Vix ulla tam iniqua pax, quin bello vel aequissimo sit potior.  Scarcely is there any peace so unjust that it is better than even the fairest war.

                        - Erasmus -

Marty took a sip of beer and relaxed back in his favorite chair in the common room between his and Angie’s quarters. “Well, Karl, did you figure out the three stars that the Centaurs indicated were good possibilities for the Roswell alien’s home world?”

“Yes, with the help of Delphi. They’re Tau Ceti, Alpha Mensae and HD 172051, but there are no guarantees that one of these is the actual location.”

“Oh, I don’t know. The Centaurs appear to be very sophisticated. They certainly have a stake in us finding the home world.”

"True, but until we verify this information, we're still in the hunt."

Marty shook his head. "I just had a weird thought. What if the Roswell alien's home star is a thousand light years away and they've colonized hundreds of planets on nearby systems. We'll never find all of them."

"That may not be so far fetched," George said. "We've destroyed thousands of their ships and they just keep coming."

"Well, at least the Centaurs were civil," Tyler, said. "They seem to be a congenial lot."

Karl smiled. “I don’t know about that, but they are a very cultured species. That recital that they did for us was very interesting.”

“It sounded like opera to me,” Marty said.

"I agree, and it definitely had a certain Wagnerian flavor to it," George said.

"It was a very bizarre experience," Marty said. "A bunch of naked aliens singing opera."

George smiled. "Yeah, you don't see that very often."

They laughed.

Angie came out of her quarters wearing a short terrycloth robe and sandals. "I'll be down at the pool."

Marty saluted. "Yes, Captain." He made the mistake of taunting her. "Hey, Commander, can we get a peek at your bathing suit?"

She gave him a playful smirk. "No can do. We wear our birthday suits. That's why it's women only tonight."

Marty rubbed a hand over his face. "I didn't really want to know that."

She gave him a parting grin, turned and sashayed off.

"You had better watch it," George chided Marty. "Or, you'll end up busted to civilian like the rest of us."

"I think she wants you," Karl said.

Marty sighed. "Yeah, she's driving me nuts, but I can't do it. She's the commander, and I can't allow a dumb relationship to influence her decisions. I've been to war, and I know what happens when feelings get in the way. As a commander you have to send people off on dangerous missions. I would be risking all of our lives if I . . ."

"This war can't last forever," Karl said.

"Yeah, and when that time comes, then I'll go full speed ahead."

"And the devil take care," George said.

They laughed. Again.

###

The X-3002 slowly moved out of its dock in silence. The crew realized that they could be in the battle of their lives if they did find the Roswell aliens' home world. The unknown held the spectra of death, and death, not space, was the real final frontier.

"Align us with Tau Ceti and take us up to jump velocity, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

"Where did they send the X-3001?" Marty asked Angie.

"Brian said that he was going to Alpha Mensae."

Marty rubbed his forehead. "It would be an ironic twist if he finds the alien's home world instead of us."

"I'm not sure I want to be the one who finds it first," Angie said.

"I hear you."

"Jump will commence in five minutes, Angie."

"Execute on count, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

Marty offered a teasing smirk. "Do you feel younger from all of these jumps?"

She didn't smile. "As a matter of fact, I do." She lowered her gaze. "And, it worries me."

"How so?"

"Well, for one, my skin is smoother and more vibrant."

"Yeah, I've noticed."

She rewarded him with a smirk. "I'm sure you have."

The jump began, but it didn't end the conversation.

"So, what's wrong with that?" Marty asked.

"Nothing, but my breasts are firmer and seem larger."

"I don't see anything alarming about that."

She frowned, but there was no way he could see it. "I'm sure you don't."

Everything snapped back, revealing her frown. Marty gave her a concerned look.

"We have entered normal space, Angie."

"Reduce our velocity to 5000 kps, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

Marty began his navigational sweeps. "There's a sizable planetoid and asteroid field dead ahead. Contact with the outer edge in ten minutes."

Karl gave the first report. "This star is class G8Vp with a mass of 81%, a radius of 77% and a luminosity of 59% of Sol. Surface temperature is 5380K and it has 74% of the iron to hydrogen ratio of our sun."

"There are four inner and three outer planets," George said. "We're too far out to get accurate readings."

Marty looked up at Angie when she stood up. "I'm not seeing any energy spikes."

"There are no organized signals," Brigit said.

"You and George are on night shift," Angie said. "I'm sure Honey will join you. I'm going to go relax." She gestured to Uma, Brigit and Lucia. "You may as well join me."

Marty observed their departure before turning to George. "It'll be just you and me. Honey and Jean Michel are working on the antimatter converters."

That didn’t worry George. "We've done it before; we can do it again."

"Do you think that this system has a chance at being the Roswell aliens' home?"

"I don’t believe so. The four inner planets are small. Planet two has an atmosphere, but its size is inconsistent with the population of these aliens. It’s either that or every alien serves in the military." He paused to rub the back of his neck. "However, there may still be aliens here somewhere in this system."

“I hope not. I’m tired of all this fighting. I need a vacation.”

