Part 5: Unto the Breach       The tension in the conference room was high. Admiral Jackson, Admiral Winfield, and Captain Jamison sat on three different sides of a circular table. At its center was a holoprojector, currently on standby. There was a knock at the door. "Enter." said Winfield. J.T. Marsh entered the room and saluted the three seated officers. "At ease J.T., have a seat." Winfield motioned to one of two vacant seats across from him. As J.T. sat down he spoke, "So what is the occasion, Admiral?" "We would prefer to wait until our last guest shows before we discuss business." interjected Admiral Jackson. As if on cue, another knock at the door was heard and Sterling walked into the room. After he saluted, he was instructed to sit next to J.T. With both of them seated, Jackson began the briefing. "Gentlemen, this briefing is officially classified, anything discussed in this room is not to be shared with anyone under any circumstances." J.T. and Sterling both nodded in approval and Jackson continued, "Approximately 24 hours ago, earth time, exofleet command received a signal from deep space. Its only message was a set of coordinates just outside of Chaos orbit. When a patrol was dispatched to investigate we only found a small container floating in space. The material it was made of suggests that it is of Eltorian origin." Sterling raised his hand. "Yes, Trooper?" asked Jackson. "What was inside it, sir?" inquired Sterling. "A message," started Winfield, "A message that requested a meeting with us to discuss a possible peaceful negotiation to end the war. The message pod also contained this." Winfield pulled a small ring from his pocket. It was shiny, with a golden hue, and had an inverted triangle at its center. Arranged around the triangle in a circle were a number of diamond shapes. "Some type of ring?" asked J.T. "Not just a ring," corrected Sterling, "its the symbol of the High Council." "Then the ring's presence is intended to be some type of gesture of good faith?" asked Jamison. "Those rings are only issued to members of the high council, they rarely remove them because it is a visible indication of their power. They cannot be duplicated." said Sterling. "Anything can be duplicated." said J.T., smelling a trap. "Not these rings, each is hand crafted for the owner with no two being alike save for the symbol. Attempted duplication, for whatever the reason, is punishable by death." Sterling eyed the ring for a moment then looked at Winfield, "All of this was in the files I put into the exofleet data banks. You didn't bring me here just to verify this information, did you?" Winfield took in a deep breath and let it out again, "No we didn't, the message came with instructions that it be delivered to you." Sterling said nothing at first, as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Why you?" asked J.T. "I thought you were their most wanted." "As did I," conceded Sterling, "It appears we have another player in the game." "I'm afraid you just lost me." said Jamison. "I had assumed that the Eltorian High Council was unanimous in its decision to invade the sol system, this message clearly indicates that this is not true. That being the case, I'm wondering how much of the Eltorian fleet we really are facing." mused Sterling "There is only one way to find out." stated Winfield "But I can't order you to investigate this, its your decision." "So I'm going alone then?" questioned Sterling. "I'll take that to mean you will do it." continued Winfield, "But no, Able Squad under the command of Commander Marsh, will accompany you. If either of you have personal business to tie up, I suggest you do so in the next 48 hours. Dismissed."       As Sterling and J.T. entered the hall, Sterling asked a question, "When are you going to tell the squad?" "In hour or so, I have to take care of something first. In the meantime let them relax." said J.T. "Understood, Commander Marsh." Sterling saluted and walked away. J.T. then made his way through the corridors of the ship to a specific section of personnel quarters, stopping along the way to pick up something from his own quarters. He rapped lightly on the door, a muffled voice said, "Come in." J.T. opened the door and saw Colleen O'Reilly blow drying her hair next to her bed. She had just gotten out of the shower and was wearing some gray sweatpants and loose white t-shirt. She put the hair dryer down and greeted J.T. with a warm hug and a kiss, "Hey you, where have you been?" J.T. sat down in on her bed, placing a small box next to him, "Oh around, meetings and stuff, you know, the usual. Tough day?" asked J.T. "Not really, we just had a minor incident in one of our training exercises. One of the new recruits accidentally shot one of my people." said Colleen. "Who was it?" asked J.T. "Jared Mathison." replied Colleen. "Is he alright?" asked J.T. "Oh, of course, the shot hit his communications pack and shorted it out. Some of the sparks set the uniform over his right shoulder on fire. Poedowski put