Far From Home: The Complete Series (53 page)

“No, no, no. Don’t think like that,” Greene said. He looked sideways at the viewscreen, at the dissipating remnants of the
Defiant
as they fell into the atmosphere, shooting stars in the evening sky.

“Del, I have failed,” Jessica said.

Captain Dolarhyde noticed several indicators on the communications station flashing and moved across to see to them. He held the earpiece up, listened, and his eyes brightened. “I believe we have the escape pods on audio.”

Jessica wiped her eyes and looked up. “Sorry?”

“The escape pods. They’re making contact.”

She moved toward the comm. station. “Can you find out whether Commander Chang or the Chief is among them? See if we can get a handle on what happened?”

We already know what happened,
she chided herself.
You lost your ship. They died in the explosion. You family is without a home.

She pushed the thought away as Dolarhyde listened to the incoming transmissions and attempted to sift through them, his brow furrowed in concentration.

Where will you go from here? You’re lost. Marooned on an alien world. A bunch of refugees. Without a home and no way of reaching one, either.

Again she pushed it away.

Dolarhyde looked up. “I have Chief Meryl Gunn on audio.”

The ancient speakers within the Warrior spat and crackled, but they worked, and the Chief’s voice came thundering through.

“Captain! Can you hear me? Am I coming through clear enough?”

Jessica smiled. She watched Greene’s face as it lightened at the sound of Gunn on the speakers. At the reassurance and relief that brought him.

“Yes, Chief. We’re here.”

A pause. Then: “The
Defiant
 . . .”

Jessica swallowed. “Chief, what happened over there?”

“The reactor went critical. We got everyone off the ship, Captain. We’re all here, waiting to get picked up. If it weren’t for Commander Chang we’d all be dead right now, though I tried to stop her.”

“Chang?”

“Yes Captain. She stayed behind, piloted the
Defiant
clear of us. We owe her our lives.”

The rest of seemed to fall into the background. Her heart ached in her chest, her throat was dry and felt as though it were closing in on itself.

Chang.

Another name to add to the roster of those she’d lost. She shook her head, looked down at the deck. “No . . .”

All was silent on the bridge. The news of Commander Chang’s demise sunk in.

Dolarhyde listened intently still, roving through the many different channels for anything of interest. Mostly the escape pods requesting assistance. He ignored these for the time being. Until backup arrived, there wasn’t much they could do. Besides, all pods were designed to last weeks in the forbidding vacuum of space.

His hand paused on the controls, and he stopped cycling through the different channels when he heard a different kind of message come into his ear piece. Instead of announcing it, he simply put it straight on the overhead speakers.

The sudden explosion of sound made them all jump. At first it didn’t quite register just what it was they were listening to.

“ . . . Commander Chang! Repeat, this is Commander Chang! Is anyone reading me?”

Jessica’s eyes filled with tears, but this time from relief. She looked up at the viewscreen in time to see one of the
Defiant
‘s shuttles speeding toward them, carrying their saviour, the not-quite-dead Commander Lisa Chang.

13.

A Krinuan task force, headed by Captain Praror and his team, set about gathering the escape pods from space. All pods were designed to operate without power. To simply float where they were. In the event of all-out warfare, they would then be undetectable to enemy sensors due to their lack of propulsion.

Commander Greene had provided them with the
Defiant
‘s specific distress signature, used by rescue ships to locate a vessel’s escape pods.

As the Krinuans scooped her crew up, Jessica talked with Commander Chang in what had once been Captain Dolarhyde’s quarters. Back up on the bridge, Commander Greene finally made contact with Chief Gunn again. He spoke to her privately, through his ear piece.

“How’re you doing?” he asked her.

“Find, considering. I’m glad you’re still in one piece,” she said. “I’d hate to have to stitch you back together.”

“Would you do that?” Greene asked.

“In a heartbeat. I don’t think I could stand to lose you, your natural stupidity notwithstanding, of course,” Gunn said.

Greene shook his head. “Always the sarcasm. Beneath that is a big heart, girl, you better believe I know it’s there.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“See you soon?”

“Sure,” the Chief said in a lower voice. A husky whisper. “I love you.”

Commander Greene grinned from ear to ear. He couldn’t help it. “Me too, Chief. Me too.”

* * *

“I waited till the last moment, then dashed down to the cargo bay. Luckily there was a shuttle on standby down there. I knew I’d never get clear in a pod. I needed something with an engine behind it,” Chang finished her report of what had taken place. “And that’s how it happened. Got a bit hairy there, though. I thought the shockwave would swallow me right up. Shuttle held together, though.”

Jessica shook Chang’s hand as she said, “You did well today, Lisa. I’m very proud of you.”

She couldn’t keep it going. Couldn’t stop herself from looking away, couldn’t stop the tears spilling down her face in rivers. Lisa Chang laid a reassuring hand on her Captain’s shoulder.

“We’ll be all right,” she said.

King shook her head. “Our home is gone,” Jessica said wistfully.

“We were far from home anyway,” Chang offered with more than enough hope for the both of them. “We’ll find a new one.”

Jessica King looked up, wiped the tears away.

She nodded. Jessica felt a familiar sensation come to life and flutter in her chest. It felt good for it to be there after so long. It felt right.

It was hope. They’d pull through. The family would hold together.

And somehow, she’d get them home. Whatever it took.

14.

Hours later, with Captain Praror’s help, Commander Greene produced a star chart of the surrounding space so that Captain Dolarhyde could pinpoint the locations of other artefacts.

He tapped on one planet in particular, at the north-eastern quadrant of the galaxy. “There. That’s the key. I’m sure of it.”

