E:A Vol 6 Ch 12—November 9, 2120

November 9, 2120

General Ken Price was talking with General Vince Cavanaugh at what was left of Central Command. Around them the ground was one large black scar that reminded Vince of a vacation to Hawaii where he walked on hardened lava. There, only land had been overrun with the oozing flow that took tens, if not hundreds of years to do its damage, whereas here, right where he was standing, the buildings, the land, and hundreds of lives had been wiped out with one blast that probably didn’t even last a full second. 

 Where there had once been buildings of various sizes, from a three-story building to large jet hangars, a base infirmary to a mess hall, there was now only debris. Backhoes were digging new holes for new foundations, bulldozers were pushing wreckage across the scorched pavement to be hauled away by the line of trucks standing ready. More trucks were hauling in building supplies. Men in hardhats were scurrying everywhere. 

Forming a circle around the area where Ken and Vince were standing, were military members of the Expedition: Andromeda team. They were armed and their job was to keep people away. Most of the people working on the area’s reconstruction did not have clearance to see what was below in a massive hole. The hole had been covered by a makeshift metal building, but that was hardly secure. So Vince’s team, who not only had clearance but had used what was there, kept shifts to make sure it was safe.

Col. John Hagen walked up with Dr. Simon Harris, the Chief Technology Engineer of the Expedition: Andromeda team. They had teleported to the outer perimeter of the building and were walking around it, John stopping to talk to the major in charge of his crew’s first shift. Finally, they approached the two generals. “General, good to see you,” John snapped off a salute to Ken.

“You as well,” he returned the salute. “Dr. Harris,” this time the general extended his hand to shake Simon’s. “Good to see you again. Ready to head down?”

“Yes, sir,” John said. The men walked into the metal building, their footsteps on the wood planks echoed off the walls. They loaded onto a construction elevator and descended several stories deep into the ground. Floor by floor, John, for the first time, saw the wrecked rooms, the remains of what had been probably the most classified area on the planet. The elevator stopped at the bottom. A wide-open space stood before them, part of which was filled by a metal “hump” in the ground with columns at either end containing control panels.

“Okay, you guys stay here on the elevator,” John said, then tapped his comlink as he went to one corner of the open area, “Science team, I’m ready to walk off the teleportation area. I’m at the starting point.”

“Location locked, go ahead,” came the reply. 

John walked to the far end of the area. “End point.”

“Location locked. Next.”

The process was repeated until a rectangle had been walked off. “Okay, we’re all out of the way,” John said when the flagship confirmed they were ready to teleport down two Rayth.

Ken Price blinked and shook his head as the air before him seemed to shimmer and warp just slightly. Then two very tall men appeared in front of him. “General Ken Price,” Vince said, “this is the High Chancellor of the Raythian Empire and his First Science Commander.”

Ken, having been instructed on Raythian protocol, gave Zy’nayth a formal bow, then a smaller, less formal bow to Ja’val. “An honor. And thank you for coming. There she is,” he motioned to the bridge portal behind them. 

Zy’nayth turned and gave a nod to Ja’val and Simon to begin their tests. “I take it that area on the other side of the portal was an elevator of some sort, to transport large items to and from the surface?”

“Yeah,” Ken said. “That came after we’d already built the place. Didn’t think we’d have to send large equipment over, or large amounts of supplies. I think we were in here two months before we started tearing everything up to put that huge lift in. Worked out much better, though. Now who knows what they’re going to do.”

“Chris’ team clean this up?” John asked.

“Yeah. Looks brand new,” Ken said. “Vince, your teams have worked hard.”

“Well, we need this up and running, don’t we?” Vince walked over to the open area and looked up at the metal roof overhead, then back to Ken. “I’ve got a good crew. Proud of all of them, military, medical, and science teams have all gone above and beyond the call of duty.”

Ja’val walked over and immediately powered down the bridge portal. “Our first scans will determine if there are any fractures that need to be tended to. It’s best to run them with the power off,” he explained.

“You mean it’s been on even after the collapse?” Ken asked.

“They’re tough machines,” Ja’val said. “They were built to withstand just about anything.” He paused then looked at the general. “You’ve never powered it on? Not even when you first found it?”

“No. Nothing in any report from the excavation either,” Ken said. “It always worked, well, once we figured out how to activate a portal on the other end.”

