Doors open. Finally. Every jolt and excessive shake in that rickety old thing made me think the whole ship was about to be blown up by a Diegiton or Harvester fleet. Dying crammed into a tiny glorified elevator, being surrounded by what feels like a den of cobras that are actually a beautiful woman. I now know what the 12th level of Space Hell feels like.

  Alcea slithers out first, becoming a barely recognizable mass of vines in order to scurry away as quickly as possible. She reforms on her knees, looking away from me and muttering.

  "I can't get married now. How am I going to explain this to mother? Or mother? Oh Earth Mother, what if mother finds out?"

  Veo'Teya reproduction sounds complicated. Always got bad grades in biology. I'll just let her deal with all that on her own for now.

  "TOM!"

  Small, fluffy arms wrap around my waist. Fairy is clutching me tight and crying.

  "I thought you were... were..."

  "I'm alright Fairy. Everything is fine."

  Finally get an excuse to pat that adorable little head. Her fur is softer than I thought. Mink has nothing on this.

  "Well, most of me is alright."

  "I wiiil take a loooook at thhhhhhat."

  Sagaci inspects my caged wrist with her tendrils. She's using the smaller, internal ones. Really trying to feel every nook and cranny.

  "You neeeed properrrr surgeeery. Pin onnnnly meant for a fewwwww hours."

  "I don't have time for that now. I need to get this ship back under control. And I got to do it fast before the painkiller wear off. Petty sure that's the only thing keeping me alive right now."

  "Paiiin Killllers?" Did you taaaake the riiiight ones?"

  "I don't know. Was the blue liquid the right one?"

  "That doeeees not narrrrow it downnnn."

  "Later then. Where are Inanna and Raze? Vivvian, I need a status report."

  The screen comes to life with a dozen windows. Each showing pictures or video of what's been going on since I fell. Even got a good shot of me being shot at. That was a pretty big blast. So much for meeting our parameters. Looks like the only reason I survived at all was because I fell far enough for gravity to shift directions. My body flying around like a leaf in the wind until I hit the ground. I actually fell into a hole the Diegiton's beam made. This guy would be a hell of a golfer.

  After that it looks like things went south. The delegate ran off. Fired a few more shots as well. Now I'm glad the ship is mostly empty. Probably could have killed someone otherwise. The few remaining Harvesters flew off as well. Raze ran after them, can't tell where he went. And Inanna looks like she's about to have a melt down.

  "Things only got worse. Can't think of one thing that went right today."

  "Only Gods and Monsters know the true meaning behind chaos."

  "Well we are dealing with both today. Where's Inanna?"

  "She's.. in the Captain's quarters. She said she was going to figure out what to do. She hasn't left since."

  "She must have come up with something by now. Send a contact."

  "I willlll. Though, maaaay I asssk. Why havvve you nottt?"

  "I wore my communicator in the same wrist that snapped. Wherever it ended up it's not going to be in any better condition."

  "And why didn't you ask her?"

  Fairy points at Alcea, still muttering on the floor.

  "Well I... huh. Alcea, do you have a communicator?"

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  "-and then we'd have to adopt but I don't know how to take care of a mammal baby. They're so loud and they run around and they make all that mess from there-"

  "Alcea!"

  I hate raising my voice like that but it seemed to have woken her from that doom spiral.

  "Do you have a communicator?"

  "Y-yes. Why?"

  "Why? Because you could have called for back up when we were stuck in the maintenance corridors. Why didn't you say anything?"

  "Y-you, uh, didn't ask?"

  "I didn't ASK! I... we... fucking Space God damn it."

  Deep breaths. Let it go Tom. Won't fix anything. Just move it along.

  "Ok, ok. I'm calm. Just someone call Inanna before I have a stroke."

  Vivvian removes the half dozen images of me being blown away and brings up a holo call. Inanna answers at the first ring.

  "I told you I'll leave when I'm ready! I need to make a plan. I need to make up for the loss of-"

  "Glad to see you too, Inanna."

