David Gonzales

A woman was sitting in a relaxed way on the comms desk of the main cabin. She looked like a normal human, except her arms were very long and flexible, almost like an elephant's trunk. This typical characteristic of her made it easier for her to handle the comms desk that had several switches and buttons at various angles and levels.

She was a sergeant and was a crew member of Voyager S-11 spaceship of IGT Fed. Their spaceship was currently in the Canis Major Dwarf galaxy which was 25 thousand light years away from Earth.

The women jumped from her chair all of a sudden when she received an encrypted signal. She quickly decoded the message and listened to it.

"This is Space Station X51. We are being attacked by unidentified crafts. I repeat Space Station X51 is being attacked by unidentified crafts. Requesting immediate assistance. Over."

The spaceship Voyager S-11 had started her voyage about a week ago from IGT Fed's base at Earth; and they were already running into trouble. The women got goose bumps all over her body when she heard the message. It was a distress signal sent by the Space Station which happened to be nearby.

She turned her head to give this news to the Captain but he was not in his seat. "Where is the Captain?" She shouted and asked to the sergeants who were inside the main cabin.

"He went to the engineering deck to make sure everything is running smoothly." One of the sergeants replied.

Then she ran at the top of her speed in search of the captain. Though she could have used the comms to make a ship wide announcement which would take less time to reach the captain, she didn't want to scare the crews inside the ship by announcing the news to everyone.

After about a minute she finally reached in front of the man who had dark hair and brown eyes. He looked very fit and smart in his Captain's uniform.

"What is it, sergeant Glee?" David asked in a rather calm voice.

Glee was gasping for air because she was running at her top speed. She managed to say few sentences while breathing heavily, "Captain, it is a bad news. I just received a distress signal from Space Station X51. They said they were being attacked by some strange crafts. They were requesting assistance."

David started to rush towards the main cabin and Glee followed him.

"Do we know the coordinates of that Station?" David asked the sergeant as he was walking.

Glee confidently answered him, "Yes sir, the signal was traced back to the following coordinate." Glee handed a portable screen to David. The screen's function was like that of a traditional tablet, only better. It looked like a transparent screen but had several wonderful functions up its sleeve.

David nodded and handed back the screen to Glee. "Send the coordinates to me. And quickly find out how many crews were there in that Space Station."

"Yes sir." Then Glee ran at her top speed again, leaving the Captain behind. She reached to her desk and quickly contacted the nearest IGT Fed base to get the information about that Station and also to let them know about the distress signal.

"If they were already being attacked when they sent a distress signal, my guess is we might be too late by the time we reach there." David was now mumbling to himself trying to think of the best possible course of action.

"Taking the Voyager there might be too dangerous. We do not know who or what attacked them. And flying in blind might cause harm to this ship as well. Not to mention we have 250 crews onboard." David reached the main cabin while contemplating about the situation.

David stopped in front of a bald headed man. "Lieutenant Bowen, we have a situation."

Bowen was second in command of the Voyager S-11. He had a good stature and had the capacity to instill fear among the opponents with his fierce look.

Bowen got up from his seat and waited for the Captain to elaborate the situation.

"Our ship received a distress signal from the Space Station X51. They were attacked and were requesting immediate assistance. My guess is we might have to arrange a rescue mission immediately." David shared his plan with the Lieutenant.

David further elaborated the plan, "We might have to take shuttles instead of this ship. We will go in, check around, and rescue the survivors, if any. We will take soldiers in the shuttle in case we encounter whatever that attacked them. And we return immediately once we rescue the crews."

Glee came rushing to the Captain's side and informed, "Captain, I just confirmed with the base that Space Station X51 had a total of 25 crews. And I have to add, only few of them were trained fighters."

"How many shuttles do we have onboard?" David looked in the direction of the Lieutenant and asked.

Bowen immediately answered, "We have two Path Finders and three Xeno Crafts."

"Do we have any Battle Crafts?" David thought that if the attackers were still lurking around then a battle craft might have an advantage over other shuttles.

"Yes sir, we have two medium sized Battle Crafts. They can accommodate up to 30 people each." Bowen replied in a confident tone.

David thought for a while and asked "How many soldiers do you think we might need for this rescue mission?"

Bowen had a strong military background and thus, David would often consult with Bowen for situations like this.

"In my opinion, 30 soldiers might be enough. We can send 15 soldiers each in the two Battle Crafts. And we can bring in the stranded crews in those same crafts."

After hearing Bowen, David turned to Glee and ordered her, "Ask the fighter squads to gear up and be ready for a rescue mission. Ask them to report to the ship's hanger within 5 minutes."

"Yes sir." Glee ran back to her desk and prepared to make the announcement.

Glee used the ship wide communication line and announced, "Fighter Squad number 1 and 2, I have the Captain's order for you. Please get ready for a rescue mission. There was an attack on the Space Station X51 and the status of the crews is currently unknown. Please prepare yourself for the worst and gear up. You are required to report to the ship's hanger within 5 minutes."

Suddenly there was commotion in the ship after the announcement. Most of the crew had never encountered such attacks in their voyages. Most of the unexplored planets that they would travel to would not have any signs of life or they would be at a very early stage of evolution. And such attacks would barely happen.

So when they heard that a Space Station, which would be far from the surface of the planet, was attacked, they immediately knew that they were attacked by beings with higher level of intelligence and technological advancement.

The Fighter Squad 1 and 2 immediately went to gear themselves up.

David took a sharp breath and said "Lieutenant, I'll lead this rescue mission from the field itself. And until I return, I trust this ship with you."

David himself was not bad at fighting. He not only had good leadership qualities but was also trained for situations like this.

When David was about to storm out of the main cabin to gear himself up, Bowen stopped him and made a request, "Captain, I want to volunteer myself for this mission. It is not advisable for a Captain to leave his ship while still in the middle of the expedition."

Bowen had a point. But David was afraid that if Bowen was to lead this rescue mission, and if they were to come face to face with the attackers, then he would focus on destroying the attackers rather than rescuing the stranded crew.

David looked at Bowen with determination and said, "No Bowen, I need you to stay in this ship and be prepared for anything. I'll keep reporting everything and I need you here to make preparations accordingly."

"Yes sir" Bowen saluted David and immediately assumed the position of acting Captain.

David walked out of the cabin towards the gear room. Few crew members came rushing with comms, spacesuit and laser guns. He inserted the comms device in his ear and slipped into the spacesuit.

The spacesuit had thrusters on palms and feet to make it easier to navigate in space. There was a button on the neck of the spacesuit which enabled and disabled the face shield. Once the face shield was up, the oxygen would start to flow.

After wearing the spacesuit, David placed the laser gun on his waist and headed for the hanger. When he reached there all the soldiers had already gathered up and were standing in an attentive position.

David stood in front of them and said in a loud and confident voice, "Gentlemen, we could not make any further contact with the attacked Space Station. According to the message left by them, they were attacked by unidentified crafts."

He looked at his soldiers who were ready for the battle and continued, "As the planet they were studying was an unexplored one, we must assume that the attackers are not aware of the IGT Fed and its rules. And it will come as no surprise if they attack us as well."

David pointed at the Battle Crafts beside them and said, "We are taking these two Battle Crafts with us. The drill is simple. We go to the coordinate of that Station, check for survivors, and bring them back. We do not go searching for the attackers." Then he asked in a stern voice, "Am I clear?"

All the soldiers answered at once, "Yes sir."

"Good. Let's get our birds flying." David smiled and headed towards one of the Battle Craft.