"Where we were going last night?" Keith was the first to remember what he meant.

  "Yes," Dan said as he paced around, "That area of the ocean is closed off. Any ship that enters their territory gets dismembered by those monstrous fishes. Except that I doubt they would do anything to the Voyager, her marine-grade steel hull should be able to withstand them, that is if they even get close to her."

  "We are reaching too much here." It was William who said that, his brows twisted in a thoughtful frown, "We don't know that they won't be able to go through the steel. And whatever is chasing us doesn't seem affected by the Voyager's aura, who knows if those Swarmers wouldn't too?"

  "It's alright," Dan said, his mind moving as he tried to make this plan work, coming up with ways that would fill those major holes in his reasoning. "Even if they truly don't get kept at bay, we should be able to retreat once we notice them. From what I read about them yesterday, Swarmers don't really leave their territory. And the same for if they start doing some damage to us."

  "That's not all," Robert interjected, "There was a pirate ship around that area, and we can pass by them. I doubt that freaky light would continue after us if it has an easier target. Even if we won't be able to use the Swarmers to deal with the Ghostly Lantern, we should be able to use the pirates as a distraction."

  "Would that work?" Marcus turned to Keith as he asked, "How far is that location from us, should we be able to reach it before our pursuers reach us?"

  "We aren't that far..." Keith got lost in her thoughts, doing the needed calculations. After a short while she grimaced as she said, "They are going to reach us first, we would need to hold on for 10 to 15 minutes with them on us before reaching the Swarmers' territory."

  "Hmm," Marcus fell into deep thoughts, before glancing at Old Raily and Dan respectively, "What do you think? Can we do it?"

  Dan didn't answer straight away, he knew that he didn't have as much experience in the matter as Old Raily and Marcus, and he was going to await their words before deciding on what to do.

  "We should be able to do so," Old Raily said, "Ammo might be a problem, but we can do controlled bursts and use other defensive means of the ship. Not to mention what skills we might have between us."

  Marcus nodded and looked at Dan again, who signalled for him to go first. Seemingly understanding what he was aiming for, Marcus just nodded slightly and said,

  "I'm with you in that, we should be able to hold on. Plus returning to what Dan said, those creatures might not even be able to do much to us if they reach us."

  "Okay, it's decided then." Dan released a deep breath.

  He then fell into silence for a few moments, trying to organise his thoughts before finally saying as he turned to Keith,

  "Keith, put us on the path towards the Swarmers, aim to get as close as possible to where we were yesterday, we need to hit those pirates."

  "On it!" Keith went straight to the wheel as she dragged Freddie with her, the man was already looking blankly into the air, most likely consulting the system to get their bearing.

  "Marcus." He then turned to the chief security officer. "Start preparing our weapons. We don't have much time, but try to get the people as familiar with them as possible, at least on how to handle them safely."

  "Mhm." The man nodded at him before turning around and calling the guards, leading them away.

  "Everyone else." Dan focused on the people on the bridge as he did a fast head count, not all of them were there, but it was enough. "If any of you have a skill that might help, get to the stern and Old Raily will make sure to direct you once you're there." He stopped here as he looked at the old veteran who only gave him a serious nod. Feeling some relief at that, he continued, "The others, those who have no such skills, choose a room and remain in it together. Don't worry, it's going to be alright, we will deal with this."

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  Finishing his words, Dan went through what he might be forgetting again. Two things came to mind, the first was his skill, Calming Aura. But that one had a short active window and a long cooldown. He decided that it would be best if he left it till the creatures caught up to them, he would gather everyone around him and activate it. The second was something much easier to deal with,

  "Jackie." He turned to his bosun. "Please go and see about calling Nulara and the young man. They might be confused about the situation, and who knows? They might even know a thing or two about the Ghostly lantern."

  "Okay," Jackie just nodded seriously. He first sent his daughter to Annie after calming her down before leaving the bridge.

  Everything he could think of dealt with, Dan brought his attention back to the people still on the bridge.

  "That's all everyone," he finally said, "Get moving, tell those who aren't here so they are prepared and know what to do. And don't worry, as I said, it's going to be alright."

  With that complete, Dan watched as everyone got moving. Once it was just a few of the others on the bridge, he finally sat down as the need to keep up appearances disappeared and tiredness hit him. Lost in his mind, he suddenly felt something getting sent over through their link, worry mixed with care. Smiling at the pure soul contacting him, Dan patted the wall as he murmured,

  "Don't worry, Voyager, we will deal with this, it's going to be alright." Getting acknowledgement back, he continued, "You can cut the connection between us, we will take it from here."

  With a final burst of care and anxiety, Voyager cut the connection between them.

  Dan sat down for a few more seconds as his mind turned into a whirlwind of activity. Not letting it go out of control, he brought it all down and stood up. He went to Keith and Freddie as they started planning what to do if their current plan didn't work. They focused on choosing a retreat route and maybe even marking some other possible places like the Swarmers' territory as backup.

  "Captain," Jackie's voice suddenly sounded, "I've brought them."

  Dan looked up from their work, his eyes focusing on Nulara and the boy. Both of them seemed a bit confused and Nulara looked more than just a bit scared.

  "Thanks, Jackie." He first thanked his friend before turning to the two natives, "Sorry for calling you this late. I'm sure you've heard the alarm just now. The thing is we have a situation, do you know about Ghostly Lanterns?"

  Dan saw Nulara's face turn even paler at his words, while the young man just frowned a bit.

  "Ghostly Lanterns are more like legends," Nulara said after she swallowed hard, "From time to time a ship would be found destroyed with just some debris left of it. It's hard to prove that it was done by a Ghostly Lantern. There were also some instances when it happened in front of eyewitnesses too, so it's not just a myth. I-I don't know much more than that..."

  "They are monsters," The young man said, Dan again realised that he hadn't asked him about his name yet, but that didn't matter at the moment. "Not much is known about them, other than that they use their light somehow in their hunts. It's not offensive in any way, but it's their main power. What Nulara said is true too, ships destroyed by them have a lingering smell of death that is hard to forget and ignore."

  Dan found himself surprised at how much he seemed to know, a quick look at Nulara showed that even she seemed surprised at it. Throwing that aside for the moment, Dan felt a bit glad that at least they were dealing with a living being and not some supernatural phenomenon. Living beings bled and felt pain and fear, they were much easier to deal with, much more than a legendary myth at least.

  "Thanks a lot, I will keep that in mind." He nodded to them in gratitude. Another idea surfaced soon though, whether he could ask for their help or not. Having them join the defence might give them two more combatant individuals, but it might also show some of their secrets. Considering how there won't be much of a secret to keep if they fell to this, Dan felt that the decision was made for him. "Do you have any offensive means? We might need your help."

  "Unfortunately, I don't." The young man shrugged. "I'm a blacksmith, not much to do out there really."

  "I'm a mage," Nulara said, "I have a few skills that might be of help."

  "Great, stay here and we will head to the stern together."

  Just like that, time passed slowly but surely, the grey dots getting closer and closer to the Voyager on the screen. The screen being just next to them while they prepared made Dan's heart beat faster whenever he looked at it.

  "Okay, you two," Dan said as he prepared to leave the bridge towards the stern, "Things are in your hands right now. Keep us updated through the speakers."

  Keith and Freddie nodded seriously. They were going to stay on the bridge while all the others went to their marked locations.

  The grey dots were just 20 minutes or so from reaching them, Dan was about to head to the stern to join the others who were already there. They needed time to get into place and understand what Marcus and Old Raily were doing with the operation.

  "Nulara, let's move," he told the young mage.

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