Chapter 31- Prometheus Actual

Bonaire eyed Nick and Judy skeptically. "Are you two sure about this?"

They stood in the hangar bay of the Nike. The bay was full of various personnel, who kept shooting the two Terrans and the strike craft commander curious looks. So far, Bonaire's presence with them had stopped any awkward questions. Such as "What are you doing here?" and "Are you about to steal an insanely expensive fighter?"

Nick shrugged in answer to Bonaire's question. "It's her idea," he said, pointing to Judy.

"Uh-huh. You know that you'll be flying through the Drex cordon, right? You'll have the advantage of surprise-"

"Oh, good."

"-because they will rightly assume no one would be stupid enough to try that in a single fighter," finished Bonaire.

Nick's shoulders sagged. "So you're saying there's no hope?"

"No, I'm saying that it's crazy. And you know what they say about crazy."

Judy raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"If it's crazy, it might just be crazy enough to work." Bonaire half-smiled and shook her head. "Maybe I should go with you."

"Um, won't you be in enough trouble as it is?" asked Nick carefully. "If you let us borrow-"

"-steal," corrected Bonaire.

"-borrow," insisted Nick. "Borrow a fighter to get to the surface, you'll be court-martialed. If you actually fly down with us, won't that be desertion or something?"

She sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'd prefer not to get shot down by my own side."

"I'd prefer not to get shot down at all," said Nick.

"And yet here you are." She nodded in sudden decision. "All right, you've convinced me. I've never been court-martialed before. Maybe it will be fun."

Nick and Judy exchanged uneasy glances. "I, um, doubt it," said Judy hesitantly.

"Well, you never know unless you try," said Bonaire, leading them toward an Arewing that was prepped for launch.

They hurried to catch up. "I don't think that applies to courts martial," said Nick.

Bonaire grinned at him. "Are you really trying to talk me out of helping you, Hustler?"

Nick blinked and cleared his throat. "Um, no, actually." He gave her a big smile and a thumbs-up. "Court-martial for the win!"

"That's the spirit," said Bonaire. She helped him into the cockpit, and was leaning down to pick Judy up when the bunny leapt, kicked off the fighter next to the Arewing, and landed neatly in the second seat. The human pilot looked at her, impressed. "Wow, not bad, bunny."

Judy was looking around with curiosity at the buttons, levers, and switches that surrounded her. "What do I do?"

Nick was already starting the pre-flight checks, having to stop and think a few times as he went through them. "Don't touch anything," he warned her.

"That's true," said Bonaire. "Especially any big red buttons you may find."

Judy examined the console. "There aren't any big red buttons."

"There aren't?" said Bonaire, surprised. She cleared her throat. "I mean, good."

Nick gave her an aside glance. "What do you mean by that? Why would there be a big red button?"

"There isn't," said Bonaire. "Forget I said anything."

"But-"

"Oh, hey, look at that. The crew chief is approaching us, waving his arms. You guys better get going." She hopped off the fighter and Nick lowered the cockpit's glass as he saw a red-faced man with a short moustache approaching the fighter, shouting something. Bonaire immediately headed him off, gesticulating as she approached. He couldn't hear what she was saying.

The fighter, now ready to launch, moved slowly out on the track toward the airlock. Nick quickly went over with Judy how to communicate on the ship's intercom. "And seriously, don't touch anything," he said again.

"I heard you," said Judy, annoyed. "What's the big deal, anyway? Don't you control everything from up there?"

"Yes," said Nick. "But the second-seat controls some of the weaponry. Like the big missiles and bombs."

There was a silence from behind him. "Carrots?" he asked. "You okay?"

"Big missiles and bombs?" she said in a small voice.

The airlock door opened and Nick felt the clamps holding the ship to the deck detach. He took a breath to steady himself- this was much more real than the simulator. "Yeah, but don't worry. I think that was why Bonaire was so concerned about the big red button- if there isn't one, then it must not be fully armed."

"Oh," said Judy, her voice flat. "Hey, Nick?"

He was concentrating on his flying, easing the fighter out of the bay. He cleared the bay doors and let out a breath. "Yeah, Carrots?"

"I just found the big red button."

Nick's eyes slowly widened, and he swallowed nervously. Keeping his voice very calm, he spoke. "Well, don't push it."

"Right."

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They had walked for what seemed like miles, at least to Hunter. Partly that was because it really was a long way, but he suspected it was also because the knock-out nanites seemed to be doing a number on his system- he felt more and more tired, almost sleepy. "How much farther?" he demanded.

Khabat glanced back at him. "Not far."

"That's what you said like five minutes ago."

"A ten minute walk won't kill you, Zach."

"Yeah, but what about what's at the end of the walk?" muttered Hunter. He saw Tavi give him a concerned look and he forced himself to smile at her. "And what do you think you're doing here anyway, rookie?"

Her concern turned to a frown. "You got yourself kidnapped. I had to do something."

"Like get kidnapped yourself?"

"I found you, didn't I?"

