Celeste heard Jonin shouting some words in the distance. He was probably warning them to stay away. She felt the ship lurch forward continuing to gain speed.
“I don’t think I can reach the compartment to cut the engine,” Phog said.
“Then shoot him,” Celeste suggested.
Phog looked surprised. “Are you sure?”
“We don’t have a choice right? If you cannot slow the ship down, the only other way is to stop the pilot. Shoot him! I will take all responsibility for it.”
Celeste was putting her reputation on the line. She was ordering someone to willingly shoot a Grekk officer. In the Grekk home world she would be convicted and executed for such a crime. However, they weren’t on the Grekk home world; they were the furthest from it and there was no one else she could ask for advice. Tara was still asleep, but Celeste figured Tara would agree with her decision. Although Celeste knew she wasn’t a military specialist, she had to take on that role now. She wished she could know what Commander Teval would do in this scenario, but most likely he was dead.
Phog gave her another chance to reconsider her decision. “He is one of your kind.”
Celeste raised her eyebrows.
“You know what I mean,” Phog declared. “I want you to be sure because I will shoot him.”
Celeste found a middle ground. “Don’t kill him. Just shoot him so that he cannot pilot this ship anymore.”
Phog took out his weapon and paused at the door. He glanced back at Celeste. She knew he was giving her one last chance to change her mind. However, Celeste had made up her mind. She didn’t understand where she mustered the courage to do the unthinkable. She had convinced herself that there wasn’t any other option. Talking to Jonin was useless. He had been consumed by revenge. They were in a war with the Zandrax. War necessitated difficult decisions. Celeste nodded and looked away as Phog engaged with Jonin. Phog’s weapon and his past assault on the Zandrax guards ensured the outcome. Jonin wouldn't have much of a chance. It would be only a matter of time. Surprisingly, Jonin put up quite a fight. The ship began to slow down as Phog got Jonin away from the ship’s controls. Then, she heard Jonin scream. It was a blood curdling scream. Phog had shot him where it mattered.
“Wait here,” Phog said, as he went down to find Jonin.
Celeste didn’t want the officer to bleed out. She just needed him out of the way. She felt the ship come to a stop. Phog returned. There was blood on his hands. “I tied him up, covered his wound and put him in the adjacent compartment. He won’t do us any harm or die on us.”
Celeste stepped out of the room and went towards the viewport. “Where are we?”
The first rays of light were invading the viewport. Phog joined her in the front. “Give me a moment to check the navigation.”
Phog manipulated the controls to retrieve the exact location. “The fool actually managed to get us half way back to the Zandrax outpost. I am impressed. He had no coordinates, but figured it out himself. Fortunately, he kept the cloak on. I don’t think anyone would have detected the ship.”
“We cannot stay here,” Celeste admitted. “We are in the open. Can you fly this ship back to where our ships are?”
“That is possible,” Phog said, as he sat down at the navigation console.
As Celeste took a seat behind him, the ship began to move again. Her mind began to wander at the consequences of her recent decision. Could she have done it a different way? She wasn’t trained on how to deal with such situations. She had made a decision based on her instincts. If they got back safely to the Grekk home world, people may not perceive it like that. Jonin could file a case against her for hurting him. Despite the fact that she was their most prized Envoy, the Grekk courts were well-known to side with those on the lower end of Grekk society. A junior officer vs a Grekk Envoy would be a spectacle. Celeste closed her eyes in an effort to stop thinking of the consequences. She had made a choice in a time of war. People would see it her way. They had to. If not, her reputation and career would be over. Celeste opened her eyes to find that the ship had come to a standstill.
“Is something wrong?” Celeste asked.
“The long-range sensors picked up something unusual,” Phog highlighted. “I think we have company near your landing shuttle.”
“You mean the Zandrax found it?”
“Most likely. My sensor readings indicate a few bodies. They don’t seem to have entered your ship.”
“But how is that possible? What about your ship?”
“Mine is located a distance away from yours and it is hidden by some rocks,” Phog indicated. “The sensors indicate that the bodies are only around your ship.”
Celeste sighed. The Zandrax must have found a way to track their ship signatures. It could be the only way they were able to so swiftly locate the shuttle. It also meant the Grekk officers’ shuttle was out of bounds too.
“What … what happened?” a voice emerged from behind them.
Tara had gotten up and she was limping. Her face looked strained, but other than that, she appeared okay. Celeste turned and smiled. “You are up.”
Celeste helped Tara to the seat next to her. Once Tara had settled down, Celeste shared with her everything that happened ever since they had run into the trap inside the mine shaft. Tara listened without saying much. After Celeste had finished, she paused. She didn’t know what Tara’s reaction would be to her decision.
“Someone finally had the guts to shoot him,” Tara chuckled. “It was about time.”
Celeste frowned.
“I didn’t mean it in that way,” Tara countered. “They had it coming. You did the right thing. There was no other way.”
Celeste smiled weakly. She had been secretly worried that Tara would judge her for taking things into her own hands. After all, she wasn’t a Commander; she was just an Envoy. These Grekk officers didn’t report to her.
“And, yes I feel horrible about what happened to Merc,” Tara said. “It was unbearable watching him struggle. I wished I could have helped him more.”
“I also shouldn’t have deactivated the force field,” Phog admitted. “Then, none of this would be happening.”
Celeste grimaced. In all the confusion, the three of them hadn’t spent any time talking about what had transpired at the mine shaft. Everything had happened so quickly.
“In the end, it was my decision to go inside the mine shaft,” Celeste declared. “We will all regret our actions. But remember the Zandrax forced us into this position. They had set the deadly trap with the intention of killing people going into that mine shaft. The only way forward is to get this intelligence back to the Grekk. Then, Merc’s death won’t be in vain.”
As Phog brought Tara up to speed on the current situation around their shuttle, Celeste turned to them both. “I have an idea. But before I talk about that, Phog, I want to know who you really are.”