Acquaintances
Authors note: Music track 3 (New Earth)
When the crew walked down the ramp extended toward the flourishing new world they were greeted by a very pleasant temperature. It was approximately twenty-three degrees centigrade and together with a mild refreshing breeze the weather could be considered near perfect. Stith jumped the last few steps and landed on her big three-toed feet on the ground with a thump, leaving two imprints in the grass. Deeply inhaling the fresh air, her ears flattening, she savored the smell of grass and blossoms in her nostrils and the warmth of the Andali sun on her brown skin. She almost shivered with excitement, walked a few steps away from the ship and let herself fall on her back at full-length on the grass.
"This is great!" she exclaimed, enjoying the solid ground, warm sunlight and real air to breathe.
The others enjoyed the beauty of nature as well, as the metal under their feet was replaced by lush green grass. By the looks of it, New Earth was already competing to become one of the most beautiful and relaxing places in the spiral arm.
"I'm glad you like it Stith but we have some work left to do first."
Retracting the ramp, Korso sealed the ship completely off with a small remote. Stith jumped back on her feet again, her joy a bit tempered by his remark.
"Of course Captain. This kinda reminds me of home. I'm a little excited."
"Same thing here. After this is settled you're all free to do as you please."
He too felt the urge of having a little rest and relaxation. The planet was beautiful and he could barely remember the last time he had unrecycled air in his lungs. And after all this was home now.
"Hey! Over here!" The voice came from the right where the buildings of the drifter colony city disturbed the view. It was not a pretty sight but the rusted hulls of bunched together spaceship hulls were currently the only thing they could use as shelters. At least they stood on the surface of a planet where they didn't have to worry about the danger of explosive decompression which was always present on drifter colonies. Cale and Akima were still wearing the same clothes they wore on the Valkyrie. Everything was still scarce and Korso wondered what Captain Pierce meant when he talked about helping them to rebuild their civilization. As things looked now, the people of New Earth would gladly accept any help offered to them. They walked into each other between the ship and the city, Cale and Akima frowning at the fact that their Captain -they thought died a heroic death- was alive and kicking. "Korso, after everything that's happened it's still good to see you but as I said I expect you to explain everything."
Cale gave Korso his hand which the older man took. The young man obviously still had the feeling he was talking to a dead guy.
"Hi kid, as far as I can tell your father did a pretty good job."
Cale laughed.
"You haven't seen half of it. Vegetation is still growing at an accelerated rate but according to the people who know how this stuff works it will normalize eventually. We've started to release the animals too. Advanced forms of something they call DNA cloning makes it possible to build up populations of animals very rapidly but they're still scarce, just like pretty much everything else. It's gonna take some time before it will really look like our Earth."
"Akima, my former pilot and a damn good one."
Korso greeted her with a smirk. Akima smiled wryly, pulling a black and purple lock of hair from her face with a finger. She hid her contempt well but a tiny bit slipped through in her voice, as Korso didn't fail to notice. He couldn't blame her though.
"Joseph, we meet again."
"Ah it's Cale and Akima," Preed said with his soft oily voice.
Though Akima had tried to hide her contempt, Cale didn't bother. The Akrennian had been nothing but trouble and he didn't like the guy from the start.
"Preed, you survived after all."
"That's my fault, sorry," Stith said, shaking her head. "I just couldn't let him die. It's a shame."
"Oh Stith," Akima said, saving her warm smile for her friend. She hadn't expected to see her again in such a short amount of time. "It's good to see you haven't flown to the other end of the galaxy. I thought I would never see you again."
Stith's laugh sounded a little like a bark.
"You're my friend and you'll always be. I would never leave a friend without telling. Remember that."
Of course Akima and Cale had noticed the other Mantrin standing next to her. Wondering what her friend had gotten herself into now, Akima studied him for a moment. He was even bigger than her but looked like a friendly guy. He was just standing there, a bit secluded from the rest of the group, his beak curved into a faint smile. She couldn't ignore her curiosity and had to ask.
"Wow, who's your friend?"
"Eh, well ask him," Stith replied, gesturing at the male Mantrin.
"Cale, Akima!"
Gune couldn't control himself anymore. He began to dance on his feet wildly, excited at seeing old friends. Cale tried to calm him down a bit as the alien almost hugged him, but barely succeeded.
"It's very good to see you're doing well Gune. How's life?"
"I'm currently working on a new secret project," he whispered mysteriously. "Nobody must know. Oh no, certainly not."