it out almost immediately but Mathison was really upset." explained J.T. "Who wouldn't be?" asked J.T. "Yeah but he wasn't upset for the reason you'd think, he just spent six hours upgrading his comm gear to boost its output and efficiency. He almost shed tears over the busted comm pack, its like he didn't even notice his shoulder was burned." Colleen let out a little chuckle, as the situation seemed a tad humorous to her. "I seem to remember a certain comm officer who was just as obsessive over her gear as Mathison." Colleen spun from the mirror to look at J.T., "I was never that bad!" "Not to the point of tears, no. Hey come over hear." said J.T. "What for?" asked Colleen. "Its a surprise. Now come here." said J.T. patting the spot on the bed beside him. Colleen walked over and sat next to him. "OK now what?" she asked. "Close your eyes and hold out your hands." Colleen did as instructed. She heard the rustling that would accompany the opening of a box and then something large enough to fill both her palms was placed in her hands. "Open your eyes." Colleen opened her eyes to see an intricate model of the Jumpship Arnhem in her hands. Colleen smiled, "Where did you get this?" "I made it." said J.T. "You did not." said Colleen disbelievingly. "Sure I did, it took a long time, but I made it." assured J.T. "You did a great job, it even has its own jump pods." Colleen said as she gently tapped one of them. "I even put your name on the inside of one the pods, its the only one that opens." said J.T. "Which one?" asked Colleen. "The front one on the right hand side, the same position as your pod." J.T. got off the bed and went down one knee to show her. Colleen turned the model around and gently pulled the pod open. A diamond ring fell out of the pod and into her hand. Colleen looked from the ring to J.T., "Does this mean what I think it does?" "I'm not sitting like this for my health," quipped J.T. "So what do you say? Will you marry me?" Colleen quickly got misty eyed as she was barely able to utter, "Yes." * * *       "Ow! careful, that hurts!" yelled Jared. "Well maybe you shouldn't have volunteered for target practice. A little advise, learn to duck." Rita finished applying the burn ointment and Jared pulled his shirt and vest back on. "Thanks for your help, Rita." "Don't mention it," said Rita as she gave him the bottle. The hanger was busy with activity as the flight techs were busy rearming their e-frames. Jared turned to leave, "Well, I should get going." Rita gave him a kiss good-bye, "I'll stop by to see you later." "I truly hope so." said Jared with smile. As Mathison left, Nara approached, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything." "Nothing at all, Jared was just leaving." said Rita. "Uh-huh." said Nara. "What?" asked Rita. "I remember when it used to be 'Mathison', now all of a sudden its 'Jared'." noted Nara. "Yeah, well unlike you, when I see an opportunity, I take it." retorted Rita. The remark stung more than Nara would have admitted, so she changed the subject. "We have a new mission, deep space assignment." "We're getting aggressive then?" asked Rita. "Just the opposite actually, get the squad together for a briefing." * * *       "And so we meet again." Shanita looked up from her drink to see the face of Hallas. He was a welcome sight as he was the only one in the lounge that wasn't 'staring at the alien'. "Hallas, is it not?" Hallas nodded his head. "Please, sit." said Shanita. Hallas' exoskeleton clicked and whirled as he pulled a chair out for himself and sat down with a glass of what looked like juice. "I am glad you remember me, so where is Able Squad. I thought you were with that group now." said Hallas. "No, not officially. My status in exofleet is still being discussed, so I find myself here while they are in a briefing." She looked over her shoulder to see a number of humans staring back at her. "I wish they would not do that." "I would not worry, after your last display I seriously doubt that anyone would try to attack you." noted Hallas. "Speaking of which, I must compliment you on your bravery." Hallas looked at her oddly, "There was nothing brave about getting beat up, besides you did most of the work." "I was not talking about that." answered Shanita. "What then?" asked Hallas. "Most individuals keep their distance from me once they realize I am dangerous. It is almost as if I automatically become less attractive because of it. This is not the case with you." explained Shanita. "I am inclined to think that your actions make you more attractive." replied Hallas. One of Shanita's eyes opened wider, the eltorian equivalent of raising an eyebrow. "I may be an exofleet officer, but I am also a pirate, and the one thing we respect and admire the most in our women is their ability to defend themselves. We are, after all, a race of warriors." explained Hallas. "I noticed that about you." said Shanita, "May I ask you a question?" "Go ahead." replied Hallas. "Why do you need this?" Shanita tapped the machinery