“Ladies alemen, We’re going home!” Vitor addressed his remaining crew.

  The people broke out in relieved cheers and shouts of joy. Vitor was gd to see this as he had heard grumbling from some people about never being allowed to leave this pce.

  Even Chief Engineer Parson was out of his medically induced a, almost pletely healed, and joining in on the celebration.

  Despite the joy of their immi departure, Vitor couldn’t help but wi just how few of his people had survived. That brought about some ugly feelings that had spilled over toward Kane, and more retly, Dr. Nova Lund. That anger was misdirected and he k, but he hadn’t realized that until his enter with Dr. Lund where he had stepped over the line. And he wasn’t the only one. Fri had been building up within his crew and the locals retly. Nothing had spilled over into violence, but it had been on edge for weeks.

  Kane just made an easy scapegoat as his anger grew with each passihat the STO failed to rescue them or even look into their disappearance.

  Part of that, he knew, was due to the nature of their destine work. That didn’t make a ck of a rescue attempt any more patable for him. Wheurned, he was going to demand an answer. sidering his position withiO was likely over with wheurned, he had nothing to lose.

  Vitor waited a few minutes for the celebrations to settle down before clearing his throat to get everyone's attention. “I expect everyoo be on their best behavior on whatever ship our hosts have mao line up for us. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, Captain!” came the drilled chorus of replies.

  “Pack up anything you want to take with you, we leave in the m.”

  ***

  Alexander hurried to get Yulia off to css while trying not to appear to be hurrying. That task was made more difficult as Yulia dragged her feet, literally in some cases. He didn’t chastise the girl though, he knew she set and angry and he didn’t want to add more fuel to that fire.

  Before leaving the , he motioned for Nancy.

  “What I do for you, Alex?”

  “ you make sure to keep Yulia occupied? She’s still mad that I have to leave. I’m worried she’ll get worse the longer I’m gone.”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem, but I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Most kids tend to overreact wheed with situations they have no trol over. My you, Miguel, had a full-blowdown when he was told we were moving away from our old home. He adjusted quickly to his new enviro and now he’s married with his own child and doing quite well the st time I spoke with him.”

  “He’s not here?”

  She shook her head. “No, he moved back to the STO when he came of age. While he adjusted to the ge, he never much liked it. I tried to talk him into ing here for more opportunities after you arrived, but he's adamant that he is happy in his role.” She shrugged. “Sometimes all you do is your best.”

  Alexander smiled at the woman, although, her words really weren’t as f as she thought they might be. If Alexander’s best amouo a child who hated their situation so much that they took the first opportunity to leave and live as some entry-level grunt, he would have felt like a plete failure of a parent. He didn’t mention that to Nancy though.

  Leaving the behind, Alexander hurried down the hall as he radioed Branston. “Are the flight checks plete?”

  “They are, but you really should be doing these yourself, Alex,” the man responded rather tersely over the radio.

  Alexander sighed internally. He liked Branston, the man was an amazing pilot and an all-around likable person. When it came to anything flight-reted, he teo be a real stickler for all the rules, which was not necessarily a bad thing in his line of work. It was just that he could e off as a bit testy if things weren’t doly by the STO book.

  “I would if I had time, you know that. I’ll be out there in half an hour with uests. Thanks again for doing this for me.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” the man replied before the radio cut out.

  Alexander’s stop was the area where Krieger and his people were staying. When he arrived, he found them all lined up in two rows behind the Captain. As soon as Alexander entered, Krieger saluted, followed by the rest. Although he saw a few who seemed relut to do so.

  “My crew and I wish to express our thanks for saving our lives and g for our wounded.” His salute dropped, followed by the rest of his crew. “We are ready to depart.”

  Not sure what to think of the spectacle, Alexander simply nodded and motioned for them to follow him. He didn’t miss Damien or the guards that the man had situated along their route. He doubted anyone would have overlooked them, Damien wasly subtle with their pt.

  The Head of Security was waiting for them at the exit. “We o check their luggage.”

  Alexander was annoyed by the man’s btant disrespect for the STO survivors, but he didn’t step in and stop the search. He had given Damien overall trol of the facility security and while petty, the Head of Security was not overstepping any ws that they had agreed upon. He also didn’t want to undermihe man’s authority because that could cause issues down the line.

  That being said, Alexander was going to hold the man to the same standards for everyone, whether he liked them or not. If he started seeing favoritism being shown to certain people, Damien was going to be out of a job very quickly. With that in mind, Alexander motioned for the man to join him off to the side where he could have a private word with him.

  “What?” the man asked in annoyance, probably thinking Alexander was going to berate him for his as here.

  “If yoing to go to this length for visitors, I expect it to be applied to all visitors…”

  The man narrowed his eyes. “I assume you are referring to Captain Shall?”

