DARKEST OF NIGHTS

North American Continent, Earth

        The calm, crisp air was cold to inhale, standing at minus twenty degrees centigrade for the day. Without the wind however, it seemed like a nice day to be out and about. The sun was shining, adding a touch of warmth to the early afternoon. Snow was packed down on the ground on the trails, the evergreen trees that lined them also covered in white powder. Mountains loomed off in the distance, their snow-capped peaks always a pleasure to take in. There wasn't a lot of activity in the forest trails on this day, save two familiar forms on skis, journeying down the twisting, frozen paths like it was nothing.
        "Invigorating!" said Lieutenant William McIntyre, enjoying the outdoors thoroughly today, happy to be on a pair of nordic skis in the wilderness. Following closely behind was CWO Sarah Atkinson, McIntyre's subordinate in the fighter squadron he commanded, and girlfriend. She didn't have much trouble keeping up with him, her red hair streaming out from under the back of her knit toque. 
        "The mountains are gorgeous!" she started. 
        "Do we get to see a little more of them before we start heading back to the chalet?" she asked, hoping to catch a better glimpse of the peaks while she could.
         Saying nothing, McIntyre smiled to himself as he kept his legs moving on trails, leading his love to something very picturesque. Sarah kept on him, getting a little frustrated at the lack of a reply from him. 
        "Will?" she said. "Will, answer me!" she exclaimed, some impatience and a little anger in the tone of her voice. Suddenly, the the trail curved to the left, and after a few more econds, the trees ended abuptly, and McIntyre came to a halt. Sarah skidded to a halt next to him, and her jaw fell at the sight that awaited her. Towering before them was the mountains they had seen earlier, but in full view. The trail had wound to a hillside offering the clearest view of the peaks, not as far away as they seemed.
        "Oh Will......it's so beautiful!" she said happily, quickly embracing him and holding him tight. McIntyre smiled and returned the embrace. 
        "But of course. Only the best for you." he said lovingly. She looked up, and was about to kiss him on his lips, when Will's link beeped. 
        "Fiddlesticks!" said Sarah, turning back to the mountain view. Will raised his left arm and pressed a button on his hand-mounted comm link. 
        "McIntyre." he said, calmly.A familiar, jovial voice crackled to life on the other end. 
        "Hey Will!" said Ensign Lewis Sewell, a senior member of his team. "The hot chocolate is getting cold! We thought you'd be back by now!" he said, chuckling. Will grinned. 
        "On our way back. Be there soon." he replied, before shutting down the comm channel, and looking to Sarah.
         She turned back to face him, and this time locked lips with his, the kiss that much better in the view of the mountains. After a few moments, they embraced and flipped their ski goggles back down. 
        "Let's go." said Will. "We have gifts to exchange." he said, referring to it being Christmas Day, the first in several years he was able to spend it back on Earth with people he cared about. McIntyre skiied off down the trail, with Sarah waving goodbye to the mountains before speeding off on pursuit, the two of them heading with all due speed back to the chalet to be with their team mates, who were also their friends.

         The crackling of the warm fire was a welcome sound in the chalet, as the fire itself roared and bathed the room in an orangish glow. Three of the five members of the team sat in chairs surrounding the fireplace, while McIntyre and Sarah sat on a couch to the right of the line of chairs. Everyone had opened their gifts, and were enjoying hot chocolate, having shaken off the last of the cold from their ski adventure.
        "This was an excellent idea." started CWO Jack Whitmear, before sipping his hot chocolate. 
        "It's too bad the Captain couldn't join us, even for an hour or so." he finished, referring to Captain Reid, the CO of their ship, the EAS Chimera. He had been invited, but had turned it down due to his busy schedule on this rare week off for the whole crew. 
       "Yeah, but he's a busy man." said CWO Ray Park, chiming in. 
       "He wanted to be able to spend a few days with his wife and kid, and I don't blame him." he explained. Sewell and McIntyre just nodded, while Sarah held her mug tight and smiled.
        They all sat quietly for the next little while, happy to be off their feet and enjoying the warmth of the fire. It had been McIntyre's idea to have the team meet up for Christmas this time around for nordic skiing near the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. He had also invited the Captain, but knew that it might not be possible. Still, everything had gone quite well thus far, and he was more than content. He glanced around the group and saw everyone seemed to be having a good time, and that made him smile. After all, him and his team were like a family in their own right, and always looked out for one another. The least he could do was show his appreciation with this gathering, and the quality time spent together.
         "Guys....." started McIntyre, breaking the silence. "I just wanted to say that it means a lot to me to have us all here, enjoying Christmas together, not just as a team of pilots and friends, but as family. " he said. "This has been such an amazing day, and--" his sentence was cut short by his link beeping. 
        "Never fails!" said Sewell, chuckling. McIntyre pressed a button on his link. 
        "McIntyre. Go ahead." he said. A voice came to life on the other end. It was the concierge of the resort. 
        "Sir, there is an incoming message for you on the StellarCom." said the female voice. McIntyre nodded. 
        "Thank you. I'll be down soon." he said, before closing the channel. "If you'll excuse me. I have a StellarCom message." he mentioned, before getting up off the couch and heading for the exit.