George's expression seconded that emotion.

###

Marty rubbed his eyes. He and George had been at it for three hours and he was beginning to get weary of looking for aliens. Unfortunately, Delphi didn’t get tired.

“I have a signal from a Mehen vessel, Martin.”

Marty’s eyes widened. “Patch it through the translator into the main speaker, Delphi.”

“Yes, Martin.”

“We are under attack by Cleat space craft. We need assistance. We cannot defend against a superior number.”

“Open up COM to the Mehen ship, Delphi.”

“COM open, Martin.”

“This is the Earth vessel X-3002. We will assist you as soon as we can.”

Marty ended the COM. “Increase speed to safe maximum velocity, Delphi. Put us on course to the Mehen vessel.”

“Yes, Martin.”

Marty’s navigational screen flashed with a request to open contact with the swimming pool on deck 2. When he pressed the open button, the screen revealed Angie and Uma standing on a small ledge that ran alongside the small pool. Brigit, Lucia, Ferris and Anna were in the pool. He suppressed any reaction to what he saw.

“What’s going on?” Angie asked.

Marty had to force himself not to look at her body despite the fact that she had an arm around her breasts and a hand over her pubic area. “We’ve been contacted by a Mehen ship that has come under attack. They requested our assistance.”

“How do you know that it isn’t a trap?”

“I don’t, but I don’t think we can ignore it.”

“I agree. We’ll be right up there as soon as we get dressed.”

“Yes, Captain.” He watched Brigit, Lucia, Ferris and Anna get out of the water and then join Angie and Uma as they filed out of the swimming pool chamber, amazed that they had allowed the transmission to continue as they did so.

He sighed and then laughed. She’s deliberately driving me nuts. She must know that I was able to see everything. Why is she doing this?

“What’s so funny?” George asked; his brow wrinkled with confusion.

“You don’t want to know,” Marty answered with a knowing grin.

George shrugged and went back to his telescope. “The Mehen ship is around the second planet.”

“Yeah, I see the aliens. There are at least a dozen enemy ships.”

“What’s our ETA, Delphi?”

“We will be in range in twenty minutes, Martin.”

“Maintain velocity, Delphi.”

“Yes, Martin.”

Angie came running out of the elevator wearing a chenille robe. Her hair was still wet and she was barefooted.

“We should be in range in less than twenty minutes,” Marty said. “There are twelve enemy ships visible, but there could be more.”

“Please transfer plasma and particle weapons to Martin, Delphi. Prepare to fire energy beams at full power.”

“Yes, Angie.”

Karl and Tyler came onto the command deck. The other women soon followed, but they had taken the time to dress and dry their hair.

“Open COM to the Mehen ship, Delphi.”

“Yes, Angie.”

“This is the Earth ship X-3002. We will be in range soon.”

“We acknowledge. We have a members of our crew on the planet and they are under attack.”

“We will assist them,” Angie said.

“We acknowledge.”

Angie opened the paging system. “Honey, please report to the command deck.”

“I am coming,” Honey replied.

Angie looked at Marty with serious eyes. “Organize a landing party. Take the X-401 and prepare to rescue the Mehen landing party.”

Mary rubbed a hand over his face, got up and motioned to Uma. “I need you, Lia and Anna.” He turned to Karl. “Have you had any military training?”

Karl wasn’t sure he should answer. “Yes. I did a stint in the army.”

“Let’s go,” Marty said. “We have to get prepared.”

Honey exited the elevator that Marty and his landing party had used to go down to the equipment deck.

“We will go with the armored suits,” Marty said, gesturing to lockers that contained specialized gear. “We have new weapons based on the Mehen design.” He showed them an energy beam rifle. “These shoot just like a firearm. All you do is power up and you're good to go.” He showed them the power switch and the level control. He also showed them how to put on the armor suits, complete with helmet and visor. When they finished dressing, each member resembled an Imperial Storm Trooper in white armor plating that had the ability to deflect energy weapons fire.

They went to the main hangar and entered the X-401, the women taking seats behind Marty and Karl.

“Begin the launch sequence, Delphi.”

“Yes, Martin.”

After the hangar’s atmosphere was pumped out and the door slid open, the X-401 levitated and moved out of the hangar into space. Marty fired the engines to move into attack mode against the alien ships that were firing on the Mehen ship. He blasted into them, maneuvering between the enemy squadron in order to split it. This provided the X-3002 with the opportunity to pursue a smaller group of enemy ships. With the pressure off the Mehen ship, it went from defense to joining in the attack. When Marty saw that the battle was under control, he plunged the X-401 into the planet’s atmosphere and flew to near where the Mehen landing party was under attack by alien soldiers.

“Okay, people,” Marty, said as soon as his party had exited the X-401. “Stay close. We’ll move up to a position behind the enemy.”

The planet was mostly barren with many rocks scattered about on a red crusty soil. Depressions that looked more like bomb craters were everywhere. Marty led his troops in and out of these craters to a position just south of the main enemy force. It didn’t take long to attract enemy weapons fire.

