Chapter Nineteen

Brigid didn’t know what to do. She was torn between watching the communications station for blinking lights that might cause them problems and looking at the super-cool video screen that was filled with what looked like could be their ultimate demise.

“They wouldn’t dare,” Commander Teisha yelled.

The ship rocked again, sending Brigid staggering into the wall. Her shoulder slammed into the metal hard enough to make her yelp in pain.

“Brigid!” Dane ran across the room, grabbing onto her. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, sir,” she said, trying to remind him to keep up the ruse.

“Where are our shields?” Teisha yelled. “Marq, what are you doing?”

“Shit,” Dane hissed.

“Let me guess,” Brigid said. “Marq is the one who takes care of that.”

Dane glared at her for a moment, then turned and said, “Activate the dispersion arrays. Ready weapons.”

Thank God he knew what he was doing. For a second, she wondered if med-techs had any idea what first officers were responsible for.

“Nothing is responding, sir.” The soldier who spoke sounded panicked. Brigid wasn’t far from joining him.

Three of the triangular ships appeared on the view screen again. They were heading straight for the Reckoning. Yellow lights shot out from the points facing the ship, each one causing an impact that threatened to knock her off her feet again.

Dane pawed at her belt, grabbing a line like the one Marq had used earlier to tether himself to the control console back in the mind-wipe chamber. Dane attached the line to a small hook next to the communications station.

“Marq,” Teisha shouted.

Another ship entered the video screen, completely filling it as it put itself between the Reckoning and the attacking Tau Ceti. It was spearlike, with huge spinning gun ports firing beams of white light. But none of the blasts hit the Reckoning.

Brigid saw flashes of light on the edge of the far side of the ship. Was it protecting them?

“Serath.” Teisha’s voice was filled with venom.

Dane started running his fingers over the etchings on the wall in front of Brigid.

“Kira,” Dane said. “You have to unlock communications.”

“You.” Teisha wheeled around at Kira. “What have you done to my ship?”

“It’s not your ship anymore.” Kira closed her eyes. Another blast hit the ship, but without nearly as much force as earlier.

Teisha lifted her hand, pointing her bracer at Kira. Time seemed to slow.

Brigid saw Dane lift his arm as well, but knew he wouldn’t be fast enough. Brendan was leaping in front of Kira, arms spread.

A bright light flashed in the room, temporarily blinding her. When she blinked her eyes clear, Teisha was crumpled on the floor.

Brendan stumbled a few steps forward, then shook his head. “What just…”

Brigid looked past him, to the navigation officer. He was standing with his arm still pointed in Teisha’s direction, his left hand hovering over his bracer.

“I just…” the man said. “I’ve wanted to do that for a really long time. And now, there’s nothing left to lose.”

“What do you mean?” Dane said.

“Sadr-4 is gone, sir.” The soldier gestured toward his station. “That’s why I couldn’t ping the satellites. Everything’s gone.”

Dane started to weave unsteadily on his feet. Brigid grabbed his side to steady him.

“It can’t be gone,” Dane said.

“He’s right.” Kira’s voice was colder than usual. “All we’re detecting is debris and various starships. Every celestial object in the Gamma Cygni system has been destroyed.”

Another voice sounded in the room, staticy and distorted at first. A man’s voice.

“Reckoning, this is General Adam Smith of the Arbiter. Have you regained control of your vessel?”

“We have control,” Kira said.

There was a pause, then the voice said, “Kira?”

“Affirmative, sir,” Kira said. “We’ve taken control of the Reckoning. What are your orders?”

“Take out as many of these bastards as you can,” Adam said. “Protect the smaller ships—especially those evacuating survivors.”

“Sir?” Kira’s voice cracked on the word.

“You have your orders,” Adam said.

Kira responded more strongly. “Yes, sir.”

The Arbiter moved away on the screen. Brigid’s stomach did a little twist as she turned back to her station, not sure what to do or how to help.

A green light caught her attention among all the flashing white lights.

“Just like in the mind-wipe chamber,” she said.

