The sickly Sharlah were a horror show when they had finished with their first real meal in what seemed like years to them and probably was. Their bodies were streaked in blue and the ravaged corpses were enough cause Connor's already weak stomach to heave.

  "I'm sorry." He choked out between wretches.

  "Thank you human, for this opportunity. We had lost all hope." The same one who had warned him about using the beam weapons said."

  "You can thank me by helping my friends." Connor gasped. The Sharlah set to work freeing the rest of the boarding party but Connor held out a palm and stopped them. "Not that one."

  Ruo looked up in horror but said nothing. Zhao shot her a look that could kill as if he had just remembered everything she had done to him. He glanced toward the 12 guage laying on the floor and then to the huddled mass of scared people in the corner near it.

  "Zhao, my shotgun was empty anyway but it's the thought that counts. I saw what she did."

  "Yes, the thought is what counts." Zhao said through his shattered nose.

  Connor rose to his feet to embrace Liz as she ran to him. He grunted in pain from his ribs but it was the best pain that he had felt in a long time. "I wish I could kiss you." He said.

  "You can, dummy, we don't need the helmets, there's oxygen."

  "Oh yeah, I hadn't actually thought about it." He laughed and first took off his helmet and then hers and watched as her blonde hair fell across her shoulders before kissing her deeply.

  A gasp from Hamilton pulled them back to reality. A Sharlah was tending to his wounds with what looked to be an alien first aid kit from the wall.

  "Don't worry about me guys.." Hamilton grunted.

  "Connor please. Let me go, there might be more of them coming this way."

  "We should feed you to them!" Zhao barked and a shot of blood speckled his bare chest."

  "Liz, lock that door, Lets not make the same mistake that they did." Connor said and walked toward the Sharlah that spoke to him.

  The monster turned away from Hamilton and stood to its full height. "We must choose a course of action, human."

  "Yeah, I know. Can you operate this ship?"

  "I was a communications officer, many.. many years ago. I do not know how to fly it."

  "Take a look anyway, make sure the bridge is clear first." Hamilton said and slowly climbed to his feet. His armor was hanging loosely in places.

  "Humans, there is a fleet entering the system. They're not your ships. They're identified as Callidus. They're firing on the remaining Sharlah vessels. We are a Sharlah vessel!"

  Connor rushed to the senor station where the naked alien was using his fingers to operate the touch screen. "Use the comms! Get me a line to the biggest ship!"

  "Yes, I can do that!" The blue streaked Sharlah said and rushed to another station. "Here!"

  Connor waited in front of the screens as the Harvester rocked from missile impacts. The panels flickered and came back on, still displaying a message in the Sharalah language that probably said something along the lines of "Connecting" or "Waiting".

  "HURRY!" Connor shouted.

  "The signal is sent, they must accept the transmission."

  Captain Volkov's face appeared on the large screen overhead and she smiled. "Connor, is that you?"

  "It's me Captain, we have the bridge, hold your fire."

  Volkov relayed the order before turning back to the screen. "Is that... Is that a Sharlah with you?"

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  "Yeah, it's a long story. He's a good guy, he was just a little hungry." Connor said and glanced toward the alien but there was no reaction.

  "Who else is with you?"

  "Liz, Ruo, Hamilton, and a large group of humans and Sharlah that need help."

  "Okay, I'm glad you made it. Stand by, the system is still a two way weapons range. Can you assist?" Volkov asked hopefully.

  "I can fire the weapons." A gruff Sharlah said and pushed his way into the bridge.

  "I'll help with targeting and missile defense." Another said and took a seat to the right of the gunner.

  Connor laughed again and looked around the bridge with eyes wide and manic. It was absurd. The aliens who had come to eat him were now about to kill each other while he watched. He sat down on the ridiculously clean deck and leaned back onto his hands as the behemoth of a warship turned toward the devastated Sharlah fleet and belched a massive volley of hyperspace and ballistic missiles.

  The already wavering warships broke off from the battle and scattered in different directions but the Callidus damping field and perimeter guards kept them from escaping. The hyperspace missiles jumped into existence and ripped into their hulls with horrific effect. They twisted and broke, sending debris and atmosphere into a bubble around them, sending up cheers from the battered pirate boarding squad and the Sharlah reformers alike.

