CROSSFIRE - Atlantis DSV - New Cape Quest

stamped in the crest of the UEO. The medal of honour – the highest military decoration the
UEO could bestow.
“Fleet Admiral Riley has resigned,” Ainsley said flatly as he tucked the box away in its
pouch. “It will be effective in about six hours.”
Banick took a few, slow steps forward. “Your shuttle should be ready within in the
next few minutes,” the Captain observed. “I imagine you‟ll be leaving soon.”
The Admiral‟s eyes looked Banick up and down for several seconds, his mind made
up but otherwise uncertain of the Captain‟s intent. He sighed, allowing for a small but
defeated smile. “No doubt Secretary-General Cathgate has given you your orders, then.”
Banick was silent, but his face affirmed the estimate well enough before his hand
slowly disappeared in to his pocket to retrieve the folded sheet of paper. “It came in a few
minutes ago, yes.”
“What are you going to do?”
Banick shrugged. “I can‟t go with you.”
Ainsley smiled. He‟d expected that answer, and anything more would have been
hoping for too much. “I would have been surprised if you did,” he admitted.
“I‟m sorry, Admiral,” Banick smirked. “I‟ve spent most of the last two years putting my
life back together and making sense of what I still have. I couldn‟t throw all that away and
I‟ve still got a lot to make up for.”
“It‟s alright,” Ainsley assured him. “You know as well as I do this is still probably a
one-way trip. You‟ve got a crew to think about – and a good one at that.”
The smirk turned in to a smile. “Something tells me we‟ll see each other again,”
Banick told him. “Whether you‟re here or not, my mission hasn‟t changed. For what this is
worth, I‟ll do everything I can to help.”
“Cathgate will ask why you didn‟t arrest me,” Ainsley reminded him cautiously. “What
do you intend to tell him?”
Banick shrugged. “The truth. A Reverence class battlecruiser isn‟t a match for a
DSV.”
Ainsley pursed his lips before folding his arms, narrowing his eyes to stare the
Captain down. “You would have fired, wouldn‟t you?”
“Some things will always remain a mystery.”
“Probably for the best.”
Banick nodded slowly as Ainsley extended his hand. It occurred to him that it was the
first time he‟d even tried to offer it since landing, and he was entirely unsure how, or indeed
if, he should accept it. The captain of the Commonwealth stared at the hand for three whole,
long seconds before finally gripping it firmly. He didn‟t say a word as the Admiral gave him
an approving, encouraging nod, drawing a breath.
“Take care of this one,” Ainsley nodded to the ship around him.
Banick grinned. “I intend to.”
~
Madeline Hayes was a rare breed of girl: the kind who would wait until the ends of the
Earth if she felt it right to do so. While her wait at Commonwealth‟s number three starboard
airlock had hardly been apocalyptic, it still felt right as she twiddled the ring around her left
four-finger and continued to look down the main corridor nervously, the nervous habit
appearing to agitate the Nycarian captain behind her.
Rhodes and Hayes were not alone though, with two of the ship‟s marines standing
next to the hatch – their rifles folded neatly in front of them. They seemed relaxed, or even
casual in their watch as a general and renewed sense of purpose had steadily settled on the
ship. It had been a subtle change in the mood of the crew, but Hayes knew exactly where it
had started.
She froze as she saw the three men round the corner at the end of that long corridor,
their pace slow and steady as they strolled up to the airlock. Despite their present juncture,
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