  Alexander didn’t ahe question, instead, he turned back to the gathered STO people and waited. If Damien wao be an ass, so could he. While the STO had been nosy, they hadn’t done anything that broke the rules or tried to go where they didn’t belong. At least he had a reason to suspect Shall of being up to no good. The man had been spotted three times outside his ste room. If there was any time to make a move it would be while he was away.

  Holy, Alexander didn’t know if the man hadn’t realized he was under surveilnce or if he thought he was being circumspect about what he to. Either way, it didn’t matter. Alexander hadn’t bothered upgrading the security oe room because if the man was just going to break in, the less he damaged the better.

  It wasn’t like there was anything worth stealing in there anyway. All of the expensive pos like his puter chips were in use and the medical supplies and equipment had been moved to the new medical area. That left raw materials, foodstuffs, and the other odds and ends that Alexander had purchased before ing out here. So if the man did break into there and somehow mao take everything, Alexander would probably be out a few millios at most.

  The search was pleted with only a few annoyed gres and grumbles, but nothing was found. It was as Alexander had expected. The STO people had been annoying, but they hadn’t done anything wrong. Getting this result was a huge win for Alexander. It humbled Damien, while also clearing the STO survivors, a win-win in his book.

  The group exited the facility with the air masks Alexander had provided for them. They had a serious but cautiously optimistic mood as they made their way across the tarmac.

  The wind was blowing today, so visibility was about half of what it normally was as the sand blew through the air, causing the survivors to squint or cover their eyes as they hurried to the shuttle.

  “That’s our ride to orbit?” Krieger asked in . “Is that thing even flight-worthy?”

  “I know it doesn’t look like much, Captain, but it was pletely rebuilt a few months ago. It is perfectly safe.”

  The man said something under his breath that Alexander didn’t catch, but he motioned for his people to pick up the pace.

  Soon Alexander was ihe cargo hold of the shuttle. Additional chairs had been attached where the cargo racks lihe floor so everyone could strap in for the flight.

  “Do you mind if I join the pilot in the cockpit?” Krieger asked.

  “I don’t mind if you join me, Captain. It’ll be a bit of a tight fit though.”

  “Yoing to fly us?”

  “Yup.” Alexander moved through the bulkhead and airlock that separated the cargo area from the cockpit, ign the Captain’s fbbergasted look. sidering his size, they had been forced to modify the cockpit to aodate him. It wasn’t so bad, the chair had simply been removed and Alexander was forced to sit on the floor.

  The trols werely at an ideal pt at that height, but his arms were more than long enough to make up for it.

  The Captain paused in the doorway and shook his head before sliding into the co-pilot’s seat.

  While the ship was in takeoff mode, Alexaill went through the pre-flight checks, quickly moving through the ss as Krieger watched in surprise.

  “I’ll let you che the passengers,” Alexander said as he finished his flight check.

  The man nodded and pressed the inter button. “Is everyone secure?”

  “Everyone’s secure, Captain,” came the reply over the inter.

  Alexander nodded and pressed the button that would close the rear ramp. He also turned on the purge system to ehere was no dust or sand in the seals.

  Ohe light turned green and the pressure ihe cargo area normalized, he got them off the ground.

  The takeoff was a bit bumpy due to the wind, but the ship quickly leveled out as it streaked toward orbit.

  Thanks to his omnidireal vision, Alexander got to see Krieger’s white-knuckled grip on the arms of his chair. He didn’t think he was flying that badly, but the man’s ent made him reevaluate his skills as a pilot.

  “This your first time flying?”

  “Yes, why?” he asked, genuinely curious as to what gave it away.

  The man forced a smile on his face. “Normally with passengers, it’s on to take a less aggressive ast and dest.”

  “Ah. Sorry about that.” Alexander slowed the ship down and the Captain rexed a little. “Thanks for the tip.”

  “Don’t mention it,” he muttered as he rubbed his cheeks and worked his jaw. “I don’t think I’ve experienced g forces like that since basic.”

  “You don’t experience g forces on the Dawn?”

  Krieger chuckled. “If I pushed the dawn past half a g acceleration, it meant things had gotten out of my trol. And even then, one point five g’s was more than enough.”

  While he had dohh iion of the vessel himself, it was always good to get a sed firmation. It appeared he was right, STO ships did not have iial dampening. If they hadn’t put that sort of teology on an experimental ship like Dawn, it did. That didn’t mean it wasn’t possible though, and Alexander let a part of his mind wo the problem while he piloted the shuttle.

  It wasn’t long until they approached the station and Krieger got his first look at how badly damaged Epsilon’s Dawn really was. The view was only possible thanks to the floodlights bathing the light-abs hull. Eve looked like a bck hole in space except for where missing ks of armor exposed the interior spaces of the ship.

  The man shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “I fot just how discerting it is looking at the ship from the outside. I’m surprised anyone survived giveate of the ship. It’ll be iing to hear what the STO wants to do about towing it back to Varlen.”

