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Marlena opened her eyes.
Her body felt as if somebody had dragged it up a set of stairs and then dropped her from the second-floor of a building. Her father was staring at her.
"Marlena, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said.
She was lying on the floor, and trying to get up, her mind exploded in pain.
"Ouch," she said. "Did we make it?"
Captain Grendel said, "You did it. We are here."
Yaddle’s gravelly voice said, "The engines are not working right now, but I can fix it. But we have other problems."
Her father's strong hands grabbed her and pulled her to her feet. She sat heavily in the chair next to her. On the ship's large monitor was the Hive, but surrounding it was a large fleet of Vvong ships.
Captain Grendel said, "Are there any fighting ships?"
"No, I don't understand," Yaddle said.
"I think I know,” added Marlena. “They have invaded, and our people are too sick to fight."
"Let's not jump to conclusions," Captain Grendel said. "We need to get to the Hive. Yaddle, have the Vvong noticed us yet?"
"No, we are partially hidden by the small planet we’re orbiting. We are lucky," Yaddle said.
Captain Grendel stood and moved to an open console. He touched a few controls. Marlena was tired. Her mind didn't know what to do. They had finally teleported and made it back close to their home, but they could not get there.
"This is Captain Grendel. Is there anybody I can speak to?"
A man's voice came through. "Captain, where are you?"
"Who is this?"
"Fergun."
Marlena knew who Fergun was. He was a fighter pilot and was the leader of a patrol of spaceships called the elite Red Squad.
Captain Grendel said, "What’s happening? I see Vvong ships around the Hive. Are we on a secure line?"
Fergun said, "Yes, this is a secure line. It is not good. The Vvong wants us to surrender, or they will attack."
"How much time do you have?"
"They gave us until the end of a solar cycle," Fergun said.
Marlena knew they were almost out of time.
"What about military command?" Captain Grendel asked.
"The High Commander is sick. And all the battleships are fighting far away from space," Fergun explained.
On the small monitor, Captain Grendel saw data scrolling upwards. He read through the report.
"This is not good. I see who ordered the military fleet to fight at a faraway system. It was Duke Volterus," Captain Grendel said.
"We cannot reach the fleet," Fergun said. "Something is blocking our transmissions."
"We will try ourselves."
"I will keep this channel open," Fergun said.
"Yaddle," Captain Grendel said, "try to contact the fleet."
"I'm trying, but they have something stopping transmissions."
"But how can we talk to Fergun?" Captain Grendel asked.
Marlena heard the whole exchange. Her mind and body were foggy, but she was wondering the same thing.
"I think the Vvong knows where our military fleet went to, and stops any transmissions toward that area. They don't know we are here. So, if we try to contact our fleet then they would know we are here."
"That is a big assumption," Captain Grendel said, "and it makes sense. Yaddle, stop trying to contact the fleet."
"Okay, but I think we still have time to send a transmission."
She said, "Let's think this through. Are our engines working?"
Yaddle started to work on his computer console screens. The old dwarf's hands and fingers expertly moved between the Holo-screens. "The engines almost exploded but the core is still working. I reset the system, and we will be down for a few milli-cycles."
Captain Grendel said, "What are you thinking about, Marlena?"
"Well, since the Vvong haven't seen us yet, we can fly to the fleet ourselves," she said. "What type of defense systems do we have on this ship?"
Yaddle said, "We don't. We only have shields. But we don't need anything. We have you."
"I don't think I can use magic for a while. The spell used up all of my powers."
Captain Grendel said, "We don't need to fight. We just need to contact the fleet. But I think we cannot go into warp without them seeing us."
Yaddle said, "Don't worry, Grendel, I have cloaking abilities on my ship."
Marlena said, "It didn't work well last time."
"The Vvong will not be able to see us. But let me check." The old dwarf placed his hands on the Holo-screens. He shook his head. "It looks like my cloaking machine was damaged when we transported here," Yaddle explained. "We must think of another way to leave."
Captain Grendel spoke. "We are running out of time."
Yaddle stood from his seat. "I will check on the engine. I think I can get it to work sooner."
The dwarf walked to the back of the ship and disappeared into a corridor.
"How are you doing?" Captain Grendel asked.
Marlena shook her head. "I’ll be fine. Can you get me some water? I think between us we can create a plan. You got us here. Do you have any more ideas?"
"I'll be back with your water shortly."
Marlena’s head was still swimming with exhaustion. She was also feeling small twinges of pain.
Her father placed a metal cup in front of her. She greedily drank the water. It was cool and helped clear her head.
She said, "What do you think? We cannot attack, but the Hive has defensive capabilities."
"You're right. But I think it is Duke Volterus who is stopping everything. He is probably wanting them to surrender."
Marlena said, "We need to get to the Hive. We need to tell the Queen about the Duke."
Yaddle shuffled back to the bridge. "The engines will be ready soon. What are you two thinking about?"
"Yaddle, do you have small ships aboard?"
"Yes, all ships have lifeboat ships, if we have to leave," Yaddle said. "Wait, you're not thinking about taking one of those ships to the Hive?"
Marlena said, "Yes we need to get there and stop the Duke."
"I can reconfigure one of the lifeboat ships for travel. But what am I supposed to do?"
Captain Grendel said, "Take my insignia pin. Yaddle, you will have to warn the fleet and bring them back here."
Yaddle had an incredulous look. "They will not believe me. They think I’m insane."
Captain Grendel said, "Talk to Captain Romo and give him this insignia pin. Also, give him this command code: 5JJ6. That’s an emergency code only he and I know."