         Pressing a button on the terminal, he then swiped the access bar from top to bottom, accepting the transmission. The image of Captain Reid popped up on the monitor, and from the looks of it, he was on the bridge of the Chimera. McIntyre had a feeling that Christmas was going to be cut short. 
         "Hello Lieutenant. Sorry to interrupt your festive soiree, but we've been given an assignment." he explained. McIntyre raised an eyebrow. 
        "They wanted us specifically?" he asked, wondering about the mission. 
        Reid nodded. "I'm afraid so, even after I mentioned that some of my crew were trying to enjoy the holidays. Direct order from the joint chiefs. I've already sent a shuttle to pick all of  you up." he said.
        "Very good sir. We'll be ready." he replied. 
        Reid smiled. "I know you will, and I'm sorry this cut into your r and r time." he said, apologetically. 
       "I understand sir. I'll go notify the team immediately." he replied. Reid nodded. "Good. Commander Marzcek will brief you on the mission upon arrival. Report to the briefing room once you dock. Chimera out." he said, ending the transmission. 
        McIntyre sighed, before turning around and heading out of the small comm room, making his way back over to the main area of the chalet to let his team know what was going on. He had hoped to get in one more ski session before leaving, but that was impossible now. 
       "Damn." he mumbled, before entering the chalet again.
       Walking over to his group, he stopped in the middle between them and the fireplace to relay the information given to him. 
       "The transmission was from Captain Reid." he said. "We've been ordered to return to the Chimera immediately to head out on mission. A shuttle will land soon to pick us up. Everyone grab your gear, and let's go." he finished. The other jumped to their feet and scurried off to get their gear, except Sarah, who sauntered over to him and kissed him on the cheek. 
       "I had a great time, regardless. Thank you." she said lovingly, a sparkle in her eyes. McIntyre put his arm around her and returned the kiss, embracing her as well. 
       "Let's go, shall we?" he said with a grin. They both walked out of the main chalet hand in hand to go retrieve their gear and prepare for disembarkment.

EAS Chimera - Briefing Room

        Commander Jon Marzcek looked about the room upon entry, and saw that the entire team was there, and now looking at him intently, wanting to know about the impending mission they were about to go on. He was happy to see that even after a little time off, away from duty and such, that the Birds Of Prey were always ready to go. He walked over to the briefing table and sat down at the head position, dropping some documents down on the table with him, preparing to deliver his outline on the mission parameters.
        "All right." he started. "As you already know, the Chimera has been given a mission, and you have all been recalled to duty from your r and r. As it stands right now, we are on our way to Quadrant 15, near Centauri space. One of our research ships went missing shortly after it's jump into hyperspace, and has not been heard from. Our orders are to re-enter hyperspace in that area, after making initial scans in normal space. We will then deploy your team into hyperspace to conduct a search for any signals." he explained, before passing around some of the documents that gave information on the lost ship.
         "Any questions?" he asked, looking around the room. Ensign Sewell spoke up. 
         "One sir. Are we getting any help on this one? Five starfuries in hyperspace might take a while, and is a bit of a risk." he mentioned. McIntyre nodded his approval to the question while he waited for the commander's response. 
         Marzcek answered the question quickly. "The EAS Furies will be joining us in Quadrant 15, and she will be contributing a full squadron of starfuries to assist us." he said. "Any other questions?" he asked. 
         McIntyre then spoke up. "No ship lost in hyperspace has ever been found. Why are we risking our hides for one ship?" he queried the commander, who's face now displayed a scowl.
         "Before the ship disappeared, it picked up readings of something weird in hyperspace. If they jetisonned their data recorder, we might be able to analyze it." he said, gathering up his documents. 
         "You have your orders. Dismissed." he stated, before getting up and leaving the room. Shortly thereafter, the pilots started to file out of the room one by one. McIntyre stayed behind to go over the copy of the missing ship's details that had been left behind. 
         "Research vessel. All by itself. Hmmm." he mumbled, trying to figure out why a ship all alone and with little to no armaments or power decides to go into hyperspace. Shrugging due to a lack of an answer, he himself left the briefing room, and headed off to his quarters.

