I studied the ships for as long as I could before the crew got sick of me and kicked me off the bridge. There were two ships that were clearly visible from Salvation. The closest had no visible signs of propulsion, oddly though, it almost resembled something similar to an aircraft carrier. The second had several oval shaped hulls connected to a main hull via beams. They were vastly different to that of salvation but also shared a lot of similarities.

Salvation was built with inter-connecting ships but they were so tightly interlocked into the main central hull you could barely tell that it could break off into several independent ships if need be. There was the military ship, Mortifera; a medical ship; multiple escape ships; and of course the main ship, all neartly packed together to make the Transporter Salvation what it is.

While watching the ships, I occasionally saw that there were other glints of lights that would pop up across our line of sight. These sightings led everyone to speculate that there could be more ships in other orbits around the planet, causing a mixed reaction from the commanding officers on the bridge in deciding the next course of action.

“We have to send the Mortifera out asap” said Jeremy.

“No, we need to drop pods down there immediately. Captain Lee can you give me the first civ-pool to look over?” Replied Henderson.

Creeping uncertainty started to rear its head again, and I wasn't entirely sure what she meant. However, Captain Lee soon sent Henderson over the data to her slate, where she had instantly started to look over the statistics.

“Right, we’ll remove 50 crew and 50 civilian from this pool and I’ll sub in 100 of my Miltech officers.”

“So we find this pristine planet and we’re gonna leave?” I asked.

“Not leaving, just starting to put pieces into play.”

The way Henderson spoke of the other ships was more like a confirmation of something she had prior knowledge in. She didn’t seem surprised that there were unknown crafts just chilling out in orbit with us at all, she was more concerned how we’d start conquering. When Henderson spoke it was hard not to be convinced by her resolve. She was confident, convincing, and also intimidating. Her logic being that there were now unidentified ships on the playing field and we needed to secure regions of space to ensure our survival as a species both now and in the future.

While she discussed logistics with Captain Lee and Jeremy, Ro and I continued to informally survey the planet. It made me wish Eli was there with me, he’d be able to rattle off all of his annoying facts about the climate down there from way up here and this time it would be interesting for once. I know he would have somehow managed to get to a transporter but jury was out still on which one he was on. We had lost contact with each other around that five-year mark when all hell broke loose.

“What should we name it?” Joked Ro.

“Hmm how about Biterra? — Two Lands” I suggested.

A gentle smile came across her face and she nodded in agreement. “Sounds like the perfect name Carter.”

“Where would you start a civilisation down there?”

After some careful deliberation, Ro pointed to a small cove where the narrow ocean between the two lands expanded. It looked like a sub-tropical type region, with fresh dark green forests contrasted with bright white sands and piercing blue water. It had little islands scattered off its capes before the ocean descended to a deep blue.

“I’d choose here. You have protection in the cove while still being close to multiple potential food sources from the ocean and vegetation that lines the coast. You also have scout locations here and here and the islands give a defensive advantage”

The way Ro’s brain worked was definitely intriguing, she had made the choice relatively quick and didn’t hesitate. Henderson must of been thinking the same thing as me as she quickly turned and smirked, “you heard the plan…prepare civ-pool ones descent to Biterra. They are to start establishing our first settlement in Ro’s Cove.”

It was the first time I had seen Ro get so flustered I could of swore I even saw her turn a shade of red.

—

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

It had only taken a few days to have the civ-pool prepped and ready to decent. It was a major milestone for Salvation and humanity in general so it was broadcast all across the ships screens and I was sat in the Miltech station eagerly watching on.

The pods and ships that were deployed down to Biterra had all the building blocks for a new civilisation within them including the thousand odd people that rode in them down to the surface — the new pioneers of Biterra.

Who knew when we’d be back, if ever. It was my suspicion that we were either brought here by the unknown ‘phantom’ crafts or by sheer luck. We had the massive job ahead of surveying the solar system that Biterra occupied and would have to attempt to orientate ourselves in relation to where we had jumped from. Making things more difficult was Salvations navigation system, it had gone haywire after the jump, leaving the nav teams stumped of any clue of where we may be in the universe.

We still had no idea how these anomalies worked either. They were most likely wormholes according to the research teams but we had no idea what we were playing with as they had been entirely theoretical until our accidental first run-in with one nor did we any idea how to control them if that were even possible.

