"No, that's not necessary. Is the ship fueled?" Jaxon asked.

Howe nodded. "It was completed moments before your arrival."

"Good. Now get off my ship and I'll take things from here," Jaxon said, turning his back on the director and heading to flight control. Oliver followed Jaxon's lead, walking by the director, silent as usual.

All that remained were Francisco and Director Howe.

"Well then. Good luck on your mission ... Francisco?"

"Yes, it's Clay Francisco. Do I need to show you the way out?" he asked.

"No, I'm quite familiar," Howe said then turned on his heels and walked off the ship.

Minutes later, the ship's engines fired, and it hovered out of the hangar before rising up into the sky.

In flight control, Jaxon sat at the pilot station with Oliver in the copilot. Jaxon requested authorization for departure, which the tower promptly granted. Severing communication, he looked at Oliver.

"Miles, think you can handle things for a while?"

Oliver looked at Jaxon apologetically. "Sure thing, boss. I'm sure you'll find her down in the crew quarters."

Jaxon smiled and slapped Oliver on the back as he moved out of the cockpit.

Jaxon knocked on the only closed door on the cabin level. He imagined the sound of tears emanating from the other side of the door but dismissed the thought due to the thickness of the titanium-skinned panel. He knocked again and definitely heard something after the second attempt.

"G-go away!" Camille yelled from inside.

"If you'd just give me a minute to explain," Jaxon yelled loud enough for her to hear.

"Not n-now," Camille said, stuttering.

Jaxon knew that unless they talked-the sooner, the better-the success of the mission could be jeopardized. Being familiar with the locking mechanism on the door, he pushed a series of buttons, and the door slid open.

"Can't you just leave me alone?" Camille sobbed.

Jaxon stepped in and closed the door. He lowered himself next to Camille, sitting on the edge of her bed. "I'm sorry, Cam. I ... I'm a horrible person for not telling you sooner."

Camille tucked her chin to her chest and closed her eyes. Jaxon could see she was hurting. He decided that silence right now was probably the best medicine, so he sat there, patiently resisting the urge to console her.

Jaxon thought back to the moment he'd decided to leave the company and his rationale for not telling her about the plan. At the time, they'd been engaged for only a few months, and although the relationship wasn't strained, it lacked the spark that he'd always figured would be associated with true love.

It wasn't until just then that he fully realized his mistake. "I won't lie to you," Jaxon began. "I faked ... well, Gillette and I faked our deaths to get away from the company. We'd seen what happens if you remain active for too long, and neither of us liked what we saw."

Jaxon paused to see if Camille wanted to hear more. Her breathing slowed slightly, quieting her tears. He continued. "I had already made the decision before we were engaged, and I even delayed things several times to try and figure things out. Then, something changed. Something in how we were. I think you felt it too, or at least that's how it seemed at the time.

"Anyway, Gillette and I were put on a mission that was particularly attractive for our departure, and I had no time to tell you of the plan. I'd always had intentions of reaching out to you and bringing you into the loop at some point. But the longer I was away, the better I thought you'd be without me."

"What gives you the right," Camille said, raising her head to look at Jaxon, "to make decisions for me? I was completely in love with you then, and I was so afraid I'd mess things up that I stopped reacting to every little thing. I didn't want to"-she broke into tears once again-"I didn't, I didn't want to scare you away by being too clingy."

Jaxon felt a lump in his throat grow. He'd felt horrible for a long time afterward, and he never thought it possible to feel worse. Until now. "I really am sorry. I know my words can't give you back the last eight years, but if you could at least understand why I did this, you might be able to find it in your heart to forgive-"

"Were you not listening to me? You want me to forgive you? Do you even know what I've been through since you selfishly removed yourself from my life? Hell no, I won't forgive you! I agreed to this mission, and I'll see it through. But if it's not mission related, I don't want to see you. Now, get out!"

Jaxon was startled by her candor. Her pain clearly was deeper than Jaxon ever thought. He listened to her wishes and stepped out of her room.

31.

Jaxon walked back into the cockpit, reclaiming his seat at the pilot's station. As he slumped down, his mood was clearly visible. His brow dipped at the center, and frown lines pulled at his lips.

"Went that good, huh?" Oliver asked.

Jaxon glowered at his copilot, his frown lines growing deeper. "You know, Miles, we haven't known each other for very long. But, you know how you do that one thing? You know? That one thing where you're silent? Now would be a good time for that."

