The Crucible: Leap of Faith by Odette C. Bell Page A

spreading down my neck. “That’s impossible. I
know my crew. I can vouch for them.…”
    “And how about
the Fargo ?” the
Captain interrupted. She stood ramrod straight in the middle of the
room, her arms crossed, her powerful muscles pushing hard against
the fabric of her black uniform.
    “… The Fargo ?”
    “We have credible
evidence to suggest that the Fargo ’s engines did not go critical
on their own. Someone attacked that ship, too – someone from
within. And it stands to reason that once they boarded your ship,
they took the opportunity to attack it also,” Phelps’s words were
harsh and quick.
    I planted a sweaty hand against my
forehead, locking my fingers firmly into my flesh.
    My ship was attacked by the
resistance….
    “She’s
salvageable,” Phelps suddenly added. “It’ll take a while, but we
can rebuild her. It seems our terrorist didn’t want to scuttle your
ship completely – just use it as a battering ram to knock the
docking Ra’xon off
course.”
    I stood there and swallowed. Then
the anger flooded in. It rammed into me like a tidal wave. I
clutched my hands into fists, driving the fingers as hard as I
could into my palms. With a slow smooth movement I looked up at the
Admiral. “How do we catch the bastards who did this?”
    “You continue your mission to the
Hari System. It’s time we blow the resistance apart,” the Admiral
answered.
    “How do I get there without my
ship?”
    “We’ll take you.” Captain H’agovan
nodded towards me, the massive muscles of her neck pushing against
her collar.
    “… And what about my
crew?”
    “We will do a full investigation.
It’s already underway,” Admiral Phelps assured me.
    “And what if we
accidentally bring that spy aboard the Ra’xon?”
    “We won’t.” Phelps pressed his
fist into the desk once more, his whole arm locking up into his
shoulder.
    I held the Admiral’s
gaze.
    I wanted to believe what he was
saying, but it was hard.
    It was hard,
because my own goddamn ship had just been attacked. Someone got
past all our defenses, despite the fact the Godspeed was one of the most
sophisticated ships in the fleet.
    “I’ve already
organized to have your personal effects transferred to the Ra’xon .” The Captain
nodded at me. “You’ll find your quarters far more generous than
your old ones. We’ve got a lot more room.”
    It took me a while, then I nodded.
My jaw was stiff, and I could barely move it as I parted my lips.
“I need to attend to my crew first. There were no deaths, but…” I
trailed off.
    “Do what you need to.” The Captain
nodded at me. “We don’t leave until 0800 tomorrow
morning.”
    I pressed my lips together and
took a breath. Then I saluted. “Will that be all?”
    The Admiral returned my salute.
“You’re dismissed. You’re lucky to be alive, Lieutenant Commander,
but we thank our lucky stars that you survived.”
    I turned to walk away but stopped.
“How’s the ensign who was with me? Ensign Jenks?”
    The Admiral appeared to search his
memory.
    “She’s fine. She sustained no
injuries and was discharged immediately after her report was
taken,” the station commander answered.
    “I guess you weren’t the only
lucky one,” the Captain commented. “See you in the morning,
Lieutenant Commander.” She turned and began to discuss something
with the Admiral in a low tone.
    That was my cue to
leave.
    I saluted, turned on my heel, and
walked out.
    I’d only held my
command of the Godspeed for a few short months. And she’d been scuttled
whilst in my command.
    I locked a sweaty hand over my
mouth as I walked out.
    I startled because Annabelle was
still there.
    She jolted off the wall again,
expressive hazel eyes widening as she saw me. “Is everything
okay?”
    I didn’t answer. Not for a long
while. My thoughts kept being pulled from memory to memory. I saw
flashes of that wall of fire rushing through the hallway towards
me. Then felt the agony stab at my back as I crawled