Chapter 20

The crew was getting a little restless. It has been a couple of weeks since leaving Ura. The ship kept an extremely low profile. No participation in any missions against the drilli, which the rest of the crew thought was the whole purpose of their mission. Lydia felt the uneasiness on the ship. Lydia knew that anyone on the ship could be working for behind the scene, but she couldn’t give into paranoia. Ezi did her part by secretly watching all communications. Faith kept eyes on everybody that went around Lydia. No one got close to her without Faith knowing about it.

Simona was at her station, rapidly tapping her fingers on console. Faith noticed the behavior and slowly moved her hand over the handle of her pistol. Simona let out a loud sigh.

“Ma’am, what the hell is going on?“Simona inquired. “We’ve been flying around for the last couple of weeks. We haven’t done anything. What is our current mission?”

Lydia looked down at her datapad. “We don’t have a current mission.”

Simona’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about? What did Amuilius say?”

Before Lydia could speak; the ship’s alarms off. Simona’s focus went back to her console. “A ship just came out of a jump.”

“There isn’t a jump point here,” Lydia stated. “What idiot will risk that?” Entering and exiting a jump stream at any location other than a jump point was dangerous. It could put every ship in the system in danger. Opening a jump stream too close to a ship could destroy both ships. Opening one too close to a planet or star could cause rips or tears in the fabric of space that could shift planets or stars out of orbit. The practice was illegal in Association’s space.

“It is a Star Force corvette,” Simona informed. “They must have used a CP.” CP or Classified points were only used by the Nessian’s military and Star Force in extreme situations, like war. This didn’t qualify.

“Screens up and weapons ready,” Lydia ordered.

“Ma’am, they could interpret it as an aggressive action,” Simona warned before she inputted the order.

“Because it is,” Lydia replied.

“They’re hailing us,” Piet said.

“Open the channel,” Lydia ordered.

A female voice came over the comm system. “This is Lieutenant Commander Sameera Kader of the SS String Ray. You are ordered to lower your screens and power down your weapons and prepare to be boarded. This is your first and only warning.”

“They match us in every way,” Simona explained. Corvettes were the fastest ship in Star Force and were very effective in combat. They were small in size, only a couple of meters longer than the Enigma, but they can pack a punch. They were armed with three plasma cannons, one on each wing and on the bow, and one torpedo launcher. The corvettes were designed to take out ships quick and fast.

“Time’s up,” Kader informed over the system. The String Ray fired a torpedo at the engines of the Enigma. The screens protected the ship, but the ship’s power was drained by fifty percent.

“They must have used dampening torpedoes,” Simona said, “and pretty strong ones. One more hit, we will be disabled.”

“They are trying to take us alive,” Faith said.

“That was their first mistake,” Lydia said with a slight smirk on her face. “Target their engine and weapons.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Simona said. She did as she was ordered and fired both plasma cannons. The Sting Ray’s screen absorbed the cannon blasts and released the blast back at the Enigma.

“Our screens are still holding,” Simona said.

“Their screens are very impressive,” Ezi said. “I didn’t know that Star Force had that type of technology.”

“It doesn’t,” Simona said. “That ship might be a prototype and it is out for a test run.”

“And it is passing with flying colors,” Lydia added. “Vlad, get us the hell out of here.”

Vlad rapidly punched controls and nothing was happening. The ship wasn’t moving. “The helm is not responding. We are sitting ducks.” Vlad continued in vain, hoping to get another outcome. “The engines are offline.”

With the world crashing around her, Lydia was able to keep a calm head as she gave out orders. “Ezi, get the engine back out online. Simona, work on a countermeasure to deal with those damn torpedoes.”

“Too late,” Simona altered the crew as another torpedo came towards the ship. The crew couldn’t do anything to stop it, they could only brace for impact. The torpedo struck the ship. The impact was low, but the damage was done. The screens were down and only life support was working. The ship was dark.

“It will take about ten minutes for auxiliary systems to kick in,” Piet informed Lydia.

“We don’t have ten minutes,” Lydia said. She looked at Faith. “They are going to board the ship. We can’t let that happen. The rest of the crew will be working on getting the ship online. You need to get those bastards off my ship.”

A smile appeared on Faith’s face. “I understand.” She started to walk out of the bridge when Lydia gave her one more order. “These are Star Force personnel, rough them up, but don’t kill them.”

Simona laughed. “Now, you are going to micromanage her?”

Faith’s eyes quickly adjusted to the darkest as she ran down the hallways. Faith didn’t have much time, so she decided not to go to the armory to suit up. She going to take on Star Force’s soldiers wearing nothing but a short sleeveless cropped top and loose fitting shorts. No armor, no guns, she didn’t even have her katrat. Faith wasn’t worried. The odds were still in her favor.