“Keep down,” Marty yelled over the din of enemy weapons fire. “If we can take the pressure off of the Mehens, we may be able to drive these idiots off.”

Uma moved up the steep side of the crater they were in and started firing on the Roswell aliens, taking several down. Lia moved up to position near her and did the same. Marty had Karl and Anna move over to the left to fire on the enemy’s flank. Marty moved up to help Uma and Lia. Energy beams were flashing back and forth, blasting rock fragments and soil. The escalating fire made the situation chaotic and frightening.

After blasting several dozen enemy soldiers, Uma took a hit and fell, sliding down the edge of the crater. Marty ran to her position, risking enemy fire.

“Where did you get hit?”

“My shoulder burns,” she screamed. “Oh, Martin, do not leave me here.”

“I would never leave you,” he said, trying to check her wound. “I have to remove this armor around your shoulder.”

While the enemy was taking many hits from both the Mehens and the landing party, Marty placed a burn pack on Uma’s wound and gave her a morphine shot. She was able to get back up and return to the battle, which at this point was completely chaotic. The weapons fire was so intense that Lia also took a blast and Marty knew right away that it was not good. She had been hit through the chest, and when Marty got to her, she was having difficulty breathing. He had to plug the wound, insert a plastic tube and pump air into her chest cavity so that her collapsed lung would reinflate.

Fortunately, the Mehens counter attacked and defeated the remaining enemy soldiers.

Marty keyed his long-range mic. “I’ve got two wounded here. Lia took one in her chest and Uma has a shoulder wound.” 

“What is your status?” Angie asked.

“The aliens have been defeated. We’re preparing to evacuate.”

“Good. I’ll have Onuki ready.”

Karl and Anna returned to help in carrying Lia to the ship. Before they moved out, a group of Mehens approached.

“Your speak is followed by deeds,” one of them said. “We honor you.”

Marty extended his hand and the alien grasped it with his claw in a gesture of unity, a sign of the warrior. He knew that the action this day had immeasurably enhanced the relationship between the Mehens and humans.

                                                                        ###

Angie greeted Marty with professional detachment, but her eyes revealed the anguish that she had gone through. “How are Lia and Uma?”

“Onuki says that Uma will be back to duty shortly. She did a skin restoration on her shoulder. You can’t even see where the wound was. Lia, on the other hand, will be out of duty for a while. Onuki had to use stem cells to rebuild her left lung and her skin restoration will take longer. Fortunately, the wound was below her breast and didn’t mess up her ribs all that much.”

“At least she didn’t get killed,” Angie said, rubbing her forehead.

“The armor did its thing. It alleviated the severity of energy blasts. I’ve put both of them up for Purple Hearts and Distinguished Service Crosses. They performed with unquestionable heroism.”

“I agree. I’m surprised that they did so well. They’re scientists, not soldiers.”

“I don’t know about Uma, but Lia, Anna and Karl have had military training. It didn’t matter; Uma dispatched many aliens. She’s a great shot with any weapon.”

“How are you?” Angie asked, suppressing a smile.

“I’m fine; although, I’m not nuts about fighting up so close to where you can see your enemy’s face. I prefer to do my fighting in a fast moving craft. Fortunately, the Mehens fight well. I exchanged a hand grasp with one of them. I called him Ninja.”

“You're being silly.”

“I’ve been contacted by a member of the Mehen high command that was with this mission,” Tyler said, interrupting. “He has expressed their gratitude for our help in this engagement. They came here to see if this was the Roswell aliens’ home planet.”

“Lucky for them and us it wasn’t,” Marty said.

“Take us out of orbit, Delphi. Set course for home.”

“Yes, Angie.”

“Honey, take over the command station, please.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“You and I need a break,” Angie said to Marty. “We’ll go and visit Uma and Lia.”

Marty nodded and then followed her to the elevator. When Angie had the elevator go down only one deck, Marty knew that she was up to something. “Medical is on Deck 3, Commander.”

“I know, but I need a shower. I never had a chance to do so before this nonsense began.”

“You don’t need me then,” Marty said, trying to figure out what she was up to.

“Yes, I do need you. Now quit being stubborn and do as I tell you.”

He saluted. “Yes, Commander.”

He followed her to her quarters and watched as she turned her back, dropped her robe, turned her head to give him a teasing smile and then strutted off to the shower provocatively swinging her beautiful caboose. He just shook his head and took a seat on her couch.

Later when she re-emerged, she was dressed in a white tee and pants outfit. “Okay, I’m ready now.”

He blew out a relieved breath that she immediately noticed. "What's wrong?"

He wasn't sure that he wanted to press the issue, but he couldn't resist the opportunity. "Why don't we call a truce?"

She frowned and cracked a sly smile at the same time. "Why? Don't you enjoy it?"

"Well, I . . . I would be lying if I said I didn't, but --"

"Then relax and enjoy it. I know that you don't want to complicate our professional relationship, but this war can't last forever."

He held a hand up. "Okay, I promise that I'll just enjoy it."

She gave him an ornery grin. "Good. I won't disappoint you"

He smiled back. "I'm sure you won't."

She laughed.