Federation Special Operations

The woman standing beneath the wreck looked like she had been waiting for us.

She was tall, maybe a little taller than Lily, with a curvy figure that her uniform did absolutely nothing to hide. Jet-black hair fell in a perfectly straight bob around her jaw, blunt bangs framing a pale, composed face. Two long pointed ears protruded through her hair, and narrow gray eyes regarded us with the weary expression of someone who had already concluded we were the least efficient part of her day.

Her uniform was unmistakably Federation, but not in any color issued aboard a standard ship. A fitted white long-sleeved minidress hugged her figure, patterned with subtle hexagonal fabric and broken up by black panels along the shoulders, collar, sides, and hem. A Federation insignia sat over her chest, while a black tactical harness and utility belt supported several compact equipment pouches at her hips. Unlike Lily’s thigh-high boots, hers were glossy black field boots that stopped just below the knee.

She folded her arms beneath her chest and I watched her eyes lock onto the insignia pin on my chest. “Lieutenant,” she said flatly. Not a question. Not a greeting, either.

A cautious Lily stepped closer to my side. “And you are?”

The woman’s eyes shifted toward her for perhaps half a second. “Federations Special Operations Officer Eleni.”

“You’re not from our ship and that doesn’t answer what you’re doing out in the middle of nowhere.” Lily protested.

“It answered the question you asked.” she looked irritated but all I could focus on was how beautiful she was. Not in the same way Lily was gorgeous, blonde, big tits and a fat ass. Eleni’s features were closer to that of a beautifully sculpted Greek statue.

Lily stepped right up to her. “We’re responding to your distress beacon. Ensign Lilith, second in command of this mission.” Eleni glanced at Lily’s halo but otherwise ignored her.

I pointed toward the wreck hanging above us. “What happened?”

“Our archaeological expedition encountered difficulties.”

I stared at her. Lily looked at the ship. Then back at Eleni.

“Archaeological?” I asked.

“Yes.”

I pointed upward. “You’re an archaeologist?”

“No.”

“You’re with Special Operations.”

“Yes.”

“Conducting archaeology.”

“Temporarily.”

Her expression didn’t move. My eyes returned to the Nightshade. “That’s an experimental Federation stealth ship.” I pointed out.

For the first time, Eleni reacted. Barely. One eyebrow moved perhaps three millimeters. “How do you know that?”

Crap. “I’ve seen the design before.”

“Where?” Her eyes narrowed.

“Classified.” I hope that satisfied her because I had nowhere to go if she asked any follow up questions.

Eleni studied me for several uncomfortable seconds. Then she apparently reached a decision. “Your rank permits disclosure given the circumstances.” She turned toward Lily. “Hers does not.”

Lily frowned. “I’m standing right here.”

“I am aware.”

“She’s with me,” I said.

Eleni looked between us. Something about that statement apparently contained more information than I’d intended. “Obviously.”

Lily turned pink, her halo flickered.

I cleared my throat. “The ship. Looks like it’s not going anywhere without some serious repairs.”

Eleni walked over to a bush and pulled out a large steel case by the handle. It was clearly heavy as she could barely carry it with both hands. Eleni faced the wreck again. “Nightshade prototype NX-17. Experimental reconnaissance platform. Single occupant. Sensor-absorbent hull, adaptive electronic countermeasures and a prototype cloaking device.” She kicked open the case. “It must be destroyed.”

“Why destroy it?”

“Because officially it does not exist.” She said as she bent down and reached into the case.

That was when everything clicked. “The treaty.”

Eleni nodded. “Federation development of active-cloaking technology is prohibited under our current treaty with the Imperium. NX-17 was conducting intelligence operations near Imperial space when its navigation system failed. The pilot attempted an emergency landing here.”

“Pilot?”

“Dead.”

Lily’s expression fell.

“If the Imperium finds this ship,” Eleni continued, “they both possess evidence that the Federation violated the treaty and gain access to our experimental technology. My orders are to ensure that does not happen.”

She pressed her thumb against a button on the side of the case.

Click. I finally got a good look into the case. Inside were twelve silver discs. “Oh,” I said.

Lily leaned closer. “What are those?”

Eleni pressed a button. Every disc simultaneously shot out of the case.

THUNK. THUNK. THUNK. THUNK.

They magnetically slammed against the Nightshade’s hull in rapid succession. I stared at her. A red light appeared on every mine. “Eleni.”

“Yes?”

“How long?”

“Seven seconds.”

“SEVEN—”

The three of us ran.

The jungle flashed white behind us.

The Nightshade disappeared in a chain of explosions that punched through its hull from nose to engines. Black armor plates cartwheeled through the canopy. The cloaking system detonated a moment later with a blue-white pulse that flattened vegetation around the clearing.

Then the jungle screamed. Every vine around us suddenly convulsed, every bush seems to wince and every tree shook.

Eleni looked back. “That is unexpected.”

“RUN!”

We ran.

Branches snapped at our heads. Roots erupted from the soil. Flowers opened like mouths, chomping at us as we ran past. Something enormous moved beneath the ground alongside us.

Lily was directly behind me.

Then she screamed. “LIEUTENANT!”

I spun around.

The ground beneath her had vanished.

Lily dangled waist-deep inside a concealed pit, desperately gripping its edge. Crude wooden stakes surrounded her without touching her. A net snapped upward around her legs. Not the jungle. A trap. Shapes emerged between the trees behind her. Huge humanoids. Eight feet tall. Gray-blue skin. Heavy jaws. Primitive leather clothing. Some kind of Ogres.

“Wonderful.” A pulse pistol fired beside me.

Eleni dropped one of the creatures. “Move!”

Something wrapped around her ankle and up her thigh. Her expression finally broke. A vine ripped Eleni backward. She hit the ground and disappeared through the vegetation. “Lieutenant!”

Two voices.

Different directions.

Lily struggled against the net as the creatures closed around her.

Eleni shrieked as her black hair vanished between the trees as the vines dragged her deeper into the jungle.

My pistol came up.

I had seconds to decide.