Ja’val waved Ken over. “Here, I’ll show you how to power it on and off.” In the main control column, he showed him how to retract the cover and the key combination to power down the portal then told him what to do to power it back up. “Simple as that.”

“When we found it back in 2112, it was already powered on?” Ken asked.

“Most likely. Not unusual. Many we find on vacated worlds or buried somewhere are still powered up. Like I said, built to withstand anything. Almost.” Ja’val went back to his task at hand. 

“I see a fluctuation in the energy supply,” Simon turned his tablet towards Ja’val, “am I reading that right?”

“You’re reading it correctly, but the test is flawed. The portal hadn’t completely powered down when you started your scan.” He pointed to an indicator on the display, “That’s what the red highlight around the test name indicates. Sorry, I should have instructed you on that. Go back a screen. Yup, see the blue, it’s now reading as completely powered off. Okay, you’re good to run the diagnostic now.”

Simon flipped through other screens of the diagnostic readings, then back to the first page. “Everything seems to be fine now.”

“Keep running the other tests. I’m going to check all of this wiring,” Ja’val said, sitting cross-legged on the floor and one after another, connected his tablet to each piece of wiring and ran a diagnostic until each individual wire or conduit was checked. Then he went to the other column and did the same thing. Finally, he ran one more on the entire system.

“Main is checking out fine,” he said, “what are you seeing?”

“Everything looks good,” Simon replied.

“Good. The rest of my tests can’t be run until we power this thing back on.” Ja’val tapped his comlink, “Third, we’re going to power up and run our diagnostics. We should be ready for the first test in ten to fifteen minutes.”

“Ready on this end,” came the reply.

Simon powered on the bridge portal. A slight hum filled the air. Ja’val ran through several more diagnostic tests. True to his word, ten minutes later, after conferring with Simon, he called the Third Science Commander. “Everything looks good. Send item one over.”

For nearly an hour, items were sent back and forth over the portal. Various materials, sizes, and shapes. When each item was received it was scanned for integrity, then sent back across. Finally, Ja’val gave a nod to Zy’nayth. “I think we’re ready for the final test.” He walked up to the portal and was about to give Simon a nod to activate it.

“No, I got this,” John said, walking over. “Things go bad, you have to fix it and the Big Guy needs to heal up any damage it does to me.”

“If I didn’t think it was working properly, I wouldn’t walk over it,” Ja’val smiled and motioned for him to take his place, “but thank you.”

“Now I think you’re giving in too easily,” John chuckled. “Go ahead. I’m ready.”

Simon entered the code and John walked over the amber-glowing portal. He smiled at the Third Science Commander as he stepped onto the flagship. He patted himself on the chest, legs, and head. “I think I’m in one piece.”

The Third walked over and put his hand on John’s chest, allowing his energy to enter him, following it with a scan. Then he tapped his comlink. “Colonel Hagen has arrived and is his normal, happy self.”

Ja’val let out a laugh, causing the others to look at him. “My Third Science Commander has a sense of humor. John’s fine,” he explained to those in the area with him. “Send him back, please,” he said to his Third.

A moment later, John crossed from the flagship to what remained of Central Command. Ja’val went over and checked with his energy. “Are you happy?” he asked.

John shook his head. “I’d be happy on a boat doing a little fishing.”

“Sounds good to me,” Ken said.

“John’s here,” Ja’val said over his comlink, “but doesn’t appear to be as happy as he must have been when you checked him. Energy check and scan show he’s unharmed.”

“Clearly he enjoys my company more. Anything else we need to test?” the Third asked.

“I think we can safely say this portal is working properly. Thank you.”

“Understood,” the Third replied then turned the flagship’s portal back over to the technicians so they could continue with sending people to and from their various assigned locations.

“So now that this is good to go,” Ken said, “which is great, thank you, I still don’t really have a way to get things to the city-ship. Unless it’s something that’ll fit on that construction elevator.”

“Don’t worry about it,” John said. “We’re sending things to Victoria’s estate,” he nodded towards Zy’nayth, “his ship then teleports it up and bridges it to us. Sort of a pain for them, but we’re getting what we need.”

Vince saw Ken’s eyes light up. He shook his head, “Ken, I’ve already asked. He’s not going to give us teleportation tech.”

