Chapter 6
The Lilly phase-shifted to several hundred feet above the outpost, hoping to surprise each of the five Craing warship’s bridge crews. With her two rail guns deployed, she immediately went to work on the closest ship. The Lilly’s weaponry, especially her unique antimatter munitions, had become infamous throughout the fleet. One look at the distant ridge-line only reinforced the magnitude of destruction they were capable of. At that moment, these same munitions were ripping through the Craing ship’s shielding and decimating her drives. The warship fell from the sky like a rock and crashed into the desert below. The other four warships showed no interest in continuing the battle. One by one, they hailed The Lilly, surrendered, and landed at the outpost. Within minutes, U.S. armed forces were approaching the outpost from land and air.
Cramer’s militia fought on in earnest for several hours, but eventually, without the support from the Craing fleet of ships, gave up and laid down their weapons without further incident. Some chose to escape into the desert and take their chances against the elements, while others stayed to face the music. Jason’s first priority was to locate the missing base personnel. Tight-lipped, Admiral Cramer was no help. She had requested legal representation and said nothing more to anyone. Her militia second in command, a Montana hometown cousin, Ronald Billings, was eager to lead Jason and his father—first to one and then to the second of the two massive aircraft hangars.
All entrances had been chained and padlocked. Of course, nobody had keys. Valuable time was lost looking for an adequate-sized bolt cutter. Jason, his father, and two of Admiral Cramer’s now-quite-helpful militiamen entered the first of the two hangars. All four men retched. Ventilation had been turned off, making the corrugated steel building nothing less than a hotbox.
“It must be a hundred and twenty degrees in here,” Admiral Reynolds angrily said, squinting into the darkness. Reflexively, each of them brought their hands up to cover mouths and noses against the overwhelming smell. As Jason’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw what looked like bundles on the floor. A breaker was closed and the overhead lights came on. They’d discovered the missing outpost personnel. Nearly two hundred bodies here in this structure alone. Each body was tightly wrapped in duct tape and placed side-by-side, mummy-like, on the floor—unable to move, deprived of water, and lying in their own excrement for God only knew how many hours. Were any of his Lilly crewmembers amongst these bodies?
Jason was barking orders and moving fast. “Get the air circulating in here and we need water—go!”
Some had survived. Most had not. Heat and dehydration had taken its toll. Those that did survive were confused and slow to recover from the effects of the odorless and invisible halogenated ether. The captives’ accounts told the same story. No one had expected an attack from within their own ranks. Well planned and executed, base personnel had been taken completely off guard. Apparently, Crawford’s militia had taken little care with their measurements. Once the best-guess oxygen and nitrous oxide formula had been mixed, and wearing gas masks, the militia introduced the sleeping gas concoction into ventilation systems throughout the outpost’s barracks. The few soldiers on guard duty were easily dealt with. A similar process was repeated for the Allied ships in orbit.
* * *
The shit hit the fan. Washington politicians and military brass alike converged onto the base like bees to honey. Troops from each of the service branches were deployed—the Army especially. They had recently gone above and beyond to filter out any Craing mutants from their ranks. Admiral Cramer’s rebellious grab for power had been quickly squashed. Her Alliance takeover plan was a shaky house of cards at best. To her credit, she’d managed to pull together several hundred devout followers—many of them Montana militia wackos and extremists. Her advantage had been the unhindered control over the remaining Craing fleet of two hundred and thirty-five vessels. She also had access to the Craing captives—prisoners—convincing enough of them to resume their previous posts as pilots and crew on eight of the battle cruisers. If she had been able to crew more of the warships, the outcome most definitely would have been different.
It would be years before government investigations, review boards, and tribunals had run their course. For now, Jason and his father sat in the largest of the outpost’s conference rooms, waiting for the hammer to come down on their heads.
Not officially under arrest, the two knew they were in deep trouble. Jason had fought for how the outpost would be managed and run—exclusion of the U.S. military being the hardest pill for the government to swallow. Now, with hundreds dead, not to mention embarrassment around the world, Jason knew things here would have to change.
No less than ten executive-level officers accompanied the Secretary of Defense. They piled into the conference room, stern-faced and arrogant. Jason and Admiral Reynolds stood and waited for all to be seated before sitting back down themselves.
“Jason, Perry. We have a lot to discuss, shall we get started?”
“Yes, sir,” they both replied.