The alien scientist always had something to be very secretive about and Cale wondered what it could be this time. He could only hope it wouldn't explode just like one of the last few times. In the mean time Akima had turned her attention to the new face.
"I'm Akima."
She stuck out her hand and had to look up to look him in the eyes. The huge alien's smile became wider.
"I'm Kero, Captain of the starship Myrana."
She was slightly overwhelmed when he carefully took her hand with his large claw. His warm hand felt soft and he seemed very gentle.
"And?" Stith asked further.
He released her hand.
"Stith saved my life."
"And?"
She encouraged him by making a circle movement with her right hand.
"What?"
He shrugged his massive shoulders, pretending he didn't knew what she was talking about.
"Akima, he's not just some guy. None of you knew but Kero here told me he has royal blood. He's the son of the Mantrin Emperor."
Stith displayed a toothy grin when everyone fell silent, amused by the looks on their faces.
"Oh no," Kero thought.
He could have known that Stith would suddenly tell everyone without warning. It was just her way of doing things. She probably wanted to get back on him for not telling her. And of course this human, Akima, did the exact thing he didn't want her to do.
"I'm honored to meet you, Your Highness."
She sunk on one knee and bowed deeply, to show respect just as they did back home in front of his father. He didn't like it when people starting bowing in front of him and put him on a pedestal, like he was better than them in some way. He just wanted to be treated like a normal guy. And as long as nobody knew about it, they did.
"Please, don't do that. Call me Kero, just Kero."
Helping her to get up he shook his head.
"Sorry, just teasing," Akima replied with a laugh. "What're you wearing?"
The T-shirt he wore in combination with his uniform pants was so wrong for someone with his status. If Stith hadn't said anything no one would've recognized him for the Prince that he was.
"Oh that. Well I'm borrowing it from Captain Korso. I'm grateful he had something for me to wear."
"Hmm, I'm pretty sure we have a good tailor among us. We'll see."
Cale walked up to Korso who stared into Kero's direction in complete disbelief. He still couldn't believe it.
"What?"
"I'm sorry Cap. We were planning to tell ya but this seemed like a good moment. He's a true Prince."
Stith shrugged innocently, as if it was nothing but Korso shook his head in shame.
"And I put him at work on my ship."
"It's okay, it's okay."
There was a slight panic in Kero's voice as he waved with his arms, trying to make everyone stop worshipping him as if he were some sort of God.
"Where are those people you spoke off?" Cale asked the confused Korso.
"They should be here shortly, I believe." He looked around -recovered from the initial shock- if he could spot a man in black and red. "Preed, did you sent them the right coordinates?"
"I'm very confident I did Captain." Just after he said that, two humans materialized next to them. It was Captain Pierce with his female First Officer who wore the same black and red uniform with the Starfleet combadge on her chest. She was an attractive slender young woman with blonde hair bond together on her head and deep green eyes. She was still young just like her Captain and smiled in a friendly way at seeing them. "Better late than never," Preed whispered sarcastically, loud enough for Korso to hear.
"Preed?" he whispered back.
"Yes Captain?"
"Shut up."
"I apologize if we're late. You must be Cale Tucker." Pierce stuck out his hand toward Cale. "Jason Pierce."
Cale shook his hand slowly, blinking a few times. Did he see that right?
"How did you…"
The others looked astonished as well. He seemed to have appeared out of nowhere without warning.
"Our transporter technology might seem a bit odd to you but we use it to transport instantly from one place to another without the need of a shuttlecraft. It has limited range but it'll do for planetary and ship-to-ship transport."
"I see. You have important news for us I heard?" Cale asked, with a gesture toward Korso.
"Yes, I want you to meet my First Officer, Commander Chrysta Winter."
"Nice to meet all of you."
She smiled, showing sparkling white teeth.
"Let's go to a place where we can discuss things." Adding deeds to his words, Cale decided to take the lead, walking toward the larger shelter which was slightly separated from the others. The rest followed, Pierce and Winter walking next to Cale. "The place where we're heading to is called The Lighthouse. I know the bartender and I trust him so the things we discuss will be kept private."
"It might seem strange but it must not," Pierce replied.
"What do you mean?"
"I've got a few things to tell you that might be hard to believe at first. However it is imperative that the information is spread as fast as possible."
"Okay," Cale replied slowly, not knowing what to expect.
That he was human was a clear fact now but the organization he represented didn't sound in the least familiar. According to New Bangkok he had presented himself as the Captain of a 'Federation' starship but what exactly did he mean by that? He didn't have the faintest idea right now but decided to wait for Jason to explain himself.
