Unity

Chapter 22

Despondent. That was the closest word to describe how I was feeling. My senses had to be lying to me because there was no way Jen and Admiral Jones could be gone. It didn't make sense. Why would the alien ship do that? I faintly heard someone calling for Commander Ryan. I wish he would answer so they would stop yelling. I jerked as somebody slapped me in the face. The bridge was dead silent. I came to my senses and saw a marine standing in front of me. It was Commander Arkady Morozova, commander of the marines on board the Unity. He was average in height, with brown hair and eyes. He also happened to be built like a tank, so his slap had some sting to it.

The slap seemed to restart my brain. I was angry at being slapped, but I had bigger things to worry about. Second watch was on the bridge being briefed for their watch on the bridge. It wasn't time for them to take over yet, but Admiral Jones must have ordered it before he left. I had to quickly shove away the despondency that threatened to take over again. I glanced at Commander Morozova and noticed he had an eyebrow cocked, letting me know he was ready to act again if needed. I lightly shook my head and sat in the captain's chair. Lt. Miranda Sanchez, the communications officer for second watch, looked at me and said, "Sir, we have another message from the enemy ship." I thought it interesting that she referred to them as an enemy, though after what they did I guess I did as well.

"What does it say?" I asked

She looked down and read aloud, "Stand down or die."

I looked around the bridge. Panic, rage, and a host of other conflicting emotions tried to overwhelm me again. I saw Commander Morozova start to move towards me again. I didn't need another slap, so I put my hand up to stop him. "Any movement from the enemy ship?" I asked.

"Nothing," said one of the navigators.

If I retaliated, then I would be declaring war on another race. If I surrendered, then there was no guarantee the crew would be allowed to live. The destruction of the shuttle replayed in my mind. I suddenly realized that with Admiral Jones gone, I was now in charge of both the ship and the whole fleet. This realization seemed to add to my current load of stress as I was not ready to be in charge. I was supposed to have more time with Admiral Jones as a mentor. I knew I had to come to a decision, and fast.

"Everybody listen please," I called out. "An unknown ship has just initiated hostile actions against us, resulting in the loss of two crew members. This horrendous act cannot go unpunished. They will rue the day that they took our friends from us. Gunners, are the rail guns primed?"

"Affirmative, all weapons are armed and ready." replied one of the gunners.

"Navigation and pilots," I called out, "Prepare to take incoming fire. Send out a ship wide alert to buckle up." I gave everyone a minute to get ready and simply said, "Engage."

The countless drills we had performed paid off which meant everyone knew exactly what to do. I set one of the displays on my chair so I could watch the progress of the battle. The enemy seemed to be caught off guard. I'm sure that with energy-based weaponry, projectile type weapons seemed archaic. Dozens of depleted uranium rounds met their ship's hull and shredded it like tissue paper. There were several explosions around the ship. Several smaller ships were launched from the enemy ship and headed our way.

"Launch fighters, keep cruisers on standby." I commanded. "Gunners, fire another volley. Let's finish this."

I watched as our fighters swarmed out of the ship. They hadn't been on the bridge, so the only thing they were aware of was that we were under attack. By the time our second round of shells had hit the enemy ship, it had belched out about fifty fighters. There were several large explosions, and the ship started to break apart.