“The failings of this outpost have been nothing short of stellar. What a clusterf*ck.”
“Yes, sir.”
“As of today, all the Craing vessels here are the property of the U.S. government.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The Lilly is the property of the U.S. government.”
“No, sir.”
Ben Walker eyed Jason and his father warily. “I could hold you, throw you both in a hole you’d never crawl out of.”
Jason was about to speak up when his father got there first.
“Ben, you want to blame the actions of a right-wing separatist wacko, one who should not have passed muster in your military in the first place, then fine. I’ll gladly take that on. But let’s not pretend you are carrying the big stick here, okay?” Admiral Reynolds said with a wry smile.
Walker’s face was turning red, “This isn’t a game. The president made it perfectly clear that this is not to be a negotiation. Who the hell do you think you are?”
Again, it was the admiral who spoke up. “Who am I, you ask? I am the only person on this planet who has experience leading military forces in deep space. I am the only person on this planet who has the foggiest idea about the enemy. For fifteen years, I have witnessed their cunning first hand, their brutality. I know how they think. And if that’s not enough, I am the only person on this planet who has strong, personal relationships with the leaders of the other worlds that make up the Alliance. Close to one hundred billion people. Bluster all you want, Ben, but when it comes down to who I think I am, I’m the United Planetary Alliance Commander for those worlds, and as far as they are concerned, I outrank the president, and I certainly outrank you. There is only one way in which you can take charge of any allied vessel, and that is if I allow it.”
Jason was having a hard time staying in his chair. In fact, he wanted to stand up and cheer. But Jason’s expression didn’t deviate, not even a smile crossed his lips. What made Jason really want to high-five someone, anyone, was seeing how his father had recaptured his spirit. The fight was back in his eyes. This was the man warriors across the universe wanted to follow into battle. He was back.
In the end, Admiral Perry Reynolds was appointed the interim Alliance Outpost Commander. The general consensus was his loyalty, experience, and commitment to the Alliance was beyond reproach.
Jason had learned a few lessons the hard way. He needed to better oversee to the care of his family, as well as The Lilly and her crew. He’d lost five crewmembers in those hangars.
* * *
It was close to midnight. Jason, Billy and Ricket approached the outpost’s subjugated Craing City from the south. Countless fires burned throughout the camp. The air smelled of soot and burning meat. Groups huddled close together for warmth against the brisk night air. There was an almost carnival atmosphere to the place; sounds of laughter and spirited conversations could be heard in the distance. Alliance soldiers patrolled the outer perimeters from outside the high metal fences. Only moments before, radios alerted sentries of Jason’s approach. At the gate, two soldiers looked up as the three figures stepped out from the darkness.
“Sergeants,” Jason said, as they came to a stop several paces in front of them.
“Good evening, Captain, Lieutenant … Um, I apologize, I’m not sure how to address you now, sir,” the sergeant said, his eyes darting from Ricket to the others and then back to Ricket.
“You can refer to me as Ricket—same as always.”
“Yes, sir—I mean Ricket.”
“How about opening the gate, Sergeant,” Jason prompted. “We won’t be here long.”
“Yes, sir.” The second sentry used a key to unlock a large padlock and swung the double gates wide enough for the three to pass through.
Once inside the compound, Ricket took up the lead, with the others following close behind. They headed off into the hordes of the three- to four-foot tall populace—all surviving prisoners leftover from the Craing fleet.
Heads turned and eyes narrowed as they moved past. The sight of Ricket within their compound created a commotion. Conversations abruptly stopped—small alien beings squared their shoulders and stood up tall. Open tent flaps revealed secluded card games in progress or individuals eating their dinners in solitude.
A group of excited Craing fell in behind them, a procession of sorts—all heading towards the back of the camp. Ricket slowed and came to a stop. A bonfire blazed. Three Craing sat on five-gallon buckets; the camp had gone quiet and a circle was forming around them. A Craing, seated on the middle bucket, rose to his feet and the two others also stood up. The center alien was surprisingly tall—close to four-and-a-half feet. Typically naked, or nearly naked, these Craing, and others seen around the camp, were wearing green army jumpsuits. Three more buckets were added around the fire. Jason took in the scene. These three Craing, especially the taller one, were obviously the leaders here.
