She knew she had to take it easy, to not let her emotions overtake her, to continue showing a straight face while the commodore was giving his speech, but it was getting harder and harder each minute. And that was because, after he ended, it was Sadie’s turn to get into that podium and face the crew of the Minya… Her new crew.
Personally, she still couldn’t understand how she got promoted to be the new captain of the UHA Minya. A couple of months ago, Admiral Coyote contacted the Lexington to tell her XO the news, Sadie couldn’t believe it. At first, she thought it was a bad joke, but then she realized it wasn’t April Fools. Then she observed the admiral’s face, looking for any sign that would show he was teasing her, or even lying. No, he was as serious as ever. A few seconds later, Sadie had to accept that she received the promotion. Captain of the UHA Minya, the ship that Victor Oklakov commanded, and which he was going to relinquish command soon since he also received a promotion, but to commodore. That was why she was awaiting the moment when Oklakov ended his speech. Keeping that straight face was more difficult than she originally thought.
“And in all these years of services, I finally learned how to be a good captain,” continued Commodore Oklakov, “All of you have proven me that no matter the background, we can all work together as a team. You are my biggest pride. My companions, my friends. If I had to trust you all with my life, I would without a second thought,” applause from the crew, including Commander Martin. Meanwhile, Admiral Coyote was observing Oklakov in complete silence. Sadie lowered her face, expecting soon to be her turn to talk. She had practiced her speech countless times, but she wasn’t ready yet. What if she mispronounced a word? Or if she spoke too fast?
“Is something wrong?” a familiar voice spoke. Sadie realized it was the admiral who was talking. Trying her best to maintain the same expression, she said no. Coyote continued staring at the commodore for a while. “This is your first test, captain. If you fail, it will be harder to connect with your crew,” yes, she knew that very well. That was why she was so nervous. If she somehow messed up her speech… “That said, knowing you, I’m sure your speech will be something memorable. Have faith in yourself, Captain Carter.”
That title still felt odd and funny. She was so used being called commander, but now captain… It certainly would take time get used to it.
“And with this, I’ll leave you to my successor. Come forward, Captain Carter,” that was it. Sadie gulped before forcing her trembling legs to move. Slowly, she approached the podium where her adoptive father was. Before facing the entire crew in the shuttle bay, she approached Commodore Oklakov. Silently, she nodded. While looking his dark blue eyes, Sadie could see pride and respect. Then she approached the podium. When she was in front it, she moved her eyes to see the entire crew. Her new companions. There were dozens of rows with men and women wearing the formal uniform, most of them young like their new captain. Just like Sadie, Oklakov and Coyote, all the crew members were wearing a blue long coat with a yellow stripe in the middle of the piece, and a white shirt behind the coat. Despite using the same style of long coat, not all of them were the same. Depending on the rank inside the navy, an emblem was placed in the right side of the chest. Below the coat, blue leather pants could be seen covering their legs and black shoes their feet. Sadie, Oklakov and Coyote were also wearing white gloves in their hands.
After a few seconds, Sadie opened the holographic screen to read the instructions Coyote sent her.
“From Admiral Bran Coyote to Captain Sadie Carter. You are hereby requested and required to take command of the UHA Minya as of this date, March 20th, 2312 R.SA. Signed by Admiral of the Fleet Bran Coyote and Vice-Admiral Johana Ducreux,” now Sadie closed the screen. Time for the speech. “First of all, I’m honored to be the new commanding officer of this ship. Some of you may know me when I served in the Lexington as the executive officer, others don’t. It doesn’t matter. My name is Sadie Carter. One of the reasons I decided to join the Human Fleet of Gunras was to explore the galaxy and learn more about other civilizations, planets and uncover the mysteries of the final frontier. In the meantime, let’s work together and get to know each other. I’m sure I can expect great things from all of you,” now Sadie approached Commander Martin and shook her hand. Clapping could be heard in the entire shuttle bay. “It is a pleasure to work with you, commander.”
“The pleasure is mine, ma’am.”
“As for the final part of this ceremony, I’ll transfer all my command codes to Captain Carter,” the commodore approached the podium and in the holographic screen he wrote some characters. After he finished, he said some words as voice authentication.
“Voice recognized. Transfer complete. As of this moment, the commanding officer of the UHA Minya is Captain Sadie Carter,” informed the computer.
