Joshua Kirk awoke with a start, momentarily confused as his cell's lights, which normally stayed on, were off. It was then that he realized that the lights in the rest of brig were dead as well. Jumping from the bunk, he saw that the barrier was down. Switching to his infrared vision, he saw that the ensign on duty lay sprawled on the deck, unconscious. As he scanned about the small cell, he saw a rucksack on the deck. Opening it, he found two protective suits, one black, one white. Under that were the cowboy boots that his sworn brother Gond and his wife Zannat had given him for his birthday last year. Tucked into one of them was his torn Kharka Dragon skin shirt. Between them was his PAAD. But at the bottom was something that grabbed his attention. The two components of a ship's replicator. Kirk removed a printed note that was affixed to one of the devices. "A gift for you. This will make a great bargaining chip with this Republic. They are certain to give you asylum in exchange for this. And I know you have an override code to shut off it's self destruct system. Hurry up, the power to deck eleven will remain down for two hours except transporter room three. Now git, as you Humans say." Kirk smiled before putting on the black protective suit and boots. Throwing the rucksack onto his back, he left the cell. Stepping past the snoring guard, he opened the access panel next to the door, activating the emergency controls. He then stepped into the dark corridor and swiftly strode to the transporter room. As he neared his destination, panicked breathing in a side corridor alerted him to the fact that he was not alone. It was then that the terror hit him. Kirk shook his head at what he felt. It was obvious that this person was an Orlinian, a Humanoid race that had developed an unusually strong fear of the dark, because their home world never experienced night due to it being part of a trinary system. Knowing that the man would be able to see the red glow of his eyes, Joshua closed his eyes as he slowly crept past the blue skinned male who stumbled his way down the passage. Fortunately, Kirk had been aboard Excalibur a dozen times before, so he was familiar with the layout for most of the ship. Several seconds later he was in the transporter room stepping over the sleeping form of one of the ship's technicians onto the pad. To his surprise, beam down coordinates had already been set into the computer. As he dematerialized, Kirk was already forming his plan on evading recapture. "Commander Mitchell," Ami Wu said as she stood next to the ship's First Officer. "Engineering reports that power to decks ten, eleven, and twelve has been restored." "Very good," Gavin Mitchell muttered as he shook his head. "Any idea what caused it?" "Berring says it's nothing mechanical," Ami told him. "At least that they've been able to find." "Have you checked on your cousin today?" He asked, knowing she visited him everyday. "No yet," She said, pausing as a call came in from one of her security personel. "Wu, here." "Sir, this is Grayson," Grayson was Ami's chief in ship's security. "I am in the brig, and the Ambassador is gone. The computer says he is no longer aboard ship." "You have got to be kidding me!" Mitchell said angrily. "Computer!" Ami said quickly, cutting him off. "Locate Hahd Adralla." "Lt Hahd Adralla is no longer aboard Excalibur." "What made you attempt to locat Adralla?" Mitchell asked as he jumped from the Captain's chair. "The brig has it's own power source. And she's the only member of the crew who has the skill to hack into the ship's computer and kill the power to the brig. I'm going to transporter room three to see what I can find." "I'll go tell the Captain," Gavin said as he signalled to Laurence Daultry, the weapons control officer. "Daultry, you have the com." "Yes, sir!" He said. After the pair had left the bridge, Daultry turned to the navigator and smiled. "I hope the Ambassador get's away." "You, me, and probably every member of this ship's crew," Wilson told him. "Well now I kmow how the Captain stays in such great shape," Mitchell said to himself as the holodeck's doors shut behind him. "Computer, give me a battle axe, Demon's Killer." A silver axe appeared on the steel deck of the airship. The sounds of battle coming from all directions, he went through the nearest hatch. As soon as he did, he was attacked by a two meter tall Human, his red hair and beard braided and dripping blood onto the deck plates. Mitchell leapt back at the speed of his assailant. The safeties had been turned off! Accellerating, he quickly dispatched the Viking, burying his axe in his breast. "Computer, freeze program," He said. "Access denied," The ship's computer answered back. "Computer, where is the Captain?" "The Captain is on the bridge of the Imperial Airship, Dauntless." Mitchell now made his way to the bridge, slaying vikings along the way. Soon he heard the sounds of steel ringing against steel. Racing through the hatch, he found himself on the bridge of an airship, Mackie pulling her sword from the body of a chieftain. "You being here means power has been restored on decks ten, eleven, and twelve?" The woman asked, expectantly. "Power has been restored, Captain," Mitchell said before sighing. "It seems the outage was cover. The Ambassador is gone." "Are you fucking kidding me!" Mackie said angrily. "How could he escape? No, who helped him. As good as he is, he couldn't get out of that cell alone. Who shut down the brig's power supply?" "The only member of the crew who is not aboard ship, Lt Adralla." "Commander Mitchell," Ami Wu's voice sounded over the intercom. "I'm in transporter room three. I'm sending Grayson, At'kai, and Merrisol to try and find Adralla. And I'm taking Berring and Marx to try find my cousin. I doubt if we will though. According to the computer they beamed down twenty three minutes ago." "Well try anyway," Mackie said. "And send someone to check out Adralla's quarters. See if they can find anything. She would not do something like this without a good reason. That is all." "Yes, sir!" Wu snapped back, ending the call. "Gavin," Mackie muttered as she stared at the deck. then turning hear face up to his she spoke quietly. "Exodus." "Understood!" He replied. "And do you want me to come with you when you tell the Admiral?" "No!" She said quickly. "Let her anger fall on my head alone. You get back to the bridge. Computer, end program, do not save." "Let me thank you for buying my game, Steampunk Vikings," Mitchell said with as smile as they left the holodeck, the airship fading away behind them. "After ten years, it's still my companies biggest seller. And what mod were you playing?" "Something I put together, called Imperium Under Assault." "You know, captain?" Mitchel said with a grin. "If you ever get tired of this Captain gig, I'd hire you. That was some great work." "I'll remember that," She told him as she left for the turbolift. Commander Mitchell stopped at the nearest com station and pulled his link from his pocket and connected himself to the ship's computer. "Computer, Exodus. Alert all involved parties to begin evacuating at 0100." "Confirm Exodus, please," The computer demanded. "Commence Exodus. Password, Legendary Deathclaw." "Exodus confirmed." Mitchell removed his link from the interface and placed it back in his pocket. When he pulled his hand out, he stared at the remains of the ring finger of his right hand. He then placed his hand to his heart where the remains of his wedding band hung from a chain. After five years, he still felt the loss of his wife and daughter as deeply as the day he recieved the call to his ship, USS Pike. Both killed by a Norm bomb on the New New York colony.