Free The White Death by Daniel Rafferty Page A

the tall, thin Loretta and her large strides.
    “Something, clearly,” replied Loretta as they all stepped into the elevator and sped upwards towards the bridge. The bridge was a hive of activity, officers running in every direction, while Captain Grace sat in the center of the bridge. In her command chair, she barked out orders.
    “Helm pursuit course,” she ordered. “Tactical, lock on to that vessel and target their engines. Prepare to disable them.”
    “Captain?” said Loretta, leading the Council members and Freda across the bridge.
    “We have an emergency disembarkation from the planet. They’re attempting to enter the subspace corridor.”
    “Hail them,” ordered Loretta.
    “They are not responding to hails.”
    “Captain, that is a Bernay ship,” warned Loretta. “You cannot fire upon it.”
    “I am the captain of this vessel,” reminded Grace.
    “I am ordering you NOT to fire,” said Loretta.
    “Your order is nullified,” said Grace.
    “Captain,” shouted an officer manning the helms station. “They are powering their warp core.”
    “Fire torpedoes,” she commanded without hesitation, ignoring Loretta’s protests. The sleek and slender Council ship fired three small torpedoes from one of its two forward launchers. They ripped through space and smashed into the escaping vessel. The first two tore down its protective shielding, while the third detonated on the hull. Shards of metal broke off, and the engines exploded. The shuttle began to drift, leaking engine fluid, lighting flickering from the half dozen windows.
    “The shuttle has been disabled, Captain.”
    “Tow it into the shuttle bay. Transport those onboard to brig one,” Grace ordered, turning around to discuss with the Council members what had just happened.
    A rip in the tranquility of space, shown on the view screen, caught them all by surprise. Sparks of white and orange, followed by an explosion, provided a sinister firework display for all on the bridge to witness.
    “What the hell happened?”
    “Unknown, Captain. Minimal debris. We only disabled their engines. They must have initiated the self-destruct sequence.”
    “Impossible,” said Loretta. “The Bernay will be investigating this matter.”
    “They can feel free,” replied Grace. “So will I, and I’m very thorough.”
    “What ship was that?” asked Freda, turning to stare up at Loretta. Freda had no knowledge of any alien ships stationed on the planet.
    “The original science team had access to a shuttle. They were ordered this morning to leave the planet to help with sterilization preparations up here aboard the Experian .”
    “They weren’t heading for this starship, that’s for sure,” said Freda.
    “Obviously,” Loretta snapped. “Captain, prepare a team to go down to their research lab. I want to know exactly what happened.” Loretta turned and walked off the bridge, the other Council members following her. Cecil looked back quickly at Freda. He had worry in his face.
    “I’m going with them,” said Freda, and Grace knew she wasn’t referring to the Council members.
    “Should I even try arguing?”
    “No, Grace. Not today. Definitely not today,” she replied. Small chunks of the shuttlecraft flew past the view screen, being vaporized by the ship’s protective shielding. “I’ll be in the transporter room.”
    “Understood,” said Grace, watching her older friend leave. “Someone get a transporter lock on whatever wreckage is left. Beam it to the cargo bay.”
    “Beaming now,” said her transporter chief.
    “Captain, permission to assemble a team and disembark,” said Commander Flint, head of the Telson security team stationed on the ship.
    “Granted. Commander,” warned Grace. She took him to the side. “You are personally responsible for Freda’s safety.”
    “Understood, ma’am. I’ll bring her back.”

Chapter 10

    The team beamed down to the research lab. A thick, putrid smell overwhelmed Freda’s senses, and