“Pronunciation would be difficult, so you may call me, uh—Glenn—this is Rob and that’s, uh, Carl. You honor us with your presence.” The taller Craing bowed slightly and gestured for them to join them. They sat down in unison. The leader, Glenn, watched as something black and large was pulled from the open fire and placed upon a nearby table. Off to the side, two young Craing worked feverishly in the silence. Long knives moved quickly and with precision.
One by one, wood platters were delivered; first to the three visitors and then to the three Craing leaders. Smoke drifted into the air from charred meat. Jason’s mind flashed back to the flaming caldrons in the Craing Grand Sacellum—human flesh popping and sizzling upon their metal grills. Jason received a one word NanoText message. Lamb. Jason looked over to Ricket, giving him a subtle nod. They ate in silence.
Billy was licking his fingers and making appreciative sounds of mmm’s and ahhh's. “Amazing. Not sure what the hell I just ate, but wow.”
The taller Craing bowed his head and smiled.
Jason said, “Glenn, thank you again for sharing your meal with us. Ricket, Emperor Reechet, tells me you, as the leader here and overlord, wish to discuss something—”
“Yes, something of great importance, Captain. Although another matter presents itself which must be discussed first,” Glenn responded.
Jason nodded for him to continue.
“Our situation here. We would like to inquire about your plans for us.”
Several hundred Craing had encircled their group. They hadn’t made a sound.
“As you know,” Jason replied, “we’ve already returned many of your citizens to your home worlds. We have every intention of returning the rest. I apologize for these conditions—”
“You misunderstand, Captain. The Craing here do not wish to return to our home worlds. No, they would like you to help them migrate.”
Jason started to reply, but realized he didn’t know how to respond. “We fought against each other in battle. We’re enemies.”
“There is a small Craing settlement no more than three FDL days’ travel. We wish for that settlement to give us asylum. With your help, they can grant us asylum.”
The crowd around them stirred. Soft murmurs, then louder, “Asylum, asylum, asylum …”
“Our people, the crewmembers you have returned to the Craing Empire… They returned in disgrace. Without exception, each will come before a warrior’s claxon sword. Their heads an offering—their flesh to be consumed by their masters.”
“I didn’t know,” Jason said.
“It is our way.”
“Glenn, there is small Craing fleet, although possibly more powerful than the last one, leaving Craing space and headed for Earth in seven days. At least that is what we’ve been told. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Emperor’s Guard?” The three Craing sat still, eyes wide. Murmurs erupted from those encircling them.
“There is a good chance they will use nuclear or fusion missiles or some other advanced technology to destroy life on this planet. This might not be the best time to discuss this asylum thing,” Jason said with a shrug.
“Then this brings up the second thing we must discuss.”
Jason was getting restless; he wanted these people to cut to the chase. “What is this really all about?”
Glenn’s eyes darted to Ricket. He then stood and addressed the crowd. “Leave us now. Please. Let us talk in private.” The onlookers shuffled off. The two workers skilled with carving knives also left.
Glenn returned to his bucket and spoke quietly. “Are you familiar with Craing society?”
“No. Not really,” Jason replied.
“Two hundred years ago, the Craing Empire had few similarities to the one that plagues the universe today. We were a people of honor who kept to ourselves. Yes, we had our enemies. Yes, we went to war. But we had little interest in conquests.”
“What changed?”
“What I’m about to tell you is among the most guarded of all Craing secrets. In fact, I’m sure with this knowledge you could stop the Emperor’s Guard from reaching Earth. Understand, I do not wish for anything but the best for my people, but their hunger for conquest must stop. Things must return to the old ways. Honor must be restored.”
“I’m listening,” Jason said.
“You must agree to my terms, Captain. First, you will transport the three of us to the Craing settlement so we may speak face-to-face with our brethren. Second, if they agree and grant our people asylum, you will transport the remaining Craing here on Earth to the settlement.”
“I still don’t see why this is in our best interest.”
“Because what I’m about to tell you will alter the balance of power with the Craing. It won’t be easy. And you may decide you’re not up to the task. That will be up to you.”
Jason didn’t respond, but looked to Ricket. He’d learned to trust the mechanical being more than he’d thought possible. If what this overlord was saying was true, war could be averted. Earth could be saved. Jason and Ricket exchanged glances. As if reading his thoughts, Ricket nodded.
“We’ll trust you for now, Glenn. Cross us and you’ll be the first to die. Understood?”
“I will not cross you, Captain. You are making a wise decision.”