“What?” Dane looked down at her, but his gaze barely seemed to focus on her. He looked like he might be in shock.

She had a feeling there were others who could help her at the moment, though.

Here goes nothing.

She took the leap of faith and tapped the glowing green light.

Henry’s voice sounded in the bridge. “We sent the message.”

“The nanites have a favorite color,” she murmured.

“What’s going on up there?” Henry sounded panicked.

“There are all these ships attacking,” Brigid said. “Kira called them Tau Ceti.”

“What?” Henry’s voice was loud enough to snap Dane back into action.

“Stay put,” Dane said, angling his face toward the wall. “The Tau Ceti don’t stand a chance against the Arbiter and the Reckoning together.”

“Didn’t you say the Tau Ceti had made some kind of leap with their technology?” Brigid wished she could remember the conversation better, but being in the middle of an alien firefight was distracting her. “They were trading it to have that alliance or something?”

“An alliance that they immediately used to launch an attack.” At first, she thought Dane had spoken, but then she realized it was Marq’s voice coming from somewhere on the wall.

“I’m targeting one of the larger ships,” Kira said. “It looks more like a Centauran vessel.”

A sleek red spaceship filled the video screen. It was as big as two of the Tau Ceti ships, but nowhere near the size of the Arbiter. White beams of light zapped toward it from the Reckoning. Brigid held her breath.

The light flared against an energy field well beyond the hull of the ship. It didn’t look damaged at all.

“They’ve upgraded their shields.” Kira’s brow was furrowed, her eyes pinched shut. “I can’t get through.”

“Then how can we defeat them?” Brigid said.

A calm voice sounded over the communications channel. She recognized it as Adam. They must be keeping a line open.

“Our focus is on running interference,” he said. “Keep the enemy vessels distracted and focused on us so our smaller ships can reach the dropgate.”

“Yes, sir,” Kira said.

“Open a channel for me that the Tau Ceti and Centauran can hear.” Brendan put his hand on Kira’s shoulder. “I have an idea.”

Kira opened her eyes long enough to look at him, then nodded and closed them again. “It’s ready.”

“Tau Centauran Assembly,” he said. “This is Brendan Sloan of the Department of Homeworld Security. We represent the interests of Earth and the Vegans and are prepared to enter this altercation to assist the Coalition. Stand down, or be destroyed.” Brendan tapped Kira’s shoulder. “End transmission.”

Kira shook her head. “That was your idea?”

Brendan shrugged. “What else are we going to do? Besides, it’s true. When Sarah hears about what happened here, she going to do something about it.”

“We have no idea when the Vegans will arrive,” Dane said. “Or if they’re even coming.”

Kira’s head jerked toward the video screen. The red ship suddenly flashed out of sight. A few of the small triangular ships sped across the screen. Another large red ship joined them, and they all disappeared as well.

“Did that actually work?” Brigid said.

“With good reason.” Kira nodded toward the screen, her eyes wide.

Two large white vessels came into view. They looked like upright nautilus shells surrounded by daisy-like petals at their base. As Brigid watched, the petals detached themselves and headed off in different directions.

The screen flickered, the darkness of space replaced with a bright room. Brigid didn’t notice anything in the background. She was too busy staring at the bright green face in the center of the screen.

“Little lizard people…” She was seeing her first Vegan. She sucked in a breath, then murmured, “It’s so cute.”

Dane leaned close and whispered, “They don’t like it when you say that. Especially Cerulean.”

Lucky for her, the lizard person on the screen was focused on other things.

“I am Cerulean, acting Voice for the Vegans,” he said. “Be at peace, Sadirians. At the request of our Protector, we are here to assist you.”

The screen split, another face joining Cerulean’s. This one belonged to a gorgeous man who Brigid was almost certain was Sadirian. Aside from his supermodel good lucks, he had one impossibly green eye and one that was an equally brilliant blue.

“Greetings, Cerulean,” the man said. “I am General Adam Smith, formerly designated as Serath. We are honored to accept your offer of assistance.”