Now Sadie approached the commodore. “I relieve you, sir.”
“I stand relieved.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“What are your orders, ma’am?” asked Commander Martin.
As protocol, when a captain took command of a ship, they needed to test how the crew worked.
“Everyone, go to your work stations. Commander prepare the bridge. I’ll go soon,” all the crew did the military salute before leaving the shuttle bay, leaving Sadie alone with her two superiors.
“At ease, captain, commodore,” said Coyote when he approached them. “Good speech by the way Carter. Not too long, but not too short either.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Well, time for us to leave. Hope you first mission goes well.”
Now it was Oklakov’s turn to say goodbye. “Good luck in your first mission, Sadie” without saying anything else, he went to one of the elevators. Coyote followed him.
“Time to work, then,” muttered Sadie. She took another elevator and went straight to the bridge. As soon as she left the lift, the captain felt she took a big important step in her life. Before going to her seat, she observed her new workplace. In many ways, the bridge of the Minya was like the bridge of the Lexington. On the center of the room, in a raised platform, two chairs could be seen next to each other. Commander Martin was sitting on the left chair. In front of the platform two stations were placed, and in each seat an officer was also sitting. At the bottom of the room, a big screen could be seen, showing the space and countless stars and planets on the horizon. Other stations were placed along the walls of the bridge, except on the top where doors could be seen in the corners of the room and the three elevators.
“Captain on the bridge,” said a male voice. Sadie nodded and then approached the Captain’s Chair. After sitting, she faced Martin.
“All right. Our first mission is to extract a group of humans from the Darius system. According to intel, earthquakes have collapsed the entrance to their underground labs. Lieutenant Cortez, send the coordinates of Rana to Lieutenant Duran.
“Done, ma’am.”
“Have the admiral and commodore left the ship?” Martin confirmed they weren’t inside the Minya. “All right. Take out the ship,” a slight vibration occurred in the entire bridge, indicating the docking clamps were released. On the screen, meanwhile, the space was replaced by a metallic door. Soon, it started to open, letting them see again the space. Closely but surely, the door, or what was still visible, was getting closer, until it completely opened, letting the ship leave the spacedock. When they were outside, Duran pushed a button, allowing the ship to enter the hyperspace. On the screen, the black ocean started being replaced by a blue whirlwind. A few seconds later, the entire screen’s background was blue.
“Estimated time of arrival: two hours,” informed Martin. Sadie nodded.
“You have the bridge, commander. I’ll go to my room.”
Unlike the other crew members, the commanding officer had an entire floor for themselves. After taking the elevator and pressing a button to go up, Sadie found herself in her new home. It had everything she needed: a living room, a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and a study. She soon found her bags were already inside. Sighing slightly, she decided to accommodate her room later; she had a mission to do.
“To think this was the room of the commodore,” muttered Sadie after she put on the usual navy uniform—a blue shirt with short sleeves, black pants and black leather boots.
When she returned to the bridge, most of the crewmembers also abandoned the formal dress to wear their usual uniforms. Except for Commander Martin.
“Can I ask you a question, commander? Asked Sadie when she sat on her chair again.
“Sure.”
“Do you like wearing formal clothes?”
Martin’s eyes blinked for a while. Sadie at that moment noticed her eyes were quite different compared to other humans: yellow. That was an unusual color, but not unheard of after the humans started traveling through space.
“If I like it? I mean, we must wear it for formal situations. Whether I like it or not is irrelevant.”
“You are right, but I was expecting you to have changed to your usual uniform.”
“Ah, I see what you mean. Haven’t gotten the chance, yet,” admitted the woman with a smile on her face.
Before Sadie could offer her the chance to return to her quarters, a man approached them. Sadie beamed as soon as she saw him.
“Mr. Oliver, it’s good to see you!” exclaimed the captain while she was shaking his hand.
“The pleasure is mine, ma’am,” said Josh Oliver, the second officer of the Minya.
“How ‘u doing?”
“Captain, maybe you should change some words on your vocabulary,” Sadie realized that wasn’t the proper way for a captain to talk to one of their subordinates. A little ashamed, she coughed and then sat on her chair again. Getting accustomed to her new job wasn’t going to be easy. “Having said that, I’m doing fine. Being honest with you, I was looking forward to this moment.”
