“But Commander-” began one ensign.
Up held up his hand. “Once the diversion is in place, all
of you are to get to the drop pod and get yourselves back to
the starship. When the Lieutenant and I emerge from the
caves, we’ll contact you for a pickup.”
The ensigns eyed each other nervously.
“And that is an order, Rangers. No heroics necessary.
Dismissed.”
He turned to gaze at the passing stars through the
viewscreen as the ensigns left the ready room. Taz came to
stand beside him.
“It’s a suicide mission, isn’t it?”
He looked down at her, and his chest tightened.
“Probably. But if we succeed-”
“Then humanity gets another chance,” she said. She
reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly. “We
will succeed. We’ve got you, Up.”
“And who do I have?” Up said, almost to himself. Her
faith in him was almost too much to bear. He didn’t deserve
it. He didn’t deserve her.
She looked up at him, and smiled. “You’ve got me.”
He closed his eyes, and squeezed her hand back as
Starship 13A-1 hurtled humanity’s last hope through the
emptiness of space.
Starship 13A-1’s primary drop pod landed on Qo’noS’
sickly green surface, in a deserted area of jagged hills and
caves not far from the identified phason deposit. The team
disembarked and lay flat on the top of a hill, the planet’s
violent winds whipping their hair, toppling equipment.
“They’ve got motherfucking Autobots and everything,”
said Up over the wind, looking through binoculars. “The
robots have a lot more allies than we’ve given them credit
for.”