That fact bothered him the most. If the alien had some sort of demand for his aid, Titus had no idea what he might do. He wasn’t authorized to commit the TCN to any sort of action and the Triton didn’t have it in her to help with anything immediate. They needed at least a week, possibly more before she’d be mission ready again.
And what are we supposed to do against this new enemy anyway? We don’t have the power or the weapons to fend them off. Titus let out a sigh, departing for the hangar. People rushed about, technicians working in every hallway. He’d never seen so many missing panels in the middle of a shift. Exposed wires hung down in several places, making it feel like a hazard.
“You guys sure this is safe?” Titus called out.
“It’s fine!” several voices called back. One man yelled, “Don’t touch any red ones! Those are hot!”
“Thanks for telling me!” someone else replied from behind Titus. “I nearly fried my nuts off, you ass!”
Ah, there we go. Titus shook his head. Bantering is good. Means they’re not brooding over the losses. The casualty report felt like a kick to the gut. Of the two hundred men aboard, fifty had died. Twenty more were injured. This left them with a skeleton crew. Plenty of headcount to get them home but they couldn’t operate long in that state.
He arrived at the hangar to find the four security guards standing with their rifles held in front of them, aimed at the floor. Titus leaned against the wall in anticipation. He figured he had a few minutes before their shuttle arrived, giving him a moment to contemplate what they might look like.
How different would they be? They knew English… probably from the fact they’d been observing humanity as Dain said. That still struck him as odd. It worked out, yes… and a lot of his concern came down to simple paranoia, but he had many questions. Most of them irrelevant given the current situation.
I’ll have plenty of time to quiz them later.
“Hello, Acting Captain,” Doctor Anders Brett stepped up to him, clasping his hands behind his back. He stood six-four with gray-blond hair and a rail thin frame. In the wrong light, he looked somewhat cadaverous, especially as his face aged prematurely. Lines and crags gave him a lot of character. “I understand we’re about to meet some aliens.”
“Doctor.” Titus inclined his head. “Indeed. You here to see what they look like? Offer a medical opinion? I would’ve thought you’d be too busy at a time like this to pay us a visit down here.”
“The crew that can be helped have been,” Anders replied. He took on a somber expression. “Everyone’s in recovery. My assistants are down there, but if they need me… you know the drill. Besides, I figured you might need someone with a little more life experience to make first contact.”
“I didn’t think of it that way,” Titus said. “I don’t know why. I guess I’ve got other things on my mind.”
“High command?”
Titus nodded.
“They won’t come down on you hard. There are so many extenuating circumstances, no one will have the balls to get on your back. Besides, you saved all our lives. They have to take that into consideration when they perform their evaluation. You want to hear my bet? What I think will happen?”
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me regardless.”
Anders chuckled. “I am. I think they’re going to give you a commendation. Anyone who sees the data of what we faced will be surprised as hell we made it out of there in one piece. Engineering, tech officers… they’re all talking about how extraordinary the opponent was. Once that spreads around…”
“You seem to be under the impression we’ll be allowed to talk about it,” Titus interrupted. “I think this is going to be kept classified.”
“We’ll see if they can pull that off. I doubt it though.”
“Anyway, no one’s going to be offering commendations when they realize our way of life, our species itself, stands at risk because of these… these giants.” Titus shrugged. “We don’t have the means to fend them off. We can’t even take two. And I think if the entire fleet had been here, we still couldn’t have stopped them.”
“That’s grim.”
“Just being realistic.” Titus squinted through the force field blocking the entrance from open space. A ship was on rapid approach, another oval design with wings. It was coming in especially fast. Thinking about their guest’s pilot brought him to another topic. “How is Ronin? Will he… did he make it?”
“He’ll be okay,” Anders replied. “Took some serious shrapnel to the chest. Got cut up pretty bad but his uniform saved his life. They didn’t penetrate as deeply as they would’ve had he not been wearing his standard issued flight suit. Those hardened points in the torso are a godsend when it comes to accidents.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“How’d Jane do?” Anders asked. “Obviously, we’re still here so she must’ve been good.”
“She was great. Had good ideas… kept us moving. I’m impressed. I knew she deserved her promotion. I’m going to push harder for it now.”
The alien vessel slowed, penetrating the shield while hovering toward an empty pad off to the left. Their landing gear put down, hissing as the ship landed. The security men stood ready, tensing up as the ramp dropped. Two forms paced out, humanoid… two arms, two legs… head, torso…
“Stand down, guys.” Titus waved at the soldiers. He stood in front of them with Anders at his right.
The alien leading the way looked youthful with smooth, pale skin and a mop of white-gold hair. His eyes stuck out even at a distance… teal and vibrant, enough so that when the light caught them, they seemed to glow. He stood around five-seven, athletic but slight.
