Personal Log of Isabel Ibanez, Space Explorer, Stardate 3427…uh…niner. I have rushed to help my friend Lauryna, who may be facing an enemy greater than any she has ever gone face-to…thorax? That’s a part of an insect, right? Dang, they make this look so easy on Star Trek. Okay…take two….

Izzy shook her head; she was trying to fill time while she waited in the satchel on Lauryna’s hip, doing her best not to accidentally activate her minipad or long-range comm device.

She had a tendency to forget that the Titans viewed a 20-hour shift as a short day at the office. So knowing that Lauryna was going to imminently face insectoids, she’d rushed through the vents, making it to the briefing room in record time. Indeed, she got in safely, and even climbed the leg of Lauryna’s battle armor without attracting so much as a twitch. Then it was just a matter of climbing up onto the seat, walking along Lauryna’s thigh, and finding the attached pouch, which was open just enough for her to squeeze inside.

Oh, and then there were many hours of waiting. She’d forgotten about those.

Muttering about giants, Izzy tried to find some space to curl up; she’d get some rest. She would probably need it, after all.

Meanwhile, as Izzy was lamenting her timing, another denizen of the Gyfjon was stopping just short of insubordination.

“You can’t be serious, sir,” said Falesial Gausi, shaking his head. He was wearing his gold and grey battle armor, the same as that worn by Lauryna; he was almost white with anger.

“Crewmate Gausi, I’ve made my decision. I’m sorry you decided to suit up, but you’ll have time to change back into duty rags. I want you here, monitoring comms with Mr. Tornen.”

“But…come on, sir!” Gausi said, pleading with his commanding officer. “I’m the senior linguist! She doesn’t have experience dealing with them. I do! They’re going to want to talk to someone who understands them….”

“Strange,” Aerti said, with a smile. “You say that like you’re the one who understood them.”

“That’s ridiculous! I –”

“Crewmate Gausi, do you intend to finish that sentence? Because I would not recommend it.”

Lemm Tam did not raise her voice, did not betray any emotion at all. But that statement made Gausi react as if he’d been backhanded.

Lemm continued, calmly. “Crewmate, the Captain has made a decision. It is not your place to call that decision into question. If you have a problem, you may address it through channels.”

“I…but….”

“Crewmate Gausi,” Lemm said, “be seated.”

Gausi sat down in his chair, wringing his hands. Aerti leaned forward. “All right. We’ve instituted radio silence; we don’t want to give our position away. Ms. Gwenn, you were saying you expect the smuggler to arrive first, before any incursion from the Insectoid side.”

“Aye, sir,” Lauryna said. “The message was pretty clear; once they’re safely in the system, they’re to broadcast that. Then, and only then, will the ship from the Insectoid side come over.”

“So the question is,” Lemm said, “do we want to catch the insectoids crossing the border or not?”

Aerti tented his fingers. “As much fun as it would be to start a war with the Insectoids, I’d prefer my nephews and nieces grew up in peacetime. We’ll see what the ship is carrying. If we catch them and not the Insectoid fleet, we’re still denying them whatever it is they want.”

“Wise decision, Captain!” Tarrgh said. “We are mighty, but we are only one ship.”

“Agreed!” Aerti shouted. Then, with a grin, he turned back to the rest of the group. “When they pop up, we’re going to inspect them under 321.2 §49 of the Interstellar Commerce Act. It’s cleaner than going with a military option, but it means that we’re not adopting a military posture. We’re sending a Thoon class shuttle, and under regulations, only two members of the group may be armed. Ms. Gwenn, I hope you don’t mind.”

Lauryna chuckled. “Sir, I had acceptable marksmanship at the Academy, but I know better than to compare myself to Cmdr. Tam or LurTarrgh.”

Aerti laughed out loud. “Crewmate Gwenn, I wouldn’t get into a shooting match with either of ‘em. Always wise to know your limitations. All right, finally, what’s the best bet for finding that ship?”

“Oh, that’s the fun part,” said Jax Tornen. “I’ve been working with Decanus Tae; there are still Class Gimmel listening devices in the system.”

“Class Gimmel?” Aerti said, dubiously. “Those have to be six hundred years old.”

“Seven. But they’re solar-powered; over two-thirds are still operational. It’ll give us a more fine-grained look than the hex system will.”

“How’d you get them to communicate with you? The protocols have all changed,” Gausi asked.

“Took some doing, but we’ve got them transmitting loud and clear.”

“Good work,” Aerti said. “And tell Decanus Tae that I’ve half a mind not to return her to the Planetary Defense Corps next year. She’s too good at her job. So….”

“Tae to Captain Bass,” a call came through.

Aerti smiled. “Nice timing! Decanus Tae, we were just talking about you.”