          Sitting on his bed atop the covers, McIntyre read an old novel he liked to read from time to time, happy to have some quiet before their mission officially started. Flipping to the next page, he was about to start a new chapter, when his door chime went off, notifying him that he had a visitor. Letting out a sign, he put his bookmark into the novel before setting it down on the table next to his bed, getting up to go to the door. 
         "Who is it?" he asked into the door's comm unit. "It's Lewis. You got a second?" he asked from the other side of the door. 
         "Open." said McIntyre, the door sliding up and out of the way, revealing his second in command, and one of his most trusted friends for a long time.
         "Come in." he instructed Lewis. "Make yourself at home." he said, before sitting down on a chair he had in the living area. Lewis leaned up against a wall, and pondered his friend and colleague as the door slid shut. 
         "What's on your mind?" asked McIntyre.
         "I don't like the premise of this mission, Will." he started. "For starters, what the hell was that research ship doing all by itself out there with no backup?" he asked aloud. McIntyre nodded, having wondered that himself. Sewell continued. "And why do we need another squadron in on this? I thought we work alone!" he exclaimed, looking unhappy in the process.
          "It seems EarthDome has other ideas." he replied. 
          "I wondered the same things you did when I looked over the specs on that ship at the briefing. Best I can say is that we go there, do our job, then get out. Let the captain deal with the bureaucratic nonsense, right?" he asked aloud. 
          Sewell shrugged. "I guess, but I still don't see why we need additional help." he finished.
          McIntyre acknowledged. "It's no matter. We all know who's the top starfury squadron in EarthForce, right?" he asked of Lewis. 
         "Yeah!" started his friend. "No matter what, we got this!" he said happily, before heading to the door. "Thanks for listening." he said, before the door opened. 
         "Anytime." replied Will. Sewell nodded before leaving, and the door slid shut behind him. "All right, back to the book." said McIntyre, who had started back to his bed before the door chime went off again. He grumbled and turned around to face the door. 
         "Yes, come in!" he yelled. The door slid open to reveal Captain Reid, who stepped into the room and looked to his squadron leader curiously. 
         "Did I interrupt something?" asked Reid. McIntyre grinned. "Not at all sir. I was just reading a little bit." he replied. "Can I get you anything?" he asked of his CO. 
         Reid shook his head. "No thank you. I just came off duty, and was heading to the mess hall. Thought I stop by and see if you had any questions about the mission. Commander Marzcek mentioned to me that you were mostly quiet during the briefing." he finished.
         McIntyre slid into a chair. "Everything seemed cut and dry to me." he started. "Lewis did the talking this time around. It's not always necessary for me to out in my own two cents." he said firmly. 
        Reid grinned. "I like the fact you let your team have an equal say. That tells me you let them voice their concerns within reason. I respect that." he said. 
        McIntyre nodded his approval. "Thank you sir. If they're happy, I'm happy. But whenever it's crunch time, I can count on every one of them, as I hope you count on me." he said, carefully pondering the Captain. 
        "I do." replied Reid. "You and your team are the best. That's why we keep getting these fun missions." he said, knowing it never seemed to get any easier.
        "We'll be ready sir." started McIntyre. "The only thing that bugs me a little is having a regular squadron in on this. You know we work alone." he mentioned. 
        Reid nodded. "I know, and I was prepared to keep out status quo. Unfortunately, General Hague was told to make sure we had help on this one. It was out of my hands." he finished. 
        McIntyre understood. "I appreciate you coming down here and telling me. Means a lot to me." replied the squadron leader. 
        "It's the least I could do." said Reid. "Enjoy your book." he finished, before turning and heading back out the door after it slid open. McIntyre got up out of his chair, and went off to find his book and continue where he left off.

EAS Chimera - Fighter bay gear room

        Having most of her flight suit on already, Sarah Atkinson wandered into the gear room and sat down at her stall, a small piece of bench in front of her locker and gear rack. She grabbed a technical manual on starfury systems out from under the bench, and picked up where she had left off a while back. Alone for a moment, she was happy to have even a few minutes in the gear room to herself, finding it to be a relaxing place for her to read up on things before the rest of the team arrived. 
         After a good five minutes passed, Ray Park was the first to enter, followed by McIntyre. Ray nodded his acknowledgement to her as he passed by to his stall, while McIntyre looked to her and smiled as he walked in, taking his place across from her at his stall. She smiled back and winked, before turning her attention back to the technical manual. Lewis Sewell and Jack Whitmear arrived a minute afterwords, seemingly having a debate about something. 
        "It would never work! You'd waste your power reserves pulling off a move like that!" said Whitmear. Sewell's reply was fast and furious. "That's why there's a secondary power pack with redundancies!" he said. "Just in case you needed to pull off something like this under those circumstances!" he exclaimed.
        Ray started to laugh, and that brought the argument to a quuick halt. Sewell looked to him right away. 
       "You think this is funny?" he asked, while Ray continued to laugh. 
       "Yes! Very much so! But.....don't stop on my account!" he said, happily. Jack now started to laugh, and a quick look over to McIntyre showed that he was chuckling now as well. Even Sarah had put down her tech manual and was giggling. 
       "You're so silly sometimes, Lewis!" she quipped. Lewis stopped to think for a moment, then burst into laughter himself. 
       "I don't even know what the hell I was yelling about!" he said, leaning up against a wall as the laughter took him over as well, the debate long over now.
        Suddenly, Commander Marzcek walked into the room with some documents, and stopped to see the entire team laughing and almost falling on the floor of the gear room. 
        "I guess you had to be here." he said, nonchalantly. McIntyre looked up at the commander and stopped laughing. 
        "All right team, listen up." he ordered. The rest of the pilots came to and gave their full attention to Marzcek, who nodded his approval. "I'm here to tell you that you hit space in ten minutes. Coordinates will be given upon launch. Until then, quickly read these documents." he said, handing them to McIntyre. That is all." he finished, before turning and leaving. McIntyre passed around the documents, which contained information about this sector, as well as further stats on the missing ship. It wasn't long now until the mission started.

