The security guards, who had allowed the Seips to enter the bridge on condition they behaved themselves, lunged forward and grabbed JR by the arms before he could do more than shout. But shout, he continued to do.
“Chawa, you traitorous fornian! I made you what you are. You cannot take this away from me.”
Chawa gave the frothing human a pitying look. “I am sorry, J.R. for what I did to you. We were friends once.” Then, he turned his attention back to the Captain of the Impulsive. “Captain Seip-Tiberius, as we’ve spoken others of my kind have been setting plans in motion. Please ensure all humans are upon the ships but take Green Woman Loreli and her companion –“
From offscreen, the doctor cleared his throat.
“-companions last. They will, as you say, explain when they return to the ship. You must be on the other side of the gateway in two and three-quarters hours.”
Chawa’s side of the screen went dark.
“Friends?” J.R. surged forward, but Gel had chosen two heavy-worlders. They didn’t budge. “They promised me – us – me! “Billy, don’t you dare recall our people. You tell them to go take that refinery, you hear? That world is ours. We were going to make it ours – it was my legacy!”
“What’s gotten into you?” Bobby demanded. On the viewscreen, their mother had put aside her yarn and moved toward the camera.
“J.R., honey. We just want to get home, remember? Back to the Texas great-grandpa talked about?”
“Screw Texas!”
There was a collective gasp on the bridge of the Lone Star, from Bobby, and from Impulsive’s captain.
“You’d better take that back, boy,” Jebediah said.
J.R. snarled at him, then yelled, “Lone Star, enact James Roscoe Protocol Alamo – password Rise2-23-18-36Fall3-6-18-36.”
For a moment, they saw the confused faces of the Lone Star bridge crew; then the communications cut off.
“Protocol Alamo?” Bobby said, “What the hell is that?”
Doall answered, “Captain, the Lone Star is powering up all its weapons – lasers to maximum, torpedo bays opening. It’s aiming for the villages!”
Jeb said, “Tony!”
The navigator’s hands were already flying over his console, “Already moving between. This is going to get bumpy.”
The ship shook from the impact of the first barrage against its shields before they could call for Red Alert.
I’m going to the Catholic Writers Conference in Lancaster next week. It’s a great chance to meet up with my Catholic friends – and this year, we’re even having a D&D game! Catholic geeks FTW! So, I’m taking a week off. Next Episode is Aug 8.
I’m starting to put together the first Space Traipse story collection. If you are interested, comment below or on Facebook and I’ll put you on the interest list.