“Tell us this secret,” Jason said. “Tell us how to level the playing field with the Craing.”
Ricket interjected, “Here is what I’ve learned from Glenn and the overlords. The Craing worlds are a star system unique in the universe. The location of their home worlds are many thousands of light years travel from Earth. Even with FDL, it would take many lifetimes to traverse that distance. This kept the Alliance always on the defensive—never able to attack.
“How is that possible?” Jason asked.
Ricket continued on: “The Craing worlds—eight class M planets revolving around a single red giant sun. What is unique is that each of these planets shares the same orbit, and each of the planets is the same distance from their sun. Over many millennia, hundreds of black holes had formed. The gravitational anomalies that this created made space travel for the Craing precarious at best. Subsequently, many lives were lost attempting to leave their orbits. Needless to say, the Craing Empire was slow venturing into deep space.”
“So what happened?”
“The same anomaly that kept the Craing Empire close to home eventually became that which allowed for unparalleled travels to far-out reaches of the universe. Two hundred years ago a Craing scientist proposed a revolutionary, albeit controversial, idea. His plan was to instigate an artificial black hole—one powerful enough to negate the gravitational properties of the smaller black holes. Limited experiments were approved. Powerful lasers were constructed and positioned, one on the southern-most pole of each of the eight Craing home worlds. Then, corresponding mirror arrays were placed in space. For the experiment to be successful, the lasers needed to be perfectly aligned—toward a specific point thousands of miles out into space, and each needed to be energized at precisely the same instant.”
Glenn explained, “In one regard, the experiment didn’t work. It wasn’t a unifying black hole that was created, but a massive wormhole instead.
Jason saw where this was going. “Let me guess, they now had access to a wormhole that literally allowed them travel across the universe. To star systems hundreds, if not thousands, of light years away?”
“Yes. And by changing the power level, even minutely, of any one of the eight lasers, they found that properties of the wormhole also changed,” Ricket added. “Change the properties of the wormhole, change the outpoint. It’s taken time, hundreds of years, to map these outpoints. That is why the Loop is the Craing Empire’s most-guarded secret. With the destruction of one or maybe two of their home-world lasers, the imbalance would be sufficient enough to collapse the wormhole, the Loop itself, and send the Craing back into spatial isolation, and very far from Earth.”
Jason took in the information. If what Glenn was saying was true, this most certainly could be a game changer.
“We hope this information will be of use to you, Captain. With the exception of the Craing high priests and a select few scientists and overlords, few know the technical aspects of the Loop—and how easily it could be disrupted. Captain, if what you say is true, and this Emperor’s Guard, those three highly advanced alien ships, are in fact making preparations to come to Earth, you have little time to take action. I am not sure how you could reach the Craing worlds in time.”
“Who knows where these lasers are physically located?”
“The lasers are huge, out in the open. As far as the populous is concerned, their prime function is for inter-world communications,” Glenn replied. “Their connection to the Loop, that is a tightly held secret.”
“So what do you need?” Jason asked.
“I’ll need access, right now, tonight, to a Craing ship to initiate an FDL communication to the Craing worlds,” Glenn said.
“Why?”
“Once on Halimar, you’ll need help. Revolution is brewing. There is much dissent among the Craing—especially among the youth. I’ll set up a rendezvous with my people there—with luck they’ll have a ship available. I’ll tell you how to contact them, how to provide them your landing coordinates. It will take me a few days to hear back. We’ll need to talk again, Captain. At that point I can give you more specifics.”
* * *
"Twice! I've been thrown in those disgusting damn cages twice now! And don't get me started on the jeopardy Mollie was placed in. Who the hell lives like this?" Nan stopped yelling when she realized she wasn't getting any argument from Jason. He let her get it all out. Hell, he didn't blame her.
They were back in her suite on The Lilly, Mollie put to bed an hour earlier, as Jason sat next to her on the edge of her bed. She'd showered and had her hair wrapped-up in a towel the way women do.
"I'm sorry. It's my fault. If you knew how terrified I was when I saw you and Mollie sitting there at gunpoint ...”
"Oh, just shut up," Nan replied, rolling her eyes. “I'm venting. So you really don't need to say anything. Actually, it’s probably best if you don't. And yes, I signed up for the outpost's damn Envoy position—what was I thinking? And yes, I remember you tried to talk me out of it."
