An hour had barely passed when Claude saw that the Speed Shuttle he was traveling on, along with Second Commander Saunders and Assistant Brice, was already so far away from Expel. From his home. From his life.
Looking out the small porthole-style window, Claude saw Expel gradually shrinking, the Tolden a dark smudge over it and eventually disappearing from sight as well. They were traveling at great speed, and would probably reach the Calnus II before the day was through.
While Claude focused on the immense ocean of stars they were floating through, a pair of piercing eyes was intently focused upon him.
'...yes, she must have cast a spell on him. He seems different than what he was like in the Earth Federation with me...' Christa thought to herself as she stared at the back of Claude's head, his seat being in front of hers and next to the pilot's. She didn't realize, in her extreme jealousy, that three years and many strange experiences can change people in weird ways. She still thought that that girl who'd married Claude, Rena, had tricked him. '...these alien planets always have weird races of peoples who possess strange magic. She must have used some powerful spell to make his desire to stay with her and not come back to me last three years.'
"What do you think we'll be able to do to start out against the Ten Wise Men, Commander Kenni?" Second Commander Saunders's voice broke through the silence.
Claude visibly jumped in his seat, turning gradually away from the window. "I remember much about them and how my friends and I banished them those years ago: the near destruction of the universe is not something I'll soon forget," Claude began. "But I'll have to review the statistics and events that have happened thus far to the Earth Federation by the Ten Wise Men, to see if they've become stronger or changed their tendencies of attack and such." Then he sighed and his head drooped, "Though I suspect very much that they have become stronger in the years they were dead."
Christa scowled. "You killed them then, Commander Kenni?" Christa wanted to call him by his first name, like he'd told her to when she had encouraged him to talk back in the Tolden, but she figured that he was still angry that she couldn't control her jealousy. She decided to play it safe and call him by the title he was entitled to. "Why did they not stay dead? Why have their spirits returned?"
Claude shrugged his shoulders. "I can't say exactly what is happening, but I do know, from what Agent Sinclare told us, that the Ten Wise Men couldn't have been killed in the first place. They weren't biological beings to begin with. Technically, they weren't born: they had been created by Filia's father. So they don't have souls or spirits or the like. This force that has possessed your son, Saunders, is an energy, leftover from when my friends and I destroyed the Ten Wise Men three years ago."
Second Commander Saunders had choked up when Claude mentioned his son, but managed to ask another question that was on his mind, "How did their energy survive?"
Claude shrugged again. "Again, I can't say for certain, but I suspect that Filia had something in her possession that housed their entities. From Agent Sinclare's story, he accounted that Filia had referred to the mineral the scientists found as her child, though she then claimed that it was the Crest of Annihilation...perhaps she had recovered it after the Final Battle, and survived the destruction of Energy Nede by tagging along with my group; like my group had accompanied the Ten Wise Men from Expel to Energy Nede accidentally before. The Ten Wise Men had probably conducted some spell to make the Crest appear dormant, and then perhaps invested some of their energies into it, so that when my friends and I thought we'd destroyed them completely, a little piece of each of them had survived. Keeping a hold of the dormant Crest when she followed us back to Expel ensured that the Ten Wise Men still existed, and over the past three years they've probably laid low to let their energies build up again, though they tormented Filia until she was so mad that they could easily take possession of her body and wield her to carry out their mission all over again: the destruction of the universe."
Christa gasped, "If they tricked you before, how will you be able to defeat them now? They've probably got another trick prepared so that, when you do destroy them again," Christa had great faith in this one man she loved so dearly, "they'll still survive."
Claude sighed with reluctance. "There's only one thing we can do: destroy their conduit, Filia."
Now Second Commander Sauders gasped: he still wanted his son back, but he knew that Agent Stark had fallen in love with the part of Filia that was not possessed, and couldn't bare seeing his son, when he was saved, come out of this war with a broken heart. "Murder an innocent woman, Commander Kenni? That goes against all that the Earth Federation stands for."
"But its the only thing I'm certain can be done. She is the daughter of the inventor of the Ten Wise Men. She survived their destruction before only to unknowingly carry their existence on, and succumb to their possession so that they have become as powerful as they are now again. Innocent she may be, but she is the only link the Ten Wise Men have to the universe. And they are using her to try to destroy it again. Do you not agree that the sacrifice of one for the sake of the billions living across the span of space would be an option?"
