By: Chris Gilman
Chapter 1
Prologue
The blackness of space surrounded him as he sat there in the cockpit of his ship. With his power plant off line, engines fragged, weapons off line, and his hull leaking air, he would soon die. He could say that he had lived a full life. He had been a father and husband, as well as a trusted member and commander of the Stellar Patrol. But that was all a long time ago it seamed. Hell, it seemed like a lifetime ago. Back when he still had a home planet and he still had a family living there.
It had all changed only three months ago when a strange ship appeared out of no where and started bombing the planet. He had been out on patrol when the call came in to him, but he had fired all his power to his engines to get home when the mayday was received. It was a wasted effort though. He got there to find only the wreckage of an entire planet blown to pieces. His friends, family, and comrades dead, and with the death of his planet he was the last of the Stellar Patrol alive. Normally there would have been many other ships out, but all ships had been recalled for new system upgrades. His ship being a prototype already had these and he had taken it out to test them on a real space patrol, now that ship had finally failed him. He had spent these months looking for others who might have escaped, but never found any others.
Then only this morning he had been attacked while he cruised along through space. A ship with the size, and firepower of a corvette and the speed of a fighter came out of nowhere and opened up at him with everything it had. The dogfight had lasted over three hours and he had finally been able to win against the unknown attacker, but at a high cost. Before giving up the ghost the unknown attacker had scored one too many hits, and with the last ounce of power he had blown his attacker to bits with his ac-mags and pulse cannons.
His engines were fried, his life support was failing fast with the ruptures in his hull, and his communication system was toast. He was surviving off of his emergency supplies in his suit, but they couldn’t last much longer. When he died the Stellar Patrol would die with him since he had never found any others who had survived. Someone probably had killed those who might have survived, someone like his mysterious attacker there, and now he was all that was left.
Sitting there he felt a tear roll down his face and mat his fur as he activated the pilot’s log for what would be the last time. "Pilot’s log. My air is almost out and this will be my final entry. If anyone finds my body I only request that it be sent into the star Zenter. There I might find a final rest in my home system with the others that died there in the attack against our planet. I would also request, if it is not too much trouble, that you never forget the Stellar Patrol and what it tried to do. We saw ourselves as guardians of peace and justice, bringing order to those who have none, but others apparently saw us as too much of a threat to their power, and now with my death they have killed us all. May the gods have mercy on all of our souls, but may they damn those who did this to the darkest reaches of the seven hells." He flicks the switch and the recorder stops. With that he sits back and closes his eyes to sleep once more and maybe never awaken.
***
Chapter 1
"Careful Rob, that ship looks like it is about to fall apart."
"Yea, I know. But these damages look new, and there might be someone alive in there."
In the EVA control room a lone figure sits at a screen and watches the lone suited figure cross the void of space to the crippled and dying ship. The white wolf sitting there is somewhat curious as he thinks he sees a Stellar Patrol squadron symbol on the wing, but it could just be an effect of the light on the damage the small craft has sustained. It couldn’t be a Stellar Patrol ship; some great force had wiped out their entire planet. Just who, nobody knew and no one was claiming the credit. Besides the ship is too big to be a fighter, but also too small to be one of their capitol ships.
Suddenly the voice comes over the com once again, "Hey Jet, call the medbay and tell them to have a full team ready when we haul this in. The pilot looks to still be alive, barely." The wolf starts tapping keys faster than most people can follow by eye and soon a medical team is on its way to the docking bay. "Hey Jet, you ain’t going to believe this."
"Try me," the wolf growls in reply. When will that bunny learn to just do his job fast without a lot of talk.
"Well, it seems our new guest is a fleet commander of the Stellar Patrol." The silence can be felt over the radio as Jet’s jaw drops in disbelief. "Did you here me, we actually found a survivor of the patrol, but looks like someone may have gotten to him first."
Jet shakes his head to recover from the shock and starts typing again. "Hey, you got that cable hooked up yet or not."
"Yea, just hooked on. Reel us in."
