Out beyond the orbit of the cold, dead world of Pluto there was a distortion, a slight rippling in the fabric of space. A sudden flare of light then it appeared, radiating excess energy in a wave from its silvery hull as it emerged from slip-space, the other-realm that connected all places in the universe. It floated in the near void of space, and then the heavy cruiser Liberty's Sword began to move forward, picking up speed quickly. Sitting there in the captain's chair Commander Laurel D'ken felt nervousness and a bit of fear, emotions that the blue haired woman kept firmly hidden from the others on the bridge. As Chief Engineer and the acting commanding officer of this vessel she was expected to know what she was doing, to show confidence and calm competence. Of course, where Laurel really wanted to be was down in her engine room, monitoring the repaired engine and keeping an eye on all the other systems they had patched up. Which reminded her…. "Weapons status and optical cloak?" she asked calmly. "Right, give me a moment," Lieutenant Alex Keron murmured as he bent over his work station. The black haired young man worked a moment, studying the unfamiliar panel dubiously. "Weapons systems all green," he declared. A moment's pause, "I think. The cloak has been engaged, we're now invisible to any line of sight targeting." "Thank you," Laurel said before sighing to herself softly. Most of her engineering team had been picked for repair skills, not to be members of a bridge crew. Alex could disassemble and then reassemble a weapons mount in less than a standard day, but operating a bridge's tactical station was barely within his abilities. "We're on our projected course for Sol-3," Lieutenant Sam C'tarn said from the helm. His brown beard was sprinkled with gray and he looked like an old man, but the balding Sam was the best drive systems analyst in the fleet. He had upgraded the engines on their little trip to this backward world, so much so that she was still just a bit nervous about it. "Communications?" Laurel asked, fidgeting a bit nervously in her seat, the tall young woman trying not to tower over her crew by standing. She tugged at the hem of her black uniform jacket, matching the black pants and glossy boots they all wore. "The main communications array has been restored," Ensign Kayla Shen said coolly. "However," the pink haired girl checked her board before adding with a frown, "we're still not picking up any of the FTL bands from the planet." "But do they have FTL communications?" Alex asked curiously. "I've heard it's a pretty primitive world," he worried. "An interesting choice for the princess to visit," Sam noted. 'I'm glad he's not repeating any of the rumors about why the princess left,' Laurel thought to herself. "As long as they're not using axes and clubs," she said dryly, "I'm sure the princess can manage." Laurel paused, "Send this message targeted to the Galactic Patrol vessel: This is Empire vessel Liberty's Sword. We request mission status report, please." "Message sent," Kayla said crisply, "no reply yet." "Continue to send," Laurel instructed, "hopefully we'll get a response from them." She turned to the helm, "ETA to Sol-3?" "Using normal-space drive about two hours," Sam said. He smiled slightly, "We could do a series of small warp jumps, though." "The system's too cluttered with small masses, including a few artificial satellites," Laurel reminded them, "The last report that Galactic Patrol vessel sent mentioned a collision with one, and I'm not taking any chances." `Princess, I pray that you're all right,' Lauren thought to herself as she watched the viewscreen, `because if you're not the Queen will be most upset.' The Liberty's Sword had nearly reached the planet before they began getting telemetry from the Galactic Patrol cruiser. "Ah, ma'am," Kayla blinked, "could you take a look at this?" Laurel got up from her seat, the slim blue haired woman walking over to the communications station. She read the display where Kayla pointed and felt her lips curling up in an amused smile, "It's sitting on the bottom of a lake?" "Looks like it," Kayla was smiling. "Alex?" Laurel turned to the boy at the tactical station, "I want you to use your scanners to get us some information on that ship. How damaged is it? How deep down? All that stuff." "That I can go," Alex smiled happily. He worked his controls while shaking his head and muttering, "Bottom of a lake! Ha!" "What are you thinking?" Sam asked curiously. "Like an engineer," Laurel shrugged. She ran fingers through her short blue hair, "If we can salvage or repair the cruiser we'd certainly be better off." "Not bad," Sam agreed. He looked out at the blue green world turning below them, "You might want Alex to turn his scanners to finding the Princess, too." "Ooops," Laurel looked sheepish. "I heard," Alex said before she could give the order, "I'm calibrating for the Princess' unique bio readings now." Laurel contacted the engine room and asked for her second in command, "Lucas?" "Yes, ma'am?" the smooth voice replied, and Laurel could easily imagine the golden haired Magi. Like all of her species she was rake thin, but possessed of senses far beyond most species. "Get a mix of engineering staff ready for a mission," Laurel ordered her, "we've got a possible salvage operation. Ready them with aquatic gear, too." "Got it," Lucas Anais answered, already sounding like she was considering whom would be on the team. "Can you send me scan data on location and the condition of the vessel in question?" she asked distractedly. "I'm routing the information to you know," Laurel said, pressing a few keys on her chair's arm. "Anything else you need?" she asked. "Got it," Lucas began to laugh softly as she read some of the information. "I'm looking forward to meeting the pilot who did that," she noted before disconnecting. "Ma'am," Alex spoke up from his tactical station, "I've got a lock on the princess' bio-signature, but I picked up something else that might interest you." "What is it?" Laurel finally had to ask him, despite her knowing somehow that this wasn't going to be good news. "I did a scan of the major landmasses," Alex said nervously, "and originally I set the sweep to any races inhabiting the Empire, figuring the Princess would be easy to spot. I got over a thousand hits before I narrowed the focus to the royal genome." Laurel hesitated, "And how large of an area did you scan?" "Only one of their major cities," Alex said. There was a long beat of silence as the bridge crew digested that piece of information. Finally Kayla said what was on everyone's mind right then, "If there's that many in one one of their cities, how many are planet wide?" "Later," Lauren ordered. She looked at Alex, "You've got a solid lock? I'd like to slip-transit her up here, if possible." "Lock confirmed," Alex said, "but she's very near to another individual. If we do it we'll probably have to pull them both up." "I'm going to the transit roon," Laurel got up from her chair. Before Sam could protest she said, "The ship's commanding officer should be there to greet her. You have the bridge, Sam." "Ma'am," Sam saluted before the older man uncomfortably took the seat she vacated. Laurel steped into the shaft and ordered, "Level theta." She dropped, collored bands showing her location until invisible fields of energy slowed her fall, bringing her to a halt at the correct level. She strode down the hall into the transit chamber, a large domed hall. "Bridge?" she asked. "Here, Captain," Alex said, "transfering scan lock to the chamber." A faint glow appeared in the chamber walls, a soft purple light. "Initiate slip-transit on targeted beings," Laurel said, "now!" The purple ligfht seemed to concentrate in the center of the chamber, then it was replaced by two figures floating to the floor. Laurel recognized the black haired Princess Jenna almost immediately, but the sandy haired young man at her side was a stranger to her. "Princess," Laurel bowed slightly, "I am Commander Laurel D'ken of the heavy cruiser Liberty's Sword. Welcome aboard." The sandy haired young man's face went an odd color, then she dropped to her knees and was violently sick on the chamber's floor. "Oops," Laurel sighed.
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