“Well, it was worth asking about, or attempting to,” Ken chuckled. “High Chancellor, First Science Officer…”

“Commander,” John grinned, “he’s a commander.”

“Forgive me,” Ken continued, “thank you for your help. I know you probably have other things more pressing. Thank you.”

“You are welcome,” Zy’nayth said, “and should you need anything, contact the general and he will get word to me. I am still waiting on the president’s reply regarding rebuilding this area.”

“My gut feeling…his Cabinet won’t let it happen. But thanks for offering.”

Vince, Simon, and the two Rayth were teleported to the flagship while John went with Ken topside. Then John got his men loaded into the transport and took them to Victoria’s estate.

***

With the funeral behind them, the staff out of the cold, and people organizing Christmas decorations and gift exchanges and parties, morale was good among the Expedition: Andromeda crew. Victoria had ten different groups helping with the Christmas arrangements. It was, after all, an enormous hangar.

All six shuttles had been repaired and five were in constant use. One was left on the city-ship in case of an emergency. Four were shuttling people down from the flagship to Victoria’s estate and back, one traveled with crews back and forth with the city-ship to ease the use of the Raythian flagship’s portal, if only slightly. 

Victoria, the twins in tow on their tricycles, were going to drop off some food for Be’atta and Kol’non. Though they could get food from the cafeteria, Be’atta had asked Victoria to make a few things for them since Kol’non was still queasy five days after his serum treatment. Though Alan’s team was making good food, Be’atta was concerned that it might be too spicy or not quite right in some way for her husband. Victoria, having gone through this with her husband, plus being a doctor who loved to cook, would make better food choices for them. Such was Be’atta’s theory. Victoria was happy to help even though she told her it would take at least a month for Kol’non to adjust.

Be’atta opened the door, “Come in.”

Ky’nayth and Mik’kenna pedaled in and parked their tricycles next to the door. Baxter and Celeste went and began to play with Shadow. “I made up a couple of soups for you,” Victoria said. “Heartier than what I brought on Friday, but still kind of bland. Kenna has the potato soup, Ky has the chicken noodle. He seemed to handle those soups well, so I brought up the spicing a notch.” The kids got out their packages and followed their mother to the kitchen. Victoria set her two bags on the counter as Be’atta put the soups in the fridge. “And a couple of casseroles for you. Instructions here,” she set a piece of paper on the counter. “And this bag has the fixings for a breakfast casserole. I didn’t mix it up, it’s better with fresh eggs.”

“Uh…” Be’atta looked at the different bowls. “Honey, I don’t cook, you know that.”

Victoria chuckled, “This is really easy,” she patted the paper she’d already put down. “Instructions. Crack some eggs, toss these in—they’re already cleaned and cut—mix, throw it in the oven.”

“Well, I can do that. I hope. You going planet-side?”

“Yeah. Food run for Alan. I should be back up here by 9:00 if you need something. How’s he doing?”

“Didn’t get to sleep until maybe 4:00. Still really nauseous and continues to get dizzy. Thanks for this, Victoria.”

“The dizziness should have stopped by now. How much has he been eating?”

“A cup of soup for lunch and dinner, that’s about it. Scrambled eggs for breakfast.”

“Sounds like he’s not eating enough. Mind if I go in and run a scan? I’ll do my best not to wake him.” Be’atta nodded vigorously. She was worried. Victoria looked at the twins, “Would you run to our chambers and get my scanner please?”

The kids got back on their tricycles and hurried down the corridor to their chambers. This was urgent, and they were entrusted with the mission. Around each curve, there were only two as Kol’non’s chambers were only down the corridor from Zy’nayth’s, the kids rang their bells on their tricycles. Ky’nayth stayed outside, saying he’d keep the way clear so they could hurry back. Mik’kenna ran in and grabbed her mother’s medical kit and put it in her basket, then they pedaled back down to Kol’non’s chambers. 

Victoria got out her scanner as Be’atta walked out of the bedroom. “He’s sound asleep,” she said. “I hope there’s no issues.”

Victoria followed her back into the bedroom and ran a scan as Be’atta watched from the doorway, worried about her husband’s condition. Victoria finished her scan and gave Be’atta a warm smile as she led her out of the room.

