Finding Darkness

Chapter 37 Change of Command

"You what!" Thargoan roared, coming off his command chair and down the seven-step dais in a single bounding leap.

"Captain, I thought I'd made myself clear. We had one shot and this, ONE!" He thundered! "Now you're telling me it managed to get off planet in a craft we couldn't even see and couldn't track until it dropped its cloak."

"Do you think I don't know that?" Vapade shot back, heating the confrontation.

"What did you just say to me, Captain? Be careful what words next come from between your lips. Your life just might depend on them."

"You did not bring me on this pathetic voyage just to second every little command your little brain thought up. So don't think I'll cower before you just because something didn't go the way you wanted it to! Now if you don't have anything useful to offer, I'd be grateful if you'd leave my bridge!" Vapade shot back with venom of his own.

"Officer, you're relieved of command, guard." Thargoan snapped his fingers, beckoning one of the many bridge guards forward. "Escort your former captain from my bridge." Thargoan stood smuggle, waiting for Vapade to be seized.

"Oh my dear Prince, what, did you think your father put you in charge of this expedition? Did you really?" Vapade whispered something to the tech standing beside him then walked briskly towards the Prince.

"Your sire is one hundred times the Rougar you are. He never put you in charge of this fleet. He's not stupid enough to put a fleet of the greatest ships our empire has ever produced in the hands of an immature, pampered, arrogant child." Vapade towered over the Prince, the skin flaps on either side of his neck and head flared out to the side, their undersides a brilliant red, showing just how close Thargoan came to losing his life.

"Now get back to your chair and stop wasting my time." Vapade pointed back to the command chair. Then, without a word, hurried back to the mission side of the bridge.

Thargoan looked across the bridge, searching for support. All he saw was dozens of heads turn to avoid his gaze. Vapade had been right. His father had pumped him up as leader only to please the masses and maneuver his political adversaries into backing his family's claim to lead this mission. That's why he'd become more and more displeased as it had become clear it would take more time than expected to complete it.

He balled both his three fingered fists. He would not fail. These military officers thought they cowed him, let them think that. His time would come. They wanted a figurehead to inspire the rank and file, so be it. But they had no idea of what he was capable, but they'd find out, one of these days, they'd find out.

"Is he finished with his little fit yet?"

"I think so, sir, but he doesn't look very pleased."

"Officer, I was not given command of this mission to please that spoiled brat. I was given it to complete it, nothing more, nothing less. So, what have we got?"

"Neither the Salmez or the Grankthon have reported in. They are well past their scheduled communication time. Then that human ship jumps back into the system and when it does, the genetic carrier and its guardian just happen to leave the surface. They managed to get into a craft, which we now know was a fighter and leave the planet, only after the guardian was nearly cut in half by the weapon you designed."

"Is that all Ensign?"

"That's about it sir, oh one more thing. The six fighters that were in pursuit have all been destroyed. Once they passed the fifth planet's orbital line, they were attacked by at least fifteen enemy fighters. They didn't stand much of a chance, sir." Vapade nodded. He had figured as much. He hadn't given much hope to the fighters he'd sent actually bringing the ship down, but he thought they might have gotten lucky. So much for that.

"Draw in our support fighters and maximize our surface scans with the vessels we are left. We'll have to wait on the Salmez and the Grankthon. Once they're back, we'll have a better chance of catching anything trying to slip back to the planet." He spun to the rest of the bridge. "For now, we'll wait. If they want us off this world, we'll make them come to us. Then we'll make them regret it."

"Joshua, I need you down in that hangar when he touches down. If he's wounded, you might be the only one capable of getting him to the deck."

"Understood, sir." Joshua nodded, stood, saluted, then walked to the bridge door. Not the lift door, the door that lead into the warren of passageways and corridors that led into the maze that was the ship.

For him, this was far faster than even the lift system. When you're able to travel at over the speed of sound, on foot, running was often faster than lift travel, even at the speeds the lifts moved at.

Minutes later Joshua ran onto the main flight line of hangar sixteen. Malachi's fighter was just a faint glowing dot in the distance, increasing in size with each second that passed. Joshua had made sure the entire fight deck was evacuated, the entire three hundred acre expanse was vacant, save for himself.

Every attempt to contact his brother had failed. He was alive, just, other than that, no one knew. So Joshua had made the decision, for safety, to make sure no one was on this hangar deck. He had a feeling this was going to be a bumpy landing.