Brigid finally felt like she could breathe again, though she was far from feeling safe. She put her arms around Dane and pressed her face against his chest. He hugged her tight, kissing the top of her head.

“Is it over?” she mumbled.

“No,” he said. “Far from it.”

“I’ve switched to a secure channel.” Kira cast a withering stare at the four Sadirian soldiers who were still on the bridge, including the one who had stunned Teisha. “I’ve reviewed your files and believe you’ll be able to make the adjustment to the new chain of command. Am I wrong?”

“No, sir,” they said in unison.

Kira nodded, then turned back to the screen.

“How bad are the losses?” Cerulean immediately asked.

A muscle in Adam’s jaw twitched. “Not as bad as expected. We discovered that Sadr-4 was largely depopulated. The High Council hasn’t bothered to replace citizens on the homeworld for the last several centuries. They’ve been keeping the planet to themselves.”

“You’re kidding me,” Brigid said, a little louder than she intended. Okay, a lot louder.

Adam fixed his gaze on her and she shrank back against Dane.

“Forgive me,” Brendan said. “This is Brigid. She’s my new chef.”

Adam sighed. “Of course she is.”

“A noble profession.” Cerulean actually bowed his head briefly. “Our Protector has also dedicated herself to nourishing her brethren.”

Dane whispered, “That means she’s a chef, too.”

“Cool,” Brigid said.

Adam continued with his report. “Most of the casualties came from the space stations and domes. The Tau Centauran Assembly has effectively destroyed every habitation we had in Gamma Cygni. It’s as if they weren’t interested in eradicating us so much as destroying our home system.”

Cerulean was quiet for a moment, his head bowed. “We, too, have suffered the loss of our home system,” Cerulean said. “We will assist you as much as we are able.”

“Thank you.” Adam nodded gravely. “The Coalition has many colonies. We will review their populations and see which can support additional citizens until we can build more stations and dome worlds.”

“What about our system?” Brigid asked.

Everyone turned to look at her. She did her best not to shrink against Dane again. Instead, she straightened. She held onto his hand, though.

“There are places in our solar system that can be colonized with your advanced technology,” she said. “We’re already working together. Is there a reason we can’t be neighbors?”

“It is a generous idea, but—” Adam was cut off by a cute blonde woman who popped into view on the screen.

“We’d absolutely have to run it past the Department of Homeworld Security first,” the woman said. “Oh wait, I’m one of the founding Earthling members, and I vote ‘heck yes.’ And I can already think of a dozen locations that would be great for dome worlds.”

Brendan chuckled. “I can think of quite a few myself, but I’m not the astronomer.” He nodded toward the screen. “Hey, Evelyn.”

“Hey, Brendan.” The woman waved. “It’s nice to meet you, Brigid. Especially if you’re not a health-food chef. No offense to the great Protector of the Vegans.”

“Um…thanks?” Brigid said. “And my specialty is molecular gastronomy. I like to study food.”

“If we could stay on topic,” Adam said.

Evelyn cast a tight-lipped smile at him. “We all handle stress in our own way, and you know I tend to ramble, and now that I’m married to the guy who’s in charge of the whole freaking galaxy, I’m just a little bit freaked out.”

“In charge of the galaxy?” Dane said.

Adam let out a sigh. Evelyn actually looked a little abashed. She put her hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

Adam clasped her hand and held it. “We have confirmed that every member of the High Council was on Sadr-4 when the planet was destroyed.”

“The entire High Council?” Kira said.

Adam nodded. “We had been ordered to remain in the system while they deliberated on our requests about Earth.”

“How does that make you in charge of the galaxy?” Brendan asked.

“According to Coalition law, if the High Council is incapacitated in any way, the highest ranking officer in the fleet takes command,” Adam said.

“And that would be you.” Evelyn gently pressed her head against his.

“I see.” Cerulean’s scaled lips pulled into a smile. “Then this could be an opportunity for all of our peoples.”

Adam nodded. “We’re damned well going to make it so.”