“Really? Why?” asked Sadie after raising her eyebrows. Since Commander Martin left, Oliver sat on her seat.
“I mean, you were perhaps one of the finest officers in the Lexington. Not many noticed it, but it was thanks to your plans that we managed to defeat our enemies… No, to convince them to give up. I’m sure that’s the reason the Admiralty Board decided to promote you to captain,” Sadie wanted to be modest, but she had to admit that thought also crossed her mind. She also had to recognize that Captain Okita was disappointed when he heard the news that his first officer was being promoted. Although he soon congratulated Sadie and said she would be a damn good captain. “Have you talked with the members of the crew?” asked Oliver in a low voice.
“Only with you and Commander Martin,” recognized Sadie. “What do you recommend me to do, Josh?”
“If I were you, I would hold a party!” said the second officer, his black eyes glowing of emotion. Sadie simply scowled.
“You only want to drink alcohol.”
“I won’t deny it,” admitted the second officer shamelessly. A smirk appeared in Sadie’s face.
“You’ll never change, won’t you?” muttered the captain.
“Well, I’ll have to, soon,” suddenly, his voice tone changed, becoming deeper and more serious. Sadie raised her eyes to see him. His expression had changed completely, although that didn’t surprise the captain too much. “I have heard some rumors that you weren’t the only one the Admiralty Board took notice. They also wish to promote me as captain of another ship.”
“Oh!” Sadie thought it was something dire. But, that was some great news. “I hope you get promoted too, Josh. You really deserve it.”
“Eh… Thanks, I guess…” for some strange reason, he wasn’t happy by the words of his captain.
They continued talking about the crew and the ship until Martin arrived minutes before the Minya was going to leave hyperspace. When Josh returned to his workplace, the XO leaned her head to talk to Sadie.
“Did the commander tell you that he is being considered to become a captain?”
“Yes,” replied Sadie. Now she looked at Martin. “Do you also want your own ship, commander?”
“Me?” Martin looked surprised. Then she moved her head vigorously. Sadie, certainly, never expected that reaction. “Right now, I’m not interested in becoming a captain. If you recommend me, I would decline immediately.”
Sadie simply shrugged and then stared at the screen; she might tell her later why she preferred to stay as commander. Strange to see someone not interested in becoming a captain. Ever since she joined the fleet, Sadie’s hopes and dreams were to become the captain of one ship. And many of her classmates in the Academy also had the same dream, and perhaps still have it.
A few minutes later, on the screen the blue whirlwind disappeared, being replaced by a big brown planet. Sadie opened her holographic screen to see information about their destination. Rana was a terrestrial planet considered to be a wasteland. Not much is known, but explorations teams have discovered the air is toxic; masks are a must to even land. Since it has minimum water reserves, life conditions were harsh; despite that, there were non-intelligent species on the surface. Not many, but enough to have an ecosystem with its own food chain.
While staring the planet, Sadie wondered if what she read in the database was true. According to the expedition teams, there were traces of an ancient civilization; that was why they decided to place an outpost inside a cave system. At first sight, it seemed impossible the planet had intelligent beings living down there in the past. Besides the toxic air, the winds were harsh and carried with them dust that, accordingly to studies, had toxic substances. Being honest with herself, they were following a fairy tale.
“Situation?” asked Sadie when the ship started orbiting around the planet.
“The ship’s sensing lifeforms inside the planet, but they aren’t moving,” informed a woman. Sadie approached her workstation to see the screen. She was right; there were different dots inside the brown sphere, but they weren’t moving.
“Thanks Ms. Patel. Lieutenant Eren, hail them. Try to open a communication channel.”
“Not working captain. They aren’t responding,” replied the Communications Officer. Sadie expected that.
“Do we have images of the caves?”
“Yes,” Cortez put the images on the screen. There were multiple entrances, although all of them were collapsed. That didn’t seem to be something made by nature. She could accept perhaps one, two, or even three, but not all of them. Something that Martin thought too. When she expressed her suspicions to Sadie, the captain stared the screen again.
“Are you sure there aren’t more intelligent life forms out there?” asked Sadie while approaching Patel.
“Completely sure, ma’am. The ship systems only sense the humans. If I remove the filter, there are obviously more lifeforms, but those are the animals of this planet,” what she said was true. When she did it, on her screen appeared green circles; and unlike the ones that supposedly were the scientists, these circles were moving.
