The captain’s chair on the deck of the Darkstorm was a sleek and beautiful design. It was the perfect height to lean over and look at all the monitors from the different control stations. It also stood a single step above the other stations, a little elevated so even if the captain was shorter, they would be looking down at the rest of the ship deck.

Charyd ran a hand over the backrest in greeting as he passed the chair and then stepped down to his station. The seat in front of the monitors was not as soft as the captain’s chair but it would do.

For now.

“Systems check?” shouted Captain Posey as soon as she came on deck.

Charyd could have sworn he heard the Darkstorm let out an imitation of a sigh before responding, “All good, as I already said a thousand times.” Its voice resonated perfectly on the small deck without any echo at all.

“I don't remember you exaggerating so much before your… side trip,” Posey said to the air. With a sigh of her own, she turned to Charyd’s station where the screens were lighting up.

“Officer Charyd, are the coordinates correct?” Posey asked him.

Charyd patted the navigation board, he felt in solidarity with the ship. The four sections finished loading the display of the central star in the system they were heading to. “Yes, Captain.” If he went to an additional decimal place, they would be trying to land on top of one of the tallest mountains of their planetary destination. However, the Darkstorm could easily do that.

The remaining crew members announced their checks were good too. This was Captain Posey’s first time commanding a ship of this level, and it showed. In fairness, no one in the military had experience commanding a ship like the Darkstorm before.

The speed of a Dark Matter Engine allowed the ship to travel across a galaxy in a few hours. Along with the ability to precisely land on a planet and maneuver with ease around any asteroid belt without a navigator, the Darkstorm was a first-class ship. It was shaped like a fish and used that structure to slip through any uncharted waters unrestrained like a salmon going upstream in spring. It did not matter if it was empty space, a planet’s gravity, or even the rare phenomenon of the invisible space waves. It darted around all obstacles.

The Darkstorm was going out for its first flight since returning to Cadoon’s control. It was not doing a simple dash delivery of the local hot and ready meal. On board was a Lightning Strike, yet another new invention made specifically for the Darkstorm and ready to be used on one very specific target. All eyes in the Cadoon government were on the Darkstorm right now.

Charyd felt some of the weight on him whenever he was called, but Captain Posey was being cooked by them and the bio-luminescent sweat lit up her entire face.

His hand subconsciously went to where he kept his comms and the biometric chip registered to his… other persona. It was stupid to even have them on him, but he did not want to leave them lying about in his room. The moment this test trial was done, he was going to steal this ship.

For the second time.

The first time was a lot easier when he had his small crew and the ship was empty. Yes, it was in the middle of one of Cadoon’s top-secret military factories, but that was nothing for Charyd to worry over. Now, it was him against nine. He had better luck at the slots in Barmaca, especially when he rigged them. He had to finish setting up his plans once the Darkstorm was moving to their destination.

He tapped the navigation screen to display their current route. They would be there in three hours. They would shoot the Lightning Strike off at some other ship and be off. With the jagged array of the weapon, they could shoot it around a planet and it would use the tiny amount of ions floating far apart in space to ricochet into the target. It would be hard for their target to dodge when the strike hunted down the area with the largest concentration of metal. It had come in handy a few times when he commanded the Darkstorm.

“Tony, begin energizing the DME and countdown,” Posey declared. She took a deep breath. It would probably be a lot easier if she was not wearing so many pins from the Cadoon Space Academy on her uniform.

“About time, Captain,” the Darkstorm replied with an exasperated tone.

Charyd turned to look back and see Captain Posey’s nose flare and narrow lips twitch. Her sharp fangs were ready to snap at the ship. The Gunner Officer leaned over to Charyd. “They re-commissioned the Darkstorm with more security but they should have done a hard reset on the AI computer.”

Charyd only nodded his head. The Darkstorm’s AI, Tony, had a habit of being overly polite. Unless things were running slow. Or it was bored. It was some truly ingenious and very subtle coding built in to nudge the crew.

“No one will be taking this ship out from under my command ever again,” Captain Posey said. The control room was too small. There was no chance to have a private conversation. The whole ship was meant to be small and agile. Able to be crewed by only ten people. Quick bomb drop-offs, scouts, or electrocute ships to prevent them from fighting in battle. Or do quick trade deliveries, as Charyd had used the Darkstorm for. The room was certainly not big enough for the captain’s ego.