Quadrant 15 - Open space

        "Stand by Hawks. Activating jumpgate." said the comm officer's voice from the Chimera, broadcasting her message to all of the Starfuries in the squadron. The team was about to head into hyperspace to try to locate the missing ship. The EAS Furies had joined them a couple hours earlier, and sent her squadrons out to scour the sector, as well as provide back up for the Birds Of Prey should they need it. McIntyre was happy that his team was taking the lead, but was wary of the extra help.
        "Confirmed." replied Hawk Leader over the comm, before watching the gold disk of the hyperspace portal show up within the confines of the jump gate. 
        "All right team, we're going in!" he exclaimed, as they all hit their engines and entered the vortex, zipping into hyperspace quickly. The swirling portal closed behind them, and a few seconds later, they were in the stormy red dimension of hyperspace, all adjusting their scanners to pick up anything that might be in the area. Sewell over in Hawk Two was the first to chime in.
        "Let's not lose our lock-on signals." he mentioned. McIntyre grinned. "Don't worry, Hawk Two. No one is drifting off and avoiding their fair share of our mission." he said humourously.
         Just as Sewell was going to reply, Hawk Five came over the comm. 
         "I'm picking up something on my scanners, but don't know what it is." she said, going over her readings. 
         McIntyre replied quickly. "All right. Move in closer and see if you can make it out. Hawks Three and Four, go with her." he ordered, as two more of his team accelerated to match speeds with Hawk Five as she moved in on the unknown object, preparing her targeting system and powering up her weapons along the way.

          "Gamma Leader, you are authorized to enter hyperspace at your discretion. Furies out." said the comm officer on the EAS Furies to it's squadron of six starfuries. 
          "Copy that." replied Gamma Leader, on his way towards the jump gate. 
          "All right people, heat 'em up." he said to his squadron, with all of the starfuries turning on their weapons ahead of the jump to hyperspace. "You all know your orders. Let's carry them out." he said firmly, before all six ships disappeared into the gold vortex and out of normal space for the time being.
           Once the jump into hyperspace was complete, Gamma Leader began scanning his surroundings. 
           "Lock onto anything you can, and head for it. Only the Birds of Prey and the missing ship are in here, so there shouldn't be any problems." he said over the comm, before picking up something on his screen, and heading towards it as best he could. From the looks of it, the rest of the squadron was following, apparently locked on to the same thing. He adjusted his controls a bit, trying to get a better fix on what he was heading for. The scan came back inconclusive, but it didn't deter him and his team at all.
            "Target is directly ahead." said his computer, as he pressed a few buttons on the side control panel. Suddenly, Gamma Two crackled to life over the comm. 
            "Sir, my computer says the target is dead ahead, but I see nothing." said the female voice. Gamm Leader shook his head inside his helmet.
            "I don't get it. It should be right--" he was cut off as alarms went off in his cockpit. "Collision alert! Collision alert!" exclaimed the computer. Gamma Leader looked directly ahead to see  pure black, darker than the night sky directly ahead. The red stormy appearance of hyperspace was completely blotted out. He brought his craft about instantly and reversed engines, as a terrible, blood-curdling shriek rang out through his comm system. 
           "Ahhhhhh!" he yelled, having never heard something that scared him as bad as it was, before cutting out and returning the quiet to his cockpit.
           "Gamma squadron, head back to the gate, immediately!" he yelled into the comm. He checked his rear scanner to see that whatever the thing was, was heading away in the opposite direction. He had no desire to chase it, and felt the need to get the hell out of hyper space and back to normal space in a hurry. After a couple of tense minutes, they had arrived back at the location of the jump gate, and left hyper space in a hurry, returning to normal space via the familiar blue vortex. 
            Once it had closed behind them, Gamma Leader started breathing a little heavy. Just then, his comm crackled to life with the voice of the Furies' comm officer. 
           "Gamma Leader, is everything all right? You are not due back at this time." she said. The pilot put his gloved hands on his helmet and closed his eyes. 
            "No, everything is not all right. Not in the slightest......" he said, voice trailing off into nothing.