Sadie placed her hand on her chin while thinking the next action to take. No replies meant either something bad happened to the scientist team, or there was interference that blocked communications. It seemed the best course of action would be to send a landing party to the surface and have them investigate.
“Ok. Commander Martin, assemble a team and…” suddenly, Sadie felt a sharp pain on her head.
“Captain?” asked Oliver with a worried expression.
“Like I was saying, commander, assemble,” the pain returned, and more powerful than before. Without realizing it, Sadie fell to the floor, with both hands on her head. Her vision became blurry. Before she realized it, everyone approached her. She could see Martin issuing orders, but what were they, Sadie didn’t know. And not a few seconds later, Sadie lost consciousness.
Buildings, as tall as the ones in other civilized worlds, appeared in front of Sadie. The landscape reminded her of Rana… In fact, it was Rana. Stranger was the fact that the terrain looked completely different than what she saw in the images. There were flat lands, hills and even mountains. No sign of caves complexes could be seen. And the ground wasn’t completely brown; she could also green sections.
The orange sun suddenly disappeared, being replaced by three satellites on the dark sky. All the building’s lights turned on, and the city was as lively as it was in the day. Observing them closely, Sadie realized the architecture was completely different compared to the buildings in Gunras. Most of them looked like obelisks, with other had the form of mushrooms or even pyramids. There wasn’t coherency; it was like the architects decided to build whatever came to their minds.
Suddenly, a bright light appeared, blinding Sadie. The yellow light engulfed everything, including the buildings. The land started to shake violently, and then the landscape changed. Slowly, but surely, cracks formed on the surface, orange replaced the blue sky and violent gusts of wind started to blow. What was once a place full of life, now it was a desolate wasteland. A noise could be heard, but Sadie didn’t understand what it was. The noise intensified, and Sadie started to wonder if it was something trying to communicate with her.
“Hello?” said Sadie in English. The noise reacted, and it became faster and much louder. “I can’t understand you,” the noise continued. But… somehow, it started to feel less like a noise and more like a language now. She still couldn’t understand it, but Sadie was sure someone was trying to talk with her. She stood silent, concentrating on the voice. She needed to understand what that person was saying her.
“Get…Away…Our…Planet,” Sadie realized the voice was male… or something like that. It certainly gave her the vibe of being a man who was talking, but the echo was confusing her.
“But we are looking…”
“Leave…Us…Don’t…Hurt…. Planet.”
Sadie felt she was lying in a bed. She slowly opened her eyes, confirming she was in sick bay.
“Doctor Lim, the captain opened her eyes,” said a female voice. She soon saw a girl, close to her age, observing her. Some footsteps approached, and a doctor Sadie recognized immediately was using his equipment to check her health.
“Everything seems fine,” said Doctor Lim. With the help of the nurse, Sadie got up. “What happened? Suddenly you lost consciousness and we had to bring you here.”
“I… don’t know,” muttered Sadie. While frowning, she tried to remember that dream she had. The planet… The civilization… That voice… Sadie then realized everything.
“Doctor, where is Commander Martin?” asked Sadie when she left the bed.
“She went down to the surface with the landing party an hour ago,” replied the doctor. Sadie’s face stiffened immediately. “Is something wrong?”
“Commander Martin, can you hear me?” Sadie activated the hololog in her left wrist. When the holographic screen appeared, the image of the first officer didn’t show. “Commander are you there?” no answer. “Commander Oliver, can you hear me?”
Unlike before, the image of Josh appeared on the holographic screen. “Affirmative, captain. Something wrong?”
“Can you contact Commander Martin’s team?”
A few seconds later, Josh confirmed Sadie her worst fears. “They seem to be fine, but we lost contact with them a few minutes ago. We have been keeping track on their activities, though. Right now, they managed to open an entrance to the caves.”
“I’ll go to the bridge. Doctor is it fine for me to leave?”
Lim used his pen to scan Sadie again. The device’s tip continued being green. “Excellent. No health issues. You are free to go, captain.”
Sadie thanked the doctor. After putting on her boots, she went immediately to the bridge. As soon as she arrived, she saw Josh in the Captain’s Seat. The second officer got up and went to Martin’s seat, but that was unnecessary. Instead of going to her seat, Sadie approached Ms. Patel.
