"Captain, we may have a problem." The young petty officer at the long range scanning station lifted his head from his console and reported to the man seated in the bridge command chair.
"What kind of problem, petty officer Stanton?" The voice that responded was a deep baritone, rich with the wisdom of years and experience of command.
"There appears to be some extra activity among the alien vessels orbiting earth sir. Several have powered up most of their scanners and have begun to sweep this system."
With purposeful strides, the man in the chair stood and walked the twenty yards to the bridge station.
"Have they begun to send any probes, any craft, anything?" He was looking over the young man's shoulder. He knew he should be in his chair. No crew liked being micro managed but he couldn't help it. Just one slip up, one mistake and his world's best hope for salvation could go up in flames.
"Central?"
"Yes Captain?" The voice came from the walls, the ceiling. It even seemed to come from the floor. It should, the voice was that of the ship's brain, its nerve center. Whatever it was, it had been given the name, Central, and it responded to every question he asked, ever command. Thankfully, it had been programmed to.
"Get the Nest ready to move. If they do send anything out this far, I want to be a jump ahead of them. We have no idea how long it takes them to break orbit, so if it comes to that every seconds going to count."
This is Captain Alexander Prey, commanding officer of what was once the USS Space Eagle. The first long range survey vessel in the history of man kind. What it once was is nothing compared to what it is now. Now it is simply called The Nest. A vessel of sure unimaginable size that even earths moon is dwarfed by it.
The crew had parked the ship in non-synchronous orbit behind Mars. They sat in Mars' sensor shadow, hidden from any scans that could be sent their way. Only now Captain Prey had to worry that a maned craft could be sent on a fly by of every planet in the system, and if that happened he knew their cover would be blown.
"Malachi," he grumbled under his breath. Who else could have spooked these aliens into this kind of response?
When his Lieutenant Commander had returned from the planet without his brother, Captain Prey knew no good would come of it? Now this, a full scale upgrade in every single system the visitors possessed.
"Central, where is the Commander now?" Central had told him before he ordered the mission to the surface that he was able to track his every movement. It was the only reason he'd let him go.
"I have no idea, Captain. He has somehow been able to cloak his movements from me."
"You told me you could track him. So now you're telling me we have no idea what he's doing?" He could feel the beginnings of a tension head ache started just above his eyes.
"I am sorry, Captain, but he's gaining more and more control over his suit as time progresses. I wouldn't worry though. I'm sure he's fine." Central's voice came over the bridge in its usual calming tone.
"I'm not worried about him. He can take care of himself, he always has. What I'm concerned about is this ship. Whatever he's doing down there is effecting, and is going to continue to effect what happens up here."
"Then maybe you shouldn't have sent him. You, of all people, know what he's like."
"Yes, driven, focused, at times heartless. Only he was the one person that could have pulled this off, and he did get Lieutenant Commander Prey back in one piece, with all the samples you needed." Captain Prey stopped. "How is that coming, by the way?"
"My study of these creatures hasn't come to a stage where I can give any conclusive data on them. But rest assured, when I know something, so will you."
"Thank you Central. How long before we can move?"
"It will be no sooner than seventy eight minutes, and that's with cutting into some safety margins. This vessel does not move as quickly as the ships you grew up on, Captain. To move a small planet takes very delicate timing and maneuver. The slightest miscalculation and we could bump into the gravity well of one of the planets in this system and that would get really messy really fast."
"Get it done as soon as you can. I'll take care of things on my end." Getting back to his chair, the Captain spun to face Lieutenant Commander Prey.
"I need you to get down to the hangar and make sure your men are ready. If this thing goes south, we might need you and your boys to run some interference for us before we can jump out system."
"On my way Captain." With that, Lieutenant Commander Joshua Prey disappeared from the bridge in a burst of mind numbing speed.
"At least I have one of my senior officers who can take orders well." Captain Prey mused.
