumed. Off in the distance came the long Pernmock ship, the Karnack. From far away, it looked like a big “V”. The gravitational drive circled around the outside of the vessel, making it look like the body of the ship was oscillating.

“We are being hailed by the Karnack, Commander,” Alist announced.

Zirlo nodded to her as she touched a couple of lit buttons on her console to put the image on the screen, “Hello Kurtz!”

“It’s good to see you my friend,” Kurtz said. His image did nothing to portray his nine foot stature. He blinked his four eyes on the monitor and smiled, showing a line of razor sharp canines. “Zeb is just behind me.”

This went on until all ships were accounted for. It was almost like a party with communication between the ships. Everyone involved in the offensive against Gatton was in good spirits. King Og, the commander of the Gauntlet was the next to check in. Followed by Zeb’s ship the Eternity. The Murmods came in their giant water ship called the Leviathan with its squid-like tentacles that helped it move through space. The bell shaped Sanganese ships arrived last. All of those planets that didn’t have huge Starfleet ships such as the tiny people of Blacknor had docked with some of the larger ships among them. The ships that gathered here were huge and could only enter the wormhole one at a time safely.

“Hail them all, Alista,” Zirlo said and the screen was covered with images of all of the commanders that represented the ships. Everything was quiet and Zirlo stood and addressed them all.

“Commanders and crews, we all are about to embark on a mission of great importance. The self-appointed Emperor Gatton of Drylon must be defeated at all costs. If, not killed, he must be captured. We are here to free our fellow men from the deplorable conditions of the prison camps. Each one of you has been briefed about what awaits you there. However, words cannot accurately prepare you for what you will see.”

“The people from my camp are starving and I will venture to assume that those at all the other camps are as well. I have been advised by Dr. Arden that no prisoner is to be fed. To eat food in the quantities that we are used to consuming, could put the prisoners at risk for death. It is important that all of the prisoners be brought back to the motherships for assessment. They will be fed and healed by medical staff only.”

“Many of these people will not know that we are coming for them today. Our first task will be to subdue or eliminate the guards, then we will organize the people we have come to get into groups to be brought aboard the ships. Every ship here has been told to have set up quarantine areas for the safety of our crews. Sickness is something that you may not remember. However, in these camps, disease and sickness are at epidemic levels at times. It’s best to be cautious. Only those members of the staff that have been trained to handle these conditions are allowed into the quarantine areas until further notice.”

“Some of us have set aside specially trained teams to find and capture Gatton. They know their orders and they will report to me. We must fight smart. We must fight true. We will NOT let Gatton get away with what he has done to our people and countless others among the universe. Until the day, that he is captured or killed, we will never see the end of his tyranny. The fire that burned Theron, UV-49, and countless other planets in the universe burns forever in our hearts. We will be victorious! We will bring our brothers and sisters home! Let’s go!”

The sound of the battle cry rang through the ship. He could hear them all from the feeds of each of the ships that they were in contact with. With Zirlo’s motivational words, everyone was ready for this mission to begin. Zirlo steered the ship into the wormhole and one by one, each ship met on the other side.

“Yellow, blue, and red teams away,” Zirlo said as his commands were sent to every loudspeaker in the ship by Alista. These teams would go closer to the planet to set up the offensive. They would report any activity back to Zirlo. The teams were released as each ship came through according to the protocol set up before they had even arrived. It was all going according to plan.



Just outside the outer rims of the Drylon solar system they all converged. “This is yellow-one, reporting that all Drylon probes are disabled. The planet isin the dark.
”


“Thank you, Yellow-one,” Zirlo said as he had Alista connect the bridges again.

“We are ready. Use your hyperdrives to get you to your position around the planet. Complete your assigned tasks. We will now separate into our own directives. May the strength and wisdom of the Gods be with you all!” Zirlo clicked off the monitor. “Ceran, initiate the hyperdrive sequence.”

“Hyper drive sequence initiated,” Ceran said as the screen went white and all space dust and particles bounced off the ship’s shield. Seconds later they were in position.

“Prepare to deploy landing teams 1-20,” Zirlo nodded at Ceran. “Good luck.”

Ceran nodded back and went down to the transport crafts with Zion at his heels. He put on his armor and picked up his CG-3 gun. Zion wore his trench coat with his usual double edge swords and other assorted small weapons strapped on to his person. “Teams 1-20, let’s go!” he walked up the ramp to his transport and strapped himself in the first seat next to Zion. Each team had 30 soldiers sharing a transport vehicle. There were five seats in six rows. Each one filled with a battle-ready soldier. The transport began to lift-off and pass through the large cargo doors in route to the planet’s surface.

As they entered the atmosphere the temperature inside rose and beads of sweat formed on Ceran’s forehead. They descended fast and the pilot put them on the ground just outside the gates of the prison. They got out fast and the transport vehicle took off. What they found there was odd to be sure. The prisoners were standing by the gates of the camp. The guards outside the gates ran away when the first three transports released their troops. Team two and three were dropped off on the opposite side of the fence. They chased down the guards while Ceran and team one started to ask questions.

“What’s happened? Why are the guards running?” Ceran asked a Pernmock man who had hands and arms that were covered with blood.

“I am Danuwee. They raped and beat us for the last time!” He yelled baring his teeth with his lower hands on his ax and the upper two were fists in the air. The others screamed out behind him. “All the guards ran for their lives and locked us in here.”

“Set them free,” Ceran said to the nearest of his soldiers.

“It might take some time, sir,” the soldier replied.

“Well, get on it.”

“This is Hator. We were sector mates with Zirlo. We need to find Carel and Jenaya. The guards took them away yesterday. They were probably transferred to the dungeon.”

“Did you say Carel?” Came a voice from behind them wearing an odd metal vest and a visor that folded back behind his head into a metal band that was connected from ear to ear. “I am Rog Gizzeppli, a captain in the Drylon Rebel Forces. I have been working with Carel from the beginning of this rebellion. Where is he?”