A few minutes later they had reached the modest-sized establishment and headed inside. The Lighthouse was made of the bridge section of an old cruiser so it was quite roomy but most importantly, empty. Cale shoved some tables together and everyone picked a chair around them.
"Harry, will you join us with some drinks?"
"Of course Cale," the bartender answered with his heavy voice.
He was a large broad man with a black beard and dark friendly twinkling eyes. Bringing some drinks to the table he took a seat himself.
"Normally we don't drink under duty but this time we can make an exception," Pierce decided, taking a sip from the contents of his glass. He began telling the exact same thing he told Korso. Everyone was quiet, completely going up in what he told. Although the others already knew about the situation they were amazed again by Pierce's story. It was of course a bit overwhelming and if he hadn't miraculously showed up using some kind of teleportation technology Cale and Akima would have had trouble believing him. But why would he make something like this up? "And that's why you must form an alliance with neighboring systems and build up you fleet. We can't let them take advantage of the situation."
"You've lost me," the bartender said. "Sorry guys, that was some story but I've got work to do." He stood up and left the bar via the backdoor.
Cale was astonished but not directly convinced of what this man told him.
"Is it true?"
"I've seen it for myself," his former Captain replied dead serious.
"So you really are from a different universe?"
"That's correct."
Chrysta handed Cale a PADD with sensor data about the phenomenon they encountered. Akima looked at it over Cale's shoulder, trying to find some inconsistency that would write Pierce's story off. But the longer she thought about it the more she realized how ridiculous that was. But she still had a few questions to ask.
"This is some evidence but it doesn't explain everything. You claim that you're going to help us because we're in danger and we have to defend ourselves. Where's your evidence of that?"
"I believe I can help with that," Kero answered her question. "I've seen it myself. They attacked my ship without warning and murdered my crew. I would've been among them if Stith wasn't there to save my life."
He put his large clawed hand on her shoulder, smiling. She answered his smile with one of her own.
"You're welcome."
Cale looked at Akima, figuring it was time for action.
"I think it's time to assemble the council. After all, we're members and I think this issue is important enough."
"You're members of the government?" Korso asked.
"Well, if you could call it that. We're part of a council."
"Cale, we need more evidence if we are to divert all the recourses we have to rebuilding our fleet and preparing defenses."
Akima never had expected something like this. It came as a shock to her that after the disappearance of the Drej threat, something else showed up to take its place.
"I understand your skepticism but the resources are not the real issue. The real problem is the amount of time we have."
Pierce seemed to have a plan but they weren't there yet. First a couple of things had to be done.
"Still, the council must be convinced before we can start making any plans," Akima decided.
Suddenly Pierce's communicator chimed. As he listened everyone listened with him.
"Go ahead?"
A male voice replied.
"Captain, long range sensors have detected potentially hostile vessels entering the system; they're on an intercept course."
"Stand by. Prepare to transport us back to the ship." Pierce made eye contact with Cale and Akima, showing them he was serious. "This is your chance. Would you like to see for yourselves?"
"If you can convince us, we'll assemble the council tomorrow," Cale replied, looking at Akima who agreed with him.
"All right then."
Pierce and Chrysta stood up, the rest following after emptying their glasses. Counting the people in the room he contacted his ship.
"Pierce to Highlander. Eight to beam up."
"Eight sir?"
"No time to explain. Beam us to the nearest transporter room. No wait, belay that. Beam us directly to the bridge."
"Aye, Captain."
The Highlander's transporter systems locked on to the group, their new location set to the bridge of the ship. As their matter was compressed into a data stream, Pierce, Winter and the Valkyrie crew were instantly transported from the bar to the command center of the Federation vessel. For a very short moment, those who went through it for the first time could swear they were in two places simultaneously, an intriguing but also slightly frightening experience. When they had just left Harry came back, unaware that they had transported a couple of hundred kilometers up into space within a few seconds. The empty glasses on the table were the only evidence that they had been here just a moment ago.
"Cale, I just… oh."
The group of eight people rematerialized in the middle of the central command center of the mighty Federation vessel. The moment they arrived they were surrounded by status displays and stations occupied by several members of Pierce's crew who shot a stealthy glance at the odd collection of humans and aliens that just appeared on the bridge. Some members of the Highlander's crew were human, some of them alien. A large holographic projection showing the ship's internals in great detail was standing in between the Captain's and First Officer's chairs and the master systems display in the back. A large view screen with two crewmembers behind consoles in front of it was placed in the front section of the bridge. Other crew stations were placed along the sides and next to the master systems display. Two doors in the aft corners offered access to the turbolift and Captain's ready room.