“Can you do a full scan on the planet again? I need to know all the species inside,” the woman nodded and started working immediately. Now Sadie approached Lieutenant Cortez. “Do you know the history of this planet?”
“Only what is stored in the databases, ma’am. Why?”
“Got any idea what is going on?” Josh approached them with a confused expression.
“Yes. While I was unconscious, I saw Rana, but it was completely different. There were buildings, and the atmosphere wasn’t toxic. Something like a nuclear explosion happened on the surface, changing the landscape and transforming Rana into what it is today. And… well, you might think this is crazy, but a voice was trying to contact me. At first, I didn’t understand what it was saying, but after I while I managed to understand some words like it was in English. Leave, get out of here, hut planet… Those were the words I mostly remember.
“Are you implying there is another civilization in Rana?” asked Patel with incredulity in her voice.
“Yes. Or there are at least remnants of that ancient civilization. Can any of you access their logs?”
“I can try,” replied Cortez immediately. After typing keys in the holographic keyboard and issuing orders, multiple logs appeared on the screen. “Here’s the latest. Date, March 19th, 2312 R.SA. Written by the leader of the expedition, Marcos Rolen. It is… kind of hard to read; sentences aren’t finished, and words are missing letters. Let me see… According to the report, the personnel have been listening to voices inside their heads. They have also had nightmares, with people screaming in the middle of the night and sometimes even punching objects. Tensions are high. A group of scientists and archeologists want to leave the planet while the other group is determined to stay here and uncover its secrets, including what happened to an ancient civilization. Doctor Rolen admits he wants to learn more, but he is afraid they might be digging into something they shouldn’t uncover.”
No reference if they had knowledge of the existence of that race. Cortez looked another report, dated three days ago. Unlike the other one, this one didn’t have any grammatical nor spelling mistake.
“Date, March 17th, 2312 R.SA. Perhaps I’m going mad, but each time we uncover more tunnels, the worst my nightmares become. There is a constant noise in my head… It is driving me crazy. I’m not the only one; others are also experiencing the same. Is the damn planet cursed or is there something down there that is trying to keep us away from its lair?”
“They are completely aware something intelligent lives inside the planet,” grunted Sadie. That made her angry for some reason. “Are they stupid or what? They are deliberately violating the First Directive.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Cortez interrupted Sadie. Now he was reading another report. That one was dated almost a year ago. “We have been investigating some caves in the southern continent, and we found something interesting. There is advanced technology inside. We don’t understand it well since it seems to have fused with the rocks, but observing it closely, we found some machines with holographic screens. The language is something we don’t understand, and not even our linguists know what those screens say. We also found a golden object that resembles a statue.”
“That doesn’t mean they are, or were, capable of FTL travel,” argued Josh. “What if it was another race that landed on the planet?
“You are right commander. But…”
While both men were arguing, Sadie observed Patel’s screen, which was displaying the brown planet at that moment. There were so many unknowns that made the mission more difficult that it should be. Sadie was one hundred percent sure those aliens were the ones interfering the communications, and they were also responsible of collapsing the cave system. And she knew exactly why they did it.
For a moment, Sadie wondered if she should ask what Commodore Oklakov would do in that situation, but she almost immediately regretted even thinking that. That would undermine her tenure as captain; show her weak in front of her crew. She needed to take a decision without relying on her predecessor choices.
“You may be right about other intelligent lifeforms inside this planet, captain,” Patel suddenly said that. Sadie immediately observed her screen. “Since I was only doing a surface scan, the systems couldn’t detect them. But there are more lifeforms in the depths of the planet.”
“What if those are animals?” asked Josh while scowling.
“It is possible, I won’t deny it,” accepted the lieutenant junior. “But it would be troublesome if they are an intelligent species.”
“As long as we don’t interact with them, then we are fine. Right now, we need to rescue those humans and establish contact with Commander Martin and her team. Ideas?”
“We could boost the frequency,” suggested Cortez. “It might work, but it could be more easily intercepted by other parties.”
“No other choice, unless our alien friends have that type of technology. Do it.”
“Well, they certainly have the power to communicate with you…That’s it!” Josh suddenly raised his voice. “How didn’t I see it? Captain, you should communicate with those aliens and ask them to let us take the expedition team.”
