Republican flagship RSV115 "Emancipator", Central Infirmary.
Sven was going to join Esan at Diane's bedside. The infirmary was far from full, but the arrival of the wounded from the bombing squadron had created some excitement. He saw Diane lying on a medical bunk in the light casualty section with Esan beside.
As Sven walked forward, he could not help but glance at the back door to the other section, that of the seriously injured, which was separated by flexible partitions into small individual cells. It recognized other crews who were doing the same thing as him and that made him uncomfortable. Esan pulled him out of this gloomy reverie:
"Chief, she just came out of anesthesia"
He then heard a pasty, but nevertheless surprisingly clear and childlike voice from the bunk:
"How long was I in the blur?"
Esan too had been surprised by the voice. It was no longer at all the solid and professional bomber who was talking, but someone much more spontaneous, who had just enjoyed the momentary eclipse of the fighting her way to the surface.
The two men looked at each other and smiled. Sven said:
"About two hours, Diane. That's not much in a woman's life"
"How's it look? How's the hunting coming?"
"We've slowed them down. The admiral wants to catch them and force them to surrender"
"That's good. Let's just catch them and get it over with"
"It shouldn't be long now" replied Esan. "They're at the end of their rope"
Sven wasn't sure anymore, but he kept quiet. A medical droid arrived and stood in front of the bunk. and scanned the patient's data. A synthetic voice was heard: "Female patient Diane Rajai: stable, healing in progress. Please don't get agitated, which would be likely to move your humerus. Estimated consolidation time: three weeks. You will remain for two more hours for observation before returning to your neighbourhood where you will be placed in convalescence"
The droid then moved to the other section. "No doubt to lend a helping hand to other robot doctors" Sven thought.
Then Diane said: "Have you eaten guys?"
It was totally unexpected, but not without good sense. Indeed, the standard procedure for returning crew's mission was to meet in the mess hall after the report. But nothing had happened like usually in this operation.
"You're right Diane" says Esan, "We haven't eaten yet. We'll go and pick you up afterwards to drive you back to your cabin"
"Okay, go ahead"
The two pilots greeted her and left the infirmary for the mess hall.
Destroyer Imperial II, ESV262 "Destiny Blade", port hold, upper gunner S7-31 "Bunker Hill".
Hanson couldn't believe it, and neither could his three crewmates. All four of them were around the table, with a small bottle of spirits in the middle. (Strictly forbidden aboard military vessels, both imperial and republican).
A first tour had already taken place, all the faces were smiling and relaxed.
Vierbein spoke the first: "A personal communication from the Admiral! If I was expecting it!"
"And broadcast on the general circuit!" added Haberg.
"I thought it was the defense center that reminded me!" Hanson added, bursting out of laugh. "And you, Josse, what do you think?"
"That it's only the beginning! They need to learn what it feels like to get their asses kicked!"
"It won't be long now. I'm going back to the usual, black people are filling their belly. We'd better fight or we'll all starve to death"
Virbein intervened: "But how's "The Cobra" gonna do it"
"No idea. But I'd be surprised if the Reps let us down after what they've just taken"
"Maybe he wants to lose them in that damn nebula..." emitted Haberg.
Josse answered: "So we'll all starve and freeze to death waiting to reach an imperial base? No, for my sake, he's going to seek contact"
Without a word, Hanson filled the glasses again. He put the now empty bottle down and was about to pronounce a toast when he froze. The bottle had just moved by itself on the table. Slowly and smoothly it moved towards the table inside the ship, as well as the glasses, although to a lesser extent.
Everyone around the table had observed the phenomenon. Hanson pulled himself together and took his glass. The three others did the same. Haberg said:
"Are they still adjusting the helm? "
Virbein replied: "I hope not! That's all we need now!"
Hanson took a quick look at the screens: "No, the ship is flat. It looks more like a force of attraction"
Virbein commented soberly: "It looks like the helmsmen are running on the dragon's crest"
"Running on Dragon's crest" was a space sailor's expression that the ship was dangerously close to the attraction of a star and in danger of crashing or being swallowed up by it.
"They'd better watch out, the Reps are going to have a good laugh if we end up in a devourer!"
Hanson concludes: "Let that not stop us from drinking!" He raised his glass:
"To our health, to the ship and to the Empire!"
Everyone drank, then the glasses were rested and continued their silent advance. Virbein caught up with his just before he reached the edge of the table.