covering Hallas' hand. Hallas was silent for a moment, she thought for a moment that she offended him, but then she noticed he was watching something out of the corner of his eye. Before she could she what it was, he shifted his gaze back to her and answered, "There was a time when I didn't need this...machine...to get around. But then I was injured in battle, quite badly, and the resulting neural damage is the reason I need the exoskeleton. I used to think of it as a symbol of my courage, but that changed when everyone around me saw it as a symbol of weakness." "There is no way to reverse the damage?" asked Shanita. "There is supposed to be a way, but I am told it is uncertain if it will work. It involves treatment for darkmatter syndrome." explained Hallas. "Yes I read about that, darkmatter syndrome is supposed to make pirates more hostile." noted Shanita. "That may be, but it seems to me that undergoing this treatment will change who I am, and I have fought too hard to give up my identity." said Hallas. "Anger is an emotion, it influences your actions, but it does not define you." Shanita pointed to his chest, "What is in here can never be changed. You have the warrior's instinct, no medical procedure can take that away from you." Hallas paused to consider her words, "Perhaps." Shanita stood to leave and Hallas did the same, "Would you mind if we discussed this further?" "Not at all, walk with me." * * *       "Wow, this is some nice work. You've been doing a great job with maintenance, Sterling." Sterling nodded his head, "Coming from you, I will take that as the highest of praise." Maggie blushed then looked at the other frames in the hanger and turned back to Sterling's frame, "Well, I guess now that I am back its my job again." "I have been giving that some thought, and I personally see no reason why we can't split the work among us. It would provide us both with more free time." Maggie smiled upon Sterling, "I've been waiting for you all my life." "Hey, I thought that was me!" said Alec with mock offense. "Don't worry, you'll always have a place in my heart." said Maggie with a smile. "But I do so love a man who knows machines." Sterling smiled weakly. "I think he's already taken, Maggs." said Alec. "That remains to be seen." replied Sterling. "So what's stopping you?" asked Maggie. Alec looked on with interest. "That is between Lt. Burns and myself. Are we finished here?" asked Sterling. "Sure." said Maggie. Sterling turned on his heel and left the hanger. He headed directly to his quarters and and took off his gloves and jacket. He then sat down in a chair and picked up a book on terran history. He was well into the chapter about the first Neosapian uprising when someone knocked at his door. Sterling marked his place and set the book down. He opened the door to come face to face with Nara Burns. "Lt. Burns, is there anything wrong?" Nara shifted her stance, she seemed nervous, "No, yes, um, I don't know." "I see." said Sterling, who really didn't, but couldn't think of anything else to say. "Can I come in?" she asked. "Certainly." said Sterling. As she entered he closed the door. Sterling pulled her up a chair and she sat down. He then took a seat across from her, in his original seat. "So can I get you anything?" he asked her. "No," replied Nara, "Actually, I was wondering if we could talk...about us." * * *       Throughout their conversation, Hallas has been stealing glances over his shoulder. This had prompted Shanita to start doing the same. That's when she spotted her. A terran female, about 6 feet tall with short brown hair, she wore a standard green and brown exofleet uniform. Shanita leaned over to whisper to Hallas, "You are very good. I did not spot her." "You have an excuse, you are unfamiliar with the territory." Hallas whispered back. "Lets go this way." he said loud enough for their tail to hear. He pointed down a corridor and pulled Shanita quickly around the corner. * * *       "I must say, this is quite unexpected." said Sterling. "I was under the impression that you were not interested in me." Nara shifted in her seat, "I...I'm not sure what I want. But a friend gave me some advice, so here I am." Sterling nodded, "What advice was that? If you don't mind my asking." "I was told not to let you slip between my fingers." said Nara. Sterling put a perplexed expression on his face as if trying to wrap his mind around the concept. Nara offered clarification, "Its an expression, it means I shouldn't give up on us without giving us a try first." "And will you give us a try, Nara?" asked Sterling, his eyes filled with warmth as he took her hand in his. "I do care about you, and I want to, but lets just take it slow, OK?" Sterling tightened his grip on her hand slightly, "Sure, whatever you want, remember this is unfamiliar territory to me as well." "Really?" asked Nara. "Being a soldier does not leave a lot of time for building a relationship." answered Sterling. "But still, you're over 50 years old?" said Nara skeptically. "A