Second Commander Saunders was struck, but Christa was quietly contemplating something she'd read in her history books in school. "Like the Crucifixion," she explained softly.
All three men, Claude, Saunders, and the pilot, caught their breath.
Christa continued. "The extreme sacrifice. Of the Lord's only Son, dying for the sake of many who didn't know or didn't care. Filia's predicament is twin to the Holy event millennia before us."
Saunders was aghast. "You're thinking that we are targeting our Salvation?"
A tear fell from Christa's eye. "We're re-enacting the Greatest Sin of All."
"We don't know that Filia is our savior, Assistant Brice," Claude explained. "So far we only know that her role is of the Savior's Betrayer, denying the Good as the Evil overcomes her. She has aided in the revival of our path to Annihilation."
"Then the Ten Wise Men are like the Savior's friend who was Raised from the Dead. They believed in Filia: they were resurrected. What can they tell us about what they've learned when they were dormant?"
"They are not here to help us, Assistant Brice. They have returned to destroy us."
"All things in existence have a purpose, Commander Kenni. What would the Ten Wise Men be if they were not evil?"
"They were created for the sole purpose of evil, Assistant Brice. Are you defending their actions? Do you think they have a right to try to kill us all?"
"We certainly had it coming. We're human: it is in our nature to sin. Plus, we did murder our Holy Savior. Perhaps this Apocalypse is our punishment for that Sin we have barely tried to repent for in the last five millenniums."
"Touché," Second Commander Saunders's awe of Christa's debate escaped him.
Claude turned around in his seat to face Christa. "If what you're saying is true, then we can only go ahead with the plan: kill Filia. The way the Holy Book tells the tale of the Crucifixion, it shows that there was no other way to deal with the event: the Lord's Son had to be murdered by his people in order to show them their flaws as humans, and show them how miserable life is without his presence. We had to murder him, so that we could believe. And there was no other possible way of making us believe. We couldn't have not sacrificed him and still acquired the faith we have now."
"But the Lord had created us with those flaws: so he meant for us to eventually murder his one Son, our Holy Savior."
"Blasphemy!" the pilot exclaimed.
"But it is the way we are that proves that--if it was indeed a supreme God and not evolution that rendered us as we are!"
Claude had to listen to the reason in his head, "Assistant Brice, this is not a repetition of the Greatest Sin of All. This is coincidence, with your reasoning, that the situation appears to be like that of the Crucifixion. Filia is not our Savior, the Ten Wise Men are not like he who was Raised from the Dead, and we are not the condemnors of her. We are trying to survive. We must murder Filia to end the Evil. We are not killing her so that she can prove to us our flaws and need for faith. I need faith that we'll defeat them. Do you trust me, Assistant Brice?"
Defeated in the debate, Christa glanced to Second Commander Sauders and the pilot for backup. Both looked away. Christa had been trying to defend the innocence of Filia, the innocence that Claude was saying was not like the innocence of Christ as he was condemned. Because of this, Filia seemed even more like Salvation to Christa: the proof of what Great Sin can do. That Great Sin being the Ten Wise Men, having possessed poor Filia like the greeds of man had plagued the actual Savior. And like the greeds of man, the Earth Federation was prepared to sacrifice Filia to save themselves. 'What would come of Filia after her death?' Christa wondered. The Lord's Son had resurrected after three days...again a mirror of how the Ten Wise Men had resurrected after three years.
Three...a prominent number. The Holy Trinity was made up of three: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Speed Shuttle they were on possessed three new members for the crew of the Calnus II: Commander Kenni, Second Commander Saunders, and Assistant Brice. The people who cared for a young Claude numbered three: his father, Ronixis, his mother, and his aunt, Rachel. Even Opera, helping Rena, had three eyes. And unbeknownst to all, Claude's dearest loved ones would increase to three: Rena, and his children on the way.
But none of this prominence was known entirely yet to anyone at this point. But eventually, three would prove to be invaluable in the resolution of the war.
All Christa could fathom with her vast knowledge was that this war was indeed a twin to the Holy events surrounding the life and death of humanity's sole salvation. When man destroyed Jesus, they had given up the only chance they'd have for forgiveness of all. But technology progressed past its state from that time to its great knowledge here millennia later. Could man invent its own second chance for salvation with this technology? One single man had invented the Evil that was the Ten Wise Man and unleashed suffering upon mankind, the opposite of how one supreme being had created the Good that was Jesus and offered to mankind the opportunity for forgiveness forever. But man had ignored that chance. Would man make the same mistake and ignore the goodness that was once Filia? Women can be mothers, and mothers bear the future. Christa feared that the Earth Federation was going to destroy their future while at the same time they would try to save it in destroying the Ten Wise Men.
