Chapter 1039: Not a Vacation (5)
Chapter 1039: Not a Vacation (5)
Erik paused for a second, as if he was trying to remember something. Then it came. "Ah, right, I will leave a crate of Chimaeric Demons\' eggs before leaving. Make sure they mature, and once they are ready, make them take the place of all but the engineers. There will be more Chimaeric Demons than personnel on the ship, so make sure they will end up on enemy ships. I need you to spread them and to give them a way to communicate with you and from you to me. As many clones spread, as much chaos as we can make."
"Yes, master. Thank you for the trust. Safe travels, and may your journey be swift and hopefully uneventful."
"Ah... Damn, you are jinxing it!"
The communication ended. The Chimaeric Demon took a deep breath, calming himself before resuming his role of Captain Roth again.
He went back to his office, where he moved to the main computer terminal and began inputting the authorization codes for the ship\'s departure. Everything had to pass through him, so he was the only one who could make the ship leave.
On the surrounding screens, the clone could see the dock systems updating, and once that was done, people started clearing the way for Erik\'s ship to leave. Once that happened, and his master\'s ship was far away from the island, all that remained was to maintain their cover and continue gathering intelligence.
The Chimaeric Demon straightened his uniform and prepared to return to his duties as Captain Roth. The soldiers told him they needed him for some other matters not related to Erik, so he prepared to leave.
As he reached for the door, he paused, looking back at the communication terminal. He didn\'t really want to leave Erik, and he knew the other Chimaeric Demons were thinking the same.
But it wasn\'t like they would not see each other anymore, so he didn\'t protest. Not that he would have done it. Erik\'s orders were absolute, and he would never defy them. Then he took his communication device.
"Guys, there is a crate you have to retrieve."
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Outside, activity on the docks increased. Erik\'s ship prepared to set sail after the two days it remained under repairs.
June drove the vessel away from the pier. The ship\'s engines hummed. The powerful throb signaled to those on the ship they were going to leave. Some jumped off the ship. Not everyone got off the ship, and some of the soldiers and engineers were still there.
The others remained in their positions. The engineers found it weird that the ship was controlled by only 20 people, but it wasn\'t the first time that happened.
It was just that the ships they controlled were usually smaller. However, it might also have been they were on a secret mission or something like that, so they didn\'t ask questions since the peculiar situation cemented the idea and justified Captain Roth\'s behavior. The clones, unbeknownst to them, were going to lie anyway.
As they pulled away from the dock, the lights of the outpost grew smaller, twinkling like stars on the disappearing shoreline.
On the bridge, Erik stood watching the island recede into the distance. His face was impassive.
They had infiltrated an enemy outpost, repaired their ship, and left Chimaeric Demons to fully take control of this place.
Soon there would be other clones ready to go to other ships; some might end up in Frant, but others could go on secret missions or even to Hin.
The ship picked up speed as it cleared the harbor; the bow cutting through the waves with renewed strength.
As they entered the open sea, Erik turned to June. "Set a course for the coordinates I gave you earlier. And keep an eye on the long-range sensors. We may have left the outpost undetected, but there might be ships we don\'t know if that might ask questions."
"If problems arise, the clones on the island will tell us. I told Roth to keep an eye on the enemy ships\' position, so if we fail to detect some of them, we will at least know."
June\'s hands moved deftly over the ship\'s controls. "Course set, master. At our current speed, we should reach Hin in a month, assuming favorable conditions and no thaids around."
Mira, Amber, and Emily then reached the control room where Erik and June were.
"Hey, Erik, June!" Emily said. "God, I almost forgot your faces!"
"Yeah, can you believe we were cooped up in our rooms for ages?" Amber said. "Right, you were the ones who told us to stay there to begin with!"
Mira laughed, shaking her head. "Ages? It felt like an eternity! Two days with nothing to do but stare at the walls and avoid being spotted. I\'m pretty sure I counted every speck on the ceiling at least twice."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Emily nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and don\'t even get me started on the boredom. I think I might have invented a few new games just to keep my sanity intact."
Erik turned to them with a faint smile, his eyes showing a hint of amusement. "Sorry about that. We had to be cautious until we were sure we could leave the island. Consider it a small price to pay for our safety."
Mira sighed dramatically, but there was a twinkle in her eye. "Why was it us who had to pay the price?" Of course, she was joking. "Next time, maybe pack some board games or something? Even a deck of cards would be enough! Anything to pass the time."
Erik chuckled. "Noted. We\'ll make sure to have better entertainment options next time."
Emily leaned against the console, looking out at the open sea. "Well, at least we left the island. So, what happened? I mean, aside from the ship getting repaired? Damn, I can still hear those drills and hammers in my nightmares."
Erik\'s expression grew serious again. "We left some of the Chimaeric Demons behind; aside from that, we\'re finally on track to Hin again. It\'s going to take about a month."
"Ah, right... a mo-" Mira gave a shocked look to Erik.
"Wait. We left who? Erik. What the hell went through your mind? Why did you leave the Chimaeric Demons behind? Are you crazy?"