the
Armstrong
, and as many of you have guessed, this is my XO, Commander Raf Sanchez.” Hood looked at the expectant faces before him. “Who am I addressing?”
“Sir, I’m Lieutenant Commander Isaac Turnbow, XO of the
Cestus
. I want to thank you for coming to get us. My crewmates and I are all who remain of the bridge crew.”
Anguish gripped Hood’s heart. “Where’s Captain Styles?”
Turnbow shook his head. “We don’t know, sir. We were in that life pod for so long.”
Hood noticed the look of despair on their faces. Sanchez must have too, and he challenged them. “Why wasn’t he with you?”
“Sir, whatever hit us was tearing the ship up fast,” Turnbow explained, defending his crewmates. “Captain Styles ordered all hands to evacuate. Just after he gave the order, the bridge was hit, and we lost atmosphere for a few moments. Those of us still alive made it to the environmental suit locker just outside the bridge. Three of them were damaged, and we ended up one short.”
A young, dark-haired officer stepped up beside Turnbow. His face showed signs of radiation burns, but his voice was still full of zeal. “Commander Sanchez, Captain Styles ordered us into the suits then into the life pod. He told us he was headed to the fighter bay. Maybe he got out that way?”
Sanchez threw Hood a concerned look. “Sir, the fastest path to that bay went right through one of the worst radiation zones on the ship. The only safe route had a major hull breach when we arrived.”
Hood contemplated Sanchez’s words. If anyone could have survived, it was Styles. Unfortunately for Hood, his old friend’s safety was secondary. He returned his attention to the
Cestus’s
XO. “Mr. Turnbow, when we received your distress call, I figured it was jump failure, but what attacked you?”
Turnbow recalled the entire encounter for Hood and Sanchez, with a few of the bridge crew filling in the gaps. After he finished, Hood escorted the group out of the office and released the ones who required more treatment back to Dr. Patton’s care. He stopped the
Cestus’s
XO at the door. “Don’t be hard on yourself, son,” he said with a supportive tone. “You and Captain Styles did everything you could.”
“Thank you, sir. How many of the crew did you manage to rescue?”
“Forty-three at last count. Repair crews are on board her now. We should have the radiation and plasma fires under control soon. They’ll do another sweep after that.”
Turnbow’s eyes were still bloodshot from the decontamination process, but they were full of hope. “Can they save her?”
“She’s taken a lot structural damage. I’ve been informed that the space-fold drive is a wreck, but her reactor is salvageable,” Hood assured him. “The repair teams will know more once they put in a temporary drive and jump her to Cygni.”
Relief washed over Turnbow’s face. “Thank you, Captain. She means a lot to us.”
Hood tapped the younger officer on the shoulder. “I know, son. Dismissed.”
Hood watched Turnbow join the other
Cestus
crew members who were still reminiscing with Sanchez. He motioned for Sanchez to join him and both walked out of the med bay. “Is the download from the
Cestus
complete?”
“It should be close. Before I went into decontamination, Lieutenant Wells mentioned it would be another fifteen minutes.”
“Good. I had Lieutenant Aldridge begin an analysis of the damage sustained and the debris field. If it’s the Cilik’ti, that’s one thing, but if our friends from the asteroid field are back, they’ve just upped their game.”
Chapter Four
On the Command Deck of the
Armstrong
, Hood made one final check of the repair crew’s status then walked to the Tactical Station. Commander Sanchez and Lieutenant Aldridge were already waiting for him. It had been a long twenty-four hours since they’d had to race to the
Cestus’s
rescue. The repair teams had worked around the clock to attach a maintenance drive to
Armstrong
, and as many of you have guessed, this is my XO, Commander Raf Sanchez.” Hood looked at the expectant faces before him. “Who am I addressing?”
“Sir, I’m Lieutenant Commander Isaac Turnbow, XO of the
Cestus
. I want to thank you for coming to get us. My crewmates and I are all who remain of the bridge crew.”
Anguish gripped Hood’s heart. “Where’s Captain Styles?”
Turnbow shook his head. “We don’t know, sir. We were in that life pod for so long.”
Hood noticed the look of despair on their faces. Sanchez must have too, and he challenged them. “Why wasn’t he with you?”
“Sir, whatever hit us was tearing the ship up fast,” Turnbow explained, defending his crewmates. “Captain Styles ordered all hands to evacuate. Just after he gave the order, the bridge was hit, and we lost atmosphere for a few moments. Those of us still alive made it to the environmental suit locker just outside the bridge. Three of them were damaged, and we ended up one short.”
A young, dark-haired officer stepped up beside Turnbow. His face showed signs of radiation burns, but his voice was still full of zeal. “Commander Sanchez, Captain Styles ordered us into the suits then into the life pod. He told us he was headed to the fighter bay. Maybe he got out that way?”
Sanchez threw Hood a concerned look. “Sir, the fastest path to that bay went right through one of the worst radiation zones on the ship. The only safe route had a major hull breach when we arrived.”
Hood contemplated Sanchez’s words. If anyone could have survived, it was Styles. Unfortunately for Hood, his old friend’s safety was secondary. He returned his attention to the
Cestus’s
XO. “Mr. Turnbow, when we received your distress call, I figured it was jump failure, but what attacked you?”
Turnbow recalled the entire encounter for Hood and Sanchez, with a few of the bridge crew filling in the gaps. After he finished, Hood escorted the group out of the office and released the ones who required more treatment back to Dr. Patton’s care. He stopped the
Cestus’s
XO at the door. “Don’t be hard on yourself, son,” he said with a supportive tone. “You and Captain Styles did everything you could.”
“Thank you, sir. How many of the crew did you manage to rescue?”
“Forty-three at last count. Repair crews are on board her now. We should have the radiation and plasma fires under control soon. They’ll do another sweep after that.”
Turnbow’s eyes were still bloodshot from the decontamination process, but they were full of hope. “Can they save her?”
“She’s taken a lot structural damage. I’ve been informed that the space-fold drive is a wreck, but her reactor is salvageable,” Hood assured him. “The repair teams will know more once they put in a temporary drive and jump her to Cygni.”
Relief washed over Turnbow’s face. “Thank you, Captain. She means a lot to us.”
Hood tapped the younger officer on the shoulder. “I know, son. Dismissed.”
Hood watched Turnbow join the other
Cestus
crew members who were still reminiscing with Sanchez. He motioned for Sanchez to join him and both walked out of the med bay. “Is the download from the
Cestus
complete?”
“It should be close. Before I went into decontamination, Lieutenant Wells mentioned it would be another fifteen minutes.”
“Good. I had Lieutenant Aldridge begin an analysis of the damage sustained and the debris field. If it’s the Cilik’ti, that’s one thing, but if our friends from the asteroid field are back, they’ve just upped their game.”
Chapter Four
On the Command Deck of the
Armstrong
, Hood made one final check of the repair crew’s status then walked to the Tactical Station. Commander Sanchez and Lieutenant Aldridge were already waiting for him. It had been a long twenty-four hours since they’d had to race to the
Cestus’s
rescue. The repair teams had worked around the clock to attach a maintenance drive to
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