Jace stirred awake in the bed. He pushed the warm body of the communication officer off of his body. She moaned as she was moved off of him. He stood up and pulled on a pair of underwear. Then he walked to the door as someone slammed their fist on the door again.

    The door slid open after he pressed a button on the wall interface. The door slid open to reveal Captain Arthur who flinched in surprise at the sight of Jace. "Umm… we are entering the system that Anvil is located in in an hour. I wanted to come wake you up prior to our arrival."

    They had been with the Judas for a week since leaving Union custody. After half a day they had received an encrypted response from the Anvil. Then they were rerouting to an unexplored and unclaimed system of space which only bordered the Vexical Empire and the Oda Empire.

    The reason it remained unclaimed was because of the unique anomalies in the area. Most of the systems had a standard gravitational pull toward a star or multiple stars and variations on types of planets.

    But this system had developed a glowing blackhole in place of a star. It constantly kept pulling things towards the center, while also maintaining the three planets that were keeping each other out of the blackhole. The contents of the blackhole system were constantly changing because asteroids and other things that were passing by were pulled in.

    The increased gravitational pull caused an anomaly where light speed travel as well as warp travel was impossible. At the same time all of the ship''s through it would either get crushed, pulled apart, or disappear entirely. Which is why it remained unclaimed.

    Apparently the Anvil had followed them to the edge of the system. Then watched as the ship moved to an area of the system and disappeared. They opted to not follow them in since the Anvil began suffering issues.

    Nothing critical or life threatening. But it was enough that they had to stop following Lord Hoodwink''s ship in. Gravity systems failed suddenly. Life support stopped for a moment. A complete power failure for another moment. While the stealth capabilities of the ship completely switched off.

    So now they were surveilling the area where Hoodwink''s ship disappeared. Apparently Taylor was having a field day with all of the new data she was obtaining. But Jace had a feeling that she was running herself ragged as well.

    "Was that all?" Jace asked the captain as he prepared to close the door.

    "Umm… no actually. She is late for her shift." Captain Arthur told him nervously.

    Jace raised an eyebrow in surprise, "I will send her up to the bridge." Then he walked back into the room after closing the door. He walked up to the bed and smacked her exposed backside. The woman let out a moan.

    "Get up. You are late for work." Jace told her as he started pulling on his clothes. He was able to requisition some temporary clothes for himself and Nina. Sweatshirts and sweatpants along with workout clothes. It was really all they needed for their short stay aboard the ship. They did not have to stick to the proper decorum since they were technically ''guests'' aboard this ship.

    "Ah damn. I am late, really late." The communications officer he had been bedding for the last week began to hurriedly run around the room pulling on clothes and getting ready. "Did he really come just to wake us up?" She asked as she held a hair tie in her mouth while pulling on one of her layers of clothing.

    Jace shook his head. "No, we are an hour out from the Anvil''s position. I think Captain Arthur is nervous about reprimanding me." Jace told her with a chuckle full of amusement. The captain of the Judas had been walking on eggshells around Jace.

    The communications officer was almost finished with putting her uniform on. She rolled her eyes, "I wonder why. It could not possibly be because you killed the Inquisitor that was supposed to be directing the ship without any hesitation or remorse. From what I heard the captain and guards you left with the body took a minute to even process your order before they began stipping him of just about everything. But he does put on a brave face when he is around the crew." Her explanation reminded Jace of all the times they walked past each other and the captain gave him a wide berth.

    Jace grunted and shrugged, "whatever." He then followed her out of her room and went to the bridge.

    When they arrived she saluted. "I apologize for my tardiness." She then quickly moved to her station and took the position of the person that was there. They walked off the bridge while yawning loudly.

    "It is fine. It is not like anything is going on at the moment. But you need to set up additional alarms or notices. I do not want to send someone down to get you next time." Captain Arthur told her as he glanced at Jace.

    Jace frowned as he realized something, "why did you come down to wake us up this time? You could have sent someone else." He pointed out and saw several of the officers on the bridge smirk.

    Captain Arthur flinched and avoided eye contact. The weapons officer was the one to answer, "It is because none of us wanted to do it. So we played a game of Bugs-Bats-Birds where the ultimate loser had to come get you. The captain lost. So he came to wake you up and also deliver the message."

    "Bugs-Bats-Birds?" Jace asked and then realized something. "Oh never mind." Bugs-Bats-Birds was one of the many variations of the game called Bear, Shark, and Bird. It was called many other things as well. Like Ro Sham Bo; Rock, Paper, Scissors; or even the lizard, toad, and witch. They were all the same though.

    This variation must have been made on a planet that had a bunch of bugs, bats, and birds. Jace knew Kamot''s version: Bear, Shark, and Bird was made because of the three most dangerous predators of their planet. Bear beat the shark but lost to the bird. Shark beat the bird but lost to the shark. The bird beat the bear but lost to the shark.

    Thinking about it now, it might sound confusing. Because most planets had birds that were only a bit bigger than a person''s fist. But Kamot had some massive birds that could pick up a bear right off the ground. Fortunately the birds usually stayed near the mountains and were kept out of the cities. Otherwise they would have been a problem.

    "Did you send a message to Spectre Nina as well?" Jace asked as he leaned against a railing.

    "We went to her first. But she waved us away. We assumed that meant to go talk to you. She doesn''t like being bothered much does she?" Another of the officers, the engineering officer asked.

    Jace grunted, "actually she just does not like talking. She has a device that lets her communicate her thoughts into speech but she usually takes it off so she has an excuse to avoid conversation."

    "Hey how did someone as capable as a Spectre become a mute anyways?" Another of the officers asked.

    Jace was about to answer saying it occurred before she became a Spectre but his ear twitched as he heard something. So he closed his mouth as Nina quietly walked in through the entrance behind him. He glanced over at her as she leaned up against the railing next to him.

    She began making several hand signals with her hands asking if he was told about their imminent arrival yet. "Yeah I know." Jace responded. She then began asking him something else. "I am not going to respond to that question." Jace told her in annoyance. She slightly giggled before she began asking something else. "That is completely inappropriate."

    Jace then turned to the view screen as the Anvil came into sight. After a few moments Jace spoke again. "But you are right, she does have a very smackable ass." Nina began giggling again while the communications officer''s face turned red in embarrassment. While the rest of the bridge burst into laughter.

    Apparently Nina had noticed the tension of the upper officers and captain as well. So she decided to make a joke with Jace so they would get them to relax. Sёarch* The n??el Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    A second later the communications officer was tapping at her station quickly. "Receiving a communication channel from the Anvil. Would you like me to bring it up on the viewscreen?"

    Captain Arthur turned to Jace. But Jace just shrugged in response. "Haa… go ahead and bring it up." Captain Arthur told the officer. A moment later Captain Hammers and his crew appeared on the screen. "Captain Hammers, a pleasure to meet you. We have your two wayward Spectres."

    "Good because we are going to need them. While the Judas will temporarily stay with us for the time being. I hope you do not mind, but it is the Director''s orders." Hammers informed them. Causing both Jace and Nina to stiffen.

    "Understood."