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** CHAPTER 34** Desertion

Running through the corridors of R105, Cobalt's words repeated over and over again in Silver's mind...

The sender identified himself as Zonda... He managed to survive...

They were getting close to the bridge when they saw Titan at the entrance. He was anxiously waiting for them. The adrenaline rushed through Silver's veins as she entered the bridge. She didn't know what to expect.

"Cobalt, help me transfer this information into the main computer. We need to see this message in the main screen." Titan ordered as he assiduously worked hard in his control panel.

"Right away, Commander." The blue Retcan replied.

"What is this all about?" Silver asked. "How can it be possible that Zonda sent us a message? How did he survived?!" Silver demanded information. All sorts of feelings convoluted her heart. She felt guilty of what had happened to her friends, and now there was a chance that she could redeem herself.

"I am not sure, Silver. We just got this not an hour ago. The message is encoded, so it was hard to detect." Titan explained.

Silver watched closely as Cobalt finally managed to transfer the encoded information into the screen.

"Done," Cobalt confirmed. She didn't sound sure, since she didn't know what was supposed to show on screen.

Only static filled the massive glass-like screen of R105's bridge. Strange noises filled the room as well, until suddenly they could identify a well known voice. It was hard to understand since the message constantly broke.

... This is... neral Zonda... eged to survive the expl... we foun... machin... the Evoc... alive...

Only static could be heard at some point. It was really difficult to understand, but it was without any doubt Zonda's voice.

"Titan, can you filter the static?" Silver ordered her brother. "I can hear Zonda but I can't understand what he's saying."

"I'll try."

After a few adjustments, the static had almost disappeared although some of the information was corrupted in the process. But Titan managed to restore the message, filling it in with a prediction protocol that restored the lost portions.

Zonda's voice now sounded strangely artificial, but it was because of the restoring methods that swiped away most of the poor quality message's information.

"Here it goes..." Titan said. They all held their breath, not knowing what to expect.

This is General Zonda from R105's defense squadron. If someone can hear me, I managed to survive the explosion. I am myself ok, though I lost... my brother Alpha.... Do not worry for me at the moment, as we have found valuable information on the location of the machine race that attacked the Evocanis many years ago. I'm not quite sure how we came across with it, but there is no doubt that they are keeping the Evocanis that they abducted still alive. Alpha and I managed to infiltrate the massive space deposit and confirmed it with our own eyes... We... were discovered... We didn't have weapons to defend ourselves... Alpha was... He didn't make it after our escape... This message contains the information that we gathered of that deposit and also its location. Do whatever is in your hands to save them, but be careful; the place is crawling with those things. They are far more intelligent and stronger than before. A stealth approach will be necessary... Don't worry about me. I will find a way back to Lusceonis. The Evocanis are the priority right now...

The message ended abruptly. No one uttered a single word. There wasn't much to say about what they just heard. They were all shocked. What could be done?

"What do you know about the origin of this message, Titan?" Silver asked, trying to hide her tears. There wasn't room for emotions right now after such delicate finding.

"There is no specific trace." Titan replied. "It seems like if the message was sent from various points in the universe, which is very unsettling; almost as if there were various Zondas sending different parts of the message at the same time."

"Explain yourself." Silver demanded.

"Either it was caused by a disturbance in time-space, like a faulty communication device, or Zonda was traveling through a wormhole at the time that he sent the message. There isn't a reason why he would do such thing, but we don't know what his current situation is."

"How did they manage to escape? Is there a possibility that they made it out of the planet in time?" Silver questioned herself. This message could indeed be legitimate; since there was no way that someone else knew how to get in touch with R105, other than a Retcan. But still, there was something not quite right about it.

"I know Zonda. I know they could've found a way to escape. Maybe they found a ship, I don't know." Titan replied doubtfully.

"Trace the location of the message. Decode it. Do what ever it takes to find out what is the meaning of this. The life of our friend is at stakes, but most importantly, what the Evocanis have been waiting all their lives since the incidents have finally come to us." Silver ordered as if she was in charge of R105 once again.

"Right away, Captain." Titan replied. "But if you let me suggest; I don't think that the Evos need to know what's going on right now. Not until we are sure about the origin of that message."

"I am not the Captain anymore. You are in charge of this ship, Titan. You do what is the best for us and for the Evocanis."

Titan worked for a few hours with the help of Cobalt. They worked not only against time, but also against the orders that they were given to return to Lusceonis. Once again, a difficult decision taking was being put before them.