"Sorry," Oliver said, stretching out the syllable in his apology. He looked forward again and adjusted a setting on his control panel.

Jaxon regretted his words the moment they passed his lips. "Hey, I'm the one that's sorry. I was out of line. It's just that Camille and I have ... a history and-"

"It's all right, boss. No need to explain. We all have issues with the ladies from time to time," Oliver said, staring ahead.

"Regardless, I was out of line, and if we're going to be successful on this mission, I cannot alienate anyone on the team."

"Apology accepted," Oliver grunted.

"So, what's our status? Are we in line for departure assistance?" Jaxon asked, studying the display on the control panel in front of him.

"No, sir. It's my understanding that the engines on this ship are some kind of prototype jobs that are strong enough to escape Earth's gravity unassisted."

"No shit? I thought we were still decades away from that technology."

"Well, you haven't exactly been around for the lion's share of the last decade, now have you?" Oliver asked pointedly.

Jaxon openly gawked at him, astounded by his quick wit. "You certainly got me there," he said, knowing instantly that he liked the man and looked forward to working beside him on the mission.

"So, what are we waiting for? Let's get on with gettin' on," Jaxon said, paraphrasing a quote his father used to say.

Oliver danced his fingers across the control panel and within moments, the thrust of the ship pushed Jaxon firmly into his seat. As the ship continued to accelerate, Jaxon watched the digital readout rapidly increase its speed. After several minutes of solid thrust, the forward momentum of the ship seemed to slow down, despite the rapidly increasing speed on the display. Then, the force that had pushed him into his seat just moments before relented even further as his body began to float up from the seat. He reached across his control panel and activated the artificial gravity generator, suspending the weightless feeling that was overtaking him.

"Why don't you set a course for the first checkpoint station, then we'll gather on the observation deck to discuss the mission with the entire team," Jaxon said.

Before Oliver could respond, Jaxon walked out of the cockpit-his mind elsewhere.

Finding his duffel bag in his sleeping quarters, Jaxon rummaged through to the bottom and withdrew his commPad before heading up to prepare for the team meeting. As he stepped out into the corridor, he contemplated checking in on Camille but remembered her last words to him: I don't want to see you. Wisely, Jaxon walked past her door and continued on to the observation deck.

When he arrived, Francisco had finished stowing all of their gear and even set up for chairs around a small but serviceable table. Jaxon pulled up a chair and activated his tablet. As he waited for it to boot up, there was a loud blast right outside the hull of the ship. Seconds later, the entire ship lurched to the side, nearly knocking Jaxon to the floor. The lights flickered then turned to amber as warning alarms blared throughout the ship.

"Jesus," Jaxon exclaimed as he bolted for the cockpit.

"Status," Jaxon demanded as he rushed in.

"Believe it or not, boss, it appears we're under attack," Oliver said, executing a series of evasive maneuvers.

Jaxon leapt into the pilot's station and fastened his safety harness. Not having adequate time to fully review the ship's operations, he was at a loss on how to activate the stealth device or even raise the shields. "I'm flying blind here, Miles. I don't suppose Evans or Howe gave you the rundown on the ship's operations?"

"No, not entirely," Oliver said as he increased the thruster speed and careened sharply to the left, narrowly missing a stream of laser blasts. "Just navigation and velocity-"

"What the hell's going on?" demanded Camille as she stepped into the cockpit, closely followed by Francisco.

"What's it look like?" Jaxon snapped. "We're under attack, and unless either of you know anything about the defensive aspects of the ship, this will be a very short mission."

Francisco stepped around Camille and sat down at the gunnery station, analyzing the display. "I ... studied a bit of the weaponry while I was waiting for the rest of the team to arrive."

"Great. Find out who's attacking us and shoot something in their direction. Give us some time to figure out how to turn on the damn stealth device," Jaxon ordered.

Camille stepped up to the remaining console in the cockpit and accessed the station's display. "I'll get the stealth up. Howe had me analyze the system last week."

At least somebody knows what the hell is going on with the ship, Jaxon thought.

"How about shields?" Jaxon asked as he flipped through multiple screens at his own console. "Oh wait, never mind. I found it."

Jaxon activated the shields, but the ship had already taken several indirect hits, weakening the shield strength by nearly twenty-five percent.

Suddenly, a new set of alarms blared throughout flight control. Oliver projected the short-range sensor array onto the main screen. It showed their ship's position at center screen, surrounded by four other ships. One of which had just launched a mass accelerator cannon directly at them.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Jaxon yelled.