With a strong tap he activates the recovery tether and the wreck starts to move towards the mining carrier. Within five minutes the craft is settled to the deck and a small rescue crew is swarming over it. When the canopy explosives fail to ignite they call for a cutting torch and cut the canopy off. One crewmember climbs into the cockpit and pulls the helmet off of the pilot and checks for a pulse. Finding one he pulls a belt knife, cuts the straps, and pulls him out of the seat. That is to say he tries to pull him up and out, the pilot is far too large for the small rescue member to lift. The small fox calls for others and it takes four crewmembers to lift the unconscious mountain lion out of the cockpit. Jet can’t tell, but the pilot seems to be at least seven feet tall if not more. He can’t see much though, as he is whisked to the waiting stretcher and carried to medical.
The door behind him opens and a rabbit walks in, still wearing the pressure suit, but carrying his helmet. "Well Jet, looks like we might have saved him." He sets the helmet down and with some help starts to peel off the suit. "His suit had just ran out of air and he was unconscious from lack of oxygen, but he should live. Got a look at his name tag too, you know who we just rescued?" At a shake from the wolf he continues, "We just rescued Commander Highrock." At the look of surprise on the wolf’s face the rabbit gives a slow nod. "We just rescued the ‘Goliath’ of the first Special Forces team, the ‘Lionhearts’. What could he have run into out here that could do that to his ship? And what is that ship anyway, I’ve never seen a fighter that big, and it ain’t a capitol ship obviously, it only has the small cockpit for the pilot and a jump seat in the back where a passenger can ride."
The wolf appears deep in thought for a few minutes then reply’s, "I’m not sure that I want to know. If the friends of his enemy come around, I wouldn’t want to be in the sector." He grabs up a clipboard and heads for the door. "I got to go fill the captain in on this. He is going to shit a brick when I tell him this." With that he closes the door and heads for the captain’s ready room.
***
"Come." A large man sits behind the desk going over a small report when Jet comes in. Looking up he stands to his full height of seven feet and welcomes him, "Ah, Jet, so what can you tell me about our new visitor." He motions Jet to a seat, which he takes with much relief.
"Well captain, it seems we have a large fighter which has been recovered, just how much of it is salvageable, I don’t know yet. The pilot is alive and this might surprise you. It wasn’t just any ship, but a Stellar Petrol ship that we just salvaged." At this information the captain’s face turns pure white as if this could be bad news.
"Do we know who the pilot is?" He almost seems to be more worried over the name of the pilot than over who could have done this to a SP ship.
"Yes sir, it’s Commander Highrock, the one they call ‘Goliath’." Without another word the big human behind the desk jumps to his feet and runs out the door with Jet hot on his tail. He knows the captain well enough to not expect an explanation, but he is curious.
The captain heads for the nearest lift, "Medical!" he hollers out as the doors close. In seconds the lift stops and before the doors even open all the way he is on the move again. Crewmen in the isles quickly jump out of the way as the captain runs straight for medical and runs through the main doors.
There on a table in a small anti room is the large pilot of the strange ship. A scanner runs over his body, monitoring for any dangers from the internal wounds the buffeting he got in the dogfight caused. The captain walks in slowly and stands next to the large feline lying there on the bed. Slowly he reaches down and picks up the huge hand from where it lays and holds it in his grasp.
"Well, well, my old friend. What have you gotten yourself into now? The last I saw of you, you were still a rookie pilot for the Stellar Patrol. Looks like your infinite luck finally run out on you and you used the last of it in that we found you in time." Jet comes to the door and watches this as he catches his breath. How does the captain know Highrock? Without even turning the captain speaks out once more as he hooks a chair to sit next to the bed in, for he plans for a long vigil. "I know you are there Jet, and yes, I know Joel Highrock. Come in and pull up a chair and I might even tell you about how I know him."
Jet is surprised at the captain’s offer and he is not going to turn down this offer. He snags another chair and closes the door as he sits against it to keep others out as the captain tells his story. Soon as he settles the captain starts.