"Report," Pierce ordered, walking toward the station occupied by the officer who had contacted him on the surface.
"The unknown vessels are approaching fast sir. They'll be within visual range in approximately two minutes."
He was a humanoid alien with characteristic horizontal creases across his nose and an elaborate earring in his right ear. Apart from these minor racial features, he looked very much like a human.
"What just happened?"
Stith was a little shaky; feeling like her legs had suddenly become too thin to carry her weight.
"Your molecules have been disassembled and compressed into a data stream. Then you've been put back together here. It's completely safe though."
Pierce explained it like it was as simple as riding a bike, but Stith was less then convinced. The Mantrin was shocked.
"I think I'll pass next time."
"Afraid?" Preed asked with an oily undertone in his voice.
"I'm not particularly fond of the idea of my molecules been taken apart like some jigsaw puzzle!" she bit back.
"Hail the station," Pierce ordered.
He and his first officer took place in their designated seats. The Valkyrie's crew stood behind the railing behind the Captain's chair observing his actions.
"Yes sir," his ops. officer replied.
They received a video transmission from the station's Commander.
"What kind of weapons do you have?"
"Weapons? We're only a relay station converted from an old drifter colony. We don't carry large guns. Our lasers are effective against asteroids but nothing more. Why?"
"Because we're gonna need them." Although this station would have trouble to hit so much as a rock, it still wasn't entirely useless. "Be sure to make visual recordings of what's going to happen. We have incoming hostiles."
"You have to defend us. We're no match for a strike force."
"We'll keep 'em off your back, but you have to do exactly as I say."
"Aye aye," the Commander replied with a sigh.
"Sir they're entering visual range."
"Resume transmission with the station, audio only. On screen."
The main viewer zoomed in on three large ships, two of the same type, one different from the others. A man that was obviously the tactical officer had already identified the enemy vessels.
"Two cruisers and a carrier sir. Their weapons are active. I don't think they're here to make first contact." The carrier had a more or less rectangular shape with hangar bays on its sides. The two cruisers appeared identical, had an unusually shaped front where most of the armaments were located and they were indeed heavily armed. They were obviously not here to make people's lives more comfortable. Large and powerful propulsion systems covered the aft of both the carrier and the cruisers, pushing them into the direction of the planet at a steady speed. "They're carrying shields and energy discharge weapons. Could be ion cannons."
"Machines," Pierce said to no one in common. He was familiar with this foe and tried to recall what kind of attack strategy was commonly used by them. "Commander lay down suppressive fire. We have a carrier coming in possibly carrying small attack craft. They must not be allowed to reach the planet."
"Yes Captain."
The station's Commander signaled his people to carry out the order, deploying whatever laser turrets they had for battle while Pierce devised a strategy to defend the planet.
"Captain, we're being hailed."
"Let's hear it."
"Channel open."
A heavy, frightening and machine-like voice spoke.
"This planet is now annexed by the Machine Dominion. Surrender your vessels and prepare to be annihilated. You inferior organic-based life forms will cease to exist."
"Captain, they're powering up their weapon systems. The carrier is launching smaller craft."
Several dozen of the small ray-shaped ships the Valkyrie crew had battled before exited the carrier's hangar bays and came in fast on an intercept course. Pierce ended the transmission with a quick nod. He directed his attention to everyone on the bridge.
"Red alert! All hands to battle stations!"
Authors note: Music track 4 (USS Highlander in Defense – (Crimson Tide – Hans Zimmer)
As the lights dimmed, red lights began blinking on and off. A soft acoustic alarm was heard all over the ship, bringing the crew up to full alert and urging them to take positions for the upcoming battle. The Highlander's shields were raised to full power and weapons were charged to the satisfaction of Stith who wanted to see for herself what this ship was capable of doing.
"Ensign, put us in directly between the station and the attacking ships."
"Aye sir," his helmsman replied.
"Shields are at maximum. Weapon systems online."
The Highlander broke orbit and the colossal ship maneuvered surprisingly fast into position, shielding the station using her own body. An alert warned the tactical officer that the enemy had a weapons lock on them, ready to unleash their destructive barrage.
"Visual recordings are being taken Captain."
"Nice work. Arm phasers and return fire as soon as those fighters are within range."
And they soon would be. The first wave of enemy fighters were on fast approach. As soon as they had a positive lock they opened fire on the Federation ship. However their powerful cutting lasers were absorbed by its shields, unable to deal any significant damage.