Hunter couldn't help but smile. "I guess you did. Just remember the goal is to 'find and rescue', Anila. Not just 'find'." He kept his tone light, despite the ever-narrowing prospects of escape.

"Someone has to keep an eye on you," she sniffed, but he saw that she was secretly pleased. She looked up at him. "So, Kbabat kidnapped you."

"Yeah," said Hunter. "I should have known something was up with her."

"You really, really should have," said Tavi emphatically. She tilted her head up at Hunter. "Zach?"

His thoughts on Prometheus, he answered somewhat absently. "Yes?"

"Um, well, you know that I have sort of a crush on you now, and-" she trailed off.

Hunter looked down at her in surprise. "Listen, rookie, I-" he shook his head. "Maybe now isn't the best time."

"Oh, I know," she said hastily. "But are you- are you thinking about it? For when it is a better time?"

He reached down and patted her shoulder. "I'll think about it," he promised. "This is sort of new territory for me, though."

They had kept their voices low, and Khabat showed no signs of having heard anything. The hallways they had walked through still looked constructed, metal walls, floor, and ceilings. What appeared to be maintenance panels dotted the walls, and they had passed at least a few dozen compartments based on the numbers of doors they had walked past. It was all very reminiscent of-

Hunter blinked. "This is a ship," he said suddenly.

That was loud enough to catch Khabat's attention. She looked over her shoulder at him. "You're just now realizing that?"

"But- how are we on a ship?"

They were approaching another door, this one larger and more heavily built than the others. Khabat stopped in front of it. "Through here, Zach."

"But-"

She gestured again, and the door slid open noiselessly. Hunter peered inside. The room was darkened, but a few blinking lights lit it eerily. The room was large, larger than the roll-call room back at ZPD. It was roughly circular, with a massive chair- almost a throne- in the center, facing away from them. Other chairs faced consoles around the edge of the room. Viewscreens lined the walls. Hunter whistled. He'd seen enough Alphacen movies to recognize the bridge of a ship when he saw one.

"So what's through here, Khabat?" he asked, a trifle nervously.

"Answers," said Prometheus. "And a question. Come, Mr. Hunter. Your destiny awaits."

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"Sir, a fighter just launched."

"Just one?" said Oakes, his voice shaking slightly. He shook himself. More firmly, he spoke again. "The Drex have been launching them in squadrons." Those squadrons were currently carrying out strikes on the defenseless mammals below on Terra.

"No, sir. I mean we just launched a fighter."

"What?" Oakes sat upright in his chair. "Get me Bonaire."

There was a pause, and then- "Bonaire here." She sounded distracted. Oakes could hear someone in the background yelling at her.

"Bonaire, why did we just launch a fighter?"

"It was the Terrans, sir," she replied instantly. "They stole an Arewing."

"They did what?" The bridge was utterly silent. Barker and Wu, standing behind Oakes, exchanged surprised looks. "Why didn't you stop them?"

"They overpowered me, sir. Stole the keys," said Bonaire happily. "Sly creatures, foxes and bunnies. Well-known fact."

"Overpowered you?" said Oakes skeptically. "And what keys? Arewings are computer controlled. They'd have had to enter the right password."

"I meant password," said Bonaire, still cheerful. "Welp, nothing we can do now. Unless-"

"Unless what?" asked Oakes.

"Unless we want to help them. They are mostly on our side, aren't they? I mean, they're fighting the Drex."

Oakes clenched his fist and closed the connection. "Open a channel to the fighter craft with Hopps and Wilde," he said, trying to keep his voice calm.

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Nick glanced at a flashing light on his console. "Uh-oh."

"What?" asked Judy, who was staring around her in awe.

"Seems like we've been spotted. That's the Nike calling us."

Judy leaned forward to look at Nick's console. "Okay. Put them through."

"Are you sure-"

"Just do it, Nick." Her nose was twitching anxiously, but her voice was firm. "I've got a few things to say to Oakes before we leave."

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"Um, hi," said Wilde over the comm, surprising Oakes- he hadn't really expected them to answer. "Nick Wilde- I mean, Hustler here."

"Wilde, what the hell do you think you're doing?" demanded Oakes. "Return immediately to the Nike."

"Sorry, Captain. Can't do that."

Another voice spoke up. Hopps. "Captain, there is a man named Prometheus. He's behind- well, as far as we can tell, everything."

Oakes stiffened at the name. He spotted Castell whipping his head around in alarm, too.

That was interesting. Prometheus was behind this whole thing. He had put Oakes in the position he was in. And it appeared Castell knew the name. "Prometheus, you say?" said Oakes, keeping his voice even.

"Yes, Captain. He planned this whole thing, and right now he has one of my friends- maybe two of them. We need to get to the planet and help. There's a ranger, named Amna Khabat- she's in league with Prometheus." Hopps's voice was calm, confident.

"You'll never make it through the Drex Combat Space Patrol," warned Oakes. His thoughts whirled, wondering if he could trust the bunny. If Prometheus and Khabat were working together- Castell nodded at him, and he frowned. "Without help, I mean."

"Help?" said Castell, a bit angrily. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Help I can't give you," said Oakes, keeping his eye on the ambassador.