"About twenty years ago, when we were both young, I was flying a freighter for the Stellar Patrol. Cadet Highrock then, flew my wing as escort many times. Ever since his days at the academy he was called Goliath for his size and soon as he got his wings he took it as his callsign."
"On more than one time he saved my ass when pirates actually tried to highjack my shipment. He was considered the best pilot in the long history of the service. For some reason that could never be figured out by the medical staff, he was able to withstand the force of over twelve-g’s, and his reactions were faster than could be measured by instrumentation. One time this big pirate cruiser actually ignored him and came straight at me. Managed to hit my lightly armored and shielded freighter square in the engines. Had to dump the drive before it went crit and I was stranded there, a real sitting duck. Right about that time the pirate found out why you never ignore the SP fighters when you want the cargo they protect. With one shot he put a round right through the pilot’s window when the shields phased as he fired and killed the pirate instantly. Then he hooked on with a small tractor beam and pulled my ship to the spacedock around Central. That day he earned my trust eternal and the promise that if he ever needed me I would be there."
"Well after about a year he was pulled off of escort duty and placed with the regular fighting wings. About the same time I inherited this old mining carrier and went into business myself. Over all these years I have done well and so has he. He attained the highest rank in the elite special forces of the Lionhearts. But through it all we stayed in contact, though we haven’t actually seen each other in over five years, and I never forgot my promise to him. When I heard that some unknown force destroyed his entire planet, I thought that my chance to repay him had passed from my grasp. Now that we have found him I plan to do everything in my power to fulfill my promise of all those years ago."
As the captain returns to his silent vigil Jet thinks over what he has just been told. He has a feeling that what is to come might be dangerous, but hell, who wants to live forever. He gets up and leaves the captain to his friend as he returns to the bridge to fill the crew in on what has happened. Looks pass his way as he leaves the medbay, but he pays them no mind and continues on deep in thought.
***
Sounds and light slowly return to him and he realizes that he isn’t dead. He should be, there wasn’t much air left in his suit, yet here he is. Little by little more information seeps into his brain and opening his eyes he sees the familiar ceiling of a medbay, then he hears a slight snoring sound coming from his right. Slowly rolling his head to the right he sees a human sleeping in a chair right beside him but he wasn’t quite clear headed enough to identify him. Not knowing where he was or if he was with friends or not, he slowly tried to get up and wound up landing with a loud thud on the floor. His stirring activated the alarm and his landing definitely wasn’t too quiet. So he wasn’t surprised when the human came around the bed and knelt before him. A hand came down into his view and it helped him back up onto the bed.
"Now Joel, you should know better then that when on my ship. I won’t have you hurting yourself on my ship after we spent so much time and effort saving your sorry ass and that piece of junk you call a ship." That voice triggered something in the large feline and he looked back at the large human.
About 7 feet tall, 300 pounds, brown hair, green eyes, it couldn’t be. "What’s the matter Stunty, don’t remember your old friend Conner?" The human is laughing at the look on the big cat as he lays him back down on the bed
Slowly and weakly he begins to speak. "Conner, how did you find me out here?"
The big human returns to his seat and smiles. "Simple, we picked up the tell tale signs of a battle and thought we could salvage something for our ships, and look what we found. A SP fighter, though a big one, and its pilot, who just happens to be just as big. How you doing you big lug."
The cat’s eyes close and a tear can be seen flowing down his face. "How am I doing, Conner. I just had almost everyone I know get killed three months ago and all you can ask me is that." His eyes open and he stares at the human with a cold stare. "I am the last of the Stellar Patrol and it might have been better if you had let me die out there. Whoever destroyed my planet is obviously looking to finish the job and if I had died he would have succeeded. Just put me back in my craft and jettison me, I don’t want to bring you or your people any trouble."
The human leans forward and grabs the weak cat’s hand in his. "I will never abandon a friend, and I would never forget the Stellar Patrol for what they have done for all those who seek an honest living. I owed you a debt and I plan to see it paid." With a pause he studies the cat’s eyes and sees the wonder of what is to come there. "My home is now your home and this ship has just taken a new job. The New Hope is now your flagship and we will find those who killed all of our friends."