"Must Filia be murdered?" Christa finally said.
"Is that why you don't have faith in me, Assistant Brice?"
"I have faith in our Savior, Commander Kenni. Is there no other way to save our universe without sacrificing her?"
Claude turned back around in his seat and sighed. "We can look for another way if we have time. But as of yet, I do not see any other solution. If you feel the need to, Assistant Brice, I give you permission to seek that alternate solution."
Christa smiled weakly. "I will do my best, sir."
The Tolden soared up and away from Expel's atmosphere, its commander having realized that she had to get back to her nephew as soon as possible.
Efforts had been arranged aboard the vessel to utilize fuel to its full potential, as speed was now the topmost priority. Traveling normally the Tolden would take a week to catch up with the speed shuttle Claude was on: to reach the Calnus II as it hovered about Milocinia's orbit, Milocinia being the poor planet the Ten Wise Men had taken refuge on after they had attacked earth and the Earth Federation. Thankfully, the crew on the Tolden had managed to compound the fuel, limiting their minimum time to only four days. Four days for Rena to worry across about the state of her husband.
"Oh, Claude, I hope you're safe..." the Nedian muttered to herself while she paced the bridge of the Tolden.
Following the conversation amongst Rena, Opera and Rachel, the Tolden's commander had a revelation, and realized her true purpose in life. Now it seemed like all women were on the same side, as prior Rachel had despised her nephew, but now determined she would have to cooperate with Claude's friends if she were to aid in his mission of stopping the Ten Wise Men. Immediately after the debate, Rachel had agreed with them and turned her ship around, Rena was left to worry about her husband, and ever-practical Opera was keeping an eye or two or three on the goings-on of the Tolden.
"Nice ship you got here," Opera strolled casually up to a guard on the bridge. Waiting to reach Milocinia, the Tetragenes figured she could spend a little time learning more about the Earth Federation.
"A great craft for Commander Rachel to serve on," the guard remained statuesque as his jaw rolled to answer.
"Think there'd be any way I could get my hands on something like this?" Opera turned and surveyed the walls. "I could really go places with this size and speed.....I could just float in space forever."
"Don't think so," he muttered.
"And why not? I've got just as much spirit and gusto as the next girl, I could probably be a good commander."
"Doubt it."
"Tell me why," Opera peered at the gargantuan skeptically, hands on her hips as she had abandoned her huge gun in a leaning position against a nearby pillar.
A weird grin slid across the guard's face. Knuckles white in grip on his weapon, he bent down slightly to look Opera level in her eyes. "The Earth Federation only hires humans."
Opera, shocked, took a step back. "They should try some other races."
"They never will. Everyone knows humans are best. We don't want any inferiors thinning the reputation," that wicked smirk of his grew broader and more lecherous in his mockery.
"You're disgusting," Opera spat at the racist.
"Are you three-eyes people deaf, too? I just said that your folk were the disgusting ones and the Federation doesn't need you and doesn't like you."
"You jerk!" Opera reeled on him, reaching to slap him to make him listen to his conscience.
The prejudiced guard immediately aimed his gun--but missed Opera when he pulled the trigger.
But the gunshot noise roused everyone on the bridge to the argument taking place. But Opera was still determined to teach that bully a lesson, regardless of the fact that he was armed and her gun was not in her confident grip. She was a strong girl, she figured she would teach him the lesson without aid of her fancy machine. Serve him right for his disgusting mind.
Until he aimed better the second time.
"Stop right now!" Commander Rachel's voice raised above the conversation of the crew on the bridge, so surprised were they that a fight had broken between people who should be working together and focused on reaching Commander Kenni.
"Opera!" Rena exclaimed as she motioned to run an help her friend.
But then the second shot had occurred. And Opera fell back.
By that time Rena had grabbed the only defensive thing she could recognize: Opera's massive gun. And before she'd had a chance to aim straight and true, against Opera's oppressor, her nervous finger had squeezed the trigger.