  “Oh, they won’t have to do anything, Captain. I pn on towing it back.”

  “You? Wait, does that mean the ship we’re returning on is yours?”

  Instead of answering the man’s question, Alexander poio a ship docked to the far side of the station as it came into view. “You’ll be aboard Eden’s Fury, our new frigate.”

  The ship used as the base for the Fury was an ugly ship. Then again, it was never desigo be pretty, it was designed for war. He wasn’t sure exactly how old the inal hull of the Fury was, but he did find a date stamp of 2205 on one of the structural rails.

  If that date was correct, it was kind of fitting sidering Eden’s End was built in 2201. He seemed to have a knack for finding the oldest things humanity still had kig around around the gaxy a them.

  “I reize that ship! That was the one you had defending the shipyard. It was just a hunk of scrap, how did you repair it in five months?”

  “A lot of hard work and dedicated people,” Alexander responded, not giving away the fact that he hadn’t simply fixed the ship, but that he had rebuilt it from the ground up and with automation, not a massive number of workers.

  Uhe ugly, worn, pitted, and rusted exterior that the ship had before, it now sported a blue and white color scheme with B.S.E. EDEN’S FURY in bold lettering down each side. The transponder was on as well, ing through the shuttle's puter.

  “A rather bold statement,” Captain Krieger said as he sat ba his seat.

  Alexander simply gri that as he maneuvered the shuttle into the frigate's hangar. The nding was a bit rougher than he would have liked but nothing was damaged. “Wele to your new home for the few weeks, Captain. I probably don’t have to tell you this, but I will anyway. If you try to steal my ship or assault the crew, it won’t end well.”

  “I’m not a fool, Mr. Kane. Nor am I so boorish that I would spit in the eye of my savior. We may have had our disagreements on the ground, but you have my word that my people will be on their best behavior.”

  He would have to accept that. Not that Alexander hadn’t already takeions to slow or stop any mutiny. Krieger didn’t o know that though.

  It didn’t take long to get the STO people settled. Ohey were, Alexander went to speak to Captain Na. He found the man on the bridge, going through some quick simutions to ehey uood the ship's trols fully before leaving.

  The man turo him. “It’s not too te to call this off.”

  “We’ve beehis,” Alexander sighed. “While I agree this isn’t the best choice, it's better than keeping the STO people here and waiting for the p to erupt.”

  “Very well, I uand your reasoning for doing this, even if I don’t quite agree. As we’ve already spoken on this issue, so I will n it up again.”

  Alexahahe man. While Mingyu had been the most vocal detractor ing the STO people and their ship back to Varlen, he hadn’t been the only oo tell Alexahat he was being stupid.

  Dr. Lund said he should just let the STO up their own mess. And while Damien wahe STO survivone, he didn’t believe it was their responsibility to carry that burden.

  Alexander agreed with all of them. The problem was, that he them back along with the ship to make an impression oO.

  If his goal had been to get the STO survivors off of Eden’s End as fast as possible, he would have tacted the sed stealth ship when it had flown through the system. He hadn’t because the tactical significe of being able to detect their ships was worth far more than a bit of fri.

  The reason he was bringing them baow was twofold. He didn’t want the STO poking around Eden’s End. If he could prevent that, all the better, and he was hoping to make es. Bringing back a very expeealth ship and the surviving crew would certainly buy him some goodwill or so he hoped.

  With his che done, he took the shuttle over to the Dawn and docked it to the airlock. He powered the shuttle down and got to work running the power cable from the Dawn to the shuttle’s reactor.

  It was a multi-hour-long process for Alexao ect the power to the Epsilon’s Dawn’s flight trol systems, main puter, and jump drive. All of which would be o make a successful jump. The rest of the systems had already been disected to prevent another possible i like wheook the jump puter’s code. Speaking of, he had to restore the code and put in pce a block that prevehe code from activating its defensive systems.

  They weren’t going to use the jump mitigation during the trip, but Alexander didn’t want the STO to know he knew about it or had taken it. The additional code that prevehe defensive code from activating would erase itself when Alexander removed the power from the ship after they arrived.

  The whole process of running power would have been much easier if the Dawn had a shuttle hangar. Even though Dawn was rger than the Fury, the ship had no hangar and no shuttle. All of that space was dedicated to ons and an impressive array of sensors for a ship its size.

  He powered up the system and checked to ehe dual superputers didn’t uny defensive codes before he radioed Na.

  Alexander read the firmation response from Na on his tablet and watched through the attached cameras oerior of the ship as the Fury moved into position. Large robotic arms extended out from the towing attat Alexander had designed for this mission.

  The eight arms secured themselves around the Dawn and held it tightly. With that, Alexander released the dog cmp and the Epsilon’s Dawn slid free of the station as the Fury pulsed its outer thrusters.

  It was time to take their uninvited guests home.