Da’Toth frowned at her com pad. Something in the images she studied had grabbed her attention. She stared at the stars in the images on her hand held computer, they felt familiar somehow.
“Captain, the computer has recognized the phenomenon we first encountered.” The Drazi trainee stated. “It was a rare form of cosmic radiation.”
“Really?” The captain asked, “Well that's a relief.” The human stated almost cheerily.
The first officer's head snapped up at her captain’s words. Da’Toth had known Marcus for years, and she could tell by looking at him that the information was anything but relieving. And the way he spoke reminded the alien of a previous mission, one in which they knew they were being eavesdropped on.
The Shok’Nali scanned the bridge, the faces of the trainees looked relieved, and even the veteran Rangers looked more relaxed since the identity of the first one they saw was “discovered.” Da’Toth always wondered what it was about the first ones that terrified the younger… It suddenly hit her.
She tapped a series of orders into her com pad. She overheard conversation as she watched the image change. Finally her computer displayed what she hoped she’d see. Her triumph was betrayed as another result she searched for came back negative, followed by another, and again another.
Marcus was skimming the display, reading through the various conversations Ahel was eavesdropping upon. He studied the information again before the sensor trainee spoke up. The sudden identification of the “phenomenon” seemed uniquely timed.
“Really?” Marcus stated, his suspicions hadn't faded; However he felt the need to disassemble, “Well that's a relief.”
The captain could see relief settle over his crew. The truth of his doubts would remain his secret to share. He didn't know what these first ones could do, and so he’d have to proceed carefully. Marcus’ attention was grabbed by a message from a small ship.
"Attention ships. There is a greater threat approaching from the" -Palpatine felt for the ripples in the Force- "Galactic Center. We must stand together or be destroyed. As this shuttle is lightly armed, I... suggest... you protect it." |
|---|
The captain’s eyebrows rose,
This one is used to issuing commands. Marcus thought. He had already placed his crew at battlestations. The experienced rangers either ran their trainees through drills or relaxed; Either through meditation or more mundane means. Either way his ship was combat ready.
“Captain a moment?” A voice asked softly.
Marcus moved his eyes to his first officer, the captain nodded and joined her. “Yes?” He asked.
“I think I know where we are.” Marcus kept his face still and motioned her to continue. She showed him the computers displayed location, including an estimated date over two centuries earlier then it should be. “The date is an estimation based on recorded galactic drift.”
“That would explain our communication difficulties.” Marcus said.
“It gets worse,” The Narn entered a command and the display changed to a number of star scapes. The first officer’s finger touched one of the images. “Minbar;” The finger moved to the next images, “Zhabar, Pa’ri, Aicha;” Her voice grew sad as her finger hovered over the final image. “Narn.”
Marcus bit the inside of his cheek to prevent a frown. He wasn't intimately familiar with most of those systems. However, the star identified as Minbar was a different classification of the star he remembered. “Did you identify any star properly?”
“Only two appear correct,” The Shok’Nali stated. “Centuari Prime, and Sol.”
Kuro
