Will balled his fists and prepared to launch himself at Cintrel, but before he could Debra grabbed his arm.

“Don’t”, she hissed tilting her head towards Lestron. Turning, Will saw that he too now brandished a blaster and it was trained on him.

“What do you want, Lestron?”

To Will and Debra’s surprise, Cintrel answered. “Please have a seat and I’ll explain.”

Having little choice they sat back down. Cintrel walked over and stood by Lestron, keeping her blaster trained on Will and Debra.

“I am the daughter of King Raphul, ruler of Celentus.”

Will recognized the name. It was known for its rich mines which were a major source of jerlinium, a critical component in ship’s shields.

“Under my father’s rule, Celentus has grown rich and many have sought to take what is ours. However, our military has always prevailed. Until …” However, the words caught in her mouth and she couldn’t continue.

Lestron put a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll finish,” he said gently. “A month ago, a single ship entered the Celentus system. It refused to acknowledge radio calls and showed no sign of stopping. The planetary defense fleet, twenty frigates, was sent to intercept it. They were all vaporized.”

“A single ship wiping out an entire fleet!” exclaimed Will.

“Sounds impossible doesn't it? But they had some kind of weapon which turned the ships to dust.”

Actually it suddenly didn’t seem so impossible to Will. Emperor Nurl of Janis Three had developed such a weapon and had threatened Earth with it. However, Will had destroyed it along everyone who had been involved in building it.

“More ships soon arrived and began a full scale invasion of the planet,” continued Lestron. “Celentus’ people tried to defend themselves, but they were no match against the well-trained troops.”

Cintrel had regained her composure. “When my father saw we were losing, he put me on a ship and sent me here.”

“Why here?” asked Debra.

“King Raphul and I are old friends,” answered Lestron. “Plus, he knows how much I value my privacy and knew no one would find her here.”

Will was confused. “I don’t understand why you thought it necessary to hold us at blaster point to tell us this?”

Lestron shook his head. “If you’d accepted my invitation to stay, this wouldn’t have been necessary.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” barked Debra.

“When we learned you and Captain Power were coming here to sell the Strelian Crystal, we couldn’t believe out luck,” explained Lestron. He looked over at Will. “A man of your reputation could certainly help us take back Celentus. However, we were torn as to whether we should seek your aid. That’s why I wanted you to stay, so we could decide if you could be trusted before asking for your help.”

“And what would make you think we couldn’t be trusted?” demanded Will.

Lestron lowered the blaster slightly. “You told me you disobeyed an order from your president because he was asking you to do something you considered wrong. Would you do it again?”

Will laughed. “It’s not likely I’ll ever get the chance, but yes I would. Earth is my home and I’m loyal to it, but doing what is right is always first.”

Lestron looked over at Cintrel and she nodded. They both lowered their blasters. “We just couldn’t risk you informing Earth’s government that Cintrel was here.”

“Why in the world would we tell them that?” asked Debra.

Because,” revealed Cintrel on a soft voice, “it was Earth troops who invaded my planet.”

Will and Debra stared at each other in disbelief. In the nearly two hundred years since the formation of a unified Earth, it had never invaded another planet. And Will knew that Earth didn’t have a weapon like the one which destroyed Celentus’ fleet.

“Are you certain?”

Lestron pressed a button on the desk and a small screen rose up. He turned it to face Will and Debra. “Here’s video of the invasion. Judge for yourself.”

Although shaky, the video was sharp. It started with a troop transport landing on the ground and its front hatch opened, expelling troops holding blast rifles. The lander had no markings, but it was clearly an Earth design. The uniforms and rifles were also consistent with Earth’s, yet those things could be faked.

The video continued, shakier now as whoever was filming is appeared to be running. It settled down as a leaves could be seen around the edges of the video. Several troops walked by, scanning the area around them. One held a communicator and was speaking into it. Noticing what looked like a ring on the soldier’s finger, Will leaned closer to get a better look.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Pause and zoom in,” he ordered.

As the video zoomed in, the design on it became more distinct. Will immediately recognized it since it was also on the ring he wore. It was the insignia of Earth’s military academy.

Will sat back and shook his head in disbelief. “Turn it off,” he said in a dull voice. “I’m convinced.”

Debra looked at him, her eyes wide. “So it’s true?”

He nodded. “Afraid so.”

“I didn’t know Earth had that kind of weapon,” declared Debra.

“It doesn’t, well at least I didn’t think it did,” answered Will.

Will looked over at their two hosts. “How can we help?”

Cintrel smiled. “Thank you.”

Over the next several days, they began to make plans. Some of Celentus’ space frigates had been out escorting transport ships, but they would be no match against Earth’s new weapon. Therefore, the first thing they had to do was destroy it. Then the remnants of Celentus’ fleet could move in to try and retake their planet.

Destroying the weapon would be Will and Debra’s job. Along with his daughter, King Raphul had included all the scans that had been taken of the ship which destroyed the fleet on the ship sent to Lestron. Although, the scans couldn’t penetrate the ships shielding, they did provide an exterior view of the ship.

