A Starship Called Starsong

Chapter 62

I sighed faintly at the sight of a stall that contained several shelves of paper books. Cynthia already had half a dozen books in her bag, but her eyes lit up as she made a beeline straight for them. She was likely going to be distracted here for some time, and very few of these dusty old relics held any interest for me.

"The Elite Destroyer's intentions are less honorable than I had originally thought."

I slowly followed after Cynthia as I looked up, spotting the two huge ships still waiting in the sky for permission to dock. 'I don't like the sounds of that...'

"Then you will like the sound of this even less. They are being quite subtle, but their weapons are slowly powering up in a fashion that most sensors wouldn't be able to detect."

Attacking a docked ship was almost unheard of, but if they were powering up their weapons, then I could only think of one ship currently docked that they could possibly be targeting.

I became worried and quickly asked, 'Will being docked create any issues with your shields?' If we had been in space, I didn't have any doubt that his shields would hold, but being docked was a different ball game, and our shields were currently powered down, as per docking policy.

"The Bridge crew is aware of the situation. The shields just above the hull are already set to power up if someone fires at us. They will likely think that their strike hit true, but they won't have a second chance to attack if they do fire upon us unprovoked."

His voice sounded forbidding at that last part. He hadn't been too concerned about them talking with me, but the thought of getting attacked when we were peacefully docked was angering him. It was an emotion I almost never saw in Starsong, and it only served to remind me of my close call in the corridor.

He caught that thought and reassured me. "I won't kill anyone if I can help it. But their weapons are going to need a lot of repairs if they attack me..."

'Should I start heading back now?'

"Yes, that would be wise. I will start notifying all of the crew on ship-leave to return as well. They will be safer on board if this gets out of hand."

I headed over to Cynthia to relay the information. I was just opening my mouth to speak when Starsong interrupted, "Both Elite Destroyers are firing."

I gasped and whirled around just in time to see two powerful energy blasts strike Starsong. They were accompanied by a shockwave and a boom that caused more than a few people in the marketplace to scream, while almost all heads turned to gawk in surprise.

Despite myself, I held my breath as the cloud of vapor drifted away to reveal Starsong's unblemished hull. The invisible shield just above the hull had stopped the attack, and since no other ship had a shield like that, the lack of damage would be causing some alarm on the attacking ships.

Almost as if Starsong had waited for just such an effect, as soon as it was apparent that he was undamaged, his various weapons began pointing towards the attackers. The Bridge crew would be taking their orders directly from Starsong at this moment since I was absent. They had never done that before, but I wasn't too worried. The Bridge crew were a steady and reliable bunch.

Starsong's weapons returned fire upon the two destroyers as alarms belatedly began to sound throughout the city. Cynthia gasped as she stared at the ships. "What is happening?! Why are those ships attacking?"

I went over to stand right beside her so we didn't get separated as the crowd started to panic. I replied, "I am not entirely sure, but we have to get back now. Although that is easier said than done..."