Joel looks at his friend, he can’t believe what he is hearing. "Conner, I appreciate it, but this old rust box wouldn’t last a day in a battle against what I may have to fight."
Conner holds up and hand to stop him. "Hey, don’t knock my ship till you see her in action. You thought I had pirate problems before, imagine how it is now that I carry very rare ores to planets that need them. This old tug has been attacked many times over the years and she has quite a few improvements in her. I even have a small wing of fighters for close-in support." He stops at the dour look on his friend, "I know they aren’t exactly legal, but they were all acquired by salvage and they are now at your disposal. I have already talked to the crew and they are with me on this. We will back you one hundred and ten percent." The cat still tries to shake his head in a negative manner, he can’t let his life long friend get involved and get killed.
Conner though has different ideas. He clutches the hand he holds in an old tradition and pulls his belt knife. With a quick move he slices both of their hands and lets the blood pool between them. "As your blood brother I enact the right of blood revenge. Those who fight you are now my enemies and they will face us both. May they have the sense to run for the farthest galaxy before we get to them, and may the gods confine them to the depths of hell if they don’t."
At these words the cat’s eyes grow big in surprise. "You can’t do this, you are not one of the patrol."
"No, but if I remember your laws right, a member of the family can take the fight as his own if he wants and the originator has no choice but to accept. And if you remember all those years ago, you will remember we are blood brothers many times over for having shared life and death in battle. Now, do you accept my aid?"
With the speech of the captain still fresh in his ears he slowly nods his head. The captain is right, he has no choice but to accept. But there is one thing he won’t allow, "I will accept your offer on one condition. That neither of us is above the rank of the other. We are both now commanders in the new Stellar Patrol which we must form to fight those who would see us destroyed."
Gripping his hand tighter Conner responds, "You could not honor me greater in any other way." Releasing his hand and sitting back down he watches as Joel returns to slumber once more.
***
Jet and Rob were sitting watch on the bridge, talking about what had happened over the last few days. They had actually stayed in the same system after finding Highrock and hearing what had happened to him, why?
Rob looked over the radar screen once more and then turned to Jet. "So, what do you think the captain has in mind for us. Highrock has been up and climbing all over that scrap hulk of his we hauled in. Captain even ordered that no one goes near that hanger bay until he or the Commander says so. What could be so important about that damn wreck?"
Jet keeps his eyes on his screens while he answers, "Hell if I know. The captain and Highrock are the only ones who go in there, captain won’t even give me a whisper of what is going on. Only that we are going to be helping Highrock for an undetermined length of time. He did tell me though that we should start preparing to refit the mining ships and upgrading our defense fighters. If I didn’t know any better I would think that we are going into battle."
Rob just stares at him till his screens start to beep at him. Returning his attention to them he starts hitting keys. Hitting his transmit key he specks into his mike, "Airboss, do you have anybody outside?"
The reply isn’t what he wanted to hear, "Negative, all of our birds are accounted for, why?"
His blood runs cold when he realizes they have problems, "Cause we got an inbound bogey making a straight line towards us, and they ain’t transmitting an IFF signal." Hitting another set of keys he sets off the alarm and starts yelling into his headset, "All hands report to battle stations, we have a code red alert. Inbound unidentified bogey may be hostile. This is not a drill. All pilots report to your fighters and launch when ready."
***
Joel stands up from under his fighter and examines his work. Maybe not as pretty as when he first built it, but it was finally ready to fight again. He would make the prototype look different now that there was no SP board of design to encroach on his freedom of creativity. He starts putting the tools away when he hears the alarm blaring and hears the report from the bridge.
Without even thinking he jumps into his cockpit and brings the systems online, everything comes up green and go. Hitting the canopy closure he triggers his emergency override of the fighter bay doors. Without waiting for them to open all the way his huge fighter roars out soon as they are open enough, barely.