           Sitting quietly in his alcove on the bridge, Captain Reid was accustomed to hearing everything that went on around him. It was no surprise when he heard the heavy footsteps of his first officer coming, not even looking up from his work to address him upon his arrival. "Yes Commander." he said, confusing his first officer for a moment. 
          "What can I do for you?" he asked, finishing up something on his console before looking up. He noted that Marczek looked a little frazzled, moreso than normal. 
           The commander spoke up right away. 
           "Sir, we just got a signal from the Furies. Their pilots saw something in hyperspace, and they aren't about to go back in, either." he explained. 
           Reid raised an eyebrow. "Must have been bad. Did they say what it was?" he asked. Commander Marczek shook his head. 
           "No. Some ship or something that was so big it blotted out hyperspace. I don't like it sir." he finished. 
           Reid nodded. "Our squadron is still in there, and could be in danger. Send a signal to Hawk Leader. I want them out of there immediately." he ordered. 
           Marczek nodded. "Yes sir." Reid stood up and looked to his helmsman. "Helm, position us closer to the jump gate in case trouble comes barrelling through that vortex. I want to be ready." he said, walking over to his chair.
          He sat down and checked his personal console to his right, before looking to Marczek, who was sending a signal to the squadron himself. After a couple moments, he turned to face the captain's stare. "Message sent sir. Hawk Leader has acknowledged, and is breaking off salvage efforts to return to the barn." he explained. 
          Reid nodded. "Good. Let's hope nothing happens between now and their arrival back in normal space." he replied, not having a good feeling all of a sudden. Just then, he had a thought, wanting to know more about what was going on. "Get me the Furies. I want to speak with their squadron commander over there." he said to Marzcek, who was still working the comm console. 
         "Aye sir." he replied, before hailing the EAS Furies right away.

         "All Hawks.....we've been ordered to break off our salvage operation and head back to the barn, immediately." said McIntyre into his comm, relaying the new orders to everyone in his squadron. Sewell in Hawk Two was the first to respond with more than an 'Aye sir'. 
         "Well.....the research ship is a dud anyways. Nothing here to collect, although I'm surprised we're pulling out early." he mentioned. McIntyre nodded to himself inside his flight helmet, in agreement with his second in command. 
        "I know. Must be something else going on that's more important. We'll find out when we get back." he said, knowing that there would be a full debrief session when they all got back to the ship. With little else to accomplish, he turned his fighter around, the other following suit quickly as they all jetted off to the jump gate's location. McIntyre was surprised that for all the hype this mission got beforehand, little had actually happened. He hadn't even seen anything of the other fighter squadron that was supposed to join them. 'Perhaps they weren't needed after all.' he thought to himself, before pressing a few buttons in his cockpit, optimizing his engines and their output on the way out.
         Just as he was starting to relax enough to ease the trip out of hyperspace, the red stormy pattern of the dimension started to ripple in front of him, before turning black completely. Something had appeared in front of him and blotted out the familiar tones of hyperspace! Suddenly, alarms went off in his cockpit. 
        "Collision alert!" yelled his computer's automated voice. 
        "Damn!" he said, before opening a comm channel as he reversed his engines. "All ships, back off! NOW!" he ordered, yelling loudly. The large, black mass was like nothing he'd ever seen before, as the distance from it to his fighter increased, he could make out what looked like tentacles or large porcupine quills. 
        "What the hell is that thing?!?!" he said aloud, wondering if it came straight from hell itself, given it's appearance. Without warning, a loud shrieking sound filled the speakers in his starfury, the sound so bloodcurdling, he could feel it in his bones. McIntyre closed his eyes and waited for it to pass, but visibly freaked out by whatever it was. A short time later, the sound ended, and quiet had returned to his cockpit. 
         Shaken by all this, he worked his controls, and cut more power to his engines, hoping the others were already doing the same thing in their own ships. Whatever this thing was, it didn't look or sound friendly at all.
         Then, just as fast as it had appeared, it rippled out of view, the swirling red lines of hyperspace were back to normal, as his control panel beeped to tell him they were close to the jump gate. Hawk Three's voice suddenly broke the silence over the comm, some concern in his voice. 
        "Hawk Five has stopped completely. I don't know what happened." he said. McIntyre's thoughts went to Sarah immediately, some concern on his face now. 
        "Hawk Five, come in." he said, getting no response. "Hawk Five, are you all right?" he asked, now getting really worried about her. "Sarah, talk to me!" he exclaimed, wondering what could have possibly gone wrong over in her starfury.
         After a long moment, a sobbing voice crackled to life over the comm. 
        "I....I'm scared." she sobbed. "It was awful!" she added, clearly in distress, and still not moving. Feeling for her, McIntyre communicated with Jack over in Hawk Four. 
       "Jack, go guide her, and get her back safely. A response came soon after, but with Jack not talking as loud as he normally would. 
       "Sure thing. Damn, that thing and it's shriek really gave me a headache." he said, before jetting off to help out Hawk Five. 
        "Let's get the hell out of here people, before that thing comes back." said McIntyre into the comm, before activating his engines and powering up to head back to the jump gate, not wanting any more surprises.