This was classic Nan. Same as when they’d been married—she would get upset and Jason would back off. With her innate ability to debate just about anything, law school had been the perfect choice. And later, as a defense attorney, she rarely, if ever, lost a case. Jason also knew Nan would continue to argue aloud both sides until she came to some kind of resolution. That was her process of dealing with things. Jason smiled inwardly; he didn't mind her chatter one bit.
She now looked at him with brows raised. "Are you even listening to me?" She shook her head in disbelief.
"Yes. Well, actually ... no, not really. I was thinking how familiar this seems, what we're doing, to when we were married."
She looked at him for a while. Eventually the anger or frustration fell away and she smiled.
"Yeah, I guess it is." She pulled the towel away from around her head and let her long hair fall free. She looked into his eyes and then slowly pulled him closer. They kissed. Eventually, she pulled away and took a breath.
"You better go before I do something I might regret." Jason kissed her cheek and reluctantly stood up. As he turned to leave, she grabbed his hand.
"Oh, and if I ever get thrown in one of those damn cages again I will hunt you down and ... well, you don't want to know what I'll do to you."
* * *
Jason, aware that time was of the essence, called for an immediate emergency meeting. The captain’s ready room was filled to capacity. Those who couldn’t find a seat found an open area on the bulkhead to lean against. Jason stood and let Mollie have his seat at the head of the table, bringing smiles from around the room.
“We’re right back where we were a month ago, with Craing warships en route to Earth. Even if we could repair the Craing vessels that are in our possession and even if we had enough trained pilots—”
“We could still lose,” Ricket interjected.
Jason nodded, letting the point sink in. All eyes turned towards the small alien cyborg.
Jason continued. “We need time to ready our fleet—bolster Earth’s defenses. Hell, we need a year, maybe two.”
“So this plan the Craing overlord is proposing, can we believe it?” Nan asked. “Sounds a little self-serving, if you ask me. I mean, I’m certainly no military tactician like you guys, but it seems like we’d be putting a lot of faith, not to mention resources, hinged on one Craing’s obscure promises.”
“Maybe. But if what he says is true, and we can—if not bring down, at least greatly hinder—the Craing’s ability to traverse the universe, maybe we need to risk it.
“You really think there’s a way—?” the XO started to ask.
Chief Horris interjected: “First of all, even with The Lilly's advanced FDL drives, there's no way we could make it to the Craing worlds days or even hours before the Emperor's Guard gets under way.”
XO Perkins shrugged. “So that still leaves the problem of getting there under seven days. And do we even know where these Craing worlds are located?”
“We have a good idea where Terplin, their home planet, is located. Unfortunately, no one in the Alliance, perhaps other than my son, Brian, has ever been there,” the admiral replied.
“That brings me to the second issue,” Jason said. “Somewhere along the line I’ve heard both Mollie and Jack talk about a habitat in the Zoo—something about one with Serapin-Terplins—did you bring the information I asked for?” Jason looked toward Jack, the Zoo caretaker.
“Yes, Captain. That would be HAB 12.” Jack had handwritten some notes on several small index cards. “The Serapin-Terplins—weird, the Craing use the word Terplins a lot throughout their language—inhabit a world called Halimar. Halimar is within the Craing eight-world solar system. According to the meta-data information tied to that habitat, both the Terplin and Halimar planets are in a shared orbit around a shared sun—which is a red supergiant.”
Jason turned his attention back towards Ricket. “Would it be possible to access Halimar via HAB 12?”
Ricket looked uncomfortable with the question. “First of all, you need to understand that habitats, such as HAB 12, do in fact reside on other planets, such as Halimar—not here on board The Lilly. They can be hundreds of square miles in size. Also note that habitats exist in a completely different reality—one that is slightly out of phase with our perspective. For instance, if you were to travel to Halimar, you would not see the animals and terrain of HAB 12 …although they are there, occupying time and space, it’s a time and space slightly out of phase with our own.”
“And accessing those habitats could be accomplished via the same technology we utilize with our DeckPorts and phase-shift capabilities, correct?” Jason asked.
“Theoretically, that is correct,” Ricket replied.
“And just as we have port access to each of the habitats via The Lilly’s Zoo, it makes sense that there would be a secondary port, within the habitats themselves, to access these corresponding planets, yes?” Jason asked, now looking around the room to make sure everyone was following along.
