Chapter 3

"So what do we do first?" I asked

"Well, you are in charge so it's really up to you. But if I were you I would try to get back into space as soon as possible."

Thank you captain obvious! I thought but said nothing, best not to irritate the alien.

"What do we need to do to get back into space?"

"Most of the needed repairs were done last night; I ordered them done before I transferred command to you. We can lift off anytime and rendezvous with the Cargo Pod that I hid in the asteroid belt between your fourth and fifth planet."

"Cargo Pod?" I knew he probably thought it was a stupid question, but there was something that I wasn't getting.

He smiled "I keep forgetting the level of technology of your planet, this is only a small portion of the ship, most of the ship is still in space, to bring the whole ship would have brought attention to my mission."

"What kind of ship is this?" The only thing I could think of was the Enterprise detaching something big and fierce, something that could make fighting a war possible. The answer was surprising to say the least.

"This is a freighter" he said proudly.

"A FREIGHTER! How can I fight a war with a freighter!"

That irritated him apparently he was mighty proud of his ship, I learned later it was his first command.

"This freighter is the best thing you could have wanted Sir, It's long range, Jump capable, and in its cargo hold lays the ability to make more ships. Second it's all that I had available to me, to bring to you. With it you might be able to convince others to surrender to you, so you can build your fleet."

"What is in the cargo hold?"

"My mission before the surrender order came, was to take a small convoy to a secret location to build a base/shipyard/refugee center. Therefore, along with supplies my cargo hold has drones and 3 industrial assemblers, a class 3 fusion reactor, a secure tachyon communication grid, and a computer fully uploaded with a defense database." He paused to see if I understood, and I was grateful that I used to be/am a geek, because conceptually wise I got it. "Everything we need to create a viable resistance"

Now its WE again! "How can all of that fit in this small ship?"

"The cargo hold, engines and jump drive are all in the Cargo Pod" he smiled the smile of an adult to a child, condescending bastard.

"So let's get going, if you are sure we can finish the repairs on the way"

"If you will accompany me to the control room we can get started".

The ship was small, this was no Enterprise, It consisted of two decks the upper deck was only ship systems barely enough room to move and nothing to do there. The lower deck consisted of 5 rooms, from the entry point straight ahead was the control room the first room on the right was the medical room (where I spent the night) the second was the mess, on the left there were the crew quarter and the captains quarters. The crew quarters had room for 8 crew members. We walked to the control room which was located in the front of the ship.

"Where is the rest of the crew?"

"Most of the crew did not agree with my plan so they transferred to a ship that was going to surrender, Crewman Zor" he looked down "Died when we hit a mine on the edge of your planet, which is what caused the damage to the ship".

It was clear that he was saddened by this, I now knew 2 things, where the blood in Torak's uniform came from and that the dangers would start immediately.

"At least he died with honor" I said with a weak smile, honestly honor doesn't play a big factor in my choices but it was important to him.

"He did and no one will be able to deny him that" He said triumphantly.