long time to wait for you." said Sterling. Nara blushed at the complement. "How about when we get back from this mission we spend some time together. You know, go on a date or something." suggested Nara. "You'll have to plan it, I don't really know what people do on dates." said Sterling. Nara smiled at the possibilities, "Don't worry, I can take care of that." She got up and headed for the door. When she opened it, she turned to look at Sterling who was standing in the doorway with her. "I'll see you later." she leaned in and planted a quick kiss on his cheek then walked away. Sterling leaned against the doorway and watched her go, basking in the moment. That was when something grabbed him. * * *       "Where is she?" muttered Hallas. "Maybe she is on to our ploy." suggested Shanita. There was no one in the hallway, this part of the ship was relatively abandoned at this time of day as many troops didn't come back to their quarters until after dinner. At last the female came around the corner, Hallas leapt out at her and grabbed at her only to come up with air. "A hologram?!" stammered Hallas. "Its called a decoy, and this is a trap, terran." A shot rang out in the hallway and Hallas was hit in the back. He fell to the floor, the right side of his body no longer working. "Hallas!" cried Shanita as she ran toward him. She caught a vicious kick that sent her flying backward, she tumbled onto the deck plates finally landing on her belly. That was stupid, remain calm and think rationally. thought Shanita. "Greetings, Shanita." Shanita raised her head to see an eltorian face, a familiar face, "Patilia?" The purple haired alien spoke, "You remember me, that's good." Hallas looked over at Shanita from the floor, "You know her?" "Patilia is the sister of a close friend of mine." said Shanita. "A close, dead, friend thanks to you!" hissed Patilia. "Kamilia's death was not my fault." said Shanita calmly. "She was under your command, her death is testament to the ineffectiveness of that command." said Patilia. "I have no command anymore." said Shanita. "Someone has to pay for Kamilia's death, and that someone is you." She pointed her sidearm at Hallas, "This one matters to you?" "He is a friend." said Shanita. "Good, if you resist me, he dies." keeping the gun trained on Hallas. Patilia rushed forward and proceed to kick Shanita's head full force. Had Shanita's head been a football, it would have easily gone 70 yards. Instead, Shanita's head snapped back causing her to flip over. Blood streamed from her mouth and nose. She stumbled to her feet ready to fight, when she noticed Patilia still had Hallas in her sights. Shanita lowered her fists. Patilia smiled and spun, delivering a kick to the side of Shanita's head. Shanita smashed into the side of the hallway leaving a dent and blue blood on the wall. She again got to her feet, only to receive another kick to the stomach followed by an uppercut and a leg sweep. Shanita landed hard on the floor, her left eye was swollen shut. With her right eye, she spied Hallas worming his way toward Patilia, who was enjoying herself too much with Shanita to notice. Shanita again struggled to her feet. Patilia kicked her in the back sending her flying into the wall face first. Still embedded in the wall, Shanita felt Patilia grab her by the right arm and bring it behind her back. She pulled Shanita away from the wall and pushed the arm up to the ceiling until she heard the characteristic snapping of wrist bones. To her credit, Shanita did not scream, much to Patilia's displeasure. "You are tough, but if you won't scream I will have to get more brutal." Patilia brought the barrel of her sidearm right behind Shanita's right shoulder and pulled the trigger. Shanita screamed in pain as the blast exited from the other side leaving a partially cauterized wound though her shoulder. "Now that is better!" said Patilia as he shoved her to the ground. Shanita crawled around on the floor for a short while until she managed to get to her knees, she cradled her now useless right arm with her left. Patilia placed the barrel of her weapon to Shanita's forehead, "This was satisfactory, Goodbye Shanita." Just then Hallas shot his leg out and struck Patilia precisely behind the left knee. The knee buckled and her shot went into the roof of the hallway. Patilia regained her balance and spun to deal with Hallas. Shanita took those precious seconds to get to her feet. In those moments Patilia looked at Hallas, called him "A human germ", and shot him slightly off center in the chest. If Hallas was scared, he showed no indication as the blast hit him. He convulsed violently, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he was still. Shanita screamed "Nooooo!" as she charged forward. * * *       Sterling slammed into the far wall, back first. He fell to the floor and as he tried to get up was kicked in the stomach so hard that he flew up into the ceiling, leaving a dent. As he fell back to the deck plates a massive metallic arm grabbed