EAS Chimera - Briefing room

         "I had a conversation with the leader of Gamma Squadron from the Furies, and he had no idea what it was he was looking at. He's never seen anything like it, and wasn't too eager to find out what it was, either." said Captain Reid, sitting across the table from  Lieutenant McIntyre, the only member of the Birds Of Prey present. 
          The others needed some time off to deal with what they saw, having shook them to the core. McIntyre hadn't said much since he was called to meet with the Captain, and didn't have much to offer anyways. He hadn't a clue himself what it was he saw, only that it was worse than any nightmare he had ever had in his life. Just the thought of it made him shudder.
           Reid pondered his pilot for a moment, waiting for a response. McIntyre spoke up a moment later, trying to put his thoughts into words. 
          "The sight of it......the shrieking sound......damn." he started. "I don't know what the hell that thing was, but I know it's not something I want to meet up with again." he finished, unable to describe it any more than he did in his report that he filed when they all had arrived back at the barn. Reid wasn't sure what was going through McIntyre's mind right now, but he knew that he didn't want to push him given the circumstances. 
          "Very well." he replied. "Tell me more about the remains of the research vessel." he said, trying to divert the conversation.
          McIntyre nodded. "Sure. There wasn't much left. It looked like some heavy particle weapon sliced it open. No traces of life or anything else." he explained. "We didn't find any message beacons, nor did we find a recorder buoy. We were way too late on this one, sir." he finished, having repeated what was in his report. 
          Reid nodded. "Very well then. That's all for now, Lieutenant. Dismissed." he ordered. McIntyre got up out of his chair and nodded before leaving the room altogether. Reid stayed in his chair and sat in quiet contemplation for a bit, wondering what to make of all this. 
         "More questions that answers." he said to himself, trying to figure out what was going to happen next.

         "Sir, your call to EarthDome has been put through. General Hague is ready to speak to you." said his comm officer over the link. "Thank you." said Reid, before tapping his palm link and switching on the video screen in his office, while simultaneously closing the comm channel. The blank screen was replaced with General Hague's image. 
        "Captain, what is your status?" asked the General. Reid told him in depth what had transpired over the last little while, telling him of the mission progress, the complete loss of the research vessel, and the strange object that was encountered in hyperspace.
          There was a brief pause before the General replied, taking it all in. "I see." he started. "Does this 'object' pose a threat to our people?" he asked, wondering if there was something he ought to do about it. 
          "I'm not sure, sir. We don't know what is, let alone know if it's a threat." he explained. "It did pass through all the fighters without any malicious intent, and I take that as a good sign." he finished. 
         General Hague nodded. "Indeed. However, we need to know what this thing is. I want your team to go back into hyperspace and try to find out what it is. That's an order." he said.
         Reid wanted to object for the sake of his people, but decided not to. "Yes....sir." he said slowly. Hague nodded, then spoke. 
         "I will expect a report by tomorrow morning. Hague out." he said, before cutting the transmission, the screen fading to black again. 
         "Damn." said Reid, before sighing and sitting down at the chair behind his desk.  He knew sending them back into hyperspace to face the unknown thing to be a dangerous, if not life threatening affair. He had sent people off on perilous missions many times before, but this felt different. Everything about this felt wrong, no matter which way he looked at it. 

         She looked more beautiful than normal, her red hair pulled back behind her head in a ponytail as her eyes sparkled in from the light she had on in the room. McIntyre couldn't help but pause upon entering her quarters and meet her gaze. Sarah was a strong woman, stronger than most he had encountered, but even she had her limits. Her smile suddenly dissolved as if it was only for show, and she looked a little distant all of a sudden. Walking over to her, he sat down next to her on the bed and put his arm around her, bringing her close to reassure her. It seemed she was still shaken from the encounter with the unknown thing the day before in hyperspace, and he felt for her.
          There was a silence for a few moments, with Sarah pulling herself closer to Will before she spoke. 
         "Thank you." she said, softly. 
         Will suddenly looked confused. "For what?" he queried, wondering. She grinned, and rubbed her face on his arm lovingly. 
         "For making sure I made it back to the ship, for coming and seeing me today." she started. "For being you." she finished, feeling more comfortable with him around. 
         Will smiled and kissed her on the forehead. 
         "Anything for you." he said, not relishing what he was about to tell her, hence his visit. "Sarah, there is something we need to discuss." he said calmly.
          Sarah turned her head to look at him. "What is it?" she asked, curiously. Will sighed and was about to start explaining their orders, when she put a finger on his lips to stop him. 
         "We're going back into hyperspace, aren't we?" she queried, before moving her finger away from his face. 
         Will nodded. "The captain was under orders from General Hague to send us back in to find that thing. I'm sorry." he finished. Sarah looked away for a moment to hide the emotion building in her, saying nothing while trying to calm herself again. 
         Will frowned. "Sarah....." he started. "If it's too much for you to see that thing again, you can stay here on the ship. I know how much it troubled you." he said, reassuringly. Sarah turned back to him and stood up in front of the bed, balling up a fist.
          "No." she said. "We all go in as a team, or not at all. I have to face it again. It's the only way I can overcome it." she explained. Will got up off the bed and was filled with pride at her decision, but also admired her courage and strength. He reached out a hand, and she took it in hers, before embracing him tightly. 
         "You'll do fine." said Will. "I'll be right there with you, no matter what." he finished. Sarah smiled, and continued the embrace. 
         "I won't let you down." she whispered. Will grinned, and kissed her on the cheek. 
         "I know." he replied, before letting her go, and heading for the door. "I'm going to bring the others up to speed on our orders. See you in the gear room." he said. 
         Sarah blew him a kiss. "Bye!" she replied cheerfully, feeling better thanks to the man she loved so much.