Silver walked back and forth through the corridors of the bridge deck of R105. She had just settled her mind to accept the events that had happened to them not a few days ago, and accepted not only her discharge as Captain, but the decommission of R105. This news changed everything.

"What are we going to do now, Silver?" Bo asked her. He had been following her around all the time.

"I don't know. I don't think I'm the right one to ask."

"It's obvious that we need to do something. We still owe the Evocanis and we have the obligation to help our brother Zonda."

"Don't you understand that R105 is no longer in service? The council has taken all the power that we had, and now we have to return to Lusceonis."

"That's it? You will abandon the Evocanis in the moment that they need us the most?" Bo questioned her. "You know how erratic the council is. I know you don't believe in their rules."

Silver just let out a sigh, before pressing her hand-paws against her ears. "I can't do anything about it, Bo! We don't even know how that message came to us!" She yelled in denial.

"Why can't we do anything?"

"I don't know, Bo! I wish I could."

"We are still in possession of R105. And Retcans would never abandon their friends."

Silver had just barely recovered from her crisis, and again she had to face serious decisions that could change the fate of not only her race but the Evocanis. But what could she do? She was no longer in command of R105, and even if she was, the council would never approve.

After a couple of hours, Titan finally managed to decode the message. There was clear information on the coordinates of an unknown location in the universe. There was no doubt that this could lead them to the truth.

"What about the origin of the message, Titan?" Silver asked his brother, now that they were all sitting at the bridge.

"Nothing. I did trace the initial portion of the message being broadcasted at the same location where the Supernova hit, which is very confusing. The rest of the message seems to have been broadcasted from random points across the universe, until the very last one that really has no origin at all."

"How is that possible?" Bo asked his uncle.

"For the first time, I have no clue. I suppose that this incoherence could be caused by the immense energies produced by the Supernova. That's all I can think of."

"Titan," Shadow asked. "Did you manage to pinpoint the location that Zonda sent you in the message?"

"Yes. The coordinates are indeed real." He responded.

No one continued offering ideas. They knew that they were stuck. They had two options; one would be to give this information to the Evocanis and leave them on their own. The second one however, was the most logical one. The problem was that no one wanted to admit it; no one but Shadow himself.

"We need to do something." The brown Retcan said. He stood up with difficulties due to the pain in his legs that always tormented him. Everyone just looked at him, having an idea of what he would suggest, but not wanting to face the consequences that such option would bring to them.

"Titan," Shadow continued. "Open communications with Lusceonis. We need to speak with Haro."

"He will never approve, Shadow! The council will never let us continue!" Silver tried to stop him. But something was different in Silver. Deep inside, she didn't care if the council approved or not. She wanted the right thing to be done.

"No, Silver." Titan defended Shadow's position. "He's right. We will let him know that we are doing what's right. And you know what that is. That's what Alpha would've wanted, and also what Kassaar would've done."

"Bo," Titan continued. "We need Lusceonis on screen, now."

Bo obeyed immediately. Not a minute passed and Haro appeared on screen. He was surprised by this message.

"R105?" Haro asked confused. "What do you need, Titan?" He felt it strange that the bridge was disorganized, and some Retcans that didn't belong there were walking around the captain's chair, as well as performing tasks in the control panels.

Shadow approached the screen and spoke.

"Greetings my brother," Shadow saluted the white, red-eyed Retcan.

"Shadow, is that you? What are you doing in the bridge?" Haro asked trying to figure out what was going on. "Are you on your way? According to our computers, R105 hasn't moved in days. You should've been heading to Lusceonis in the early hours of this day."

"Brother," Shadow continued. "We have encountered a situation."

"What do you mean by that? Shadow, you shouldn't be informing me of anything regarding R105. That's Commander Titan's task."

"Our brother, Zonda... He's alive."

"What?" Haro gasped.

"He is alive and he has given us a tip on the lost Evocanis whereabouts."

There was a moment of silence between Haro and R105. He closed his eyes and seemed to struggle with himself for a second.

"Titan!" Haro yelled firmly at Silver's brother. His red eyes now blood shot. "You have orders to follow. Return immediately to Lusceonis!"

Titan didn't respond right away. He shook his head and looked directly to Haro's eyes. "I am sorry brother. I will do what my instinct tells me to do."

"What are you saying?!" Haro demanded an explanation furiously.

"I am not who leads this ship. R105's Captain will decide if we return or not."