Instead of replying, Sadie decided to keep her thoughts. If only she could… The alarm started sounding, surprising everyone.
“What’s going on?” asked Sadie immediately.
“There are massive earthquakes inside the planet,” replied Ensign Paredes, who was monitoring the situation.
“Those must be the aliens,” said Josh with a grave expression. “They must be angry since we didn’t leave the planet.”
“Good job pointing the obvious, sir,” grunted Patel. Sadie grinned; she didn’t expect a lieutenant say that to her superior.
“Tch, you are quite cheeky as of lately, Patel. Miss Captain Oklakov?” Patel’s face turned white, surprising Sadie. She certainly needed to learn more about her crew.
Lieutenant Duran put on the screen images of the planet. While in the space they couldn’t see anything, inside the planet it was obvious the land was shaking. Massive cracks were forming on the surface. Later, he placed an image of the shuttle the landing team used. The entrance of the cave also collapsed again, and part of the vehicle sank beneath a crack. Sadie was watching the screen dumbfounded; it seemed like the planet was swallowing everything it could.
“And how do you expect me to communicate with them, commander?” asked Sadie in a low tone while staring her second officer.
“Well, by sleeping, of course.”
Minutes later, Sadie was again on sick bay, sitting in a bed.
“Captain, I know you already beat the record of being the youngest captain in the fleet, but you don’t need to be remembered also as the captain who spent her first day in sickbay,” said Doctor Lim when he approached his superior.
“Doctor, you really want to pester me with that?” asked Sadie with a frown. A grin appeared on his face.
“I mean, this idea is crazy. No offense ma’am, but I don’t think this will work.”
Sadie shrugged. “Believe me, I don’t think this will work either. But better try something instead of crossing our arms and observing the situation.”
The doctor agreed with her. “Do you want an injection, or another way to go to sleep?” asked Lim.
“I’m not a child,” grunted Sadie. She certainly never expected Doctor Lim to be like that. But, somehow, she didn’t mind his attitude. “That said, if I don’t have to see a needle, it would be great.”
The doctor then offered her a glass full of water and a pill. “In less than a minute, you will be sleeping,” Sadie nodded and then swallowed the gray pill with the water. Just like he said, in mere seconds the effects of the medicine were already affecting the captain. She felt her eyelids heavy and drowsiness. A nurse helped Sadie lay on the bed. Before she knew it, her eyes closed, and darkness engulfed her.
How much time passed when she saw the familiar brown landscape, she didn’t know. But it was clear the aliens were contacting her again. The ground was still shaking violently, and more cracks were forming in the surface. If that continued… Sadie didn’t want to think about it.
“I’m back,” said the captain. Despite the loud sound of the ground crumbling, her voice could be heard perfectly. “We will leave as soon as we rescue our companions and the expedition team.”
Complete silence. The aliens didn’t reply. Sadie wondered if that wasn’t enough for them.
“What else do you want from us?” asked the captain.
“Justice,” the same voice who communicated with her, talked. Unlike before, it was talking in English fluently. “We demand justice. Those scientists have destroyed this planet’s ecosystem while they were looking for us.”
That’s what Sadie suspected. The scientists weren’t there just investigating the planet’s past; they also wanted to find that ancient civilization.
“What have they done?”
It is said that actions are worth more than words, and the aliens just proved that to Sadie. The landscape changed and was replaced by machines drilling inside the caves. Liquid which seemed like water being contaminated by buildings. Smoke rising from chimneys. More quakes generated by the machines; loud noises, animals running while vehicles were passing through their homes… Sadie was trembling. The humans stationed there didn’t learn anything after all the errors they did on Earth. They were destroying a planet just for… just for… Just thinking about it made Sadie’s blood boil. They deserved a harsh punishment for their stupidity and greediness.
“Justice will be served, I promise you,” said Sadie.
“We demand their lives.”
“I understand you are angry, but we don’t kill people to make them pay for their crimes,” Sadie immediately regretted saying that.
“You are lying,” Sadie expected that to happen.
“Well, technically there are laws that still allow authorities to execute criminals, but they are hardly used these days. As to why they still exist, don’t ask me; I’m a captain, not a politician.”
The voice didn’t reply immediately. Sadie grabbed her right arm, wondering what the aliens were thinking.
“What kind of punishment they will receive?”