EAS Chimera - Launch bay

         "So let me get this straight," started Jack Whitmear ober in Hawk Four, as they all waited for their clearance to disembark. "We're going to go back into hyperspace, find that thing, and hopefully try to prove it's there?" he asked, skepticism evident in his voice. 
         McIntyre flipped a couple switches before answering. 
         "Yup." he said over the comm. "That's about the size of it." he replied, ready for departure. Before anyone could say anything else in retort, the Chimera's comm officer came over the radio. 
         "Hawk Leader, your squadron has been cleared to depart the hangar bay. Acknowledge." said the female voice.
          McIntyre replied quickly. "Roger that. Hawk Leader is go." he said, before he communicated with the rest of the squadron. "All right team, let's go!" he said, as all ships powered up their engines, and lifted off one after the other before blasting out of the hangar bay and into open space. Just as they cleared the bay, a message from the Chimera came over the radio. It was Commander Marczek. 
         "Birds Of Prey, be advised that a squadron from the Furies will be on standby next to the jump gate should you need them. Chimera out." he said, before ending the transmission.
Hawk Two crackled to life over the radio, a chuckle in his voice. 
         "Heh. 'Standby' they say. Hoo boy." he finished. McIntyre did find it a little humourous, but couldn't afford to laugh right now during a serious mission. 
         "Cut the chatter, Hawk Two. No need to worry about them." he said, checking his controls as he guided his ship towards the jump gate, all the others forming up behind him. "In we go!" he said, as the jumpgate's vortex came into existence once again, the familiar gold disk swallowing up the five little starfuries. A few moments later, and they were back in the familiar stormy red visuals of hyperspace, each ship having their sensors on full scan.
          "All right people, spread out. Standard search pattern." said Hawk Leader. He watched as two of his team broke right and spread out, while the other two broke left and did the same thing. He continued on straight ahead and pushed his scanners to the maximum. Minutes slowly turned to an hour, with no one on the team having any luck. 
         "If anyone cares, I'd rather be sipping a hot cup of tea right now." said Hawk Three, aka Ray Park over the radio. McIntyre laughed to himself, then responded. 
         "I'm not surprised." he started. "All fighters form up. We'll make another sweep, then head out of here." he ordered.
          All of the other ships responded with a brief acknowledgement, which prompted him to hit his engines and turn his fighter around. Just as he was about to initiate a new search pattern, the stormy red view of the dimension began to ripple in front of him, followed by that same bone-chilling shriek as before. 
         "Hawks! Target object has reappeared!" he exclaimed, switching on his weapon targeting system, and powering up his video recorders. Suddenly, his craft shuddered, and the cockpit lights flickered. 
         "Damn!" he yelled, before getting back on the radio. "Object is jamming my targeting contols, and my recorder is off-line!" he said, broadcasting to whoever could hear him.

         Sarah saw it blow past Will's ship, and it looked scarier than last time. It resembled a bug that had it's many legs bent forward. It was blacker than the night sky by far, and the shriek it made almost deafening. Closing her eyes for a moment, she thought happy thoughts to avoid getting scared, before plotting a firing solution on it, but it rippled out of view again in the direction of the jump gate. Confused, she performed a scan, but came back with nothing. 
        "Will, are you all right?" she said over the radio. Hawk Leader's voice crackled to life suddenly. 
        "Yeah, I'm fine. Systems are coming back on line. Sensors recorded nothing. Dammit." he replied. Sarah checked her controls.
         "Same here. Sensor scans of that thing came up blank. You get some video?" she asked.
         "No." replied Hawk Leader. "Was jammed. Couldn't do anything." he finished. Lewis Sewell in Hawk Two came over the radio and joined the conversation. 
         "Seeing as how only your starfury had a recorder, that stinks. Should we head back?" he wondered aloud. 
         "Hang on." said Sarah, as something on her sensors began to beep. "I'm picking up a metallic object nearby. I'm going to check it out." she said, before bringing her starfury about to to go have a look at the mysterious object. After a few minutes in transit, she came across the thing. "Looks like a sensor pod! Might be from the research ship!" she exclaimed. 
         "Good." said Hawk Leader over the radio. "Grapple it, and let's get out of here." he ordered. Sarah nodded. "Yes sir!" she exclaimed, before bringing the pod in.

          The group assembled in the briefing room remained quiet as the video recording from the recovered pod was shown on a screen that faced the main table. The external cameras on the research ship zoomed in as a strange, black object seemed to appear out of nowhere and blot out the background of hyperspace. Then, a minute later, there was a flicker of purple light, and the camera feed went dead. After watching it one more time, they were no closer to getting any answers about the mystery they had just faced. 
         Captain Reid then got up from his chair and turned the screen off.
         "As you can see, we now have more questions than answers. That being said, we are not going to go back and try to encounter it one last time." he finished. 
         "We've been ordered back to Earth. The Chimera will be on the receiving end of some upgrades, which will give everyone else a few days of down time, seeing as how it was interrupted beforehand." he explained. "Any questions?" he said, looking around the room for any queries.
         McIntyre stood up to ask a question. "Sir, what about hyperspace? We should patrol the system for another couple of days at least, so as not to--" he was cut off by the captain, who raised a hand. 
        "The Furies and her two squadrons have been ordered to stay in this sector for the next week at least. The Nimrod will also be arriving to help her out, just in case. Our mission, as it stands, is over. We are a special operations vessel, and are needed elsewhere." he said. "Any other questions?" he asked, again looking around. 
        No one said anything, which prompted him to clear the room. "Dismissed." ordered, before leaving the briefing room, all the others following suit shortly thereafter. 

