Vincent Trigili - The Enemy of an Enemy

I had to make it back to the ship before theyreturned. Most of my men were already dead. Those still alive weredoing all they could to hold off the aliens who were defeating us,giving me time to get a message out.

When we first arrived, we were sure thiswould be a boring mission. This expectation was shattered almostimmediately after we landed and began to deploy. Aliens poured outof the colony, waving swords and carrying shields. I do not knowwhat those shields were made of but our blasters could notpenetrate them. As they rushed our position we were forced intohand-to-hand combat with them. They proved to be clumsy and we wereable to hold our own for a short while.

Behind the initial rush of sword-wieldingaliens came others. These wielded thin energy weapons which theyfired with deadly accuracy and power. The addition of thesereinforcements was just too much for our squad. We were completelyoutnumbered and outgunned.

I slammed aside the airlock door as I rushedto the communication officer’s station. I really needed his skilland speed on this equipment now, but he was ripped to pieces beforemy eyes by one of the aliens who somehow did it without evertouching him. I had to banish that thought and get a message outbefore others fell victim to this trap.

“Greetings,” came a voice from the darkness.“I am glad you survived. We need you to do something for us.”

I tried hard to ignore the chills runningdown my back from that voice. “Never!” I called as I spun andopened fire with my blasters. Then he walked out of the darkness.He appeared to be an old man, impossibly old, yet somehow stillstrong and vibrant. He stood before me without a spacesuit, eventhough the gaping holes in our spaceship had vented the entireatmosphere leaving us essentially in a hard vacuum.

I must have fired a dozen times from each ofmy hand blasters, at nearly point-blank range. I could not possiblyhave missed, yet somehow he was able to ignore my shots. It was asif he was immune to them.

“No. You will now comply,” he said.

I felt my will slipping from my control; Itried hard to stop as I saw myself dropping my guns and reachingfor the communications controls. I listened in horror as I sent amessage, one obviously intended to lay a trap. I fought with all Icould to break free of whatever was controlling my body, but I wasutterly powerless.

“Thank you for your help; the trap isbaited,” he said as I felt my life slip away from me.

“All senior staff report to the conferenceroom for mission briefing,” came a call over the ship’sloudspeaker.

I had been serving on this ship for a whilenow, but this was our first serious mission since I joined thecrew. I did not know why the captain accepted my appointment to hissenior staff, but I knew that I must perform beyond expectations ifI wanted to stay. Some other senior staff members were unhappy withhis choice; partly because he passed over people they felt werebetter qualified, but mainly because I was an outsider to theirgroup.

This mission was very unusual for a ship ofthis caliber, and that seemed to make the crew uncomfortable. Therewas an almost tangible sense of unease everywhere I went on theship. That bothered me. I could not put my finger on the feelingbut it did not seem natural, and I did not like it when things werenot the way they should be.

The conference room had big double doorswhich, apart from their size, were completely unremarkable. Anhonor guard made up from the captain’s personal security forcesflanked the doors. Deep in the heart of the flagship there was verylittle chance of any security risks; the position was more one ofhonor than necessity here.

The honor guard was extremely dedicated totheir job and those who desired this position spent their entirelives working to achieve this high distinction. Only the best ofthe best were considered, and even then there was intensecompetition among those few for that position of honor. An outsiderlooking in might think they were statues; they did not even blinkas I passed them and entered the conference room.

In this room there was a large oval table. Ihad been told that the captain wanted a round table instead of thetraditional rectangle, but the room was too narrow to allow it. Idid not know if this was true, but it fit in with the captain’sdesire to encourage everyone to take part in these meetings. Theroom was barren except for the table, a few personal monitors, anda large viewing screen. The idea was to make sure that nothingwould distract anyone from the tasks and responsibilities given tous by the Emperor.

By the time I arrived everyone had alreadytaken his seat, with the exception of the captain who had not yetarrived. First on the right of the captain’s chair was the big andpowerful presence of Zalith. He was the Chief Tactical Officer ofthe Dragon Claw. His primary function on the ship was to lead themilitary operations and to advise the captain on all mattersreferring to weapons and combat. In addition, the infantry on boardreported directly to him and through him to the captain. Ifanything happened to the captain, he would assume command.

Zalith was a Zalionian, a member of areptilian race that was one of the first races to join the Empire.They made up the bulk of the military might of the Empire. Theirloyalty was without question, but they tended to favor a strongaggressive stance, and lived by the motto, “The best defense is anoverpowering offense.”

Zalith had served with the captain forseveral decades, far longer than any other member of the seniorstaff. Together they had served on countless missions, and as ateam they had never failed the Empire.

Seated next to Zalith was Dr. Rannor, Chiefof Medical Operations for the Dragon Claw and each of our supportvessels. In addition to that, he was in charge of any biologicalsamples that we collected or used as weapons. While his primaryfunction was handling the healing of our crew he, like all of us,was on the ship for one reason only: to crush the enemies of theEmpire. He had joined the staff about five years earlier when thefamous Dr. Smith retired.

Dr. Rannor, like most of the executive crew,was human. Humans founded the Empire in a time lost to history. Tothis day, humans tend to be found in all the key positions ofauthority throughout the Empire. Indeed, with the exception ofZalith the entire senior staff of the Dragon Claw was made up ofhumans.

My seat came next. I was the youngest memberof the staff; indeed, I was the youngest member of the ImperialNavy ever to serve on the captain’s senior staff. My youth was thereason that most of the staff did not fully trust my judgment. Ithink they saw me as a child trying to play an adult game.

Next to me sat Larath. He was the ChiefMorale Officer. Because of the vast distances and time involved inspace travel, people started to think of their ships as home, andtheir crewmates as family. This bonding proved to be verybeneficial, as it encouraged loyalty and sacrifice, yet at the sametime very troublesome for the Navy. From time to time fights wouldbreak out, or weddings occur. To handle this, the Empire determinedthat there needed to be a department whose job it was to handleinterpersonal issues. These issues ranged from homesickness tomental breakdowns, weddings and funerals. If it was a personalproblem, it fell in Larath’s department. Larath was also fairly newto the staff, but was a well-respected veteran of the fleet.

Commander Jones, Chief of Alien Relations, orhead diplomat, took the final seat. He was an expert in all alienpeoples and cultures. All peoples not part of the Empire wereconsidered to be aliens. It was his primary responsibility tohandle any and all contacts with the aliens, and to advise thecaptain on all matters relating to them. The captain specificallychose Commander Jones for his staff less than a year ago, but likeLarath he was a well-respected veteran.