“I’m just going to assume it was good, sir. I wanted to let you know that we’ve received a hit from two sensors; it looks like or friends have entered the system.”

“Well,” Aerti said; suddenly, his smile was gone, and he was dead serious. “Thank you, Decanus. Everyone, to your posts; Commander, Crewmate, Ms. Gwenn, go get the Akreos ready. Dismissed.”

Bass walked onto the bridge, and took his seat; Engine-Fixer nodded as he sat down. “Crewmate Pir, any look at it yet?”

“Screaming in, it’s still in warp, sir, but slowing. Based on the warp shell…it appears to be Insectoid, all right. Imperial ident class 843-Ishay.”

“An 843I? That’s pretty big for a smuggler,” Aerti said.

“Affirmative. They’re coming out of warp; Decanus Tae, can you bring them up on long-range scanners?”

Derna hit a few buttons at her station, and the blocky ship appeared.

“They’re bearing right for us. They haven’t seen us yet,” Pir said. “They should enter the planetary system in about three minutes.”

“Very good. Mr. Tornen, when it enters orbit, hail them,” Aerti said. He hit a button on his armrest. “Lemmer, looks like our guests are arriving. Sitrep?”

“The Akreos is operational,” Lemm said, sliding into the command seat on the port side. She nodded to Lauryna, who took the comms station at starboard. Tarrgh climbed into the pilot’s chair. Lemm turned to Lauryna. “Ms. Gwenn, I assume you have communications experience?”

“I’m about twenty hours away from being rated class three,” Lauryna said proudly. It had taken a lot of extra shifts, but she knew to advance she needed to be able to multitask.

“Very good,” Lemm said. “Stand by to launch at the Captain’s order.”

The rectangular Insectoid vessel pulled into orbit, and the Gyfjon moved to intercept. “Unidentified vessel, this is the Imperial Starship Gyfjon,” Jax said. “Under terms of the Interstellar Commerce Act, we need to inspect your cargo. Please stop engines and do not deviate your course; please acknowledge.”

It took a few moments for the reply to come. “This is an Insectoid vessel. You cannot board.”

“This is Captain Bass of the Gyfjon,” Aerti said. “And you are in Titan space. We can indeed board.”

“This system is of the hive,” the Insectoids replied.

“Not according to the settlement of the last conflict, it isn’t,” Aerti said. “Now, this is just a civil inspection. But if you refuse, I am authorized to use force to detain you. I would rather not.”

There was a long pause, before the insects said, “Very well. You may inspect. A standard party. Three. By the laws.”

“Of course,” Aerti said. “By the laws. Our shuttle will arrive shortly. Gyfjon out. Akreos, you are clear for launch.”

“Aye, sir, Akreos acknowledge. Captain Tam, we are cleared for launch.”

“Thank you, Ms. Gwenn. Crewmate Tarrgh, proceed.”

The Arkreos launched out of the shuttlebay, and aimed for the Insectoid vessel. “Ten minutes to the shuttle, ma’am,” Lauryna said, checking her sensors.

She frowned. There was something about the insectoids’ speech that bothered her. She thought some of their language was oddly terse, even by insectoid standards. Now, with an Avartle or Drazari or Human, that might come down to an individual, but with the insects, the concept of individual was murky.

With a few moments to spare, she opened up her satchel, reached in, and swore.

“Ms. Gwenn, that is not the proper deportment for a….”

Lemm had turned to look at Lauryna, and she saw why Lauryna had sworn; the human was dusting herself off on the comms panel. “You could have been a bit more gentle!” Izzy said. “I might have a bruise, you know!”

The silence that greeted her was less than encouraging. She looked up at Lauryna, and realized that her friend was somewhere between complete embarrassment and blind rage.

“Correction, Ms. Gwenn,” Commander Tam said. “That was indeed the correct response. I assume by it that you had no knowledge of her stowing away?”

“No, ma’am,” Lauryna said, staring daggers at Izzy. “Believe me, I wouldn’t have brought her.”

Izzy swallowed hard. She really didn’t want to cause trouble for Lauryna, she didn’t. But she clearly had.

“Commander, it is my fault,” Izzy said, quietly. “I would request permission to speak with you in private.”

Lemm quirked an eyebrow, and Lauryna’s anger was overtopped by confusion.

“We are in the middle of an operation. I don’t have time….”

“Two minutes, ma’am,” Izzy said. “And then I’ll stay out of the way. I promise.”

Lemm shook her head. But against her better judgment, she turned to Tarrrgh. “Time check, Crewmate?”

“Eight minutes, ma’am!”

“Two minutes,” Lemm said, grabbing Izzy roughly. “The ship is yours, LurTarrrgh.”