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"Why don't you ever just do what you're told?" Tamar fumed.
"Would you like me if I did?"
"I do not like you, at least not right now." She spun away from him and marched into the gloom, deeper into the tunnel.
"The easiest and fastest way down is at the very back of this tunnel. Why are you wasting time trying to find another way?" Malachi asked from behind her.
"Because you're right, again. You're always right, and it's getting annoying. I want to be right for once in this relationship, oops." Tamar covered her mouth with her hand, but the words were already out. Why had she even said that?
"What relationship? We don't have a relationship, do we?" Malachi's hand on her shoulder brought Tamar to a sudden stop.
"No, not like that. I mean, our working relationship." Tamar hoped Malachi wouldn't press her on the subject. When he didn't, she kept walking.
"So, what is this method of us getting underground?" She asked, looking over her shoulder at Malachi.
"It's a hole, a big hole."
"What?" Tamar stopped again in her tracks.
"It's the hole they used to convey the ore from underground to the surface. It used to have a lift in it. I guess it still does, but without power, it's no use to us."
"Then how is a huge hole in the ground going to help us? If you don't know, I'll tell you, cats don't fly."
"And you won't need to. All you need to do is fall. I'm going to drop you off the edge, jump in after you, and catch you before you hit bottom. At least that's the plan." Tamar looked at him in horror, not knowing whether he was serious or not.
"Are you out of your mind?"
"I have been accused on an occasion or two."
"You're kidding, right?"
"Yep." Malachi walked past Tamar and continued into the darkness.
"Why you, you almost had me that time." She jumped onto his back, pushed the side of his head, and toppled him off his feet.
They rolled over and over. First Tamar would be on top growling and hissing into Malachi's face, then Malachi would grab her and flip over, pinning her to the ground. Tamar had the time of her life, here for the first time, she was with someone she trusted, now more than anyone else in her life and increasing every day. She could cut loose with him, be who she was, and he excepted that, welcomed it even. She didn't have to subdue her cat around him, Tamar could be who she was, the cat who had some girl mixed in, not who everyone had wanted, the girl mixed with a little cat.
Tamar reveled in his glorious laugh, something she hadn't heard nearly enough of. They came to a stop with Malachi hovering over her, his body held off of hers by his powerful arms. Her mind snapped shut on a single thought, one that held powerful meaning for her. In his arms she felt safe, beneath him, between his arms she felt like nothing could touch her. He wouldn't let it. For the first time in her life, she didn't have to fight. She could let her guard down and be what she always wanted to be, a girl. A girl who didn't have to fight, a feminine woman, instead of the killing machine they'd tried to turn her into.
"What's wrong? I didn't hurt you, did I?" Malachi's eyes began to search over her, seeing the tears in her eyes.
"No silly, I'm fine. You have no idea what you've done to me, do you?" Her legs wrapped around his waist and she pulled herself up to him, seeing that he wasn't coming down to her.
"Not really, no." His confused expression made Tamar giggle.
"You've made my world safe, that's what."
"Isn't that my job?"
"You are the only man on this planet who would say that to me. You know that?"
"I can't help that, but I wish I could." He dropped onto his side beside her and she snuggled into chest.
"For me, you're the only one that counts." She rested her head against his chest and felt him wince.
"We aren't doing this." He pushed her away and stood, his back to him.
"Doing what?" Tamar asked.
"Don't go stupid on me Tamar, you know exactly what you were just doing, and to answer your question, we can't."
"Why not? Don't you find me attractive?" She stood, walked away from him, and spun around to face him.
"It's not that. You are a very beautiful woman, it's just..." His voice trailed off.
"Then what is it?" She needed to know what was wrong.
"I can't touch you, okay? It only seems like I'm touching you, that's only because this suit is skin tight. I haven't felt anything in over two hundred years, not the sun on my skin, or the wind in my hair, nothing. It's not fair to you to be in any kind of relationship with someone who can't really feel anything."
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