EAS Chimera - Bridge

        Still six hours away from Earth, Captain Reid was sitting in his command chair for no reason, as there was little for him to do on the bridge for the time being. He didn't want to go to his quarters, and had instead elected to stay on the bridge. A lot was going through his mind right now, and none of it really inviting. He was worried about that they had found in hyperspace, and how his squadron had reacted to it as well. He had sent the files from the pod to EarthDome, but even they had little results in figuring out what they saw. It was as big a mystery as he's had on his hands in some time, and it bugged him.
        Reid felt a little better knowing his crew could at least finish up their r and r for a couple of days, to make up for being called away on this mission right on Christmas. There were only a few more days left until 2256 became 2257. Reid hadn't given the current year much thought until now, and he did note that it had been a relatively decent year as far as he was concerned. The Birds Of Prey had performed well above his expectations this year, and since their inception back in 2254. He was lucky to have been put in command of the elite squadron and the Chimera, and that did instill some pride from within.
         But even after all that had gone right, he couldn't help feel that perhaps he could have done more this year, and also on this mission itself. Part of his job was to protect Earth in any way he could, and not identifying a potential threat could harm this in the long run. Rubbing his now-tired eyes, he decided it was time to get some rest. Looking to the comm officer, he asked for Commander Marzcek to report to the bridge. A few seconds later, the comm officer looked back up from her station. 
        "The commander just linked in. He'll be here in five minutes, sir." she mentioned. 
        Reid nodded. "Very well." he said, getting up from his chair and looking to the viewer. A few minutes past as he lost himself in the view of hyperspace, before he was interrupted by a familiar voice.
       "Reporting as ordered, sir." said Marzcek. 
       Reid turned to face him. "You have the bridge. I'm turning in." he said, before walking off to the exit into the corridor. 
       "Very good, sir." replied the commander, who sat down in the captain's chair and checked the display next to him. "All stations report?" queried Marzcek, wondering the status at the moment. The lieutenant behind him at the aft station replied quickly. 
       "All stations normal sir." he said. Marzcek nodded. 
       "Very well. Carry on." he stated, turning back to the viewer and now loosing himself in the swirling red and black of hyperspace before him.

North American continent, Earth

        "Five....four....three....two....one....Happy New Year!!" yelled the five of them, sitting around the fireplace with glasses of champagne in hand, except for Ray Park, who instead raised a cup of hot tea, a grin on his face as he did so. After a decent rendition of Auld Lang Syne, the five clinked their glass ware and tea cup together, as McIntyre made a toast. 
       "To the Birds Of Prey, the finst squadron in EarthForce, and to friends being friends." he said, before turning to Sarah. 
       "And last but not least, to the future, and all it holds!" he finished. 
       "Here here!" said everyone taking a sip of their drinks with gusto.
        Sewell started to sing a song with Whitmear, as McIntyre and Sarah got up and walked outside, hand in hand. A light snow fell as they looked towards the mountains, the snow caps just visible in the darkness of the new year. They embraced just off to the side of the door, before kissing each other passionately on this lips. 
        "Happy New Year, Sarah." said Will, looking into Sarah's eyes. 
        She smiled and replied in kind. "Happy New Year, Will." she said, before wrapping herself around him, feeling safe and content, far away from the fear she felt in space at the sight of the unknown object days earlier.
        After a few moments, Will left the embrace and walked away from the chalet a little, stopping to look at the mountains, his eyes adjusting now to the dark. He sighed, having a lot on his mind. Sarah walked over to him and put her arms around him. 
       "What's wrong?" she asked, as he didn't return the gesture. He looked to her and frowned. "I'm worried." he replied. Sarah rested her head on his shoulder. 
       "It's that thing we saw in hyperspace, isn't it?" she queried, thinking about the same thing. Will nodded. 
       "Yes. I fear we haven't seen the last of it." he said calmly. Sarah hugged his arm a little more and tried to reassure him.
       "I was more terrified of it than anyone, but we can't let it get the best of us, especially now." she said. "We should be inside, celebrating the new year with our friends." she said. 
       Will nodded. "You're right. Why worry about what we can't control." he said in agreement.  Sarah smiled. "That's the Will I love. C'mon, let's go hve fun!" she said happily. 
       Will looked to her, and saw the sparkle in her eyes. 'Such a strong woman.' he thought to himself. 'I'm lucky to have her.' And with that, he put an arm around her and turned with her ack towards the chalet to rejoin their friends. What the future held, he did not know. What he did know, is that the future would ultimately take care of itself.

                                                               THE END