The mood over the next few days was somber. Everyone knew it was unlikely that we would survive this, but our determination continually won out, keeping everyone from giving up. Personally, I spent hours trying to come up with a plan that might give us a chance at defeating our foe.

  It kept coming back to the fact that we were too evenly matched that even if we won in a direct fight, we likely would be sufficiently damaged as to not make it home. It was possible that in that situation someone could come to rescue us, but given the admiralty’s decision to not risk an additional ship, it seemed unlikely. That meant that somehow we needed an advantage.

  I was talking to Isa about it one night, and she said, “If only we could disable their engines, we’d be fine.”

  “Yeah, but how would we do that in a reasonable timeframe? It’s not like they’re going to take down their shields to let us fire missiles at them.”

  “True, and even if we took down part of their shields, it wouldn’t be near the engines—they’re not going to give us an angle on their aft end.”

  “Exactly, and we’re a scouting vessel—we don’t have any fighter craft.”

  “Too bad teleportation is impossible.”

  “Yeah, but then they’d also be able to teleport to us.”

  She lightly smacked my arm. “Hey, now. In my fantasy we’re an experimental boarding ship with accurate personnel teleporters. Also I tag along with the marines, allowing my brilliance to save the day.”

  I laughed. “Naturally. Then since we took the ship without destroying it or taking any casualties, the captain appoints me temporary captain of the newly-acquired vessel with you as my head of engineering.”

  “Exactly, you clearly understand. We’ll return home to be fêted as heroes.”

  “I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned where ‘home’ is for you.”

  “I’m from Arkon, but there’s not much left for me to return to there.”

  “Family issues?” I asked.

  “No,” she replied, sadness peeking out through her eyes. “I never knew my father—he died when I was very young, then my mother got sick shortly before I graduated from secondary school—cancer. They didn’t catch it in time and she died a few weeks after I graduated. Since I don’t have any other family, I enrolled in a university to study engineering, then enlisted when I graduated. Thanks to my degree, I was quickly promoted to Junior Specialist as an engineering tech, then later to Senior Specialist.”

  I placed a hand on her arm. “Thank you for sharing, Isa.”

  She gave me a soft smile before seeming to shake off her melancholy. “What about you? You’re a noble, right?”

  “Yeah, the Junipers are minor nobility. I don’t really get along with my family, hence my enrollment at NOTA.”

  She seemed to sense I didn’t want to say more and respected it, thankfully. I felt a little guilty misleading her after she shared such personal details, but I couldn’t exactly reveal my real identity, not even to a friend.

  Soon, though, we reached the next system. It was near the end of my shift when we arrived, and the XO immediately dove in.

  “Juniper, scan the system as quickly as possible. Focus on the external aether currents—we’re looking for the exits to determine which one might lead us somewhere useful.”

  “Aye, ma’am.”

  “Anabadas, keep us moving—we don’t want that ship deciding to fight us. Rokloth, focus on identifying paths that will give us options once the scans come through.”

  ““Aye, ma’am,”” they replied in unison.

  We got to work, and some time later, I sent the scan data to the XO who proceeded to start doing calculations. Ten minutes later, she finally asked us to review her calculations.

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  “Do you two agree that exit 6C is likely our best option?”

  “Aye, ma’am. We don’t have a lot of information, but that checks out,” Lieutenant Rokloth replied.

  “I agree, it’s the best option based on what little data we have.”

  “Good. Lieutenant, plot a course to 6C.”

  “Aye, ma’am.”

  Soon, we had a course and started in that direction. Shortly after, our shift ended, and we handed off the bridge to the third shift.

  I sighed as I flopped into a chair in the mess.

  “Tough day?” asked Jara.

  “Eh, just draining. We made it to a system, but we still don’t have a plan beyond “wander aimlessly,” which isn’t really a plan.”

  “I still want to blast them out of the sky,” Ani said.

  “Okay, first of all, this is the void, not the sky. Second, even a destroyed ship will just float by rather than falling unless we’re close enough to a celestial body. And third, we’d probably die if we fought now, either in battle or from being stranded and running out of food.”

  She sighed. “I know, but I still want to do it.”

  “My teleportation plan is looking better and better,” Isa said with a smirk.

  “That’s not a plan, that’s bad science fiction,” I objected.

