Purge of Prometheus

and shooting people with deadly accuracy. That, in the hangar, was almost diplomatic.”

“Shut it, Alcent,” Keryn sneered, “or I’ll shoot you in the face.”

“Ah,” Alcent replied, smiling. “There’s the Keryn I’ve come to know and love.”

As they were led through a myriad of passages and lifts, they walked in relative silence. Both newcomers spent their walk alternating between being lost in thought and scanning the faces of the Crewmen they passed. For Keryn, she yearned to find a familiar face, but found only strangers staring back. The approach to the War Room was punctuated by raucous laughter and loud voices climbing over one another in an attempt to be heard. They paused at the door as their guide went in ahead to announce them. Alcent stole a glance and reached out, gently squeezing Keryn’s arm.

“You’re looking awfully pale,” he whispered.

“That’s because we don’t belong here,” Keryn replied, her voice raspy and dry. “These are high ranking officers who clawed their way up through the ranks. They know politics and how to play the diplomatic games. What are we?”

“Murderers, smugglers, and thieves,” Alcent replied. “That makes us ten times better people and one hundred times a better crew. They will stab you in the back, but we’ll always have the decency to stab you in your face.”

“You’re joking, but I’m not,” she said.

“I never said I was joking,” Alcent responded. “I would rather fly with our crew any day of the year than serve under the stiff-necked, thin-lipped, tight-asses that lead the Alliance.”

As their guide announced the co-Captains of the Ballistae, Alcent’s words stuck in Keryn’s mind. She had been away from the Alliance for a long time, serving with her special operations crew. Their attitudes had always been relaxed and casual, avoiding any reference to rank. Just identifying herself as Magistrate Riddell had made the words feel thick in her mouth and hard to pronounce. Now, being onboard an Alliance Cruiser, the changes she had experienced were never more apparent. All around her, soldiers walked by in high-necked uniforms, immaculately pressed and glistening with cleanliness. She and Alcent, in contrast, wore the loose fitting clothing they had worn upon their escape from Othus: leather pants with loose fitting shirts and long jackets. Keryn was glad that they had parted ways with the more traditional methods of issuing demerits and extra work hours to those who did not keep either themselves or their work areas clean by the appropriate governing regulations. While she had gladly bought into the idea when she was a pilot in the Alliance, she now found the system antiquated and overly cumbersome.

With a tug on her sleeve, Alcent stepped into the War Room with Keryn close behind. The dark uniforms of the Captains hung burdened with gleaming metal decorations on their chests. Conversations had died as the unlikely duo entered the room. More than a couple Captains, people under whom Keryn had once served as a pilot, looked disapprovingly over their attire. One person, however, did not share their disdain. From the far end of the table, Yen watched the pair enter.

His heart beat loudly in his chest as Keryn entered the room. Though Yen always remembered her as the pilot wearing her grey flight uniform, he found her new look exotic and enchanting. Her long hair flowed freely over her shoulders and framed her tan face. Keryn’s violet eyes sparkled with an inner confidence that he didn’t remember from before.

“Captain Riddell and Captain Alcent,” Yen called from across the room. “We have reserved a pair of seats next to me for the two of you. You are, after all, the heroes who freed Othus and commandeered a Terran Destroyer for your own. Please, come and join me at the head of the table.”

As the pair came around the table, Yen yearned to make eye contact with Keryn. But, instead, she continued to scan the room, nodding politely to a number of the other Captains. When they reached their seats, they both sat with mumbled words of appreciation.

Yen let his eyes linger a moment longer on the profile of Keryn’s face before he began speaking. “I called you all together because, with a change of leadership at the top level of this Fleet, I felt it necessary to meet face to face with each of you. I know that, were the decision yours, you would have placed yourselves in charge of the flagship instead of the Revolution’s second in command. Unfortunately for all of you, the decision was made by military protocol, which leaves me in command of the Fleet. I expect your full support as we continue with our mission.

“I wish I could say that I knew what Captain Hodge had planned for this meeting before her untimely death. Unfortunately, she left nothing behind that could be used as a baseline. So, instead, the heavy weight of preparing you all for what’s to come falls squarely on my shoulders.”

Yen glanced around at the assortment of races sitting before him. “The fight ahead is not weighed heavily in our favor. Twelve of our ships were completely destroyed during the last battle, making the number of ships on each side nearly even. Unfortunately, aside from the Ballistae,” Yen nodded to Keryn and Alcent, “there isn’t a ship in the Fleet that isn’t damaged in some way. The Terrans have also fired little of their ammunition, whereas all of our ships are already halfway through their stores. What I’m saying is that we need ideas, and we need them fast.

“Over the next week, we’ll be flying as fast as our physiologies will allow in order to reach Arcendor before the Terrans have a chance to destroy it. We’ll be coming into the battle tired and damaged, but it doesn’t change the fact that we are fighting to preserve the capital of the Alliance. It’s more than a city, it’s a symbol of the strength of the Alliance. If we let Arcendor fall, there will be chaos amongst the races.”

Yen remained stoic, but applauded quietly to himself. Though he had only been a Captain a few hours, he felt that this meeting was, thus far, sounding very much like one of Captain Hodge’s motivational speeches. He cleared his throat before the other Captains could begin side conversations.

“I don’t expect an answer from you all now. I wouldn’t expect you all, after such a difficult battle, to be able to make intricate tactical decisions. However, our timeline is short. Within the next couple days, I need each of you to submit tactical courses of action for the defense of Arcendor.”

Yen let his eyes fall back to Keryn, who still stared into oblivion, hardly seeming to listen to his speech. He felt a touch of annoyance at her blase attitude, but continued to stare in her direction.

“There is still one bit of information that we need to discuss before we separate.” Yen gestured to Alcent, offering him the floor. “Captain Alcent of the Ballistae has information that will prove invaluable to our future fight. Captain?”

“Thank you,” Alcent said with a barely discernable nod to Yen. His attention remained focused on the other Captains. Eyes burning passionately, Alcent spoke to each of them with an edge to his words as though daring them to speak out against him. “Our fight to get to this point has been as brutal, if not worse, than your own. For those not aware, Keryn…” Alcent shook his head, struggling with the change. “Captain Riddell was on a mission from High Council to find the source of Deplitoxide and, if possible, a counteragent. I am proud to announce that her mission, and by proxy our mission, was a complete success. We have both the Deplitoxide and the scientific formulas necessary to counter the blackness that has engulfed all of our suns.”

The room erupted into surprised conversation as the Captains discussed amongst one another the implications. While many of the Captains expressed relief at the discovery, the dominant conversation quickly turned into political jockeying between the different ships.

“The whole crew of the Defiant thanks you for your contribution,” an Avalon Captain said, standing to be recognized. “I would like to volunteer our ship as a research vessel for your continuing experiments.”

“The hell you will, Nitella!” a gruff Oterian Captain roared, clambering to his feet. “The Phalanx will be the research ship, if anyone will!”

Other Captains jumped from their chairs to add their arguments and cite reasons for their selection as the research vessel. The conversation, however, quickly degraded from argument to thinly veiled insults toward one another. Yen felt his irritation rise as the pettiness of the other Captains, and saw his feelings mirrored on the faces of both Keryn and Alcent.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” Yen yelled, trying to get their attention. His voice, however, was lost in the dull roar of conversation. Few of the Captains paid him any mind, noticing his attempts only briefly before returning to the arguments at hand.

Yen was startled, though, when Keryn pulled a pistol from beneath her jacket, loaded a magazine, and slammed the weapon down on the table. Its echo rolled across the room, drawing the attention of nearly half the