  "Captain! Tom I, that is Sir. I was merely taking over command in your absence, Sir."

  "Back to the Sir stuff again. You were just doing your job. Looks like you've been very busy. So I'll rely on you for a moment more. What is your plan?"

  "Sir, Captain. I... don't have one."

  "You threw together a two and a half hour presentation in fifteen minutes. How do you not have a plan?"

  "There is nothing on what to do in a situation like this! We don't have enough personnel for a 3:87B. Things aren't severe enough for a mass cleanse protocol. Any supporting elements would take days to arrive. I have no idea what protocol to use."

  Oh boy. I'm starting to see why she didn't do well on the exam.

  "Inanna, the protocols don't cover every single situation. We need to think outside the box on this one."

  "Sir, with all due respect, I can't."

  Damn. I was really hoping I could pawn this off on her big blue hands and take this incident as an opportunity to retire with honors. Instead I need to take the lead. Have no choice, again.

  "Do we have any info on where our missing Ambassador is?"

  "What cannot see what is in one's own eye."

  "Should have figured. They hacked our information system in half a second. Obviously they can hack the sensors to avoid detection. Wouldn't be surprised if they were off the ship by now."

  "I wouldn't count on that.”

  Fairy brings another image to the main screen. The Diegiton ship, broken and drifting in space. Only sign of the Harvester ship are bits of viscera floating freely.

  "I miss a good fight?"

  "More a slaughter. The Diegiton ship released some kind of electrical discharge. It fried the Harvester ship and everything on board. Once it released its grasp, the Diegiton opened fire. Total annihilation."

  "I follow. But why would this mean our delegate didn't run?"

  "Because theeeey burnt theirrr core. Scaaans indicate mooost of the Diiiiegitrooon are nonfuuunctionalll."

  "Scans work on them?"

  "I know, right? The Harvesters must have smashed them up good. The ship is basically a husk. We don't think they even have the capability for a second shot. Let alone a jump out of this sector."

  "Rats do not seek safety on a sinking ship."

  Vivvian brings up the rough schematic we just created. Scan info is so much more detailed than I ever expected. This could prove useful to the science boys back home. The whole rig only had about fifty guys. Now it has a tenth of that. There are hundreds of Harvesters dead on the ground, give or take. Guess that’s what an even fight looks like.

  "So they are trapped. Now we just need to find a way to find them. Sagaci, do the bio scanners pick up the remaining Harvesters?"

  "Yesss. There issss but onnne."

  "Let me guess, the Knight?"

  "One annndd the Ssssame."

  "And it's safe to say the Diegiton has access to those scanners. That means only two options. Either it's trying to avoid the Knight, or it wants to hunt the Knight down. Either way, that's our only lead."

  I only now notice Inanna. She's hanging on my every word. Like a student listening to their favorite teacher. Didn't think I'd get a reaction like that out of someone who called me a disappointment just a few hours ago.

  "First Officer Inanna, I want you to gather what resources we have and coordinate them to defend our most important points. Whatever is left will come with us. We have a bug to catch. And hopefully a bot to go with it.

  "Yes Sir."

  "One last thing. Does anyone know where Raze went? I would have though the idea of hunting down two of the biggest threats in the galaxy would be right up his alley."

  I am answered by the Command Center doors opening. There before me was the Bipedal Allegator I had asked for, though now he was even taller. His legs augmented by mechanical implements complete with jet boosters and the biggest Ass kicking metal boots I'd ever seen. His body encased in a white metal armor that housed enough artificial muscular enhancements to lift a tank. Instead of the dinky standard issue laser rifle, he carried rotating Pulsar cannons. Can fire three thousand bolts a minute each with enough power to rip a person half. And if that wasn't enough, there was some kind of power mace strapped to his back. Raze looked ready to take Celestial Jerusalem all by himself. I'm starting to be glad he's on our side.

  "Sorry for the wait ladies. And Inanna. It takes time to get something this perfect ready. Time for the most handsome man on board to save the day."

  I really wish this guy wasn't my only hope right now.