A blast and a bar of light were seen by all on the bridge. Then the ship slightly shuddered as the metal wall behind the racist exploded. The guard had ducked and the shot had narrowly missed him, but fellow guards still rushed up to protect him. They created a shielding circle protecting the prejudiced guards, and stood aiming their own guns directly at the Nedian sprawled on the floor in front of them, Rena having fallen back and dropping Opera's weapon due to the force, power and velocity, of its shot.
"Don't you dare!" Opera hissed at the guards through the pain shooting up her arm. She quickly clasped her other hand over the wound she'd received on her arm, then glared at the men. "That woman is carrying the child of Commander Kenni! You want to be the ones to take credit for the injury of the Earth Federation's hero's wife and baby?"
The guard who'd ducked from the blast Rena had set off glared coldly at the women through the legs of his fellow guards who surrounded him. But those guards aiming their weapons at Rena began thinking twice about their actions, and looked uneasily at one another while still holding their guns pointing at the unarmed Nedian.
"That's enough!" Commander Rachel's voice broke through the tension. She firmly walked towards the group, a loathing glint in her eye.
Rena turned to face her husband's aunt, worried that Rachel may not understand who was the victim in the situation. Rachel began stalking towards the rivaling groups.
"What the Hell is going on here!?" the Tolden's Commander looked expectantly at Opera, who scowled back as she seethed that the Commander would allow for a prejudiced individual to carry out missions that were meant to help all peoples to be a part of the crew, then turned her glance to stare at the guards of her crew. The men who had previously pointed their weapons at the pregnant Nedian, then faltered when the Tetragenes woman demanded they let Commander Kenni's family alone, now completely dropped their aims when faced with their own Commander.
"Now! Someone tell me what's happened here! Why is my ship being destroyed from the inside out!?" Rachel's face turned red as she shuddered in her anger.
"That's a racist your guards are protecting, Commander Rachel," as she tried to point with her wounded arm, her good arm's hand clasped over the wound, Opera's eyes burned as she looked to the man cowering behind the guards' legs.
Rachel's eyes grew wide in disbelief. "Phillips? All along you've lied when you swore upon the Earth Federation's Charter? To serve and protect the different peoples and planets the Earth Federation's missions are meant to aid?"
The guards who had been shielding the prejudiced man now walked away, ashamed that they had tried to protect a hypocrite. Exposed, Phillips panicked, glowering at Opera and Rena, then trying to appeal with pleading eyes to his Commander. "...I mean to service the Earth Federation to the best of my abilities, Commander," Phillips struggled to his feet, and weakly saluted Rachel: a polite gestured in an attempt to play the part of the victim. "The Earth Federation is something that employs the Earth: a society of humans. I see this as validation of my beliefs: that humans are the superior race of the universe..."
"That doesn't give you grounds to patronize those of a different species! Especially with reason that they don't deserve to exist!" Rachel spat.
"But, Commander Rachel, I didn't mean--" Phillips tried, but was cut off.
"...you meant that the Earth Federation is foolish to aid other peoples! That's treason to the Earth Federation! You don't deserve to be a part of the Earth Federation, Phillips!"
"B-but, Commander Rachel, p-please..." Phillips stuttered, realizing he had sealed his own demise within the Earth Federation. All because he thought three eyes to be ugly.
"NO! Phillips, I hereby discharge you from the Earth Federation! You are no longer on this mission, and no longer a part of the renowned concordant of galaxies!" she reached claw-curled fingers out surely, and ripped the badge off of Phillips's jacket from over his heart. She dropped it to the metal floor, the sound of it clattering perking all ears that were on the bridge. Then Commander Rachel took a step back, glaring at her former crew member, before barking an order over her shoulder to the guards who were, moments before, protecting Phillips.
"Take him to the holding cell!" Rachel demanded, and immediately two guards rushed forward, each taking one of the shocked Phillips's arms, and gradually escorted him out the entrance doors.
As soon as Phillips had been escorted out, Opera and Rena sighed with relief. Rachel also sighed, then immediately turned her attention to Rena.
"Rena? Are you okay? Is the baby okay?" Rachel was so concerned for her future grandniece or grandnephew.
Rena chuckled. "Yes, Commander Rachel, I'm all right," she started as she rubbed her belly. "But it is Opera that we should be worried about," she glanced over at her friend as Rachel helped Rena get to her feet.
