I took my seat, strapped in, and felt my big, cheesy smile starting to make my cheeks hurt. I couldn’t help it. As we approached the captured vessel, I started imagining what the Navy might come up with after this mission if it succeeded. Would we set traps to capture more enemy ships? It might be more economical to keep doing that rather than build our own. The hulls were tough and, worst case scenario, if one was too badly damaged in battle, we could toss it into a star and go find another one. The thought made me a little giddy.
Our target was in sight. It must’ve taken the engineers a solid month to cut through the ship’s carapace to install hangar bay doors, but there they were. And we weren’t heading directly for them. Instead, we were headed toward the bow—toward what appeared to be a maintenance hatch.
There was only one reason to perform an external docking on a ship this large: the hangar was already full. That was good. That meant there were enough supplies to last us a long time. It also likely meant I had fighters onboard. They had to be human fighters because Xeno buggers didn’t use hangars. They just attached themselves to the outside of their mother ships like lampreys.
A few minutes later, we were docked and ready to board. As captain, it was traditional that I’d be the first to board the new Federation ship and the last to leave, so I took my place at the hatch. It was also customary to make a short speech and to invoke the name of the ship, which I’d decided on. I turned to the 20 others aboard the transport shuttle and looked each of them in the eye before speaking.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” I said, drawing the words out to make sure I had their attention before continuing, “We are about to undertake a mission that no other humans have done before. We’re about to board a captured enemy vessel and use it to drive a spike into several million Xeno hearts.
“For now, this vessel will be your home. You must care for it as you would any other Federation vessel, even if it is the ugliest one we own.” My words were answered by a wave of small laughs.
“I expect professionalism from each of you. I expect you to perform your duties to the best of your abilities and to hold each other accountable to do the same.
“Welcome to the Revenge.”
The other passengers on the shuttle, and even the pilot, thrust a fist above their heads and cheered. I’d never been so damn proud in all my life. That was until the hatch opened and I saw who was waiting for me on the other side.
Standing on the other end of the short tube connecting the ships was my MSM squad, all standing at attention. I caught a couple sets of their eyes darting my direction rather than staring directly forward. I also caught one of them unsuccessfully suppressing a smile.
I should’ve known they’d send me with the best of the greenhorns. I could have guessed it, but I didn’t want to hope. Should we need direct-contact muscle, I had a squad I trusted—men and women I’d trained myself. I knew the squad leader and knew he could get the job done. Command had thought of everything.
I marched onto my vessel, and as was also traditional, took a few minutes to dress-down my Marines. First, Sergeant Hadell, who looked like he was about to squeal with joy. “Wipe that smirk off your face, Marine! Your job here is to kill things I tell you to kill. Your other job is to kick the ass of any Marine who doesn’t do as you tell him or her to do. Understood?”
Technically, I knew, the Marines weren’t directly under my command. But I had no doubt my squad leader would do as he was told if the time came. Joker would do his job, and I’d do mine. The bugs didn’t realize what they’d gotten themselves into. They were in for a surprise.
I continued my march into my ship and was met by a pale-looking man in a First Officer uniform. The red stripe that ran across his epaulets and along the edges of his sleeves was bright against the all-black Navy uniform. His dark complexion, black hair, and dark brown eyes marked him—or his parents, anyway—as a Terran. While a few Martians found serving with Earthlings distasteful, I was of the older variety.
A man cannot be measured by his heritage or lineage, I remembered the words from my school days.
This man, for instance, had risen through the ranks to become my First Officer. Until he gave me reason to mistrust him, he would have my support, my sword, and, if necessary, my life. We were Martians. Nothing else mattered.
“Welcome, Commander,” he said. I’d been temporarily promoted to fill my role for the mission. “I am your First Officer, Lieutenant Commander Bravi Zadair. I am here to serve Mars, at your discretion, Sir.”
“And I’m glad to have you. Where’s the bridge?”
“This way, Sir,” Zadair said.
We walked in silence down the busy hallway. Crew members sprinted through hatches, ran full tilt on important business from one area to another, and appeared and disappeared through hatches, all without crashing into each other.
“How long has the crew been aboard the Revenge?” I asked.
“Most have been here since we captured her more than four years ago, Sir,” he said. “Is that her name, Sir? The Revenge?”
“That’s what I’ve decided to call her unless someone has beaten me to it.”
“No one has thought to name the ship, Sir. But I think it’s fitting.”
“Good,” I said.
As I approached the chitin door, it slid open with a familiar hiss and an unfamiliar grinding, scraping noise.
“Sorry, Sir,” Zadair said. “These bug
