CHAPTER 30 B

"This is the Chosen One. I have made my decision. I will be joining you, but I need two Earth days to get everything prepared before I leave here."

They waited for a response. Natalia and Patricia came on to the Bridge at the end of Kacey message. Symbols followed by the translation filled the screen.

Agreed, Chosen One. We will give you two Earth days to join us. If you are not here at the end of the two days, we will resume firing.
>
"Two days." Kacey repeated.

"No." Natalia screamed. "You can not do that. You promised..."

"Close channel." Kate ordered.

"Mark those coordinates so I can return to them after I talk to my family. Dad would you take mom and Natalia into the Ready Room? Anya, I will need you also." She pressed her communicator. "Major Anderson and Captain Taggart and Williams come up to the Captain's Ready Room."

"On our way Colonel."

Kacey stared at the screen for several more minutes and rubbed her eyes. The Marines stepped off the lift. Kate and Kacey followed them into the Ready Room. Kacey was bombarded with questions and raised voices the second the door closed.

"Please every one" She held up her hands. "Let me explain." They all stopped talking.

"What is your plan?" Kate asked.

"Let me start by saying that I have no intention of leaving this ship and surrendering to them. I told them that to buy us two days to put some sort of plan in play."

"Lets hear it."

"Major have you started to tear apart that stinger that was damaged by the storm on Eternus?"

"The one with the broken cockpit bubble?" Kacey nodded. "Not yet Colonel."

"Good. Don't. Pull out all the survival gear and packs out of it. Get the whiz kids to set the stinger up for remote control operation. Then see if we can get one of the CPR dummies from Sick Bay. Tell the Doctor it is for a good cause. They simulate breathing and have a heart beat."

"Anything else Colonel?"

"Yes, dress the dummy in a flight suit complete with helmet and face shield. Get the stinger in flight condition. Do not worry about the damaged bubble. The pilot will not be alive. We have two days to get this operational. Get on it gentlemen."

The Marines saluted. Kacey returned the salute and they left the Ready Room. Kacey rubbed her eyes again. Kate looked closely at her. She noticed the tremors in her hands.

"Sit" Kate ordered her sister. "How badly did the field affect you?"

"It was really bad this time Kate. I felt the dizziness as soon as we entered the field. The next thing I know, I am on the floor and I can no longer hear the engines. Then I can feel the shots hit the shields and know we were under attack."

"You passed out?" Patricia asked.

"Passed out or fainted, I am not sure mom. I do know it felt like my heart was going to pound right out of my chest. Then the shakes started. The last of which Kate noticed. The effects are cumulative. I am not sure if the effects were made worse by the bigger more powerful field."

"So how do we knock out the field?" Anya asked.

"While I was under house arrest the past few days, I did a lot of research on force fields and electromagnetic fields. They all have one thing in common. Every single one of them will have a weak spot or chink. Areas where the field is the weakest. The biggest problem will be finding enough of these weak areas to bring the whole thing down. Once it is down the engines should start. But we will probably have to do more than just knock their engines out."

"So if we can find enough of these weak areas, then what?" Kate asked.

"We will have to send photon beams or torpedoes through those areas at the same time. And coordinate an attack to take down the Megarans at the same time."

"How do you know this will work?" Anya asked.

"I just know, Anya. Let me explain. The first time we all saw the field."

"That's right we all saw the wavering area." Kate said.

"The second time, none of us could see the field, but I could hear it. No one else could." Kate nodded. "This time I had the information I needed before we encountered the field. Between the research and what I gained from the field itself, I had the answers I needed. Maybe not all the answers, but enough to know..." She stopped and walked to the window where Natalia was standing and put her arms around her lover.

"What are ye not saying lass?" Liam asked.

Natalia looked up at Kacey "Sweetheart, what is it?"

Kacey was quiet for several heartbeats. When she spoke, it was directly to Natalia. Her eyes never leaving the sparkling green. "I may not survive another trip through the field."