Last Flight of the Ark by D.L. Jackson Page B

for air support. We don’t even know what they want. They haven’t taken our ship, the crew of the Genesis II is alive, and we’ve got no reason to jump to the conclusion they’re going to eat us.”
    He pressed his palms flat to the table’s surface and leaned forward, staring her in the eyes. “Get of whiff of them, then come back and tell me that again, Captain. They’ve overrun our position. What comes next? Do you want to sit around and observe them or create a contingency plan?”
    “You’re not certain this is reversible or what the long-term effects will be. Anybody you infect might never be able to go home. They might not want to be mutants. You haven’t even asked them.”
    “How do you propose I ask them?”
    “I don’t know, sir. I don’t think it’s a good plan. Do you have any idea how it feels to have that choice taken from you?”
    He flinched. Ouch. She’d raked him deep on that one, simultaneously cooling his libido several degrees and raising his hackles. “I’ve got a good idea, Captain. I’m also certain we can’t sit back and do nothing. We can’t wait for the cavalry to arrive or for fucking air support. We need to do something to save ourselves. Nobody is going to do it for us.”
    “I think we should wait a little longer and find out what they’re doing.”
    “If we wait, we could all be dead. That’s why a commander calls in a broken arrow.”
    “You’re talking like this isn’t a contingency plan. It sounds like you’ve already decided.”
    Damn, the woman should have been a lawyer.
    “I’m not going to sit around and wait for them to kill us. I’m being proactive.”
    “How can you take that chance, based on a pocketful of assumptions?” She leaned in until their noses almost touched. “That’s what you’ve got. Nothing more.”
    Maybe he’d lost it, but something deep down told him it was the only way they’d make it out of this mess. “I think they’ve had their eyes on Earth, but man’s best friend got in the way. From their reactions, I’d say long-term exposure to canines is toxic to them. I can’t think of any other reason why they didn’t just take this ship and why their envoy was so small. They didn’t like coming over here.”
    “Do one thing before you make that decision. Find a way to talk to the commander of the Genesis II . If he’s in, I’ll support your decision.”
    “Are you telling me you won’t comply with the order if I give it?”
    “At the moment….no. What you’re planning could start a war with an alien species we know nothing about.”
    “I didn’t start it. They did.” Now he had Melissa against him. The last thing he needed. The decision was difficult enough to make, but without his crew’s backing, it would be almost impossible to carry out. He needed their help. He needed to know they were behind him and believed that what he was doing was the right thing.
    Melissa hopped off the table and exited the lab without another word, making the doom and gloom all the worse.
    Am I doing the right thing?
     
    ***
     
    “Sir, we’ve successfully tapped into the Genesis II’s mainframe. I was running diagnostics on the Ark and the link came through. I’m getting a ton of data I think you better look at.”
    Kaleb glanced at the time. Four hours? Had it been that long since Melissa left his lab? “Anything out of the norm?”
    “Everything.”
    “Get everyone on deck.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    It hadn’t taken Melissa long to gather their small crew onto the main deck. When he entered they were already sitting around the conference table, except for Jessica, who leaned against the wall near the door. Kaleb could feel her restlessness. She’d pulled herself together on the outside, but on the inside she was about to boil over. Confusion, anger, hurt. Her emotions assaulted his senses. She turned and glared at him, pissed for a whole lot of reasons he couldn’t begin to delve into at the moment.
    “Attention,” she said