When clear of the doors he runs a check on his weapons and finds them ready to defend him, and his new friends. Finally putting his helmet on he brings up his HUD and locates the closing ship. ‘Hmm, standard heavy fighter, no IFF, wonder who it could be?’ Clicking onto a wide band frequency he transmits, "Incoming ship, this will be your only warning, identify yourself or I will open fire." The response is about what he expected.
His radar lights up with a missile launch from the incoming ship. He gives a little grin, ‘Always the same reply.’ He hits one of the buttons on his panel and the missile explodes long before it endangers the New Hope. Good thing all SP ships had that little feature, a simple transmitter that activated the warheads of all missiles to detonate when they got too close unless they had SP codes in them.
He thrust his throttle to full and wrenches his controls into a little maneuver that no other living being could match. His readout started climbing, even the inertial compensators could not compensate for how fast he changed directions. His opponent actually tried to match him and learned why no one else could do that tight a loop.
The incoming ship started to wander and it looked like the pilot had passed out from the g’s and the ship was now dead stick. Lining the opponent up in the crosshairs of his sight he let loose with an Inhibitor cannon which fried all the onboard electronics and killed the engine. The enemy was now dead in space. ‘Far to easy.’
He grinned once more to himself as he pulled close by, activated his tractor beam, and started pulling the stranded fighter back to the New Hope. Maybe now he could get some answers, like why his friends and family had to die.
Clicking over to the Hope’s frequency he calls the Airboss. "This is Goliath, have a security detail ready to take our new guest into custody when I land."
"You got it boss, opening your bay doors now."
Joel sees the bay doors open and cuts his speed. Slowing down to a crawl he brings both ships in and sets them down gently.
***
The huge fighter and its smaller prisoner land as gently as a fly on the wall. The security detail surrounds the captive fighter as Joel pops his canopy and climbs out. Sliding down the front stabilizer he lands on the deck gently for such a large cat. He strides over to the other fighter and grabbing an edge of the canopy rips it off the smaller fighter’s frame. The small suited figure lays there, unmoving, still unconscious from trying to handle over twelve-g’s.
He glares down at the pilot and removes the helmet. The head of a small female squirrel is reveled, wearing some type of headband. Reaching down he removes the headband and picks her up. He motions over two medical personnel and deposits her on a stretcher.
"I want to be notified the moment she wakens," he says to the security personnel. The chief looks at him a little wary, "I will notify the captain and he might notify you, sir," but Joel isn’t in a mood for any crap. He disarms the small fox with one swift move and grabbing the chief he picks him up by the collar, causing many of the other security personnel to raise their weapons at him in alarm. They hold their fire for Highrock has not hurt the fox yet, just giving him ample reason to see things his way.
A loud voice breaks the deadlock, "Every one just stand down and relax right now, or you answer to me!" The security personnel lower their weapons immediately at the command and the chief looks like he just shit his pants, but Joel is still holding him a good two feet off the floor while looking at the speaker. Conner steps forward, "That means you too Joel." Slowly Joel lowers the chief to the floor where he collapses into a heap, looks like he fainted. The captain looks around at those in the bay. He pulls out his com unit, "Jet, patch me into the ship wide pa system."
"Yes, sir," after a pause, "Go ahead sir."
"Attention all hands, this is the captain speaking. I am only going to say this once, if you don’t like it we’ll dump you at the first base we get to. All orders issued by Commander Highrock count as if they come from me on this ship. I want no other incidents of him being dishonored or being treated in any manner that you would not treat me on this ship. That is all."
He looks down at the chief who is being revived by the team medic. He kneels down so he can talk to the fox, "You are one lucky fool Brian." At the dumb look on the fox’s face he continues, "I recommend you never piss Goliath off like that again, last time I checked he held the title of unarmed combat champion in at least four different styles in the patrol."
"Six actually Captain," Joel replies.
"Okay, six. Brian, I even have a new order for you. Twice a week you and your entire crew are going to be trained by Joel here. Now are we going to all be good friends or what?" The look on his face tells that this is an order, not a request.
