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it seemed to understand the situation. Would they be able to work together after all?
    Don’t get your hopes up you little bastard . Jon waited. No retaliation. No pain. Jon chuckled. Payback’s been a long time coming, you little shit. I’m calling the shots now, so you better get used to the new order.
    Jon continued down the corridor until he came to one of the conference rooms. He entered and found Colonel Bast, Lieutenant Jarvi, and Kevin already there, waiting for him. The creature reacted, perceiving Bast and Jarvi as threats, but the reaction was slightly more subdued this time. It seemed to be learning and adapting to the situation. Jon said his hellos, pulled up a chair and sat down.
    “I understand you encountered some resistance on the planet, Captain,” said Colonel Bast.
    “We did. The Kemmar had greater numbers, but it was nothing we couldn’t handle,” said Jon.
    “If a team of Chaanisar had gone down to the surface with you the Kemmar attack could have been intercepted,” said Jarvi.
    “Didn’t I just say we that we handled it?” said Jon, feeling anger beginning to take hold. He felt the creature fuel the emotion. It wanted him to get angry. Was the emotion its doing?
    “Of course, Captain,” said Bast. “Lieutenant Jarvi didn’t say otherwise. It is only that we would prefer a return to joint Space Force - Chaanisar missions. We are stronger united.”
    Jon breathed, taking control of his emotions. “As I said before, we are rescuing members of the Hermes crew, which makes the job ours alone.”
    “As you wish, Captain. We are only trying to help,” said Bast. “I understand you retrieved a member of Doctor Ellerbeck’s team.”
    “Yes, Ensign Zakarian,” said Jon, happy to change the topic.
    “Is Ensign Zakarian a doctor as well?”
    “No. She would be more of an assistant,” said Jon. He saw what Bast was thinking. If Zakarian was a doctor then Ellerbeck might have taught her enough to perform the procedure. The thought was amusing at best. They were talking about brain surgery, and alien technology. Even the great Doctor Ellerbeck might have difficulty successfully performing the procedure. Ensign Zakarian wouldn’t have a chance.
    “I’m sure her presence will be invaluable when we find the doctor.”
    “I heard you had your hands full against the Kemmar warship,” said Jon.
    Bast frowned in a rare display of emotion. “The Kemmar are adapting to the jump system,” said Bast. “They used mines to limit our maneuverability.”
    “Smart,” said Kevin, leaning his huge frame back into the chair.
    “Yes. It was a clever tactic,” said Bast.
    “Not clever enough,” said Kevin, sporting a broad grin.
    “Then they used a drone swarm to try and overwhelm us.”
    “How did you defeat them?” said Jon.
    Bast smiled. More emotion. Was he practicing? “We used one of your tactics, Captain,” said Bast.
    “My tactics?”
    “Yes. We jumped and took the swarm with us, just as you did with the Kemmar ship that tried to board the Hermes.”
    “But that ship was connected to the Hermes,” said Jon, curious about the tactic.
    “Before we found you we encountered a besieged freighter. It had been attacked by pirates and had lost use of its engines. I remembered your tactic and consulted your engineer about it.”
    “Singh?”
    “Yes. A brilliant man, albeit very unstable. He explained that the jump system created a field around the ship. Anything within that field would jump along with the ship. Unfortunately the freighter was too large for the tactic to work.”
    “Interesting. So the swarm were within the jump field.”
    “Yes. The mines had limited our maneuverability, so we couldn’t get any distance between us and the swarm. By jumping away we obtained more freedom of movement and were able to break free. We jumped back to engage the warship, and left the drones behind.”
    “Impressive,” said Jon, the compliment sincere. Colonel Bast continued to surprise