him and slammed him into the wall. There it held him, by the throat, as the face connected to it came into view. "Hello Taqueza, It has been awhile." Sterling recognized the face and the voice in an instant. "Rodar." he mumbled, he was still disoriented from the initial attack. "I am so glad you remember me." said Rodar as he proceed to toss Sterling across the room with such force that he went through the wall and into the next room. Fortunately for the room's owner, it was unoccupied at the moment. Unfortunately for Sterling, it really hurt. Rodar pressed his attack, jumping through the hole and landing squarely on his Sterling's head with both feet. The resulting stomp put a dent in the deck plates. Satisfied with his efforts, Rodar lifted Sterling in the air, again by the throat and noted the red blood that caked the hole and his face. "You even bleed a human red, how interesting." Rodar's bionic eye flashed red then focused on Sterling's shoulder, a narrow beam of light pulsed out of the eye and began to burn through Sterling's right shoulder. The burn snapped Sterling out of his daze long enough to bring his hand to connect with Rodar's jaw. Rodar loosened his grip but did not drop Sterling. Rodar then quickly dropped Sterling to his feet and delivered a sharp jab, which Sterling caught. As Sterling tried to focus, he heard a click and the surface of the fist shifted. A moment later a blast of lazer fire shot through Sterling's hand. Sterling cried out in pain, let the fist go, and fell to his knees. "As you can see, there have been some improvements since our last encounter. Before I kill you I thought you should know that as you die, you will be joined by Shanita and perhaps that terran female, if she gives us too much trouble." Rodar smiled wickedly. Sterling coughed up some blood as he spoke, "N-nara?" "Yes, that is her name is it not? I was here when you and she had your little exchange. I am glad I was, because now I am really going to enjoy subduing her." Rodar began to laugh as Sterling bounded to his feet and planted his shoulder in Rodar's stomach. He easily picked him up and plowed him threw another wall and into the hallway. As Sterling got up, Rodar raised his bionic fist and fired a round into Sterling's stomach. Rodar got to his feet, "Still some fight in you, good I want to enjoy this!" Rodar grabbed Sterling by the shirt and slammed him into the wall, without letting him go, he rammed him into the wall across the hall, and proceeded to do so until the entire hallway had dents. With the last impact Sterling was barely conscious. Rodar flung him to the floor, "Now you die Taqueza!" * * *       Nara was walking back to her quarters, in her eagerness to talk to Sterling she had forgotten her sidearm. That's when she heard a scream, instinctively she darted down the hall to find the source. There she found a bloody Shanita ramming another Eltorian into a wall. As Patilia and Shanita hit the wall, the sidearm was dropped. Given her weakened state, Shanita was easily thrown off by Patilia. She dove for the weapon only to come into face first contact with Nara's foot. The blow rocked Patilia as she flipped over and landed on her back. She got to her feet only to see Nara holding the weapon on her. "You are too strong to be a human." Patilia said wiping blood from her mouth. "Who said I'm human?" retorted Nara. Shanita struggled to say something, "She...shot...Hallas!" Nara was momentarily shocked by Hallas' form on the floor. Patilia used the opportunity to charge Nara, but Nara recovered far too fast as she opened fire. Two bursts struck Patilia in the chest, another in the neck. Patilia fell to her knees with one arm holding her throat. Still she struggled on. Nara put the gun to her head, "This is for Hallas." and pulled the trigger. Patilia's lifeless form fell to the floor. Shanita tried to speak again, "Hallas...help...him!" Nara kneeled down beside him and felt for a pulse. She found a very faint one. As she thought of what to do, two exofleet officers came around the corner. The eyes widened on one. "I'll go get help!" he shouted as he ran off. The other stood there dumbfounded by what he saw. Nara spotted him. "Get over here!" she screamed. She directed him to kneel in front of Hallas, "Find something to put over the wound!" The officer ripped off part of his uniform and placed it over the wound, "How's this?" "Good, now hold him down if he tries to get up." instructed Nara. "What...are you...going...to do?" asked Shanita. "I'm not sure, I've never done this with anything other than plants before!" said Nara nervously. "Are you alright?" "I will...survive." said Shanita, her face a bloody mess. Nara placed her hands over the wound and concentrated, "Come on Hallas, you're going to make it!" Nara's hands and eyes began to glow green. Sweat began to pour down her forehead as she concentrated harder. Hallas took a breath and started moving around a bit. The officer held him still as Nara continued. The ordeal continued for