“Locked behind bars, I can assure you that. They will be indicted of violating the First Directive and then sent to prison. They won’t be able to leave that building for many years.”
“And why do you prefer to lock people you call criminals instead of killing them?”
“Believe me, being imprisoned is an even harsher punishment than death.”
Silence again, yet, unlike a few minutes ago, Sadie didn’t feel anxiety. Somehow, she felt her words managed to convince the aliens.
“We will give you what you call twenty-four hours to take away those humans and your crew. This is your last chance; if you appear again on our planet, there will be dire consequences.”
“I understand, and I’ll make sure to request my superiors that they forbid anyone landing on this planet. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation.”
Then, in front of Sadie, a transparent figure materialized from thin air. It had the appearance of a male human, short and a little overweight. The alien approached Sadie and raised his right hand. Sadie shook it. The alien nodded and then everything became white. Almost immediately, she heard some voices and the sound of the machines inside the sick bay. When she opened her eyes, Sadie saw Doctor Lim and some nurses observing her.
“Did it work?” asked Lim when Sadie sat on the bed.
“We should know soon. Commander Oliver,” the second officer appeared on the holographic screen, “have the temblors stopped?
“Yes captain. And we contacted Commander’s Martin team.
A few hours later, Sadie was in her office, talking with Admiral Coyote.
“So, there is another race inside Rana,” said the admiral after Sadie gave him her report. The man was touching his goatee while scowling.
“Something tells me you already knew that.”
The admiral showed surprise for a few seconds, then an arrogant smile appeared on his lips.
“Why do you say that, captain?”
“We have observed footage and read the expedition team logs, and it was obvious they had knowledge of the species from… like last year. They have also reported to you their findings.”
“Interesting. You did your investigations, captain. You also passed your first test with flying colors.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand…”
“I was ready to send some teams to apprehend those scientists and archaeologists, but I determined it was better you handled the issue. I’m pleased to see you decided to respect the First Directive than let them walk away scot-free. You did good today, Captain Carter. Rest assured, they will be severely punished by their actions, and I will inform the other fleets that Rana should be left alone from now on.”
“Thank you, admiral.”
“Treat the Minya well, captain. Treat her well, and she will treat you well in return. She will show the entire galaxy, shining, shimmering, splendid,“ Sadie nodded, knowing well that the ship had a long history. Oklakov always said wonders about his starship when Sadie visited him. “Coyote out,” the image of the admiral disappeared, leaving Sadie alone in her office. She leaned back on her chair and observed the office. She had to admit it needed some touches, but overall, the entire room was ample enough to work.
A bell sounded. When Sadie said ‘Come’, the door opened, letting Commander Martin enter the room.
“Ah commander, I was waiting you. Please, sit,” the woman nodded and then approached one of the two chairs in front of Sadie’s desk.
“I have to admit it feels strange to see a new owner in this room. A few weeks ago, Commodore Oklakov was sitting in that chair.”
“You aren’t the only one, commander. Being honest with you, it still feels so surreal being a captain. Going to what I called you: how are the guests?
Martin giggled. “Healthy, although angry. They claim they deserve somewhere better to stay.”
“They should enjoy them. After the authorities take them, their new home won’t be as nice as our brig,” now Sadie’s expression turned serious. “Laws are laws; if you decide to break them then be ready for the consequences. Is something wrong?” Commander Martin’s was biting her lips, and she was grabbing her pants with her hands. She looked tense for some reason.
“It… It angers me that humans are still doing this. I don’t get it; I thought we learned from our mistakes in Earth. Yet, we are destroying other planets. No wonder the other races inside the alliance look us down.”
“Sadly, humans still allow greediness to control them. Hopefully this sends a message to people like them: we won’t tolerate these acts again. Glad to see you share the same view as me, Bast.”
“How did you know…” the woman opened her eyes while observing with incredulity her captain.
“Well, your girlfriend is my sister. Or something like that. Don’t you mind, right?”
“Not at all. In fact, I’m glad you are calling me by my nickname.”
Sadie was glad she already made a connection with someone of the crew. While observing the blue whirlwind in the window behind her, Sadie sensed that more adventures were waiting her and her companions. It was understandable, considering the space held so many secrets and mysteries. With a smile, Sadie continued talking with Bast, getting to know her better.
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