Surefoot 52: ...This Means War Pt. 02

"And, should the situation here... escalate... you'll need to lead these people up there. The Counselor and the Cubs go up first, they're most familiar with the layout, and the Counselor's authorisation will give her access to communications, increased security and the like."

"And where will you be?" Kami asked him.

From behind them, Misha, who had been playing with the other children, now appeared on top of one of the crates. "Where you going Jhessie?"

Jhess looked up at Kami meaningfully, before glancing at the cub, smiling. "Just making plans, Warrior Prince. Just making plans."

Suddenly Sreen turned her head in the direction of the open doorway to the rest of the ship and hissed.

A memory of an identical reaction years ago from Misha at that age during the Vlathi Invasion raised Kami's hackles; Caitian infants were hyper sensitive to potential threats.

Misha sniffed the air. "What's that?" He leapt off the crate and headed to the doorway--

Until Jhess rose, scooped him up and turned him around. "I think not, Cub. Get back with your mother behind the crate."

"I wanna see-"

"NO!" the nanny snapped with unaccustomed, tense anger, shooing Misha away with a gentle slap on the rear. He looked to Travers again. "Get the others informed, don't panic them, but have them ready to line up and enter the Tube." He stopped at the doorway, listened and sniffed the air, before looking at Kami with a sober expression.

Then he moved to the crate sent down here by C'Rash and Esek, opening it and lifting out a combat vest, quickly slipping into it, the helmet and other pieces of body armour and equipment. "Get behind the crate with the others, Counselor."

"Jhess..."

"I'll be fine," he assured her, offering a smile that never went anywhere near his eyes or scent. He lifted up the black plasma rifle from the bottom of the crate, checked the power magazine and settings.

Sreen hissed again, tiny teeth bared in challenge at whatever she was detecting.

In the distance, the sounds of weapons fire carried.

And then Kami saw it, scented it: the change in Jhess' demeanour, the shift from Nanny to Soldier. He looked back at Travers. "Lock this door behind me! NOW!"

And then he charged out into the side corridor.

"JHESS!" Kami called after him, even as Travers quickly complied with his orders.

*

On the Triton, Tattok stared hard at the display. This was a catastrophe: a third of their vessels lost, another third damaged, thousands of lives lost. Now, the only thing he could do was cut their losses, before the entire Fleet was wiped out. "Attention all ships: Retreat. Leave the Khavak system, regroup at Point Alpha-Nine."

*

On the Ajax, Weynik was reassessing their weapons status: photon and quantum torpedoes down to 10%, phaser pulse cannons still functioning but not for long, if they didn't get time to run recycling on the capacitors, but they still had regular phasers-

"Orders from the Triton," Kohanim reported. "We're retreating to Point Alpha-Nine."

Weynik steeled himself, imagining how his father must have been feeling to have been forced to give that order. "Contact the Surefoot, make sure they've collected Sasha and the others in that shuttle-"

"Captain, look!"

He glanced up at the screen, seeing the Scarab attack ship headed on a suicide run towards the Surefoot. Sweet Bloody Hemra... "ALL WEAPONS, FIRE!"

*

A volley of phaser bolts struck the Scarab, ripping into its underside and shredding it into flaming pieces.

With one piece still hurtling towards the Surefoot's Shuttlebay doors, striking it, overloading the deflectors and shields.

*

Within the Shuttlebay, the scores of survivors screamed and ducked as debris struck, ripping a three-metre-wide hole into the metal, and opening the interior to space...

TO BE CONCLUDED...