Lemm was not exactly careful with humans – though she wasn’t exactly careless, either; she would never drop Izzy, but neither did she go out of her way to cushion the ride. She closed the cargo hold door, and said, “Start talking.”

“Lauryna doesn’t have combat experience, commander. I do. She…was excited. I probably shouldn’t have tagged along, but…well, I remember my first combat mission. I was excited too.”

Lemm’s eyes widened, slightly. She didn’t view humans as the equal of Titans, despite some things others had been telling her. Her best friend, for example, claimed to be in ongoing relationship with a human; of course, her best friend also had a tendency of pulling elaborate practical jokes, and Lemm was well aware this could be one of them.

No, Lemm didn’t really view humans as equal to Titans, and in that, she was much like the vast majority of Titans. Nevertheless, as she studied the tiny woman in her palm, she saw a look that she recognized quite well.

“You were in combat?” Lemm asked.

“Yes ma’am. I doubt you ever looked over Dr. Geen’s exam of me, but…he found a little bit of metal embedded in my leg. Doesn’t usually bother me, but I’ve got some shrapnel in me from the IED that got Sgt. Walker; he offered to take it out, but….”

Lemm furrowed her brow. “Corporal,” she said, after a moment, “there’s a piece of the Martyaxvar’s bridge in my shoulder. Not enough to even feel. I wouldn’t let them take that out either.”

Izzy nodded. “I’m not here to get in the way. I just…I didn’t want her going in alone, ma’am. That’s all. ”

Lemm sighed. “The fact that your intentions were good do not make up for you stowing away. I will let Captain Bass deal with this when we return to the Gyfjon. Until then, try to stay out of sight.”

“Yes, ma’am. And ma’am – go ahead and lock me up – but this really wasn’t Lauryna’s fault. Don’t punish her for something I did.”

Lemm opened the door; she didn’t comment either way. She set Izzy down next to Lauryna, and said, simply, “I understand why Cpl. Ibanez acted as she did; that doesn’t excuse it. She has agreed to stay out of the way for the duration of this mission. Ms. Gwenn, hang onto her.”

“Aye, ma’am,” Lauryna said.

Lauryna looked down at Izzy, and shook her head. “We’ll talk about it later,” she mouthed. Izzy nodded; she hoped Lauryna could forgive her, but if Lauryna went on a combat mission and got herself killed, she’d never forgive herself.

“Five minutes until we reach the vile insect ship, ma’am!” LerTarrrgh bellowed.

“Ms. Gwenn, hail them, indicate we are ready to dock,” Lemm said.

Lauryna shook her head, after securing Izzy in her pouch. She reached to turn on the comms device, and paused. She was sorely tempted to turn the translation protocols off, but she demurred. Still, she tapped behind her ear and murmured, “Translator off.”

“Insectoid vessel, this is the Akreos, request docking procedures.”

“Proceed to Dock 1. Follow the beacon. Do not deviate,” the insects clicked back.

Laurna frowned. “Understood,” she said. “Following beacon. Captain,” she said, flipping the comms off, “something is definitely off about them.”

“Off, Ms. Gwenn?”

“Aye, ma’am. It’s…Insectoids don’t lie. Not directly. It’s not in their nature.”

“Insectoid scum tell lies all the time! They are always keeping secrets!” Tarrrgh said.

“Wrong, mighty one!” Lauryna said in Lurish. “They are good at hiding their trail. But open deception is dfifficult for them. They evolved to work together.”

“So they are hiding things?”

“Aye, ma’am. They’re being very careful in their language. Trying not to use a stray concept.”

Lemm looked forward, over Tarrrgh’s shoulder. The blocky insectoid ship was growing larger in the viewport. It was almost a third the size of the Gyfjon. She wondered how badly outnumbered they’d be.

“LurTarrrgh, make sure that your weapons are hot,” Lemm said.

“Aye, commander!”

“Ms. Gwenn – if Crewmate Tarrrgh and I are incapacitated, you are to do what you can to get back to the Gyfjon. Understood?”

Lauryna swallowed hard. She was starting to feel a lot less giddy about this mission. “Aye, ma’am.”

The docking bay doors opened, and the Akreos slid inside.

*  *  *

“Doors closed, sir. The Akreos is on the dock.”

“Thank you, Crewmate Pir. Ms. Haedta, keep a targeting solution on….”

“Sir!” Dermish said. “They’re powering up their nacelles!”

Before the crew on the bridge of the Gyfjon could react, the insectoid ship stretched like taffy, and was gone.

Aerty Bass stared at the screen for only a moment. “Mr. Dermish,” he said, “follow it. Maximum speed.”

He had no doubt the Gyfjon could catch them. It was only a matter of time.

The question, though, was what the hells they’d do when they got there.