“Malnutrition, dehydration,” she said after the door shut. “It cropped up on the Tarnia distribution. Stomachs were so sensitive, people were afraid to eat. Continue with the soups as you have been. As for the casseroles, he needs to eat a good fist-sized helping along with his soup. What’s he drinking?”

“Some milk in the morning, tea throughout the day.”

“Get some juice from the mess. Apple and grape would probably be easiest on his stomach. Tea is fine, but the juice will give him more nutrients. Has he been snacking on fruit? Crackers?”

“No. Nothing. I think you’re right, he’s afraid to get sick.”

“I need to run, but call Janice or Lutia. Have them get some non-acidic fruit from the mess; carrots, crackers are good for him too. Then after he has breakfast, call Becket and tell him what’s going on. Ja’val is planet-side with my husband, but I don’t think Rayth healing is needed. He just needs to eat. I’ll be back around 9:00. We’re meeting with the decorating team, but I can take a few minutes to stop by if needed; Becket may be busy.”

“All right.”

Victoria reached over and took one of Be’atta’s hands, giving it a gentle squeeze, “He’s fine.” She then took her tablet, sat on the edge of the sofa and sent a message to Becket to ease Be’atta’s worry. “I sent him the results of my scan and asked him to stop by.” She had just set her tablet aside when it gave out a low beep letting her know she received a message. She smiled as she looked at it. Becket had already sent a reply confirming her assessment of malnutrition and dehydration. “He’ll stop by in an hour.”

“Thanks, Victoria. I’ll call Janice right now and get the snacks.”

***

After their excursion on Earth, John, Simon, Vince, Zy’nayth, Ja’val, joined Kaven and Jack Burgeon on the city-ship. They walked through each area of the 195th floor of Tower One. It was a final pass to make sure the areas were cleared out, cleaned up, and ready to begin the remodeling. Zy’nayth and Ja’val each scanned for structural integrity issues. Simon and Jack each checked off all electrical and plumbing outlets and fixtures and equipment.

“Alan wishes to move the dining area to this room?” Zy’nayth asked.

“Not move, expand,” John corrected. “The serving line used to be here,” he stood at the spot and held his arms up at his sides like a bird spreading its wings to indicate where the serving line stood, “but he wants more room in the kitchen, so we’ll be bringing it out to here,” he took a few steps forward. “What used to be a utility and storage area will now become the store and where the store was,” he pointed over his back, “will be added to the kitchen. Then adding that space there,” he pointed directly across, “not only lets us move that serving line out a few feet, but still gives us more dining area.”

“You could add even more,” Ja’val said, “the next couple of rooms down the hall could be used, unless that’s where your moving the utility area.”

“It is,” John said. “We talked about moving it further down, but it just gets complicated. We want to keep it easy to switch out as possible because we want to move the mess hall to an entirely different floor once we get space cleared out. We need to give Becket and the mess hall each more room. We can’t move the bridge control room or the shuttle bay and we want to keep the infirmary on this level because injured can be brought in with the shuttles. So the best solution is to move the mess hall when we get a place opened up.”

Zy’nayth listened, imagining how things could be set up. “Considering the Mythicans had their medical scanner on this floor, that means this was the main infirmary area, or perhaps just a triage area. Just as you suggested: the shuttle brought in the injured.” He looked at Ja’val, “I do not recall seeing a full-scale medical area on the schematics.”

“I can give it another look; they’d have to have one. A ship this size would have to have a hospital that could handle an enormous amount of people. With the housing out on the arms of the ship, plus the dedicated residences in the small towers, they could easily have twenty or thirty thousand people living on this thing.”

“What? That many?” Vince asked, flabbergasted. 

“You’ve had over 5,000 people living here,” Ja’val said, “and you haven’t even looked at three-quarters of the towers, and have left the residential arms abandoned. Yeah, I think 20,000, perhaps more, lived and worked on this ship. Keep in mind, this was a research vessel, so the areas you’re using as residences were at one point laboratories.”

“Do you have ships like this?” Kaven asked.

“My fleet does not. We have ships which are more like satellite or docking stations that have housing but are set up more for commerce than to be residences.” Zy’nayth gave him a sly smile, “When you own most of the galaxy, real estate is not an issue.”

Vince cleared his throat, “He’s got a point. Okay, let’s finish this up. Jack, you and Alan settle on a design?”

