Tommy and his friends, unaware of what was happening with the nobles and Helen, were getting closer and closer to the border.
They had only a week to go and they were free.
The journey so far was uneventful,there were no attacks,mostly because their cool down spots were desolate places away from the main transit lanes.
They preferred that to being pursued all the time.
The crew had drills regularly and no one complained,everyone knew that it may come in handy.
There was also a slight change in the crew, some of them started dating.
-Nothing wrong with that .
Tommy said when Simon asked if they should stop it.
-This isn't a military ship so fraternization isn't a problem,let them be.
-Captain?
David interfered in their chat.
-We just received a message on the frequency you gave me.
Tommy had given him a frequency for emergency communications with the Dragon star team.
Everyone on the team had their own frequency assigned to them so that they could stay in touch but that was meant for emergencies only.
-What does it say?
-It starts with the captain's eyes only.
-Send it to my screen.
Thehad known that they would find out eventually.
The message appeared on his screen.
Captains eyes only.
Black dragon to the Death dragon.
White dragon found the Baby dragon alive.
Baby dragon is in a comma.
Come back ASAP.
Baby dragon is secured in the HQ.
Nobles want to negotiate.
If possible, bring Doctor Green with you.
White dragon says she can help.
Also I'm going to kick your ass for lying to me.
respond on this frequency.
Black dragon out.
Tommy was in shock,his sister was found and is safe but she was in a coma that was a problem.
-Simon, take the con, i need to talk to Alice.
He jumped out of his seat and before anyone could ask what was going on he was gone.
In med bay he found Alice treating a patient.
-Alice, I need to talk to you.
-Then wait until i am done.
She answered ,pointing to a chair.
Ten minutes later she was done with the treatment,it wasn't serious, just a broken nose of a crew mate who tripped and fell face first into the bulkhead.
-Now what can I do for you?
-My sister was found and is alive but she's in a coma.
-That's great news. But what does it have to do with me?
-My mercenary friends found her and the medic of our team said that you might be able to help my sister.
Thats why im here, I came to ask you to return with me to the empire when we drop off the rest of the crew in the coalition space.
-Then what about the nobles? They won't just allow you to do what you want.
-According to the message I just got, the nobles want to negotiate.
-And you are sure that this isn't just a trap?
-I,m positive. The source of the message is my mercenary team and they wouldn't harm me.
-Then why didn't they help you when you were being hunted?
-Because I didn't want to get them involved in this mess so I lied to them which was probably the biggest mistake of my life.
-I'll go back with you but i want a guarantee that we won't be captured and i want our exile status revoked and i mean all of us.
-I'll contact my friends and see what can be done.
-Great then come back when you have that sorted out.
When he got back to the bridge everyone was looking at him strangely.
-What?
He asked confused.
-Are you a team member of the Dragon star?
Simon asked.
Hearing that Tommy understood that he forgot to close the message.
-Yes i am.
-Then how the hell did you become an exile?
-Because I didn't want them to be involved so I lied to them.
-Ok then what's up with all the dragons? and why do they want Alice to come with you?
-Every member of the team gets assigned a code name with a dragon in it.
The Baby dragon is my sister,they found her and she is alive but she is in a coma and the team doctor thinks that Alice can help with the treatment.
-Then what about the nobles?
-I think that they are afraid of us since we destroyed almost 30 of their ships in one day.
So they want to negotiate.
Alice just told me that she will return with me if she gets a guarantee that no one will try to capture us and that everyone's exile status is revoked.
But even if we get all that, I'm still going to drop off anyone who doesn't want to return to the coalition space.
Besides I'm not going to trust the nobles,even if they agree to those terms we all know that the moment they find a way to capture or kill us they won't hesitate to do it.
-Good because I want them to pay for what they did.
-I never said anything about letting them off the hook.My sister is alive but someone has to pay for what they did to her.
-Then what about the rest of us?
Agnes interrupted.
-It's your decision.You can stay in the coalition space or come with us.
Tommy said.
-Then I want to stay with you guys.
-Like I said it's your decision but think it through because when we go back we may be engaging in a lot more combat than before.
Tommy didn't realize just how prophetic his words were.