The next couple of days proved uneventful until one afternoon, John persuaded Alyssa toe with him down to the pool and begin to learn how to swim. Alyssa trusted John unreservedly but she was still scared of the water, so it was with some trepidation that she followed him into the gym. They had only just started to get undressed, when a warning rm began to sh from John’s watch.


    “Saved by the bell!” Alyssa grinned at John, zipping up her top again.


    He smiled back and pressed a button on his watch, a hologram of Cra’s lovely face appearing before him.


    “What is it Cra?” he asked the young Latina who was currently on the bridge.


    “Long range sensors are picking up a distress beacon Commander!” she replied urgently.


    John and Alyssa’s eyes met and a look shed between them. “Was this real or another trap?” they both wondered at the same time. They darted out of the gym and jogged to the elevator, dodging around a pair of cleaning robots as the automatons performed their duties in the hall.


    A few momentster they stepped out of the lift onto the bridge and mounted themand podium taking two illuminated steps at a time.


    “What do we know so far Lieutenant?” John asked.


    “I’m picking up what looks like four ships, but three of them aren’t broadcasting any transponder codes. Thest one is a heavy freighter” The brte reported.


    “See if you can contact the freighter Cra” John replied. “Alyssa, plot an intercept course please”.


    The girl’s leapt in to action, following hismands swiftly. The beautiful blonde was the first to respond. “Courseid in John, 3 minutes until we’re in range”.


    John nodded his understanding as the Invictus surged forwards, as though eager at the opportunity for action.


    “Commander, the Freighter is hailing us” Cra warned, “the distress beacon ising from them”.


    John pushed a button on his console that answered the hail from the freighter. “This is John ke, Commander of the Cruiser Invictus, what’s the situation?” he asked tersely.


    “Oh thank god!!” eximed a relieved voice, as a face appeared on the overhead view screen. The panicked face of a man appearing in front of them. “We’re being attacked by pirates… vers I think!”.


    “We’ll be with you in two minutes, hold tight until then” John reassured the man, ending the conversation.


    “Weapons hot Lieutenant!” John ordered, his strong unwavering voice filling both girls with confidence.


    Cra activated the ships weaponry and the armoured panels on the Invictus slid open, baring its fangs. The ship was thirsty for blood.


    They surged forward, the Cruisers massive engines throbbing with power and Cra was able to pick up more information on the pirates as they closed in.This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    “A Lexon ss Frigate and two bulk corvettes, sir!” she eximed, hitting a button to show the marauding pirate ships as they pursued the limping heavy freighter. They could see the rear of the freighter was pock marked with numerous craters, where the pirates had tried to disable the engines with weapons fire.


    “XO raise shields” Johnmanded, before hitting a button that would hail the pirate ships.


    “Pirate vessels, cease all hostile actions and power down and you will be spared” John ordered curtly.


    “Go fuck yourself jerkwad!” came the well reasoned reply from the Frigate.


    John shrugged to himself. If they wanted to sign their own death warrant, so be it. “Fire at will Lieutenant!” he ordered.


    Cra was focusing intently on the holographic targeting matrix in front of her and her finger carefully depressed the trigger on the right control. Six scintiting beams of energy punched into the Frigate, overloading it’s shields in a single devastating strike and following through to shear off the rear quarter of the ship. Without its engines to hold it steady, the frigate began to slowly tumble forward in a roll, still maintaining its previous momentum.


    The Invictus bore down inexorably as the bulk corvettes began evasive manoeuvres, desperate to escape from the lethal warship.


    “Remaining ships attempting to withdrawn Commander. Orders?” Cra asked.


    “You know the penalty for piracy Lieutenant” John replied firmly. “Finish them” he said, his sombre voice sounding their death knell.


    Cra nodded grimly and the corvettes came under attack from a withering hail of pulseser sts. Their weak shields managed to deflect the first couple of impacts, but they were totally outssed by the military gradeser cannons and soon copsed. The fleeing pirate hulls lit up from the concentrated firepower and both ships exploded practically simultaneously.


    Alyssa brought the Invictus around so that it was directly astern of the crippled Frigate. She could see escape pods sting clear of the ship, as the pirates frantically deserted the doomed craft. Cra caressed the trigger and the beamsers cored through the length of the frigate, causing the front of the ship to explode outwards, scattering glowing debris in a wide arc.


    “Excellent workdies” John said, nodding in satisfaction. He hit a button on his console to hail the freighter.


    “Oh thank you Commander!” the merchant Captain said as his grateful face filled the viewscreen. “You saved us all!” he gasped happily.


    “My crew did the hard work, but we appreciate your thanks” John replied affably “Can you make it to your destination from here?”


    “We took a little damage, but nothing too serious. We should be fine from here, thanks once again” the merchant said, giving them a friendly wave.


    Cra deactivated the ships weapons and the Invictus’ armoured hull resealed itself, the cruiser satiated for the moment. Alyssa adjusted their course for the minor detour and the ship leapt into Hyper-warp once again.


    “Girls, to my ready room please” John requested quietly.


    The two teenagers got up and walked to the Commander’s private room, both somewhat lost in their thoughts. John entered the room first and waved them over to one of thefortable sofas and he moved to join them, sitting opposite.


    “You handled yourselves like seasoned veterans, I’m very proud of you both” hemended the young women.


    “More importantly though, how are you both feeling?” he asked gently, concerned how they would react after their firstbat.


    “The corvettes could crew 20 people each and the frigate over 50” Cra said in a grim voice. “I’m probably responsible for the deaths of nearly 100 people” she said, her voice leaden as the enormity of her actions began to sink in. She started to tremble.


    “You’ve seen first-hand what pirates are like” John countered. “Think of it more like wiping out vermin” he suggested, as he moved to sit by the brtes side and wrap his arm around her shoulderfortingly.


    “More importantly…” Alyssa interjected. “There were 34 crewmen on board that Heavy freighter, good people who had never harmed anyone. You helped save them all from a horrible fate” she said approvingly as she hugged her friend as well.