“Finalizing today after this. And then we’ll order building materials and whatever equipment he needs. Not much we’ll have to do, knock out an old wall or two where the old store was, put in the serving line, some shelving, the rest is pretty much up to him.”

***

“The new engine mount is finished. I have a team scanning it to make sure it’s per spec. Shouldn’t be any issues,” Ja’val told Zy’nayth as he and Lutia joined Zy’nayth and his family for lunch. It had already been a busy day and wasn’t about to slow down. “I have a Science vessel on standby. All of the equipment we’ll need is on it. I had Second and Third double and triple check my inventory list to make sure I didn’t forget anything.”

“When you are certain that everything is ready, have the vessel come at highest possible speed without stressing its engines.”

“Should take a day or two to load things up once the scans are done on the mount, which should happen today, then two to two and a half weeks to get to the Milky Way border using our normal route,” Ja’val said. “Another four to get here. But, when it gets to the border, we could be there. A day and a half travel for us. A day to load everything onto this ship, a day and a half back. We’d need to let the E:A group know that they may be stuck on here a week, tops, as we travel.”

“I can let Vince know after lunch,” Victoria said. “I think the group would be fine with that. A week, knowing that we’re picking up parts for their home, I think they’d handle it okay.”

“If you would talk with Vince, I would appreciate it. But we do not have to go this route. The Science vessel can come all the way here. It will only take longer,” Zy’nayth said. Ky’nayth excused himself and came running back with a notepad and wrote down how long it would take. 

“So what day we leave to go meet Science vessel?” Ky’nayth asked. “I make note so no forget.”

“Let’s say Thursday after next,” Ja’val said, checking the calendar. “The 21st.”

Ky’nayth wrote it down. “Mommy, I has it so we no forget when talk to Uncle Vince. If want, I can take tricycle and go let him know now. You can finish lunch and no has to worry ‘bout it. I write down what Daddy say ‘bout not has to take flagship and stuff. I write down Uncle Vince reply when he tell me.”

“I want you to finish your lunch,” Victoria smiled.

“Mommy, I be messenger. Dis important message.”

Zy’nayth looked at his wife then turned to his son. “Ky’nayth, Mik’kenna, I think it would be a good idea if both of you went to tell Vince. Ky’nayth, though I trust you to relay the information accurately, Mik’kenna can be there if you forget something and she can take notes of Vince’s reply. That way you both can help.”

Ky’nayth hopped out of his seat. “Come on, Sissy, we has to go.” The kids grabbed their notepads and pens, and in seconds were pedaling their way from the High Chancellor’s chambers to the hangar where the Expedition: Andromeda staff was staying.

“I thought you didn’t want them running through the halls on the trikes unescorted,” Victoria said.

“They are eager to be tricycle messengers and with everyone in one hangar, there is not much for them to do. It is only one trip there and back and it is something that is important, though not urgent. It helps them to feel useful.”

Kel’lan let out a wail. Lutia grabbed his bottle, giving it to her husband who was holding the baby. Ja’val smiled as the baby boy latched onto the bottle and became content. “He probably wanted to go with the twins,” Ja’val said. “I foresee them being the very best of friends.”

“They can’t wait for him to get bigger so they can play,” Victoria said, “and Mari, too. They’ve really only had each other and the three boys on Kiva but we’re hardly ever there. I guess I can’t wait for Kel and Mari to get bigger too.”

November 14, 2120

Victoria was chatting with the team about the Christmas decorations when her comlink buzzed. “Carson,” she answered, noting that ringtone wasn’t that of her husband.

“Need you on the city-ship,” said Dr. Neville Danielson, “had a collapse, ten people trapped.”

“On my way,” she said and ran up to Vince who waved her on.

“I know, go. I’ll have David watch the twins. Go.”

Victoria ran to her chambers, grabbed her medical bag then ran back to the bridge portal. The twins were there with David. She gave them both kisses. “I love you.”

“Mommy, be extra safe,” Mik’kenna said. “I scared.”

“I’ll be in the infirmary, I’ll be fine,” she smiled. There were a handful of other doctors and nurses with her now, waiting to bridge over. “Portal open,” one of the Rayth technicians said, “now.” An amber glow emanated from the bridge and the medical team hurried over. Once on the city-ship, they ran down a corridor to the infirmary, “Status?” Victoria asked.

