Chapter One

“CONTACT! WE have contact!”

The starship bucked under the first photon torpedo blast.

The sudden jolt threw Ti’s crew off balance, their hands grabbing for anything to steady themselves. The sound of blaring alarms filled the air as red lights flashed all around them, casting an eerie glow over the Bridge. Amidst the chaos, his crew attempted to relay urgent reports, but their voices were drowned out by the deafening screech of the alarm.

“Captain!”

Ti had the misfortune of standing rather than sitting, and as the ship lurched under his feet, he was thrown forward, his head bouncing off the captain’s chair arm. Down to his knees he went, his hand still on the chair.

He stared at the floor, stars dancing before his eyes, and not the ones he normally watched on the viewing screen from his chair. Dizziness washed over him, and he blinked.

Something felt off in the region over his eye, and there was an insistent buzzing in his ears. Reality slowed as he reached up—the need to check that he was okay was suddenly quite insistent. Wetness coated his fingers. Lowering his hand, he stared the green blood that shone brilliantly against his white skin.

There was a tingling, followed by warmth close to his hairline. The vision in one eye was blurry. Concussion most likely. Possible orbital fracture. Closed head wound?

There was no pain yet, but Ti knew it was coming.

“Direct hit to Medical!”

Reality snapped back as reports were shouted across the Bridge. Wiping the blood on his pant leg, he forced himself to his feet, trying to focus. A direct hit to Medical was concerning, but at least it wasn’t their warp engines.

“Shields. Shields up!”

Collapsing in the captain’s chair, Ti glared at his first officer. “Contact? From who? Where? Scans showed nothing in the vicinity.”

“I know, Captain! Trying to pinpoint enemy vessel now. They must be cloaked. That’s the best explanation I have.”

Ti snarled at the huge viewing screen in front of him. There was a flash of light directly in front and slightly above them in space.

“Incoming!”

another officer yelled.

His ship lurched violently as they were hit again, slamming Ti against the back of his chair. Pain exploded in his head. Now the pain shows up.

“Shields holding. I repeat, shields holding,”

another officer yelled.

Aggravated, Ti wiped away the blood dripping into his eye. He was perfectly aware head wounds bled incessantly, but it was distracting. The pain he could ignore easily, but his vision was concerning and possibly indicative of a greater problem. A problem he did not have time to deal with right then, and possibly not the facilities to address it in, either.

He hissed at the viewing screen. Who would dare attack an Onfre ship? After the last war they were part of, most species had enough common sense to avoid his kind.

No one wanted what happened to the Tah’Narians to happen to them. So, who would dare? Think. Ignore the pain and think. If only it was that simple. He was beginning to feel groggy.

“Incoming!”

Think, Ti. A cloaked ship…. A cloak could hide a ship from sight, but the use of proton weapons resulted in exhaust trails, and… and that would give the enemy ship away! There should be an energy surge before weapons were fired too, helping them pinpoint the coordinates of the weapons launched. That’s it!

His starship rocked as it took another direct hit.

“Helm. Recalibrate our micro singularity to detect the proton exhaust trails,”

Ti commanded. “Then adjust scans to pick up any distortions caused by gravitational lensing to visually detect movement on the viewing screen.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Helm, come about,”

Ti said, glaring at the screen. “Course heading 149-003.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Recalibration done, Captain. Sensors adjusted.”

“How are shields?” Ti asked.

“Holding.”

“As soon as you triangulate the trail, open fire on that ship. Use plasma torpedoes, and if there is a breach on the enemy ship, direct thalaron radiation lasers right at the breach,” Ti said.

One of his officers whistled quietly at his command.

“Exactly.”

Ti meant business. Other races should know the Onfre were not afraid to use chemical warfare if pushed. And attacking an Onfre ship that was minding its own business was asking for trouble, in his opinion.

“Incoming! And I’ve got them, sir! Plasma torpedoes ready, as are the thalaron radiation lasers,”

an officer shouted.

“Dispersal pattern Sierra,”

Ti said. “And… fire.”

“Target hit, sir. Moderate damage to their foreword shields.”

Ti’s ship rocked again as the enemy returned fire.

“Damage control teams to Deck Ten,”

an officer yelled.

“Shields holding, sir. Minor damage to secondary hull but no breach.”

“Course 148, mock 017,” Ti said.

“Engineering to Bridge. Starboard power coupling is down. Containment field activated,”

someone from Engineering yelled over the comms.

“Acknowledged,”

Ti answered to Engineering. “Helm? Continue to fire.”

“Breach. Enemy ship has been breached! Their cloak has been disrupted. Gods, it’s space pirates!”

There you are. I see you. “Fire thalaron radiation lasers now!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Yes! Enemy ship is in retreat. Do we pursue?”

“Captain, antimatter fields are failing. If I can’t stabilize them, I will have to dump the core,”

Engineering declared over comms.

“Understood. Helm, we are unable to pursue,”

Ti said. “Send distress signals. Now.”

“Captain, I’ve managed to stabilize the antimatter fields. We don’t have to dump the core, but I’m going to need time to repair the dilithium crystal converter assembly. Warp is offline. At best all I can give you is impulse.”

“Which means we’re getting nowhere fast. Acknowledged, Engineering. Out,” Ti said.

