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Captain Marlena stood and shook her head looking at the carnage of death before her in the ship’s hold.
She said, “Commander Giles, tell me what's happening?”
“The Vvong ships started to swarm around the opened Bastion,” he said.
“How about Duke Grendel's ship?”
“The Equinox sustained a lot of damage but it is safe.”
Captain Marlena walked toward the lifts. She walked inside the lift. Riding the elevator to the bridge, she wanted to recommend Valeria for a medal. Her death would mean something. Moving onto the bridge, Captain Marlena’s crew members looked at her.
Captain Marlena said, “Report.”
Commander Giles said, “After you teleported the Bastion, the other ships started to push their Bastions onto the battlefield.”
“Good. Show me on the screen,” she said.
Captain Grendel saw the Vvong vessels ignoring their ship and was moving toward the magic spilling from the floating Bastions.
“Captain, General Romo wants us to ignite the explosive as soon as we go into warp. He wants us to disengage from the unified field so we can make separate jumps,” Commander Giles.
“Good. How about Duke Grendel?”
The view screen changed. The large flagship, the Equinox, was already moving away from the feeding frenzy of the Vvong ships. Even the large behemoth enemy battleship started to move toward the magic spilling from the Bastions.
Captain Marlena waited for her dad’s ship to move away from the enemy.
“Captain Marlena,” Duke Grendel voice came on the communication. “I want you to go into warp, now.”
“Yes, Duke Grendel,” she said, “Commander get us out of here.”
Her ship moved away from the other ships. Instantly, her ship flew into a warp tunnel. Marlena would not relax until she saw her dad’s ship meet at the rendezvous site.
“Commander, did the explosive ignite?”
“Yes,” Commander Giles said.
On the screen, she saw the Vvong ships from far away. Bright explosions shot through the enemy ships. She nodded. They could use the Vvong’s insatiable hunger against them.
Her vessel shot out of warp a few milli-cycles later. She scanned the fleet. Most of the non-battle ships were already there and undamaged. The Medical ships and the large non-medical frigates were floating next to a large planet. The humans called this planet Jupiter.
Duke Grendel chose this area because the planet was large enough to cover their fleet from the Vvong convoy surrounding Earth. Yet, Captain Marlena, knew the Vvong fleet knew where they were.
Her dad’s ship came next to hers. She saw the Equinox listing to the side while part of the hull was broken and opened. Her dad’s ship barely survived the battle.
“Commander Giles, make a report and calculate how long will it take to get this ship back to battle ready,” Captain Marlena said.
She wanted to get to her ready room and communicate to her dad, but she stayed in her Captain’s chair. Her mind was thinking. Something was wrong. She was thinking how the Vvong ships knew exactly where they were moving. Even the treacherous, Duke Volterus, didn't know their plans. She looked around her crew.
There was a spy in their midst. Yet, Captain Marlena didn't want to tell anybody about her suspicions. And she wondered if the spy was in her crew or on another ship. It was hard to tell. Yet, she didn't have any proof. She wanted to talk to her dad or even General Romo.
Commander Giles said, “We had lost half of our crew. Several of the Vvong monsters had entered this ship destroying and killing.”
The dwarf’s face looked sad but determined. Captain Marlena felt the same way. They almost lost everything in one battle and it was only her dad’s planning and placing the Bastions on their ships which changed the tide of battle.
She stood and said, “Commander Giles, I will be in my ready room. You are now in command of the ship.”
Captain Marlena went into her office. And she waited until her doors were closed before she created a silence spell over her ready room. She didn't want anybody to hear their conversation. She punched in her security code. And contacted her dad.
“Marlena, is that you?”
“Yes, Dad. Are you in a secured area?” She said.
“Wait. Give me a milli-cycle. I will contact you when I'm ready,” Duke Grendel.
He broke contact. Captain Marlena fidgeted on her chair. She waited.
“Marlena.”
“Yes dad. Are you fine? And Mom?”
“Yes, we’re fine. I need to get all the Captains together. But I think you're calling me on a secured line for something else. What is on your mind?”
Her dad was sitting on a chair on his desk. He was in his private quarters on board his ship. He looked strained and focused. She wanted to yell at him for going after the Vvong battle ship himself. It was a suicidal mission. Yet, she didn't.
She said, “I think we have a spy in a midst.”
Duke Grendel stared at her impassively and then nodded.
Captain Marlena said, “Somebody must have told the Vvong where our coordinates where when we exited our warp tunnels.”
Duke Grendel, “I don't think that is the case, Marlena. We were in the wrong place. We need to do a deep scan of the solar system. The Vvong's fleet are surrounding earth’s galaxy. We stumbled into one of the enemies fleets by mistake.”
Captain Marlena didn’t think that and sat back in her chair. She said, “If that was the case, then the Vvong had more ships and resources than we thought.”
“Yes,” Duke Grendel said, “I don't want to underestimate the enemy again.”
