“One moment, Captain,” Hawkes said, surprising Devereux with his request to delay his answer. She could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times he had done that he was first assigned to her ship.
Several seconds of silence passed, punctuated with indecipherable murmurs and the faint clicking of what might have been equipment.
“Captain,” Hawkes voice came again, startling her slightly. “Switch the feed to one of your screens to secure Security link Beta-Seven-Three.”
Devereux frowned and then nodded toward Elizabeth. Her First Officer tapped out the commands on her tablet, bit nervously at her lower lip, and then tried to enter the commands on the auxiliary station.
“Captain?” She appeared both startled and concerned by what she found.
Devereux stepped forward, and then relaxed when she saw the security prompt.
Oops, I must never have given her a set of command override codes.
Devereux entered her command access code and then gave Elizabeth a encouraging wink. “Just our Tactical Officer being his usual cautious self.”
Elizabeth did not seem completely reassured.
“Let’s see now,” Devereux said, and turned toward the main bridge displays.
The star field it currently displayed dissolved, replaced by a splotchy gray image. It resolved slowly, lacking fine detail, but Devereux recognized the chamber that led to the infirmary’s recovery bay.
“What is—?”
“The Lieutenant managed to get one his remote security monitors online,” Devereux explained. “Barely,” she added, “by the looks of it.”
Although the details were unclear, Devereux could see the damage wreaked on two of the bulkheads.
Looks like someone drove a shuttle through there . . .
The image flickered and she found it difficult to discern the debris from the transmission artifacts.
There’s secured storage. And . . .
Her thoughts trailed off in surprise as the image sharpened and she clearly saw Hope sprawled limply on the deck. She opened her mouth, but stopped at the sight of the shadowy shape less than a meter away from Hope’s unconscious form. The surge of fear she felt for Hope dissipated as her mind and memory put the pieces together.
It’s kneeling . . . just like the Star Bloods did.
She peered closer, hoping to see more detail, but failed to accomplish much than to get a closer look at the signal artifacts. Taking a step back, she considered the scene for a moment. The alien had not moved since the security link had been established.
“At least she’s not tearing the place apart any more,” she murmured.
“It looks like she already did,” Elizabeth whispered in response.
Devereux gave a quick, small smile. She turned back toward the main screens.
“Lieutenant,” she said. “Restrain the alien and prepare to return it to isolation. I recommend using the brig until we have a better idea on how to keep it contained.”
“My thinking exactly, Captain.”
“I’m glad we agree,” Devereux said, chuckling softly. “I’m on my way there. I want to—”
“Captain,” Hawkes’ voice interrupted her. “I recommend that you do not arrive in the area until we have secured necessary repairs.”
At the edge of her peripheral vision, Devereux saw Elizabeth struggle to suppress a giggle. She almost smiled, but then grew more serious.
“Are you worried about a hull breach?”
“No, Captain,” Hawkes reported. “But there is a considerable amount of damage to several of the internal bulkheads.”
“I can see that,” Devereux remarked dryly.
“And a large quantity of medical supplies have also been compromised, Hawkes went on. “I recommend that you not expose yourself to them until we can assess the danger potential.”
Devereux mouth formed a tight-lipped frown. “All right,” she conceded unhappily. “Keep me posted.”
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