“No breaches anywhere, sir,”

Helm said.

“Thank you,”

Ti said. The last thing they needed was a breach, but especially not a warp core breach. Warp core—or warp core reactor—was the common designation for the main energy reactor powering the propulsion system on warp-capable starships.

Which meant if they had to dump the core and it exploded, impulse power would not be enough to get their ship far enough away from impact.

“There wasn’t a hull breach, but there is damage to Medical. Substantial damage. Equipment is malfunctioning, and there are injuries being reported all over the ship,”

an officer said.

“Fatalities?” Ti asked.

“None reported so far.”

Also excellent news. “But no way to treat the more significant injuries, am I correct?”

“Yes, Captain. And some are definitely significant and may require surgery. Ah, you are bleeding too.”

“I’m aware.”

“Are you badly injured?”

“I am, but I am not incapacitated.”

“I didn’t think you were, Captain. I am concerned, though.”

“Noted.”

Ti sighed silently.

The use of cloaking devices was always precarious and troublesome, but there were methods to counteract their deceptive invisibility. Nevertheless, it galled Ti to admit he had been caught off guard.

Despite the intricate sensors on board, they had failed to pick up any trace of another vessel within the vicinity—a fact that stung Ti’s pride and a mistake he could not afford to commit again.

“Why do you think they attacked us?”

an officer asked Ti.

“Most likely they hoped to scavenge our vessel and steal our tech after killing the crew. That’s their main income, outside of ransoming those they’ve kidnapped,” Ti said.

“They must be desperate if they’re attacking an Onfre ship,”

someone else said.

“I agree. Our leadership needs to be informed of this, which I shall do. If the pirates are getting this desperate, it does not bode well.”

Ti started to get up but collapsed back into his captain’s chair.

The dizziness was getting harder to ignore, but he did.

“Captain? Maybe you should go get checked out.”

“I will eventually.”

If the equipment was nonoperational in Medical, what was the point?

Sitting in his chair, Ti poured over the incoming reports. The prospect of traveling home on impulse power filled him with frustration. It would take an eternity, and they already had wounded crew members to attend to.

Ti gingerly touched his head where a throbbing pain persisted, a reminder of the recent battle. Though his vision had cleared, one eye still remained slightly out of focus, and a dull ache pulsed through his skull.

He knew he should be concerned, but in the midst of chaos there was little time to worry about personal injuries. For now, all that mattered was getting his crew home safely.

“Scan to see if there is another Onfre ship in the vicinity,” Ti said.

“Already have, sir. There is not.”

He seriously doubted another race would answer his distress call either.

“Keep scanning.”

“Yes, sir.”

Engineering and Medical both checked in with reports.

Another officer approached Ti’s chair. “Captain, I am truly—”

Another alarm sounded through the ship. Ti gritted his teeth as the alarm played havoc with his headache. “Report!” What now?

“Sir! Scans are picking up another distortion caused by gravitational lensing. There is movement out there!”

This time Ti didn’t bother hiding his reaction. He hissed at the viewing screen. “Another ship that is cloaked?”

“Yes, Captain! And I have incoming!”

He braced himself as the lights flashed on the viewing screen moments before his ship took yet another hit. Surely the pirate ship hadn’t circled back to attack again. It had been damaged. Why weren’t they running off with their tails between their legs?

“Captain! Unidentified spaceship also inbound.”

Just what I do not need. Had the pirate spaceship found backup? “Identify that inbound ship and lock target on the cloaked one when you can. Fire at will on only the cloaked one.”

He had, after all, sent out a distress signal. As unlikely as it was, maybe help was coming.

“Oh gods, it’s Tah’Narian. Inbound spaceship is Tah’Narian!”

Ti briefly closed his eyes. Of course it was. Of all the spaceships that could have been in the region, it had to be that one. They were not coming to help—at least, not help him.

He opened his eyes again as the small dot on the viewing screen steadily increased in size as the Tah’Narian spaceship drew closer. “Well, it is a good day to die.”

Every Onfre on the Bridge made a low, deep growling sound—which came from vibrating their larynx—in agreement. Their ship might be damaged, and they might be outnumbered, but they would go down fighting.

“So much for a treaty,”

one of the officers mumbled.

“I—”

Ti forgot whatever he was going to say as the Tah’Narian ship fired… on the cloaked ship. He blinked in surprise. Well now, he certainly had not been expecting that.

As he and his crew watched, the cloak dropped, exposing the pirate ship they had battled earlier. But within seconds, it went to warp and disappeared. Of course it did. It might be brave enough to take on the Onfre, but the Onfre and the Tah’Narians? No. Very few species were idiotic enough to do such.

One threat down. One left to go.

“Captain?”

“Hold,”

Ti snapped.

“We are being commed, sir.”

“Open the channel and put it on the viewing screen.”

Ti stood in front of his captain’s chair and straightened his uniform jacket.

“Onfre ship. We received your distress call and come in peace. My name is Captain Keyno Shou of the starship Algol. May we be of assistance?”

Ti kept his features blank. Every race knew what white hair on a Tah’Narian represented. Whoever this Captain Keyno Shou was, he was part of the royal family of Tah’Nar.