"Got it," Oliver said, adjusting the pitch of their ship and rolling down and to the right. The g-force nearly threw Camille and Francisco to the ground, as they hadn't fastened their safety harnesses yet.

"That was close," Jaxon said, staring at the developing ambush displayed on the view screen. "At such close quarters, I don't see how we can react any faster until we can get that stealth device up and running."

"Jesus, Jax, I'm working on it!" Camille said, using her old pet name for him.

Oliver continued to avoid most of the non-lethal attacks as everyone else watched the screen with anticipation.

"Almost there," Camille said as her fingers punched at the console in front of her. "And ... it's active!"

On the view screen, the image of their ship faded from stark white to a barely visible gray, indicating that they were no longer visible to long or short-range sensors.

"Fantastic, Cam," Jaxon said happily. "Now, Miles, get us out of here."

Oliver punched in a new course and was about to hit ENGAGE when Jaxon stopped him.

"Wait! I have an idea," Jaxon said, taking over the ship's navigational controls. He promptly moved the ship so that it was right behind one of their attackers. All four of the attacking vessels continued to randomly fire on the spot where they were last visible.

"What are you doing, Jax?" Camille asked. "We don't have time for this! We need to put as much space between them and us before they catch on."

"Relax. Perry assured me that this stealth prototype is virtually undetectable. I want to test this for myself before we can fully trust its capabilities. We watch and wait."

The tension in the control room was palpable. The alarms had silenced, and it was eerily calm throughout the room. All four sets of eyes remained focused on the large view screen.

After a few moments, the surrounding ships ceased their attack, no doubt finally realizing that they were firing at nothing. The moments ticked by, almost painfully, for the team. Once it was clear that the attackers had no idea what just happened, Jaxon smiled and leaned back.

"See? What did I tell you? We're out-"

Suddenly, the ship they were hiding behind exploded without warning, launching debris in all directions. Seconds after the explosion, firepower from the remaining three ships once again focused on their location.

"What the hell?" Jaxon yelled. "They shouldn't be able to see us. Camille!"

"I don't know. It tells me the device is active, but it's clear they know exactly where we're at."

Jaxon's mind flashed back to the conversation he and Evans had earlier about a suspected mole in the company. He wondered if information leaked about their presence in the sector, and more importantly the technology of their prototype stealth device.

Jaxon unfastened his safety harness and quickly moved to Camille's console. "Is there a way we can restart the system? Perhaps they've somehow locked onto some device signature? I just don't know enough about the system to know how it works."

"I don't think we have enough time for that, but what you just said gives me an idea," Camille said as she accessed a submenu on her display.

Jaxon stood beside her as she scrolled through several settings. Finally, she slowed her pace and brought up the device code dialog box. The system cursor blinked rhythmically, waiting for a user input.

"Well, it looks like we can change our identification sequence. By changing this unique code, we should be able to assign our frequency, and, with any luck, confuse their targeting software."

"Do it. And quickly," Jaxon said, resting his hand on her shoulder.

Camille deleted the current twelve-digit code then typed in a replacement number. Completely random. She tapped the execute button, and several other settings on the display changed over the next few seconds. Once the adjustment finished processing, Jaxon returned to his seat.

"Miles, now, get us out of here."

"You want me to park behind one of the other ships?" Oliver asked.

"Hell no. Just put some distance between them and us. We'll know if they've adapted their frequencies if they chase after."

Oliver entered a new destination into the navigational computer and hit execute. The ship lurched ahead, speeding away from the ambush. Jaxon continued to monitor the sensor array. Waiting. The remaining ships continued to fire blindly at their last location until they finally stopped. Jaxon watched eagerly, waiting to see if they turned to follow. They didn't move.

"That did it," Jaxon said, turning back and seeing Camille's satisfied face. "Can you set it up so that the computer randomly changes that code every few hours? You know, just in case they have some other kind of access to our system? Another back door?"

"Yeah, I think I can. Let me-" Camille trailed off as she began typing new commands at her console.

Jaxon let her be as he contemplated their next move. He still needed to fill the team in on the full mission details, and then probably talk a bit about his own past and just who it was that was attacking them. If he'd only known.

"I think it's time you all know the full gravity of our situation," Jaxon began. "First off, after what just happened, I'm positive that there is, in fact, a mole in the company."