"Thanks, Rena," Opera smiled, still seated on the floor with her hand squeezed around the wound on her upper arm. Rachel and Rena were then right beside her.
"Oh, my, I am so sorry, Opera," Rachel apologized. She tried not to kneel in the slight blood that had pooled on the bridge's floor. A couple of guards also rushed forward to help. They were ones that had protected Phillips before, and now sought to redeem themselves by offering the three-eyed woman their strength to help her up. Accepting their support, Opera managed to get to her feet, but hissed when her wounded arm was moved. Rena and Rachel also jumped to their feet.
"...how bad is it?" Opera smiled down at her blue-haired friend as the Nedian's fingers probed against the seared flesh after they'd pushed apart the torn fabric of her jacket. Opera held her breath, enduring the pain as Rena investigated the injury.
"...I'm not sure. I've never encountered a wound of this nature before..." Rena bit her lip as she tried to think what she could do.
"...wait a minute. Rena, you're a doctor?" Commander Rachel asked suspiciously.
"She's a Nedian. She has the power of healing," Opera beamed for her friend.
"...really? I didn't know there was such a thing," Rachel was awed even further by her nephew's young wife.
"Opera, we should get you to lie down somewhere where I can work on this better," Rena resolved.
"Oh! Yes, that sounds good!" Rachel agreed. "Guards! Let's take her to the infirmary!" she told the men supporting Opera.
"'Let's'?" Rena glanced uncertainly at Commander Rachel.
Rachel smiled appealingly. "If you don't mind, Rena, I'd like to see your magic at work."
Rena smiled appreciatively, "Sure."
And so the five people left the bridge, Commander Rachel leaving the rest of the crew in the room with orders to keep flying as fast as they could after Commander Kenni's Speed Shuttle.
"I'm sorry, Opera," Rena shamefully looked away. "My powers of healing seem to be unable to rectify the radioactive damage surrounding your wound."
"These humans have created awful weapons," Opera smiled gently and forgivingly at her friend.
Upon entering the infirmary and explaining the situation at hand to the doctor, Rachel had frightened the little man with mention of Commander Kenni and the blue-haired woman being Claude's wife. And though the doctor avoided Rena at first, he became quite entranced with her when he witnessed her healing skills at work. In fact, as soon as the men had brought Opera in, he was about to set to work on her with needle and thread, but then Rachel had stopped him so that Rena could attempt to restore it faster.
But draining herself of her magic energies to their limit--which was restricted further due to the fact that she was pregnant and had to save energy to keep the baby inside safe--did not seem to fully cure Opera's injury. Rena had been able to stop the bleeding and seal the skin, but the damage within was still present, as her powers had not been enough to reverse the effects of a modern laser gun that the Earth Federation armed its members with.
Rena sighed. "The best thing to do would be to let your body heal itself. If I try to force my powers upon your injury, they may react dangerously with the nuclear energy and cause more harm than good. I'm sorry..."
Opera placed the hand of her good arm on the Nedian's shoulder. "I appreciate all your help, Rena. But like you said, I should wait. After all, they say that time is the best medicine."
Rena smiled weakly back. "...so they say. Unfortunately, time is not the best for me. For the longer I am away from Claude, the more desolate I feel."
"Hey," Opera began firmly, reassuringly squeezing Rena's shoulder, "we will reach him in time. We will ensure he returns home with you."
"Thank you, Opera," Rena clasped her own hand over Opera's on her shoulder, expressing her gratitude.
The whole time Rena had been concentrating upon Opera, Rachel and the doctor and the guards that had helped the Tetragenes woman into the infirmary had been sitting and staring silently, eyes wide as they watched the indigenous magic of a Nedian at work. They had read and heard about the race of Nedians, read in history books about the Arms Laboratory that had been on Nede, heard about Energy Nede when the same force that had destroyed the Calnus and Ronixis Kenni had finally been banished and enveloped the weird landmass as it did so. They had had no idea that Claude and Rena and their band of heroes had each been affected by these two Nedian homes, and that both Nedian habitations had played important parts to the eventual destruction of the Ten Wise Men. At least, before. Now the Ten Wise Men were back, and there were no more Nedian planets to help in the Annihilation of the Evil once more. There was only the actual people who had led in their destruction before: Claude and Rena. And one of the two was Nedian. It appeared as though being a Nedian was an important advantage when going up against the Ten Wise Men. Now, more than ever, Rachel was convinced that Rena had to be by her husband's side. If not to fight the Ten Wise Men directly, then to support the human who'd led the final battle against Indalecio before.