  She shrugged. “It’s only science fiction until someone figures it out. Maybe it’ll be me.”

  Jara laughed. “If anyone is going to invent the impossible, it’d probably be you.”

  Isa beamed before taking a large bite of her food.

  “Okay,” I interjected. “That sounds great, but if she’s going to have the time to invent teleportation, we need a now plan to survive.”

  Ani waved her hand dismissively. “That’s for you officer-types to deal with. I’m just here to shoot things.”

  Rolling my eyes, I turned back to my meal.

  “Do you think we have enough food to just outlast them?” Ani mused.

  Jara shook her head. “Even if we do, which I wouldn’t want to count on, they’d just engage us in combat before they got too desperate. Besides, their plan will result in them ending up in occupied imperial space—they’re on a suicide mission.”

  “Oh, right.”

  “That’s a good point,” I said. “There is basically no chance of them surviving this situation, so they’re going to be willing to do things we wouldn’t, all in the hope that they will survive just long enough for it to matter. I wonder if there’s a way we can take advantage of that to bait them into a bad situation somehow.”

  “Maybe, but I don’t know how,” replied Jara.

  “Yeah, me neither.”

  That thought stuck with me throughout the night as we tried to relax before bed and the next day as I made my way to the bridge for my shift. By that point, we had entered the next major current, so there wasn’t a lot to do.

  I mentioned our thoughts to the XO, and she agreed that the concept might work, but she didn’t have any concrete ideas either.

  The next few days passed like the ones before. Tensions were increasingly high and causing some difficulties, with people snapping at each other more and more often. There was one instance involving me that stood out.

  We were playing cards and for once, I was winning. Tiroteo had a good hand and bet high, which I matched. When it came time to reveal, he had a smug grin on his face as he tossed his cards down. I just shook my head and showed my hand just slightly better than his.

  Rage flooded his features, and he swept his arm over the table, sending the cards and chips flying off.

  “Fuck you!” he called, hands clenched into fists.

  “Specialist Anabadas! Stand down!” I yelled, attempting to diffuse the situation.

  “Since you came on this ship, it’s been one thing after another, and I’m sick of it. Now we’re all going to die.”

  “Tiroteo!” cried Jara. “You know this has nothing to do with her.”

  “Stay out of this, marine.”

  “She’s right, specialist. I had nothing to do with this. Now, stand down.”

  He looked like he was trying to fight the urge to attack. I knew that the situation was getting to everyone, but this behavior was extreme.

  “Anabadas.” I said firmly one last time. “Stand down.”

  He huffed out an angry breath before storming off. I flopped back in my seat and sighed.

  “Something’s gotta change,” I mumbled.

  Isa sat down next to me. “Yeah, but what? We’re lost in the deep black on the run from a hostile ship we probably can’t survive a battle with. There’s not much good to go around.”

  Rubbing my hands over my face, I groaned. “I know, I know, but if we don’t do something we’re going to take ourselves out before the enemy can.”

  We pondered that for a few minutes before giving up for a while and playing a different game.

  Soon after, we reached the next system, this time during the first shift. When I got on duty, the system had already been scanned and our main course plotted. In between other tasks, I looked over the scan data we had gathered until something a little strange stood out. Without asking permission, I ran a long-range scan to check my hunch. When it came back positive, a tentative plan began to form in my mind. It’d be risky, but it gave us a chance.

  “Ma’am, can we speak in private?” I asked the XO.

  She gave me a confused look, but agreed, and we stepped into the ready room.

  “What is it, ensign?”

  I then proceeded to outline my plan, as much as I had figured out in the time I had.

  She seemed lost in thought for a minute or two before responding. “That’s a big risk, but it’s the only idea any of us has come up with. I’ll have to run it by the captain. Thank you for speaking up.”

  “Aye, ma’am.”

  We walked back onto the bridge, and I took my seat again while she left to discuss things with the captain. When she returned, she addressed the others.

  “Change of plans. Rokloth, plot a new course to exit 6E.”

  The lieutenant looked very confused as to the change but agreed and got to work.

  “Juniper, keep those scans up to date we need to know what we’re up against.”

  “Aye, ma’am.”

  Once the new course was partially plotted, Anabadas flew us towards the exit I had identified. Soon, my desperate plan would be underway. I could only hope it wouldn’t lead to all our deaths.