No sooner had he grasped it than the lights went on at night. The darkness was only pierced by the screens and the reddish glow of exit identification. A message was displayed and flashed.
Hanson read ad says: "The entire port side crew is consigned. What does it mean?"
Josse answered: "That for the moment we're not involved"
He lay down on the bench in the common room. Virbein did the same on the other bench while Hanson and Haberg went to lie on the berths, because it was their rest period. The four men then tried to sleep, waiting for the signal to wake up.
Assault frigate "Hoth's Revenge II", command bridge.
The Commander was concerned. The ship was moving at reduced speed through the maze of devourers. In truth, the situation was totally out of control, since good space navigation is precisely to avoid them.
The captain said in a loud voice: "Two seconds to port!"
"Probe three. Four miles free!" announced an operator somewhere in the station.
Two probes had already been lost, torn apart by the forces of gravity. The standard provision of the frigates being six, there was still room to move forward. The commander thought of the "Alderaan's Spirit" that had just lost its last probe. He really didn't want that to happen to him is coming. He thought:
"They must really clenched buttocks. I hope for their sake that they've been taking intermediate points, because otherwise it's going to be very dangerous"
He had ordered the radio console to stop broadcasting messages from the other frigates, both to improve the concentration of the job, but also and above all to avoid subjecting them to stress that all crews were experiencing in the same situation. He thought:
"It would only be necessary to witness the agony of a ship in live!"
The radio console call him: "Message from the Admiral! I'll put it through to you in Visio!"
Admiral Rousseau's face appeared on the small screen on the bridge:
"Commander, what's your status? "
"We are on a parallel course to the objective, Admiral. But it is impossible for the moment to target it, the devourers would absorb the rays"
"You still haven't found a cross-channel"
"No, Admiral. But we'll get out of this mousetrap eventually. Real dead ends are very rare"
"At least for all we know", he says for himself. "There aren't many captains that have had to do what we're trying to do"
"Well, keep me posted. We're right on their tail in the same channel, and we'll attack them in half an hour"
"At your service Admiral"
The screen became dark and plain again. The commander heard a voice behind him:
"Semyon, what did the Admiral want?"
It was the navigation officer.
"Nothing, as usual" replied the commander. "It must be that he likes to waste his time"
He sighed, and then continued:
"We've got ourselves into a hell of a beehive. The whole fleet against a single destroyer!"
"Yes" replied the navigator. "And he's found a way to break us up. This Louchke is one hell of a sailor!"
"I don't believe in a long-range plan. He must improvise as we do" replied the commander.
The navigation officer shook his head negatively. He was an old man, who had wandering all over the space for a long time by doing space cabotage before joining the Republican fleet. He ends up saying:
"I'm not so sure about that. There are plenty of channels, yet he committed himself without hesitation and without sending any probes, the scanners are formal. He must know more about this area than we do"
The commander didn't answer. The arguments were not irrelevant.
At that point, the NCO of the planetary forces entered the station. The commander and the navigator turned their heads towards the newcomer.
It was the LRSS (Long range Space Squad) NCO who had been sent by Jed Koinsky as a liaison officer with the attack fleet. He saluted the captain and went to the bridge. The commander asked:
"So, Sergeant, what's the news from the galaxy?"
"It's slamming hard on Dvar" replied the NCO. "We've eaten away at them again, but these fanatics don't give up"
"We'll see with these" intervened the navigator. "They may be of the same calibre"
A tense voice behind a screen announced suddenly: "Probe three in divergence!"
The two space officers stiffened. The Commander ordered:
"Proceed with the extraction procedure!"
"It's already done, Commander! We started pulling it out as soon as the gravitational thresholds triggered !"
"That's going down!" Announced another position.
"We're regaining control" said the first console.
"Take it easy" advised the commander. "Short impulses!"
The operator was strumming in the silence of the station. Finally he raised his head and turned to the bridge:
"All right, we got it back. Let's go forward with a ten-second correction"
Tension decreased in the station and on the bridge. The captain sighed quietly. He replied to the probe operator:
"Good job. Let's get on with it"
The navigation officer, who had been silent since the problem with the probe, turned to the liaison officer and said:
"Do you still have contact with Kuat's antenna?"
"Yes officer" answered the scout.
"If I remember correctly, there are in Kuat the archives of the spatial harbourmaster. It's a small building next to the main construction site. Can you ask your officers to go there to look at the Mercy reports?"
"Of course, officer, I can do that"
The commander agreed: "Excellent idea, Kern"
The NCO saluted and left the post.