“Yes, each habitat has a minimum of one, often more than one, portal to their originating home world reality. This information is already provided within the accompanying habitat meta data—although not the exact locations,” Ricket explained. “The Caldurians, original designers of the Zoo and habitats system, not to mention The Lilly itself, built in security safeguards for this very reason. The habitats were never intended for subversive use, for the very same reason we wouldn’t want inhabitants of other planets infiltrating The Lilly’s Zoo.”
“I’m sure you already know what my next question will be,” Jason said.
“You want to know if I can bypass the safeguards,” Ricket replied flatly.
“Yes. Jailbreak the thing—not only get us into HAB 12 but eventually onto Halimar itself.”
“Whoa, whoa … hold your horses, everybody,” Jack exclaimed, wide-eyed and looking around the room. “HAB 12 is one of the most dangerous, if not THE most dangerous habitat. It’s an environment that makes Earth’s own Jurassic period look like a trip to Disneyland in comparison. Not just carnivores inhabit the place—we’re talking killing and eating machines. Feeding drones are never idle—meat supplies never stop. Hell, I’ve seen Serapins even try to eat the drones.”
Fidgety, Admiral Reynolds got to his feet. He gestured for Nan to sit. “Even if Ricket can get us access to HAB 12, and we deal with the environment and wildlife situation, and, let’s suppose, we also navigate to where the alternate portals are located, and after we do all those impossible things, what then? What’s the end game?” the admiral asked, looking at Jason.
“Simple. We locate and destroy the Craing’s ability to move about the universe. Somewhere on each of the eight planets in their solar system is a powerful laser. Those lasers work in conjunction with each other in forming a massive wormhole. They call this system the Loop—for the last two hundred years the Loop has enabled the Craing to conquer and subjugate any society they’ve come into contact with—even those thousands of light-years away.”
“Wait a minute,” Orion said confused. “So why are we going to the Craing worlds?”
“We need to bring down the Loop. Destroy the Craing’s ability to quickly move around the universe. But, primarily, we have less than seven days to stop the Craing from deploying those three warships—warships that may be as advanced, or even more advanced, than The Lilly. They call them the Emperor’s Guard.”
“Why don’t we just take a ship into HAB 12?” Orion asked.
“We thought of that. Even our fighters have a larger wingspan than the portal openings. According to Ricket, if you can’t enter directly through the portal window, there’s no way to enter the habitat. Phase-shifting into a habitat is not an option,” Jason said, looking to Ricket for confirmation.
Billy, who’d been quiet up till that point, asked, “So we’ll also need to figure out how we’ll get from Halimar, where the HAB 12 portal opens, over to the laser fortification. I’m still not clear on that part …”
Jason nodded. “From what Glenn said, he has people loyal to his cause who will help us with a ship. He’s already given me the information, a way to signal them and give them our coordinates on Halimar. After that, they’ll rendezvous with us at the portal.”
Billy nodded, taking it all in.
Jason continued, “We’ll use multiple teams. Here’s how they break down: Admiral Reynolds maintains overall Alliance command here at the outpost. We’ll leave him the majority of our SEAL forces. If we fail, it will be up to him and what’s left of our Craing fleet to hold off this approaching Emperor’s Guard … somehow. Next, I’ll be in command of the HAB 12 team. Billy, we’ll need the best of the best—an assault team of no more than twenty. Remember what we’ll be going up against in there … we’ll need a team that will get us there in less than seven days, then get us back out again. Orion and Ricket, you’ll be in charge of equipping our team with the necessary battle suits and any technology that gives us an advantage. Put your heads together; take a look at the terrain and environmental conditions—and don’t forget about the Serapin-Terplins. Again, while our team is making its way through HAB12, The Lilly will be en route through deep space to the Craing settlement. Admiral, we’ll need to transfer Glenn and the two other overloads to The Lilly. Apparently they prefer communal living, so XO, set something up in the upper hold. Let them set up their tents there. Just no open fires. The trip shouldn’t take us more than a few days. From what I understand, they have no defenses, few weapons. A quick and easy trip! A milk run! We’ll keep a few SEALs on board, but a minimal crew.
“Nan, I’m guessing you and Mollie will want to stay onboard The Lilly. It’s probably still your safest bet. But it’s up to you. We’ll be leaving orbit first thing tomorrow morning. That’s it, people. We have a lot of work to do before then, so let’s get cracking.”