The ship made a violent jerk to the right, taking the crew off guard. With no power, the crew was blind. They could only speculate what was going on. Lydia and Simona understood Star Force protocol when boarding an enemy ship. The first step was to disable the ship. The second was to lock on the ship with tracking beam or grappling hooks. Small ships, like the String Ray, would most likely use grappling hooks. The next step would pull the enemy ship in closer and connect a loading tube to the other space airlock or loading bay. The loading bay would be ideal because it was closer to engineering. Through the earpiece, Lydia advised Faith to wait for them by the loading bay. Faith heard the hiss of the outer bay door opening. Lydia informed Faith that it would be an eight-person boarding party armed with battle armor and assault rifles. Due to the lack of armor, Faith decided against a direct assault. The darkest would be her friend.

Since there was no power on the Enigma, the boarding party used a Shellie to pry open inter-bay door. The party was waiting for a frontal assault but was shocked to see that they weren’t confronted by gunfire. They were heavily armored and armed with assault rifles. They heard slight footsteps but didn’t see who was out there.

The party was moving in column formation. Faith quietly followed them as they passed the engine room. Faith overheard them talking about going to the bridge. Faith couldn’t let them happen, so she decided to strike.

Faith attacked the soldier that was bringing up the rear. She wrapped her arm around her neck and remembered what Lydia said about not killing, so she quickly choked him out. The rest of the party didn’t notice that their numbers were down to seven. Faith ran up the wall pivot off one foot and roundhouse kicked the next soldier. The blow sent him flying into the wall knocking him out. Faith grabbed the other soldier and before he knew it, dislocated both of his shoulders leaving his arms unless. Faith tossed him headfirst into the wall. His helmet protected him from death but not unconsciousness.

The other seven broke formation and fired in Faith direction. They had trouble keeping their eyes on her. They kept losing her in the shadows. Faith could easily kill them all by using their own guns on them, but she made a promise to Lydia. The party was no longer acting like soldiers but like scared little children crying for their mommy. Faith has been there, so she knew what terror they felt, but she got over it fifteen years ago.

The soldiers were looking in all direction. They were lost. They weren’t focused. They knew they were defeated; Faith was going to make it real to them. Faith flipped in the air landed feet first on the neck of the soldier. He suffered the worst that Faith offered. His neck was broken, but he was still alive. She side kicked one of the soldiers in the chest sending him back crashing into the wall. She leg swept another sending soldier’s head first to the floor. Shot again rang out through the hallways of the Enigma. They were shooting at shadows, they were shooting at ghosts. Their bodies trembled they didn’t know what was going on. They didn’t what was attacking them. They didn’t know if it was one or many. Their hands gripped harder onto their rifles, but it didn’t matter. Faith sprung out of the shadows and split kicked both of them in the head, knocking their helmets off. Before they fell into unconsciousness, they finally got a look at their assailant, a single petite female.

“Lydia,” Faith called through her earpiece. “We have an eight-person squad down here. They are alive but out cold. See if Piet can give them something so they can stay that way?”

“Not a problem,” Lydia said. “The auxiliary systems had kicked in, but we have limited power. I need you to board the String Ray and release the grappling hooks.”

Faith smiled. “That shouldn’t be a problem.”

“The crew of the String Ray should be small,” Lydia said, “about twenty. So, you basically took out half of the crew. Take out the outer half and take the bridge.

“Not a problem. Faith out.”

Lieutenant Commander Sameera Kader was a young and ambitious officer in Star Force. She achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander in a relatively short time. She normally played by the book but has been known to bend the rule from time to time. Sameer was all military, short bob haircut, and dressed a full officer uniform. Her olive skin tone was a reflection of middle- eastern heritage.

Lieutenant Commander paced on the bridge waiting to hear from the boarding party. It has been a while since they check in. She called them several times and received no response. M she thought. ‘It Tiger Strike was a Special Forces unit of Star Force. The SS String Ray was their flagship. They were Star Force best trained and best equipped and given the toughest assignments. They had a success rate of ninety-eight percent. Their motto was ‘Ride it out! Or Die trying!’ There was nothing they could handle. This wasn’t like them. They always checked in.

Sameer checked with other station on the ship, like Engineering and Medical, but got no responses. She turned to her XO, an even younger officer Ensign Carroll.

“Find out what the hell is going on,” the LC ordered.

“Yes, ma’am,” the ensign answered and ran off the bridge.

The LC sat in her chair and attempted the monitor her crew and the ship system. She became distracted as she saw her unconscious ensign flying across the bridge. Sameera quickly drew her sidearm. She was looking for something to shoot and her wish was granted as Faith ran onto the bridge. Sameera fired, but Faith dodged every shot. Faith got closer and closer to the Lieutenant Commander until Faith grabbed Sameera’s wrist.