"Shields are holding at ninety-six percent."
The ship trembled softly under the laserfire thrown against her shields but further remained untouched by their attack.
"Return fire. Target the nearest ships. Don't let 'em get near."
The Highlander's weapon systems were capable of taking out multiple targets simultaneously. Multiple phaser bursts fired from the wide arcs of her weapons array on the incomings, breaking through shields and cutting through hulls. Most ships were destroyed with a single powerful blast. Pieces of debris were flying in every direction, colliding harmlessly with shields or burning up while entering the atmosphere of nearby New Earth. The cannons of New Bangkok gave suppressive fire to keep the vessels away from them but weren't powerful enough to break through the fighters' protective shields on their own. On the bridge the amazement trickled off Stith's face. The Mantrin had never seen such weapons before. The Highlander equaled and maybe even surpassed an Imperial warship in terms of firepower.
"What power," she brought out, her muzzle falling open from astonishment.
"You would get your tail in a twist just to fire a few shots with those wouldn't you?" Kero asked her with a grin.
"I would do anything."
"Continue firing," Pierce ordered as the next wave hit them. The smaller attack craft were concentrating their fire on a single quadrant of the Highlander's shields now, trying to find a weakness. The Federation ship was powerful but couldn't withstand that kind of punishment on a single shield vector. "Better hold on to something," Pierce warned the Valkyrie crew.
They grabbed the railing in front of them in response. The ship trembled, a burst of sparks showering down on the deck, accompanied by a cloud of smoke.
"Shields are at eighty-two percent. The cruisers are moving to intercept. They're firing." These larger vessels had more powerful weapon systems. High-powered heavy ion cannons fired their bursts. The blasts of energy rained down on the Highlander's shields with devastating effect. Ion cannons were effective at draining shields and could cause significant damage to ship's systems once in direct contact with the hull. But Pierce was not planning to let that happen as it would render them defenseless. "Shields are at sixty-nine percent!" With each hit they lost more strength. A series of conduits blew out. Screens flickered and the ship trembled violently. "First wave is destroyed."
"They're moving in the big guns now," Pierce murmured. "Load torpedoes, full spread and deploy forward pulse phasers. Use them to weaken their shields for a torpedo attack."
The dual forward pulse phaser cannons embedded underneath the saucer section fired their powerful barrage at the shields of the first cruiser. These weapons fired high-powered pockets of energy, effective against shields and even more effective when those were gone.
"Their shields are failing. Torpedo turrets loaded and standing by."
"Let's give 'em what they want. Fire."
The Highlander's torpedo turrets covering a large angle. They were capable of firing multiple photon and quantum torpedoes in a single burst. The orange and blue glowing projectiles rained down on the cruiser's weakened shields and broke through them with ease. As they slammed directly into the hull their detonations destroyed everything. A cascade reaction in the vessel's power systems triggered a reactor breach. It was torn apart by the exploding reactor, debris being sent in all directions. Some of it collided with the shields of the other neighboring cruiser, making them glow with a blue shimmering against the darkness of space.
"Whoa, that was amazing!" Stith exclaimed in a sudden burst of enthusiasm.
For a weapons expert this was just as much fun as for a child getting a new toy. The others didn't say anything at all. The humans were just afraid that this was only the beginning of an invasion.
"We're not there yet."
"Sir, the carrier is launching more fighters."
"Give 'em the same treatment."
"Firing."
The powerful shots crippled the enemy ship's shields and raked across the hull. Multiple hull breaches were the result of the attack. It was a good and effective strategy. The enemy didn't seem to have an effective countermeasure. "They're taking evasive actions."
The carrier turned ninety degrees and fired up her engines, trying to move out of the Highlander's effective firing range.
"Torpedoes, full spread."
"Yes sir." Another hit from the remaining cruiser struck the shields again. The ship trembled violently, a panel exploding near the view screen. "Shields are at fifty-two percent. We can't take much more these!"
"The carrier first!"
The torpedoes slammed into the carrier's side hangers with tremendous force. The explosions flew through the interior, destroying the inside in their path. A massive explosion blew the remains of the battered hull apart.
"They still managed to launch a few more fighters. They're heading for the station."
"Stop them."
"We can't take 'em all at once."
The fighters fired on the station, fully ignoring the Federation ship protecting it. The Highlander tried to get their attention but they succeeded only partially. Their lasers tore through sections of the station causing major damage to the hull. Sections decompressed and crystallizing atmosphere was vented into space.