The small fox looks from the captain to the commander and sticks out his hand slowly to the big cat. "Sure boss, sure." Then giving a little grin, "After what the Commander just did, I would say we could use the training if he can teach us to fight that good. No hard feelings?"
Joel shakes his hand a few times and replies, "No, no, just been under far too much stress these past few months, sorry about the scare there, chief."
Conner looks on and is pleased that it turned out so well. It could have been a lot worse if they had fired on Joel. Their stun weapons were not calibrated for someone of his mass and they would only serve to piss him off. He couldn’t afford to have half of his security team in the medbay because they tried to bite off more then they could chew by taking on someone twice their size. Maybe things will work out in the end.
***
The medical personnel aren’t too happy with the armed security personnel standing outside their doors, but the captain ordered it and they can’t do anything about it. The small squirrel was still out from her flight, what could she have been thinking to try to match such a maneuver, the forces could have killed her outright. There were some funny readings from her brain though, almost as if it was trying to broadcast something to her own body and was failing.
***
Joel looked at the headband under a microscope, interesting. From his knowledge of electronics he knew what this might be for, and he didn’t like the answer. With these someone could cause an entire planet to work for them the way they wanted. It was some kind of mind control device, but who built it.
The door behind him opens and he turns to see who has entered. He grins when he sees Conner walking toward him. "So, you find out anything about our new friend by examining that little device?"
Turning back to the desk and leaning back in his chair he speaks up, "Yes. She wasn’t trying to attack us of her own free will." Turning to see his friend’s reaction to this news he continues, "This head band seems to be used to send messages straight into the brain and control the body attached. She attacked because someone forced her to, and I have a feeling that these same bands may have been used on those who attacked Central. All I want now is the person responsible for the creation of these devices."
Conner looks a little worried at what he has just heard; an army of mind controlled people, not a good idea to think about. Pulling out a pad he flips through a few pages. "I found some stuff out about our guest and her plane. Seems she is Cherain military, and as far as they know she and her fighter disappeared on a routine mission two months ago. Now I didn’t let anyone know that we have found her, but I did a little more in depth looking. Seems in the Cherain sector and several sectors surrounding it there have been quite a few disappearances. Not just military either, but several civilian craft too. Everything from small scout fighters, to some escort carriers, and even a battleship. They have just disappeared without a trace and until now, no one has seen them and lived to tell about it at least. Seems the militaries involved haven’t made this public because they don’t want to scare people."
Joel looks down at the small headband that lies on his desk, how many people were controlled by similar devices.
The squawk of the captain’s com unit startles him out of his thoughts. "This is the captain."
Brian can be clearly heard on the other side, "Captain report to medbay level one and if Highrock is with you he better come to." The sound in his voice is unnerving.
"What’s wrong Brian?"
"Sir, our guest just woke up and she is less than happy about being here." The sound of something smashing in the background can be heard over the link followed by a screaming.
Giving a grimace as he and Joel head for the door and replies, "We’re on our way. ETA three minutes."
***
They arrive to quite a scene. The security personnel are huddled outside the medbay and trying to stay out of the way of small arms fire from inside. Joel and Conner join Brian by the door. "How the hell did she get her hands on that weapon?"
Without even turning his gaze he answers, "You wouldn’t believe me if I told you sir, though I didn’t know you could hide a weapon there."
Joel looks at Brian with an amused smirk on his face, "Conner, you did say she way from the Cherain sector didn’t you?" At a nod from Conner he laughs, "Well, there is your problem and I can believe she had that hidden there. Whoever was controlling her probably didn’t even know about it." At the look of confusion on the two faces before him he answers their unasked question. "She’s an agent of their secret police, I have known quite a few and they will do whatever they have to if it means they can have a weapon on their being. The weapons tend to fold up and then they can be inserted anywhere they can fit and that is one place people tend not to search."
Motioning them away from the door he takes a quick glance in and is rewarded by a round of blaster fire to the doorframe. "This is Commander Highrock of the Stellar Patrol. Throw down your weapon and I can guarantee that you won’t be harmed."