“You might want to drop the gun,” Faith asked.

Faith’s grip was like a vice around LC’s wrist. She couldn't break the grip, but she wasn’t going to drop the gun. Faith warned the LC again, but Sameera wasn’t going to comply.

“Fine,” Faith said. With a simple flick, Faith broke Sameera’s wrist and the gun fell to the floor. Faith grabbed Sameera by the throat and slammed her against the wall lifted her all her feet. “Do I have your attention?”

Sameera was holding her arm close to her chest and tried to break Faith’s grip with her other arm. Faith grabbed the wrist of the other arm and pulled until Sameera’s shoulder and popped it out socket. Sameera felt the Faith was playing.

“Are you going to kill me?” Sameera asked. “Just do it and get it over with.”

“I’m not going to kill you,” Faith replied. “I didn’t kill your crew. They are beaten, bruised and broken, but they are still alive. Some will require medical attention.”

“What do you want?” The expression on Sameera’s face telegraphed the pain she was feeling.

“Why are you after us?”

“Lydia Carson is a terrorist and is wanted by the Association.”

“Bullshit! I don’t believe you.”

“Computer!” Sameera ordered. “Open file 34213.” A full dossier of Dr. Lydia Carson appeared on the bridge monitor with the criminal charges.

“Give me a datapad,” Faith said.

“What?”

Faith tossed Sameera a crossed the bridge. “Am I talking drilli?” Faith walked over and picked up by the LC by the throat and repeated the request. “Give me a fucking datapad.”

“There is one by my chair,” Sameera whispered.

Faith dropped Sameera and picked up the pad and downloaded the information about Lydia and all the data about the Sting Ray’s weapon system and screens. Faith went to the tactical console and released the hooks.

“Lydia,” Faith called to her through her earpiece. “Connect to the String Ray computer and disable the ship.

“Not a problem,” Lydia answered.

Faith walked over to Sameera. “I can’t have you stopping the process.” With a controlled kick to the head, Sameera was out cold.

The Engima left the String Ray and its crew bend but not totally broken, but they won’t be pursuing Lydia or anyone else by that matter for a while. But Lydia had other things to worry about. She felt that the whole crew might need to know the truth. She called a meeting in the briefing room.

“War crimes!” Simona shouted. “How did we get charged with war crimes.”

“It’s all on the dossier,” Faith said and pulled the dossier onto the monitor. “They charged Lydia for the destruction on the peace envoy. They charged us with an act of terrorism that we didn’t do.”

“How did this happen?” Simona asked.

Lydia held her head down for a few seconds before answering. “After refusing to destroy the envoy, Amliuns got Warren to destroy it instead.”

“Then he switched the blame to us,” Simona said.

“He put me on notice,” Lydia explained. She waved at the monitor. “This dossier is a ‘Purge file.’ If an agent gets caught or his or her mission fails, SINDRI and Star Force could deny any involvement. The file is loaded with lies and misinformation. I should know. I created hundreds of them.”

“What options do we have?” Ezi asked.

“We can’t be on the run forever,” Simona said. “The drilli and the Association will be gunning for us. Can’t we get safe haven with the shavili?”

“Not if shavili want to be part of the Association one day,” Ezi said.

“The drilli wouldn’t respect safe haven,” Faith said. “They will go to war with the shavili, to get to us.”

“Well,” Lydia interjected. “There is some good news. According to the dossier, my warrant isn’t public. Only the Board is aware. They are the only ones that could authorize Tiger Strike and the used of CP. The drilli and other Association members aren’t aware of it. So, we don’t have to worry about every government or merc group coming for us. Space is vast. We could hide in plain sight for years, but that couldn’t be our long-term goal. We have two realistic options. We could run or turn ourselves in.”

“Fuck both of those options,” Faith said. “We can expose SINDRI and destroy them with their lies, but first we have to destroy them physically.”

“Attack the Hannibal?” Lydia asked.

“With the tactical info we stole from the Sting Ray,” Ezi said. “It can be possible.”

Lydia stroked her chin, pondering the possibilities of taking down SINDRI. Then reality overcame her. “I know the capability of the Hannibal. Even if we upgrade the ship, it might still be a challenge.”

“We don’t need to destroy the Hannibal,” Faith explained. “We need to just get on the ship. Make it a ground fight. They will be no match for us.”

“It will still be risky.” Lydia sat back in her chair, a smirk came over her face and she looked at Ezi. “Make the upgrades to our screens and our weapon systems.” She stood up from her chair. “Let’s find the Hannibal.”