Chapter 3: Meet the Crew

"Officer on deck," yelled the nearest soldier as the entire squad of one-hundred or more all snapped to attention and saluted the admiral, Larkins, and I.

"At ease," said Admiral Rajuuk, now in a manner of true discipline knowing it would act as a good example for the rest of the crew.

"Now, officer Helic, take the helm," said Larkins.

"Right this way, sir," said a petty officer, "My name is Lucina, I'll be your second in command on the…" she stumbled in her words, "Umm sir? What is the name of this ship, it hasn't been christened."

"Hmmm, I don't know, what do you think of… the… 'Cryptic Messenger'?"

"It fits the situation, sir"

'I'm beginning to see why Rajuuk gets annoyed with the civil obedience' I thought to myself, slightly annoyed at the dry and unnatural way that Lucia had responded.

"Well Admiral, I believe we're all ready to go here"

"Very well then, Larkins and I shall leave you to your mission, make Higarii proud"

"Sir!"

With the disembarking of the Admiral and Larkins I immediately set myself down in the command chair and began running diagnostics on the various stations on the bridge.

"Weapons?"

"100 operational captain"

"Engines?"

"Engines fueled and ready captain"

"Coms?"

"Communication apparatus active and sweeping, captain"

'Man I could get used to this captain bit,' I thought to myself proudly.

"Well let's not stall any longer that research station will be ours before they even know it." With this final declaration of future success I ordered engines at 80 and we began to pull out of the mother ship, the title of Higarii success, 'Te Pride of Higarii'. I admired my new surroundings finding them very nice from my freshly acquired position. The ensigns scurried about busily on their assigned tasks, all of them young but not absolutely fresh, Rajuuk would never allow inexperienced personnel to operate a ship this high-tech let alone go on a mission this crucial to knowing more about the Vaygr and the whereabouts of their fleets.

"Lucia take the helm, I'm going to turn in for a few hours," I said stretching sleepily.

"Sir, yes sir," she said obediently.

As I reached my quarters I saw someone rushing hurriedly towards me with an urgent data pad.

"Captain, sir, this just came up from Coms," he said as I took it from him, his expression was of apprehension and fear. It worried me to see this face, I have seen it too many times before, and it always was predecessor to stumbling across a hostile patrol.

"Thank you ensign…" I looked at his nametag surreptitiously, "ensign Lockram," I finished recovering from my stutter. I then turned my attention to the matter at hand, what could this urgent message be that has Lockram so jumpy… "No rest for the weary I guess," I said as I read the data pad. A Vaygr patrol had turned up and they weren't a light one. Ten laser corvettes, and an assault frigate.

"Well come with me Lockram we got some business to attend to and I think you will be a good help," I said determined to see what this new ship of mine was capable of.

"Yes sir," said Lockram weakly

"What's the matter ensign?"

"I… I'm…Afraid sir…" he said weakly.

"Well don't be I am your captain now and I'll be damned if anyone or any part in or on this ship is harmed"

"I sure hope so sir," said Lockram a little more reassured.

In the Coms room I was greeted again with salutes and sirs… god I love this.

"Sir," said a woman over at the main Coms controls.

"Yes?"

"Sir, we have been monitoring the Vaygr patrol since its sighting and they seem to have taken a position near the research station"

"Can we sneak past them with the stealth capabilities?" I asked with a mischievous air.

"Well actually sir you should ask ensign Lockram here," said the Coms controller, "he's the one that designed the stealth systems"

'WHAT!' I thought even though I said: "hmmm makes sense, he matches the look of a techy" "So, Lockram what can we do with this bucket"

"Well sir," Lockram said timidly, man this guy really hates attention. "Well sir, we could activate scanner scramblers and then initiate craft blackout"

"Blackout?" I asked, curiosity piqued.

"Yes, blackout, it's where we use the newly developed technology in the ship, it will immediately absorb and reflect the right amounts and colors of light in the proper directions essentially making us invisible to the naked eye"

"Well I don't think the naked eye is something to worry about in space…" I said perturbed at the illogical thinking of this, especially in a world of computers and electronic eyes.

"I didn't finish sir, we also de-thermalize the hull, which renders heat seeking missiles and heat scanners useless against us"

"Well that's an improvement, and I guess any form of detection like sonar and laser beams are lost on us too due to the lack of sound carrying environment and the fact that we can absorb the laser light and make it seem as if we aren't here."

"Exactly sir," said Lockram a little enthusiastically, hmm maybe this ensign is more useful than he gives himself credit for.

As I left I made sure I glanced at the Coms controller's name badge, Kareem. Hmmm I think she could also be helpful in the future. She sure knew what she was doing while Lockram was talking, she had scanned the surrounding areas for rift openings to signal reinforcements of the patrol, or worse a carrier. Meanwhile she was also scanning on the long-range sensors for the research station and the patrols positions. Brilliant.

Well if this is my new crew then I guess this mission should be a success without question...

Please Review :D and excuse my lack of skill in this i'm new. Next chapter coming soon