A small feminine voice answers back, "Yeah right, and I own all suns in the galaxy. Everyone knows that the Stellar Patrol was destroyed only a month ago. Their entire planet was blown to pieces by an unknown attacker and they are all dead."
"Have you ever heard of who I claim to be?" He hopes this works out right.
"Yeah, but who in all the planets hasn’t?"
"Do you know what he looks like?"
"No more then anyone else would from seeing the vids of his accomplishments."
"Well if you hold your fire for one minute I will step out of cover, unarmed, and you can see that I am really the Goliath of legend."
A blaster answers him, "Slowly, hands first, one wrong move and I don’t care who you claim to be, I will turn you into paste on the far wall."
Slowly he reaches his hands into the field of view of the room’s lone occupant. When a blast doesn’t blow his hands off he slowly comes from around the corner. Now standing fully exposed in the doorway he sees the small female huddled behind an overturned desk and she looks like she means business.
Now that she can see him fully her eyes grow wide at the SP flight suit he wears, complete with rank and name tabs. She drops the weapon and slowly stands up from her hiding place with her hands up. He slowly lowers his hands, but stays where he is.
"Now do you believe who I am," he asks her with a twinkle in his eyes as he tries not to laugh at the small creature standing across the room, shaking with terror as she realizes her mistake.
Quickly nodding her head she stands there shivering. "Please don’t hurt me. The last thing I remember is being in my ship patrolling Cherain space for signs of the missing ships. Now I am here, and I don’t know what is going on," her voice is almost a wail as he listened to her. "I don’t want to hurt people, I just want my ship and my clothes and I will be gone."
He slowly shakes is head and she seems to figure out she must have done something if this member of the SP wouldn’t let her go. "But I haven’t done anything."
Joel turns and whispers out to Conner, "Clear the hallway and keep everyone away. I am going to have a nice long chat with our little friend here." At an affirmative sound from his friend he hit the doorpad and closed it behind him, locking everyone else out till he was done. Seeing the door close the squirrel starts to fidget even more, much like prey in the same room as the predator.
Joel slowly walks forward to a desk and sits down. He motions her over and waves his hand at a chair. "Please, sit. You will be more comfortable while we talk if you sit because this might take awhile." When she doesn’t move he shrugs his shoulders, "Makes no difference to me. As to why I won’t let you leave, you are the only link I have to those I believe killed my planet. Your ship was last seen two months ago and you were written off as dead and your ship lost. Then, this morning your ship came tearing down on us and refused to acknowledge our signals. I launched and intercepted your ship with my fighter, when I went into a maneuver you tried to follow," he lets out a little chuckle, "you actually lasted longer then most would have. That maneuver pulls over twelve-g’s, and last time I checked I was the only one who could do it without passing out. Anyway, I hit your ship with a special weapon that knocked out all electrical systems onboard and simply tractored you back here. When I landed we found you sitting in the cockpit unconscious. You were wearing a headband that when I examined it closer was some kind of mind control device made with no technology that I have ever seen. I pulled you out and sent you here to the medical bay where they have been monitoring you since. That is till you woke and produced that little toy of yours, oh, and I know you are not just your common fighter pilot, so who are you?"
She looks at him and then stands straight and salutes him. "Sir, I am Lieutenant Chilan of the Cherain Special Forces. I was on assignment to see if it was our own navy stealing our ships when this strange force apparently caught me. It must have taken my ship and used me with this mind control device you have described." She seems to relax and even walks over to sit in front of him. "So, you say that my service thinks I am dead?" At his nod she continues, "Very well then, I want to help you to find these people who would do such a thing. Most importantly, I want revenge for this insult." At this her eyes are blazing with fire and he can see the determination in her face.
Holding out his hand for her to shake he replies, "Welcome aboard the New Hope Lieutenant, and welcome to the new Stellar Patrol." She takes his hand and gives it a firm shake. If this keeps up the Stellar Patrol will be reborn in no time.
She releases his hand and salutes him. "Happy to be aboard sir."