Titan looked back at Silver who already stood stoically behind him. She slowly walked to the screen and faced Haro.

"What in the name of Lusceonis are you doing?! You are going to put our entire race in danger!" Haro told the small white female Retcan. His statement made no logical sense.

"Silence, Haro!" Silver yelled at the red-eyed Retcan who immediately stood still, trembling in what he thought it was anger, but in reality it was nothing more than confusion.

"Now you are going to listen to me very carefully, Haro." Silver continued firmly, surprising all that were present. "I will not return to Lusceonis, for I have various missions to comply with first."

"You do as we tell..." Haro yelled at her, being interrupted abruptly.

"We are going to save the Evocanis. That is our ultimate goal. But most importantly, we are going to remind our race of what we really are."

Haro sat in his throne-like chair astonished by what he was hearing at that moment.

"We Retcans have changed, Haro. The Great War has changed us for the worst. We have become fearful, irrational and above all, we have forgotten what we really are. This whole hierarchy and rank nonsense have never been part of our society. This has ruined us as a species, and we can't even figure out how it works. What happened when we were equal, when our society worked as a whole? No one was above no one; no one was below no one."

"Silver, don't do this..." Haro whispered. His anger had turned into fear.

"I know what R105's mission is now." Silver continued. "We will save the species that once helped us realize our mistakes. That species that is a reflection of what we Retcans were in the past."

Silver walked closer to the screen. Haro was now on his knees, confused. His eyes were filled of an unfounded fear.

"I understand your fear, brother. I once felt it too." Silver told him, now her tone of voice being very calm and soothing. "We tried to hide our trauma behind our new order. We tried to look tough and emotionless, thinking that such behavior would protect us from the Great War ever happening again. All we needed was to build our society how it used to be before the Great War. Continue to be Retcans."

Silver placed her handpaw on the screen, in which Haro eventually placed his hand-paw too. His eyes now flooded, he didn't know what to say. All that Silver had mentioned was a truth that every single Retcan knew but that didn't want to accept.

"I am sorry brother. I hope that we see each other again sometime. Haro, we will fight for Lusceonis from far away, hoping that someday you will finally open your eyes as we just did."

"No Silver... Please come back. We can't go back, or we will loose that war."

"Be that hero that our race really needs, Haro." With those last words, Silver slowly took her hand-paw from the screen. She slowly looked away, never making eye contact with Haro again.

"Close communications, Bo." She ordered.

Bo hesitated for a second, but understood that it was what it needed to be done. A confused and completely shocked Haro disappeared from the screen; a painful moment for the Retcans in R105, as well as the Retcans in Lusceonis. But Silver knew, they all knew, that this had to be done.

"Cobalt," Silver said. "Cut any link to Lusceonis; everything, including emergency systems."

"Yes Captain."

"Bo," she then directed to her son. "Inform all R105 of what has happened. We are no longer under the orders of the council. Let every single of the twenty thousand Retcans onboard R105 know that they are free to take a ship and leave to Lusceonis if they wish."

"The message will be broadcasted for the next week, my Captain."

Silver walked slowly until she reached her captain's chair. She looked at Titan who smiled at her and walked one step back, giving her the ok to return to the leadership of R105.

"We will always support you, Silver." Titan told her as Silver took her seat back. He placed his hand-paw gently on her shoulder.

Silver felt different. She felt not only rejuvenated but also liberated. Not because she was now officially a deserter who wouldn't respond anymore to her superiors, but because she knew that for the first time in years, she and her crew could finally be Retcans once again. The confusion was now gone. The pressures that lead her to those emotional crises were gone.

However, she felt the pain inside. She knew that they wouldn't see their brothers again, at least not until they fulfilled their duty with their friends the Evocanis.

"Titan, my brother; prepare an opener probe. We will send some surveillance probes to the location that Zonda gave us. We need to know everything about this place before we even decide our first move."

"It will be done, Silver."

"Shadow, I know your injuries can't let you in the battlefield, but since you are the most experienced warrior here, I want you to prepare our defense squad in case that we have to face those machines once again. This time no one will be lost; no Retcan and no Evocanis."

"I will do what's best for the Evocanis and our ship, Silver. You can count on that."

"One more thing; from now on, there is no Captain in this ship. No commander, no generals, no majors. We are all Retcans... We are all brothers."

R105 changed from being that huge cold battle cruiser. It now had a sense of warmth that it never had before. Sitting proud at the bridge, that white female Retcan and her crew would lead her kind to the correct path...