Will recognized it immediately. “That a G-Class Weapons ship,” he declared. “They’re slow, but can carry up to ten reactor arrays to power their weapons. They also have upgraded shielding so there’s no way we’re destroying it from the outside.”

“How, then?” asked Lestron.

“We’d have to get inside to initiate an overload in the reactors. Unfortunately, I have no idea how we’re going to do that.”

As they planned, Lestron’s workers began the repairs on Will’s ship. In addition to just repairing what was damaged, they also upgraded the shields and weapon’s systems. Even so, Will knew his ship would be no match against Earth’s new weapon.

Throughout this process, Will grew more impressed with Debra and was now certain that she had to have some sort of military training. They often worked late into the night trying to figure out how to board the weapon ship, set it to explode, and get off before they were killed. Fortunately, the computer on Will's ship held schematics for most of Earth’s military ships, including the Class G Weapons ship. That and Will’s knowledge of it greatly aided in their planning.

The others were equally busy trying to organize a rendezvous of the remaining ships in the fleet. There was a red giant class star not far from Celentus which would provide an excellent hiding place for the fleet. Lestron and Cintrel would join the fleet once all the preparations were complete.

Will and Debra had figured out a way to reach the ship. Due to its high energy output, its sensors were less effective. Thus, it was possible for a small shuttle with minimal energy output and using control thrusters to reach it without being detected. Unfortunately, reaching it was only half the battle.

Will leaned back on the couch in Debra’s bedroom and closed his eyes. Although they had access to the library, they often worked there. It was nearly dawn as they’d worked through yet another late night, but still hadn’t figured out a way to get on board the ship.

“It looks like they’ve thought of everything,” complained Will as he rubbed his eyes. “Opening any exterior hatch activates an alarm. And that doesn’t even account for all the interior security.”

“And there’s no way to overload the reactors from outside the ship.”

He shook his head. “Six inch thick tribanium alloy. You’d need the power of a space frigate to even dent it.”

Debra flopped on the couch beside him. “So you’re just going to give up?”

Will gave a tired laugh. “You know me better than that. Just haven’t come up with anything yet.”

“Together, I know we will,” yawned Debra.

“It’s funny,” said Will. “I’d gotten so used to doing things on my own, that I was convinced I’d never want to have a partner.” He looked over at Debra. “I couldn’t have been more wrong.”

“Wasn’t Gwen Fulbright your partner?”

“Will laughed. “Her? She only got in the way. Never understood why President Grandle insisted I take her along.”

Debra yawned again. “Let’s start fresh in the …” she looked out at the brightening sky, “afternoon and maybe we can finally come up with something.”

The only response coming from Will was snoring. She got up and gave him a kiss on the cheek before climbing into bed. She was soon snoring as well.

“Will!” shouted Debra, roughing shaking him awake. He opened his bleary eyes, certain he’d only been asleep for a few minutes.

“What is it?”

“We’ve been thinking about this all wrong. If we can’t get to the ship’s reactors, what about the weapon itself?”

Will sat up, now fully awake. He grabbed the tablet and brought up the ship’s schematics. “It’s likely installed in the main weapons bay,” he muttered, swiping though the data. “There’s the main power junction …” Suddenly his eyes grew wide. “That’s it!” he exclaimed.

“What is it?”

Will brought up the schematics and expanded a section of it. “See this tunnel,” he said. Debra nodded. “It’s designed to give access to the power coupling of the ship’s weapons and is only used while the ship is in space dock.”

“How do you get to it?”

Will shifted the view of the schematic and pointed. “There’s a hatch on the underside of the ship. Since it’s never used in flight, there should be no alarm on it.”

It sounded good, but Debra had known Will long enough to tell when he was hiding something. “And …”

Will shrugged. “The reason it isn’t used in flight is because of the high radiation levels. But a space suit should provide protection long enough to cross circuit the power couplings so the weapon will overload when fired.”

“And how do you plan on getting them to fire the weapon?”

Will smiled. “By attacking the ship of course.”

It took nearly a week, but finally all the preparations were complete. Will’s ship had been repaired and the remnants of the Celentus fleet gathered near the red giant. Finally, the shuttlecraft aboard Will ship had been painted a dull black to keep it from being spotted as it approached the Weapon ship.

Will, Debra, Lestron, and Cintrel stood on the landing field which held Will’s ship and a small Celentus vessel. The overcast sky cast a dull grey light over them.

There were tears in Cintrel’s eyes as she spoke. “Will and Debra, I can’t express how grateful I and my people are for your help. I’m so sorry I doubted you.”

“I’m sorry as well,” added Lestron. “It’s truly an honor to work with people who put principle ahead of loyalty.” He shook Will’s and Debra’s hands.

“Thank you,” said Will. “Once you join the fleet, keep your sensors trained on Celentus and when you detect an explosion move in and start attacking the vessels in orbit.”

After a final round of handshakes, Lestron and Cintrel went to their ship while Will and Debra boarded Will’s ship. Within fifteen minutes, both ships were in space flying towards Celentus and whatever was awaiting them there.