ten minutes. At the end of that time, Nara removed her hands from the wound only to find he faint trace of a scar. She smiled in satisfaction, then the exhaustion hit her like a tidal wave. She tumbled over, just barely managing to right herself with one arm. Hallas snapped awake, "What happened?" he asked. "You made it, Hallas." said an exhausted Burns. "Nara?" asked Hallas. "She saved...your life." said Shanita. "Yes, that was truly amazing, I guess you are worth the effort after all, half-breed." All eyes quickly focused on the officer, as his disguise disappeared to show a very large eltorian holding Nara's weapon. Nara tried to do something, but was far too weak. Hallas couldn't move and Shanita was no better off, they were helpless. "You are coming with me." Darzurb flicked a switch on the weapon and pulled the trigger. The shot washed over Nara stunning her into unconsciousness. Darzurb picked her up and put her over his shoulder. He turned to look at Shanita. She glared defiantly back at him, "Do it and be done with it." * * *       "Now you die Taqueza!" Rodar holstered Sterling into the air and threw him to the end of the hall. Sterling concentrated and soon his body was enveloped in its characteristic blue glow. Instead of crashing into the wall, he melted through it and fell into the garbage chute beyond. "No!!" screamed Rodar as he looked down the chute. "I will not be denied!" Suddenly alarms began to sound, signaling that their presence had been discovered. "You have escaped this time, Taqueza, down a passage designed for waste oddly enough! But we will meet again and I will finish you!" Rodar hit a switch on his belt and he turned invisible as security guards showed up. * * *       "Do it and be done with it!" "Darzurb!" Darzurb quickly activated his comm unit. "Yes sir." "We have been discovered, what is your status?" "I have the female terran, and Shanita is at my mercy." replied Darzurb. "What of Patilia?" asked Rodar. "She is dead." reported Darzurb. "Fine. Take the female and leave." ordered Rodar. "Sir, what of Shanita." asked Darzurb. "Leave her alive." ordered Rodar. "But sir-" protested Darzurb. Rodar cut him off, "I want you to give her a message for Taqueza." * * *       J.T., Rita, and Kaz hurried down the passage. Rumor had it that there was an alien attack. As they rounded the corner they saw a number of med-techs working on Shanita. She had all manner of tubes sticking into her. Her uniform was covered with blue blood, her arm splinted, and her left eye was badly swollen and partially bandaged. Behind her they saw Hallas being loaded into a gurney of his own. He was awake but apparently in a state of shock. "Shanita! Oh my God! What happened?" asked Kaz as he stared at a med tech. "I can't answer that now, we have to get her to medical." said the tech as two of his associates helped wheel her away. Rita and J.T. had found a security officer in the meantime. "What happened here?" asked J.T. The security guard looked decidedly grim, "According to the Elt, an alien assassination squad infiltrated the ship. As you saw they busted her up really bad, though her assailant got worse." The security officer motioned to the alien corpse. "The pirate kid, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was lucky though, didn't look serious to me." J.T. and Rita exchanged glances. "Any idea who else they might go after?" asked Rita, already fearing the answer. "Hang on a sec." said the officer as he answered a call on his comm unit. At that moment Hallas called out, "J.T.!" J.T. rushed over to his gurney. "I'm here Hallas, you're going to be okay." Hallas shook his head, "I know that, they...they took her!" "Took who?" asked J.T. "Nara...they took Nara." Hallas trailed off into unconsciousness. Rita let out a quite gasp. The med-techs caring for Hallas hauled him away, assuring J.T. that he would be alright. The security officer finished with his comm unit and spouted some orders, "We got another situation three floors up, I need six men to head up there and help secure the area." He got his six volunteers. Rita looked at J.T. and Kaz, "That's where Sterling lives." * * *       Life has such irony. thought Sterling. He was inverted in a trash chute, several floors below his quarters. A few short minutes ago he was being pounded by his greatest enemy. A few minutes before that, he had finally managed to capture Nara Burns' heart. Life was perfect one minute and then quite literally hell the next. Irony does not even begin to describe it. After much of the pain had dulled, Sterling tried moving. He carefully shifted his body so as to slowly slide to the next exit hatch. He then concentrated and carefully melted in away. With a little effort, and some help from artificial gravity, he emerged out of the chute and onto the deck plates of whatever floor he was on. He lay curled in a ball for a few moments, literally getting himself together. He watched as the hole in his hand shrank and disappeared, then got to his feet. He caught his reflection in a shiny piece of metal, his shirt was covered in his own blood as was his face. One of his eyes was still swollen shut, but that too would heal in time. He started to walk and almost fell over. He gave it a minute than began to limp his way out from behind the cargo crates that he found himself.       "Dear God." whispered Rita. Kaz had never thought of her as the religious type, but then again what he saw would probably make anyone pray to a higher power. Sterling's room was smashed, the one next to it, destroyed, and the hallway was wreaked. But the worst part was that there was blood everywhere, human blood, Sterling's blood. "Do you think...?" asked J.T. open endedly. "I don't know." answered Rita. "This stinks!" yelled Kaz in frustration. "First Shanita, then Nara, and now Sterling! Why is it that just when the fighting looks like it will end something like this happens!" Kaz would have punched the wall, if he could have found a clean spot. "I don't know Kaz, but if Sterling's gone then we have no way to end this peacefully." answered J.T. "Sargent Torres!", called a security officer, "Call for you on channel two." he tossed her a comm unit and Torres adjusted it to channel two. Mathison's voice came over the comm line, "Rita are you there?" "Yeah, I'm here, Jared." she answered emotionlessly. "I think you better get down here, I found something you should see." * * *       "I found him behind those cargo crates over there, he was limping towards the exit." explained Jared. "I'm amazed he can walk at all, by the look of him." said J.T. Sterling sat atop a cargo crate as the med techs fussed over him. They had cleaned him up some and given him an ER scrub shirt to wear instead of his blood soaked one. "I was more shocked by what happened." said Jared. "What did he say?" asked Rita. "That it was one guy, an 'old friend from Mars' he said. Any guy that could do that to him, is someone I want to steer clear of." said Jared. "I'm inclined to agree," commented Kaz. "I don't understand why they went after Nara, though." said Rita. "Maybe she was like Hallas, at the wrong place at the wrong time." offered Jared. "I don't think so." said J.T. "Neither do I." added Kaz. "Oh? You have a theory, Kaz?" asked J.T. "Forming one, yes. We know from your jungle adventure that the eltorians wanted Nara. Ozon had mentioned that she was to be taken alive. Sterling, Shanita, Nara - they all have eltorian DNA and they all have a reason to be attacked. Shanita betrayed them, as did Sterling. They had to die. But Nara was something new to them, maybe they want to study her to see if they can duplicate her power. Or maybe she was caring something important to them." Kaz snapped his fingers together, "Of course, that's it. The body in the Amazon, Jamia. She must have been important. They aliens came to find her, only to discover that she was 'living on' after a fashion through Nara." "'Living on' through Nara?" said Jared skeptically. "She is caring a little under half of Jamia's genes around." pointed out Kaz. "Its a good try Kaz , but I don't believe it." said J.T. " A war over one women?" questioned Rita. "Hey, it happened over Helen of Troy." said Kaz defensively. "These are aliens Kaz, with a completely different history. I don't buy it for a minute." said Rita. "Although, you did get one part right, they did want her alive in the Amazon. That gives them the motivation." concluded J.T. Sterling got to his feet and walked over to four of them. His pace was steady and his balance was good. He looked at Torres, "They took her, didn't they?" Rita nodded her head somberly. Sterling lowered his as he was escorted to the infirmary. * * *       "Tell me the latest, J.T." requested Winfield. "Well the question of whether Shanita will accompany Able Squad on this mission has been settled. No. The doctors say she will make a full recovery, but she's going to be in the infirmary for at least a few weeks. And even then, her arm will prevent her from flying for a long time afterward." answered J.T. Winfield stood looking out his office window, "What about Sterling?" "He's already fully recovered, though he didn't take the loss of Lt. Burns very well." explained J.T. Winfield nodded in silent affirmation, "She was good officer, J.T." "One of the best, sir." Winfield continued to gaze out the window as if wondering what awaited them out there, "What about Hallas?" J.T. smiled, "He's going to be just fine, though Epsilon Squad is going to have to get along without him for a few days. The doctors want to hold him for observation." "So the mission will go forward as planned. Tell me honestly, J.T., is Sterling up to it?" J.T. stiffened, "He's as tough as I've ever seen, he'll do the job." They stood in silence for a moment, until Winfield decided to break it. "We don't know what's waiting out there J.T., and yet, here I am, again sending you literally into the unknown." "Shakespeare said it best Admiral, 'Once more unto the breach, dear friends.' " On to Part 6