"...that's amazing," Rachel said quietly, as much to the powers Rena had just displayed as to the fact that two teenagers of different cultures and different backgrounds had managed to cooperate with each other and many others, and managed to banish the very powerful Ten Wise Men once before. And now that those two teenagers had grown up and married and were very much in love, Rachel wondered if that power would be able to benefit them a second time against the Ten Wise Men.
Rena smiled appreciatively. "It has proven to be a very valuable talent, though as I have now seen its limits," she looked ruefully at Opera's wounded arm as the doctor approached to begin wrapping it up, "I fear that I may not have enough strength to save the people close to me during this war." The Nedian turned away, tears of shame and fear welling in her eyes.
"Don't say that!" Opera commanded. "Rena, whatever you've done is greatly esteemed, and though you are restricted with your pregnancy and the extreme damage of the Earth Federation's weapons," she cast a knowing glance in Rachel's direction, "everything you've accomplished has always been too generous."
"Yes, Rena, we are ALL glad that you are helping us out," Rachel smiled, ignoring the truth that some--Phillips--did not appreciate her presence.
"...but, you are helping me. How have I helped you?" Rena faced her husband's aunt.
Rachel smiled broadly. "Your mere existence to Claude's life is of great help: he has found someone with whom to spend his life with--and that's a very important sense of accomplishment and purpose to him. And your healing skills, as displayed upon Opera, will no doubt be valuable to you and your loved ones during this harsh time. And finally, you have helped us to better understand what we will be going up against: you and Claude, and Opera as well, have all faced the Ten Wise Men before, so with your knowledge the Earth Federation will be able to prepare better against this evil force."
Rena blushed, "Well...thank you."
Rachel returned generously, "You're welcome. Now then, Opera, I suggest you stay here in the infirmary, to rest up and get that wound healed the rest of the way as soon as possible. The doctor will help you with anything you need. And Rena, you may return with me to the bridge, and perhaps we should discuss what ideas you have about what the Earth Federation should do next."
So Opera stayed behind while Commander Rachel and a fragile Rena left for the bridge. The two women, a generation apart though their goal for the time being was the same, were escorted down the corridors by the two guards that had supported Opera.
Meanwhile Rachel was formulating her own plans before she even talked with Rena. Rachel had made the connection that Rena was Nedian, and the Ten Wise Men were created by a Nedian. There was something about this blue-haired being that Rachel was not sure she should fully trust yet. The Ten Wise Men were obviously a formidable foe, and their powers were none that the Earth Federation had faced before--even though Ronixis had gone against them before, now they seemed to be even more in power. And Rachel was unsure if her nephew, with his heart given over to the love of a Nedian woman, was able enough to go against the Evil again. Since Ronixis, an elder and more experienced Commander, had not been able to stand up to the Heraldry of an alien malignancy, what advantage did a young, inexperienced (though experienced with the Ten Wise Men) Commander have against those he thought he'd banished, but had returned to even more power? Wouldn't Rena be a distraction? And, perish the thought, could Rena actually be a diversion? Rachel had had experience with missions before that called for the defense of one race versus another, but as it turned out, the two rivals were actually a lure for the Earth Federation, as the races despised the human congregation and wanted it destroyed. Was Rena some form of lure? Had she been sent by the Ten Wise Men as bait? Did she, in her seeming struggle to destroy the Evil, save them for a later time when the Earth Federation was weakened? Was her 'love' for Claude a diversion to keep him apart from the Federation so that the Ten Wise Men could rebuild their powers? She was Nedian like them, so there was the possibility that she was their ticket back to the universe. Was she, indeed, an enemy as well?
But she was pregnant. By Claude. The Ten Wise Men's enemy. Had this been an accident of the diversion, or was she truly innocent, and actually in love with Claude and undeniably against the Ten Wise Men? Rachel wondered: was Rena the diversion or the deliverance? Was she there to help save them or there to help destroy them?
And as the Commander and her nephew's wife returned to the bridge, Rachel was thinking of a way to make Rena prove or disprove her loyalty. The Nedian should have seen it coming: the investigation should be a part of Earth Federation protocol. She was a threat to one side of the war or the other, regardless of her physical condition. And Rachel would be the wise Commander to determine that.