“Dr. McKenna is on-site,” Neville said. “Janice is with him.”

“Just the two of them? Any Rayth with them?”

“Only those two and the Rayth that was with the cleanup crew is trapped.”

Victoria tapped her comlink, “Second Commander, sorry to bother you…would there be a couple of Rayth available…we’ve had…”

“Heard about the collapse. I will send a half-dozen warriors over. I don’t have any serum Rayth available, so if people need to be healed, know that my Rayth will have to feed.”

“I understand, thank you,” Victoria said. She gave orders to the staff then contacted Becket, “We’re ready up here. Second is sending warriors to help.”

“As soon as we get in, I’ll let you know what to expect,” Becket replied. 

Victoria went about making sure the operating rooms and the staff were ready to go. She knew they were but it kept her occupied while waiting for news.

Forty-five minutes later, the ten members of the cleanup crew were in the infirmary being checked over. None had any serious injuries. The worst was a broken wrist.

“I know they’re all minor injuries, but I’ll see if we can get a Rayth to heal you,” Becket said. “The ones who helped get you out aren’t serum Rayth. Best if we avoid using their healing abilities. I’ll wait until the High Chancellor has a serum Rayth available. Everyone here okay with that?”

“Not a problem,” John said as Victoria finished wrapping his sprained ankle. 

Janice brought over a crutch for him. He sighed but took it from her.

After things were cleaned up in the infirmary and all of the paperwork done, Victoria returned to the flagship. The twins, who were riding around the hangar on their tricycles, saw her walk in and went racing for her. Both jumping off of their bikes and running the last couple of feet to her, asking how everyone was.

“Everyone’s fine. Just a few bumps and bruises,” she said, giving them both kisses. “It’s about time for the group teleportation. We should take the dogs down then it’ll be time for me to fix dinner.” Every three hours, the flagship made sure it was in orbit over Victoria’s estate where one area was roped off for people to stand and wait to be teleported up. On the other side of the house another area was set up to send people down. The ship would perform the first teleportation to and from Victoria’s estate, wait ten minutes, for those who just needed to deliver a message, or, in the case of the dogs, allow them time to do their business, then there would be another round of teleportation to and from the estate. It seemed to be working well for everyone. 

On their way to the chambers, they stopped in to see how Kol’non was doing and invited him and Be’atta to join them for dinner. 

When Zy’nayth arrived home, he smelled the homemade lasagna, his wife’s specialty, waiting for him. He greeted Be’atta with a hug and Kol’non with a handshake. Kol’non, a bit concerned about his nausea returning, couldn’t help himself and he ate a full serving.

“If you want to take the leftovers, feel free,” Victoria said as she began to clean up afterwards.

“No thank you. I don’t want to push my stomach too far,” Kol’non said. “I’ve just gotten to the point where I’m not getting sick when I eat.”

“And with that said, we should head home. Thank you for dinner,” Be’atta said.

“You’re very welcome,” Victoria said.

Zy’nayth looked at Be’atta. “Would you be able to stay five minutes? I need to talk to my wife and would like you to stay with the children.”

“Daddy, you talk. It no problem,” Ky’nayth said. 

“In my office,” he smiled at his son. “Just a few minutes.”

“We be fine. Sissy and I go to room.”

“This is…very private,” Zy’nayth finally said. “It will only be a few minutes.”

“We’d be happy to stay,” Be’atta said. “And I’ll finish the dishes. You two go.”

Victoria was confused. It wasn’t like her husband to pull her away to talk. If it was private, the kids were sent to their room, but this time they went down the corridor to the command bridge and into his office.

“What’s wrong?” Victoria asked when the door hissed shut.

“I need to make something perfectly clear,” he said, his deep, gravelly voice laced with anger, “you do not have authority to send for Rayth to help with any incident.”

“What?” she asked, stunned.

“You called the Second Commander and asked for Rayth to help after the cave in, did you not?”

“I did, yes. We didn’t know how serious the injuries would be and I thought it would be…”

“Rayth are not here to be your healers.”

“One,” she said, her own anger rising, “I didn’t assume anything. I asked if anyone was available. If there wasn’t, we’d take care of it. Two, what if it had been serious? What if John had more than a sprained ankle? What was I to do?”