As I watched the last pods drop into lower orbit before entry, I noticed that there were more than there should be.

Sure enough my initial thoughts were right, our pods had forced these other unknown ships to deploy their own landing parties and had triggered an obvious race to conquer Biterra between all crafts in orbit.

My initial urge was to race to the bridge again to get involved with the excitement but I didn’t need to push my luck any further and I had to get down to the brig to check on Bill and to remind him that we had not forgotten about him, or our interrupted interrogation.

Tensions within Salvation had been quiet between the shoot-out on main and then the preceding jump, but with things settled for now it was only a matter of time until it flared again and I needed to find out how they were getting supplied weapons and intel.

—

“Crewman where is the prisoner that was in this cell?” I shouted in a panic.

“One of the Miltech officers pulled him out, said it was ordered by Major Lewis.”

“And you didn’t think to ask major lewis before you released him?” I said as I turned and pushed him out of the way, activating my voice-link.

“This is Private Carter, prisoner William Trado has escaped the brig, it may be possible he is with a Miltech Officer.”

I grabbed out my slate and connected it to the brig camera feeds where I scrolled back to try and catch who had pulled Bill from his cell. After only a few minutes I found it.

“Lewis. Ro. Do you copy?” I called over the radio, they both confirmed their presence and I switched us over to a secure, private channel.

“It was fucking Kai! He has pulled out Bill and said he was ordered to by you Jeremy…do you guys know where he’s at?

“I…I saw him not that long ago on the Mortifera, he said he was doing checks on some of the fighters.” Said a shocked Ro.

Being the closest of the three, I ran to the Mortifera to try and stop Kai and Bill before they did anything else stupid but unfortunately i was too late. As I searched across the airlocks I noticed two fighters were missing, hardly a coincidence as all fighters were grounded from leaving the Mortifera while in orbit.

Jeremy and Ro made it down to the Mortifera just as I was about to voice-link. “They’ve taken fighters, how far do they think they’re going to get with those?” I said.

“Attention: All Mortifera assigned officers return immediately.” Ordered Jeremy across all Miltech channels.

Following the order to return to the Mortifera an alarm sounded, it was different to the usual warning alarm, this one was emergency stations. A cold feeling swept across my face and down my body when I realised that it meant that an impact or conflict was imminent.

Still unsure of my actual place within Miltech, I opted to follow Jeremy and Ro to the bridge of the Mortifera. Henderson had made her way to the bridge as well, flustered and red with rage.

“We’re undocking now, who ever is incompetent enough to not be here yet doesn’t deserve to be on this warship” barked Henderson.

People were thrown off their feet as Henderson initiated the undocking procedure without even waiting for people to make it to their stations. Thrusting back and away I could see that Salvation had also started thrusting the opposite direction which gave us a rapid separation and a full view of the surrounding space in seconds.

“Prepare battle stations” Henderson shouted, with Jeremy quickly ordering all officers to their stations and fighters.

Amongst the initial chattering and organised chaos, It was the last thing I expected to see even after plopping in orbit of a pristine planet with unknown ships - it was the Dominus fleet and the two fighters taken by Bill and Kai were headed straight for them.

“Ro, Carter, you both work well together so you can jump in a fighter again. Ro you’re leading your usual squad” said Jeremy.

“Requesting permission to take my own fighter, sir”

My unusually formal request had thrown Jeremy off guard as he paused for a second, just leaving enough time for Ro to voice her objection.

“Major Lewis…Carter has limited piloting experience except for some training flights and his co-pilot flights with me, he’ll get himself killed”

I hadn’t seen Ro so concerned as she did in that moment. She pleaded with Jeremy that he would be signing off on my death if he let me pilot on my own.

“Are you sure you’re up for something like that Carter?” he asked showing some slight hesitation too.

“Yes” I said with gritted teeth and determination. I was ready to risk it all for a shot at Bill.

My request was approved despite Ro’s further objections and I couldn’t of been anymore motivated if I had tried. A burning desire for revenge started raging within me. I had been a ticking time-bomb and the betrayal shown by both those men pushed me over the edge.

I was certainly over-confident in my ability as I went through the airlock and jumped into the pilot seat of the fighter. However, I was certain the mix of fear, hatred, and adrenaline would see me through what was coming.