"This is New Bangkok! Highlander, we're taking heavy damage here!"
"We're doing our best!" The tactical officer kept the ship's phasers firing to destroy the pesky little foes. It proved to be difficult as they were quite fast and initiated evasive maneuvers. "Hold on!"
Another hit from the remaining cruiser's ion cannons slammed into their shields.
"Shields are at thirty-four percent!"
"How many fighters left?"
"That's the last of the fighters sir but the station has taken some serious damage to their upper levels. They might be forced to evacuate those sections. The cruiser is trying to make a run for it. They're preparing to go to warp. Sir did we hit them?"
"Not yet but I'm planning to. Why?"
"According to sensors the ship is damaged. I'm reading isolytic residue. Looks like they've tried to travel through an unstable distortion."
"Then there're more of them leading into this universe." Pierce looked over his shoulder at Cale and Akima, making sure they had heard his comment. They had both been standing there with their hands squeezing the railing in tension until their knuckles turned white. He could very well understand their fear. If his ship hadn't been there, they would have lost their newly created world. "It must not be allowed to leave. Destroy it."
One final barrage of torpedoes exited the Highlander's launchers on their way to their target. The ship was destroyed in the same way as the others, leaving nothing but floating debris.
"Everything clear?"
"Sensors are not picking up any other ships. Looks like they were on their own."
"Cancel red alert. Get me a damage report."
The lights turned on again as weapons and shields powered down.
"Shields are holding at thirty-six percent. Engineering reports repair crews are dispatched and on their way."
"Could you please tell me what the hell is going on?" Akima asked.
She was standing wobbly on her legs and she was still squeezing the railing in front of her.
"I believe our new homeworld has just been attacked," Korso replied dryly, crossing his arms.
She replied a bit snappishly.
"I can see that. But why?"
"I think this is convincing enough."
Cale gently rubbed her back to calm her down. He didn't have an answer to her question though.
"Cale, I'm still not entirely convinced about the alternate universe part but I can't deny this. The council will debate about the situation tomorrow."
At the same time the planet's founders were discussing tomorrow's plans, Pierce asked the station if they needed any help. It had take considerable damage and those hull breaches were difficult to contain.
"Do you require any assistance?"
"We took a lot of hull damage. If you can spare a few men the work can be done a whole lot faster."
The small command center of the station was filled with yelling people and gas leaking from conduits. It was a complete chaos.
"They'll be there right away." He relayed the order to his crew and turned his attention to his guests. "I think you've seen for yourself what's going on."
Akima sighed, pulling a lock of hair away from her face.
"I see what you mean. But how're we going to bring the council together so quickly and where?" she asked Cale. "Some members could be on the other side of the planet."
"I believe I can be of assistance. You can use the conference room on my ship. It's large enough and you could make use of the audiovisual hardware that's present in the room."
"Thank you Captain. I'll see to it that they get the message. The conference will be held on your ship at 1400 hours tomorrow unless I tell you otherwise. I think we're ready to go down again."
Pierce stood up from his chair and walked to the turbolift doors. Not sure if they all wanted to make the trip by transporter again he still decided to through with it. It was the simplest way after all.
"Follow me."
"We're not going with that transporter thing again are we?" Stith complained.
The idea looked really unappealing to her and she didn't fully trust it. It was the first time they transported a Mantrin with that device. What if something went wrong?
"It's the fastest way and its completely safe Stith."
"But-"
"Come on Stith we're all going," Korso encouraged her.
"It's a common way of transport for these people."
"All right, I'm going," she grumbled, following the others against her will.
When they returned to the surface the sun stood high in the sky. They arrived on the grass field near the Valkyrie at the place where they met.
"Thanks for everything."
Pierce smiled.
"My pleasure, Miss…"
"Kunimoto, but call me Akima."
"And you may call me Jason. There's one more thing. Contact me before the conference. With the technology on our ship we can create any kind of clothing. Maybe you wanna get dressed properly."
Jason looked at the old shirt Kero was still wearing. It really wasn't appropriate for a Prince to wear such a thing.
"I appreciate that very much. Thank you," Kero replied happily.
"You're welcome."
He transported back in the blink of an eye.
"Another important day ahead of us," Korso said like he was getting tired of it. His stomach rumbled. "Time for a good meal. Wanna join us on the ship?"
"Sure, you still haven't told me anything," Cale replied.
"I'll tell ya during the meal. It'll take a while."
They all walked toward the Valkyrie together, which hull plating was shimmering in the afternoon sun. That ship that had been their home, for some of them longer than others.