Sleight5

Mansel was clearly puzzled as well. “Don’t know, Captain,” he said. “I just want my crew back, that’s all.”

“Don’t worry, Mansel,” soothed Andreyavich. “We’ve got armored transports. We’ll send them down to pick up your crew.”

"Thank you Captain."

Captain Andreyavich dispatched five armored transports from the Titan down to the surface. The transports had shields and limited firepower; just enough to get them from the carrier ship to the planet’s surface. Aiding them were the two fighter squadrons Andreyavich had sent out. Armor Squadron set up a defensive shield around the transports while Milo Squadron continued to pick off the annoying gnats that circled around the Explorer.

Fiercely, the alien fighters tried to down the armored transports before they could reach the surface. Ultimately, they failed. The tenacity of the UNSF pilots combined with their raw talent made them unbeatable. Only one pilot went down, injured but not destroyed. The fact that he had the third highest kills didn’t matter; his friends still ribbed him after he was safely returned to the Titan.

The transports landed in the exact spot where the ship construction was taking place. A few Special Forces guys hopped out and started shooting at anyone with guns. A little rash, Captain Andreyavich thought later, but he let it slide. He did give the Colonel in charge a small warning about being a little too trigger happy, though.

The second wave of soldiers began to hop out of the transports and guide the kidnapped officers under the cover of both the Special Forces operatives and the third wave of soldiers. The operation went like clockwork. The operatives retreated back to the transports and leapt in. The transports took off, heading back for the Titan. The whole event had lasted no longer than four minutes.

On the bridge of the Explorer, Mansel thought that things were going quite well. “Continue to target the fighters, Vaughn,” he ordered his Executive Officer. “We have to provide some defense for these transport shuttles."

“Right, sir.”

Without warning, Lieutenant Commander Broadaway’s console began an insistent beeping. “What’s wrong, Broadaway?” Vaughn asked for his position at Tactical.

Alarmed, the helmsman looked back at the Captain and the Commander. “That wormhole is beginning to destabilize!” he announced.

“How long until total destabilization?” Mansel asked his replacement Science officer. He patiently waited as the Ensign computed the countdown to doom.

“At its current rate of destabilization, sir, less than five minutes.”

“Broadaway, get some distance between us and the wormhole,” said Mansel, standing up and taking place behind his chair. “Be ready to go to translight on my mark.”

Broadaway hesitated. “Sir, we can’t leave our crew down there.”

“You have your orders, Commander,” said Vaughn. Reluctantly, Broadaway turned back to his console.

“Aye sir.”

Mansel walked to stand behind his Navigations officer. “Don’t worry, Jason,” the starship commander said, “I have no plans on leaving them.”

“Captain,” announced Lieutenant Hardy, “urgent message from Captain Andreyavich.”

“Put him on speakers.”

“Captain,” came the heavy Russian voice. “You’re aware of our new random element?”

“Quite, sir,” said Mansel. “What’s the status of the transports?”

After a moment’s pause, his voice came back. “It’s going to be close, Mansel,” he said. “We might have about five seconds or less to spare.”

“Too thin a margin,” said Commander Vaughn from behind Mansel.

“Much too thin,” agreed Mansel. “Still,” he continued, “we don’t have control over time. We have nothing better to do than make sure that those transports return safely to the Titan.”

“We may not have time for phase three of the plan,” Captain Andreyavich commented.

“’Phase three’?” Mansel asked. “What’s your phase three?”

On the bridge of the Titan, Andreyavich smiled. “You’ll see,” he said.