Greene crossed his arms. “If I’m reading this map correctly…”

“You are,” Praror cut in. “It’s on the outer fringes of Naxor territory.”

“Well, if that’s where we’ve gotta go, then that’s where we’ve gotta go,” Jessica said. “I’m sure that Carn will find it eventually. It would serve us to get to it first. Before he can gain access to a power he can’t control. We must stop him.”

“I brought him here,” Hawk said, his jaw set. “I’ll hunt him down.”

“We
all
will, Captain Nowlan,” King said. “Together.”

* * *

Though no one in orbit would realise for another hour, the monolith had already vanished from the planet’s surface, leaving behind only a vacant square of land to show it was ever really there.

But there were others scattered throughout that galaxy, just waiting for someone to find them. And one in particular, the pyramid with the power to unlock the secrets of the others.

The one to open Pandora’s box. And for whomever held the key, control of the universe and more…

PART TEN

EMISSARY

1.

Commander Del Greene twisted the wrench as far as it would go, the bolt refusing to budge any further.

“Bloody thing!”

He heard footsteps behind him and turned in time to see Chief Meryl Gunn walk in. “Here, let a real woman have a go.”

She took the wrench out of his hands, set the end against the bolt and twisted. With a metal on metal squeal, the bolt turned.

She slapped the wrench back into his hand with a smirk. “There you go, sonny.”

Greene looked at her, eyes wide and mouth open. “How did you do that? I put everything behind it, and still couldn’t get it to move. What are you, super human?”

Chief Gunn tapped the end of her nose. “Secret of the trade. And muscles. Real ones, not these puny things.” She grabbed at his upper arm and gave it a squeeze.

“Hey! Leave my flappers alone!”

Gunn laughed. “Flappers! Where did that one come from?”

The Commander shrugged. “Comedy genius. Just like –”

Meryl shut him up by pressing her lips against his in a firm kiss. Her arms encircled his neck as the Commander took her in for a full, passionate snog. It was impromptu; it was sloppy, like two school kids making out for the first time. And still, it was good. Very good.

He held her around the waist, any trace of what he’d been about to say blown away like vapour. Forgotten.

They parted. “Wow,” he said. “Strong as a man, but still kisses like a lady.”

“How was it?” she asked in a husky voice.

The Commander looked at her big, beautiful eyes. Her naturally good looks. The look of pure love she gave him. He hoped she got the same impression from him, that his affection for her showed through his jokes and innuendo.

He thought of all they’d been through. All they’d endured. The heavy losses. And now the
Defiant
 . . .

Through it all, though, they had remained strong. In fact, their bond had only grown stronger.

The Chief gazed into his eyes, her hands at the back of his neck, waiting for his answer. The only thing he could say again was “Wow.”

She smiled, leaned up and kissed him again. With her free hand she reached over and slammed the door to the engineering section shut. Gunn broke the kiss, put her lips to his ear and in a tickly whisper she said, “That’s my boy . . .”

* * *

The Krinuan’s home world came into view, a blue green gemstone of a planet. A veritable paradise, the likes of which they’d been fortunate to call home for a short time.

But it’s not our home,
Jessica thought.
It never will be, no matter how much the Krinuans make us feel welcome. It won’t ever be right.

“Enter standard orbit, Captain Nowlan,” King said. She turned around, expected to see Commander Greene there at his post. But it was empty.

Dolarhyde took up the mantel in his stead. “I’m on it.”

“Where’s Commander Greene?” she asked.

Dolarhyde shot a look at Hawk. King looked from one to the other, her eyebrows raised.

“Well, gentlemen?” she asked. “Either of you know?”

Hawk cleared his throat, swivelled about in the helm chair. “He’s… uh… below decks.
With the Chief.
”

“Oh,” Jessica said. She relaxed as what Hawk was saying set in. “Oh. Well, I didn’t know Meryl was aboard.”

“Gal insisted, far as I can tell, Cap,” Hawk said. His hands flittered over the helm controls as he performed a standard orbital insertion with expert control and poise. “The Commander was fixin’ up the engine room. Guess he needed a woman’s touch.”

Dolarhyde choked back a hearty laugh. Jessica shook her head. “Come on boys, let’s keep it clean. We’ve been in space a long time. I don’t deny the Commander a little . . . celebratory… Oh, whatever. Let’s keep our eyes on the prize here and focus on what we’re doing.”

But secretly she thought.
Hope they don’t break anything down there…

“Aye,” Hawk said.

“Yes Ma’am,” Dolarhyde said, still chuckling behind his beard.

I don’t know what you’re laughing at old man,
King thought.
If it’s been long for us, how long has it been for you?

“Krinuan ships following,” Hawk said.

They would round the planet and dock at the space station, where the escape pods from the
Defiant
would be opened in the safety of the station’s hangar. There hadn’t been enough room on the little Krinuan ships to take all of the
Defiant
‘s survivors at once. Some had to be towed, a fairly painless matter of the occupants waiting a few hours.

She wasn’t sure what was going on down there in engineering between the Commander and the Chief (nor did she wish to know), but the pair of them deserved a little release after all that had happened.

Release.

Jessica shook her head to rid it of any further words carrying implicit connotations, and left for the mess to grab a coffee. Or the closest thing to it.

***

The
Warrior
bumped against the docking ports of the station, and seconds later Jessica heard the familiar hiss of atmospheres equalizing.

She sipped her tea –
there had been no coffee, just as she’d feared
 – alone with her thoughts. The image of the
Defiant
blowing apart still burned like a flame in her mind. Her first command, and her Father’s last.