There was a pause. Then, Hopps spoke again. "Humans have been alone a long time, haven't they, Captain?"

"What does-"

"You've been out there, by yourselves, hoping against hope to find someone you could be friends with, instead of enemies. Sure, we Terrans are, well, cute and fluffy animals, but we're more than that to a lot of humans. We're potential allies, potential friends."

Oakes stood up, his chest feeling tight. "I have my orders, Hopps. I cannot change course."

"You can," she said softly. "You can, because for the first time in your existence, for the first time in human history, you are not alone. Do you hear me, Oakes? You. Are. Not. Alone."

The bridge was utterly silent. Castell started to speak, then stopped as Sadowski gave him a glare. Oakes remained utterly still, staring at nothing.

Until Tossetti stood up next to him. "Sir, I would like to formally recommend we change course to assist the Terrans."

Cho stood up next. "Sir, I also would like to formally recommend that course of action."

One by one, the other bridge officers stood and all stared at the captain.

He looked at each of them in turn. Then, he turned as Barker stepped forward.

"You're not alone, sir," said Barker, her eyes on Oakes. "But if you keep to this course, humanity will be. And for the first time, you will deserve to be."

Oakes looked at her, and then slowly sat back down. His mind raced.

She was right. The human race wanted the Terrans to be their allies, their friends. Humanity had gone to the stars hoping to find friends, allies, new life and new civilizations. To find love, respect.

Hope.

Could he throw that all away? Could he be the one to throw away the chance- the one real chance they'd had in millenia- for peace?

What gave him the right?

Castell stepped forward. "I think that's just enough of that," he said confidently. "The captain has made his decision and-"

Barker rounded on him, snarling. "And I've had just about enough of you, Castell!"

The ambassador turned and stepped forward, face to muzzle with the wolf. "I don't think anyone asked the doggie for her opinion-"

His eyes bugged out as Wu's fist connected with his stomach. The sergeant followed up with an uppercut that laid the ambassador flat on the floor.

Sadowski dashed forward, yanking Wu away from Castell, who shakily climbed to his feet. The Marine looked at Oakes. "Sir?"

It was time to make a decision. He had joined the Fleet to serve and protect the Human Stars. It may not have been his right, but it was his decision.

The decision was made.

Oakes turned and looked at Wu. "I'll thank you to control yourself on my bridge, Sergeant." He nodded to Sadowski. "Take him to the brig."

Sadowski hesitated, but took a step towards Wu, before Oakes spoke again. "I was referring tot he ambassador, Gunny," he said dryly.

The eyes of everyone on the bridge widened in shock.

"What?" said Castell, his voice high-pitched. "What are you playing at, Oakes?"

Oakes stood up and faced him, his eyes hard. "That's Captain Oakes, Castell. And I believe the record will show that you threatened a Human Stars Fleet officer." He nodded to Sadowski. "Take him to the brig, Gunny."

"Yes, sir!" said Sadowski enthusiastically.

"If he resists, use any necessary force to restrain him," added Oakes. He turned to Tossetti. "Get me Bonaire and La Mancha."

There was a thump behind him, and he turned around to see Sadowski standing over a recumbent Castell. The gunnery sergeant grinned. "He was going to resist, sir." He pointed to his eye. "I could see it in his eyes."

"Just get him to the brig, sergeant. And get your company geared up." Oakes stepped foward to the tactical display, studying it intently. "We've got friends who need our help. It's time to show them that they aren't alone, either."

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Hunter instinctively moved between the throne-like chair and Tavi as it swiveled slowly to face them. The mongoose gave him an affectionate look, but stepped out of his shadow to stand next to him. "I'm here to face this with you," she said quietly. "Maybe this time, you'll need me to protect you."

He gave her a shaky smile.

Khabat eyed her, her face darkening, but said nothing.

The chair slowly turned, revealing a wizened, white-haired man, slumped over in the seat. Hunter looked him over.

The old man looked to be barely alive. His eyes were half-lidded, staring sightlessly. The only clear sign he was alive was the slow and regular rise and fall of his chest.

He wore strange garb, a one-piece, silvery jumpsuit. An IV dripped something clear into his veins, and he sagged against the chair's armrest like someone completely exhausted.

Hunter stepped forward, only to have Khabat raise the nanite device warningly. He stopped. "Prometheus, I presume."

The voice that answered did not come from the corpse-like figure in the chair, but from speakers somewhere in the room. "Not precisely, Mr. Hunter."

Hunter frowned, looked around. "Then- where are you?"

"I am here," said Prometheus. "I am in front of you, and behind you."

"I don't understand-"

Khabat sighed in exasperation, then pointed to something above and behind Hunter. He turned and stared.

There was a plaque above the entrance to the bridge. He'd seen similar plaques on Human Star vessels. Where the ship's name was.

The plaque read "UTS Prometheus".

"It's- you're the..." Hunter trailed off, his voice failing.

"Welcome to the Prometheus," said Prometheus. "The United Terran Ship Prometheus, to be exact. I am Prometheus Actual."