The deep-space stealth troop transport shuttle would be arriving any second now. One had never been aboard the Voyager before. Neither had his team. He remembered a conversation he couldn't help but overhear in passing when he was in basic training; two then-Lieutenants apparently went on a little ride as part of a duty assignment rotation. They both wanted to stay aboard that ship. They thought the Voyager was a beautiful ship, capable of holding her ground. Officially considered a heavy cruiser, most people unofficially considered it a battle-cruiser. . . He had been aboard a handful of ships during his ten years of active duty service in special operations. Scout ships, light cruisers, science ships, tactical cruisers. . . All of those ships saw some degree of action. All of those ships held their ground well with their respective variable tactical capability. He quickly respected every sailor he got an opportunity to work with on each ship he was deployed to because of operational necessity, and the ships they worked on.
He was absolutely focused on ensuring his team's mission ended successfully, but he was still notably curious about the Voyager.
The sun inched below the horizon. Night came in what seemed like seconds.
His radio clicked on using a particular frequency and classified encoding that is only accessible to special operators, “Voyager to Alpha One. We have a phase target on your group. Standby to board. Over.”
“Copy, Voyager. Alpha team standing by.”
USSC Voyager
The right-wing phase officer signaled the front of the bridge. The Intra-ship Communications officer nodded acknowledgment and then promptly opened a public announcement channel to the rest of the ship.
“All hands: this is the bridge. Prepare to board the Shadows.”
Every man and woman on board knew what that meant. Even the civilians.
The Captain turned to his navigator, “ETA to our next?”
The calculations were swift coming. “Thirteen hours if we maintain maximum translight, sir,”
The Captain had already made his decision on how fast his ship was going to travel once their special passengers come on board. When the Shadows enter the bridge, the Chief of the Boat (C.O.B.) would announce that the tactical command is with the team's leader. This would be the case until the mission was determined to be complete.
The intra-ship comm line's display lit up a light blue. She answered promptly. Ten seconds later, she hung up the handset and turned around. “Captain, the Shadows are onboard!”
The Shadows immediately sealed off all but the primary entrance to the shuttle bay to non-essential personnel and then began setting up their gear inside shuttle bay one.
“X.O. Get us underway.” The Captain commanded.
“Eye, sir. Tactical. Set your alert status to Blue.” The X.O. commanded. “Helm. Set your new course to intercept point. Set your speed to maximum translight.”
The X.O.'s orders were carried out with haste.
*****
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