“You are a doctor, you would treat it as you would if there were no Rayth around to heal anyone.”

“I didn’t order the Second to send anyone. I asked if someone was available. He said he was sending warriors.”

“You do not understand. He was not planning on sending help until he received your call.”

“And? We needed it, not for healing, but their help getting the team out was essential, from what I was told.”

“Victoria, when the wife of the High Chancellor calls one of his commanders for help, do you honestly believe that the subordinate would say no?”

“What? You mean he sent them only because I’m your wife? He could turn me down. I don’t hold any rank or position with Rayth. I’ve never assumed to and they know it.”

“It puts him in a difficult situation. If he says no to you, but I have told you to call him, he risks my anger by refusing you. If he says yes, and I had not been involved in any way, and one of my warriors were injured or killed in helping you, he risks my anger by assuming I have given you permission to send for his help.”

Victoria sank into a chair. “I’m sorry, Zy. I didn’t even think about it.”

“And the Council, which goes over the reports from the top commanders, will wonder why you were able to…”

Victoria raised a hand, “I get it now. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause trouble, I just wanted to make sure we had plenty of help on hand if things were bad.”

Zy’nayth sat down beside her and took her hands into his own. “I am sorry. I let my anger…it was a rough day and getting the report from the Second Commander as I left a bitter Council meeting did not help my frame of mind.”

“Okay, what do I do if this comes up again?”

“Vince informed the Second of the accident. Becket could have requested help if things were bad. He did, in fact, ask me if I could look in on those injured or send a serum Rayth. Which I did. But…”

“If Becket isn’t there?”

Zy’nayth closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “I would rather you call Vince, Kol’non, or me.”

“So I can call the First Commander for help and not the Second? That doesn’t make sense.”

“The First is family.”

She sighed. “Okay. Zy, I really thought nothing about it. I…”

“I know. You were preparing for a crisis. And I lost my temper at you.”

“I doubt that little bit of raising your voice was you losing your temper. I suspect that people die when you lose your temper.”

“That has been known to happen,” he smiled, “I love you. Forgive me for being upset.”

“Forgive me for not thinking,” she replied.

“You were thinking about your friends, not possible conflicts with my job. I love you, Victoria.”

“I love you,” she kissed his cheek. “Should I apologize to the Second?”

“Apologize? No. There is nothing…”

“Let me talk to him. I didn’t know. Please?”

Zy’nayth tapped his comlink, “Second, would you join me in my office, please?”

A moment later, the Second Commander entered the room. “Sir?”

“I wanted to apologize,” Victoria spoke, “I uh…my call wasn’t meant as an order and I didn’t realize that…” she sighed again, “I shouldn’t have called. I should have gone through Vince or Becket. I apologize for putting you in a difficult situation. I’m sorry for the trouble I caused.”

He gave her a nod. “Thank you. Sir, her call is not in my report. I noted that General Cavanaugh informed me of the incident and I sent six warriors to help get the men out since one of those men was a flagship scientist.”

“Have you filed the report?”

“Not yet, sir. Was finishing it when you called me.”

“Put Victoria’s call in. I do not wish for you to lie. I will deal with the Council if they question the matter.”

The Second gave him a bow then went to finish his report. Victoria and Zy’nayth returned to their chambers. 

“Daddy, everything ‘kay?” Mik’kenna asked holding up a cup of hot tea. “We made your favorite. It calming.”

“I has one for Mommy,” Ky’nayth said, walking carefully into the room.

“Thank you, children,” Zy’nayth smiled as he took the cup and saucer. “Everything is fine.”

“Mommy just made a stupid mistake with the chain of command,” Victoria said. “But I made an apology to both your father and the Second Commander.”

Kol’non raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Zy’nayth gave a short synopsis of the situation as the kids sat on the floor, holding their dogs. “It was an innocent mistake.”

“The staff will still be unsure as to if they can turn down a request from your wife,” Kol’non said.

“His wife won’t be asking them for anything. I’ll go to you, Ja’val, or this guy,” Victoria smiled up at Zy’nayth. “Unless it’s an emergency, I mean a real emergency where going through the normal chain of command would costs lives.”

“I will allow for that,” Zy’nayth said.