  "This is Captain Artesh of the Callidus home fleet. Nice shooting Harvester. We'll take it from here. Please power down your weapons systems and stand by for medical and security aid. Is there still a hostile threat aboard?"

  Hamilton limped up beside Connor and took control. "My name is Hamilton, I'm from the human fleet that you call pirates. I can be hostile at times, it depends on how you treat my people from this point forward."

  "If we wanted to kill you or your captain, we could have done that a hundred times over already. You are safe with us. The reasons for your crimes against the Callidus people have come into the light and there is a very large scale investigation into the matter. We know that your generation ships were sent in the wrong direction."

  "Very well Captain. Please hurry and get us out of here. Send your best soldiers and your best doctors. You'll need them both."

  "Ash, Volkov has just spoken to Connor aboard the Harvester. They've taken the ship. It's firing on the Sharlah." Charlie said with much more emotion than she had been using before.

  Ash pumped his fist. "Yes! You hear that buddy? We're winning!"

  "They running scared but there's nowhere to go!" Kate cheered.

  The view screen projected an image of the Harvester launching a massive volley of hyperspace missiles. They rocketed away from the ship only to flash out of existence for a few moments and then flash again before impact. One of their carrier vessels erupted just as several boarding crafts tried to leave it's hanger bays. The missiles overwhelmed everything in their path. It was impressive and horrifying at the same time.

  "We did it." Ash said reverently and patted Jayden on the shoulder.

  "We did. Charlie too." Jayden said weakly.

  "Yeah. Charlie, we owe you our lives, our species. I don't even have words for something like this. I'm sorry I didn't trust you back there."

  "You had no reason to trust me. I deceived you all to sell the plan better. Jayden I'm so sorry for what happened to you. It is my fault." Charlie said softly.

  "Charlie, I would have given more than my legs to save Dottir. You did the right thing. I just thought there was something wrong with the nuke launcher. I didn't know you were saving it."

  Charlie didn't reply. If the Callidus artificial intelligence could feel pain or guilt, she was in the depths of it. She finally spoke again after a few minutes. "Captain Artesh is directing a medical team to dock with us. He wants to know if we can land the Solent a few days from now, or if he should send an evac shuttle."

  "Why a few days?" Ash asked the ceiling.

  "I will ask him"

  A few minutes passed in silence before Charlie relayed his plan.

  "There are still large concentrations of Sharlah on the surface of Dottir. They are trapped on your world now. The Callidus will spend the next few days ramming rail darts up their asses before landing their own ground forces to eradicate the survivors and assist your people in any way that they can.

  Many of your people are still in concentration camps where they would also be killed by the orbital strikes, they will need to be rescued. This is not over yet, but it will be soon. Can you land the ship or should he send a shuttle for you."

  "Charlie, this feels like a dumb question but after seeing what you can do, I'm really not so sure. Are you.. are you on the ship?" Ash asked her and rubbed his sweaty brown hair backward.

  "Yes Ash, I am on the ship, but I can connect wirelessly to other vessels and devices within my effective range. That's how I was spread throughout the fleet and how I was able to send messages back to Callidium and Solaria once I knew where the message relay systems were. Don't worry about it. Both Volkov and Artesh have promised to make sure I am safe."

  Kate answered. "I can land it, I think. The hole in the cargo bay shouldn't affect anything if we go slow enough."

  "Ash, cover my legs and get me back in there. I can weld something over the holes. It'll hold. I promise." Jayden said and nearly flopped onto the floor from his crash couch.

  "Jay, are you serious?" Ash said, exasperated.

  "Yes, now get me in there and go get some scrap panels from engineering. We had spares for just this purpose. They're in the parts room. You'll have to use your grav boots and hold me up to the walls so I don't float away."

  "Captain Artesh has offered to send a repair ship as well, to fix the damage." Charlie said.

  "No! I want to do it! This is our ship!" Jayden said and shifted his weight toward the floor again.

  "You're killing me Jay. Alright. The Solent was good to us. Let's bring her in with some dignity. Hold the repair ship, we have a great engineer. The best." Ash said with a nod to Jayden and a smile.