Karma of Kalpana

by T. L Smith

  It wasn’t the telepathy we were accustomed to. They struck the emotional parts of our brains, attacking through our deepest fears. A virtual shock wave of paralyzing doubts. It temporarily disabled the EH and anyone with a decent tele-cognition ability, like Gardner and so many other non-EH.

  They thought it would be enough. They were wrong. Our bounce-back was vicious enough to make the Punitraq run. We wanted them to run. It was time for the hunters to become the hunted. With the EH willing to let the Elders protect them, it would be impossible for the Punitraq to pull the same attack again. They’d revealed their abilities and limitations.

  Gardner went over the actual mission plan. As our ships could easily outrun theirs, we’d cycle pursuit craft, allowing the rest of us to follow more leisurely. Giving us time to perfect this new technique with the Elders. When we went into our final battle, the Elders would be able to remain in control mode for longer periods of time, with less damage to our soldiers. Though we’d be pushing those limits.

  The EH had to be confident they could take back their bodies and minds at will.

  It was a plan that was tested almost immediately. My bridge interrupted the meeting. “Pursuit squadron reporting Red Alert. The Puni have turned to fight.”

  We’d expected as much. Planned for it. “All EH are to give control to the Elders.” Gardner got the words out before I did. “Hit them hard!” She pulled up the link, the live broadcast from our new front line.

  The battle was broadcast to our meeting, the commanders making sure their staff were watching. If there was a moment of hesitation in the EH giving themselves over to their companions, it wasn’t evident. Our pursuit squadron jumped into the battle with the same vengeance we’d poured upon the Punitraq.

  I couldn’t have asked for better timing in this event. With each victory, confidence was returned to the EH and the Collective. Knowing where to hit them, we crippled more of their battleships. Then like raptors, we picked the ships down to the bones. We’d whittle them down, then let them escape again.

  The EH crews reported that they all had regained control, with no damage to any crew. If the Punitraq had tried to hit them with their psychic hate bomb again, it failed. I glanced at Everett. His Elder had released him too, no worse for wear. “We can’t give the Punitraq room to get into our minds again. That would be a devastating weapon in their hands. We can beat them and survive.”

  The EH leaders all nodded and I left the conference room with Everett beside me.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  The Punitraq couldn’t get away from us. We were relentless, always there when they tried to turn and fight. Our soldiers got stronger as they perfected this new union with their Elders. They ran from us and I studied the charts along with Gardner, Everett and Huracid.

  “Here.” I tapped at the system on our maps. “Send scout ships here.”

  “This isn’t on their course.” Gardner walked around the display of solar systems in this galaxy. “They look to be heading here.”

  “Just because they’re creatures of habit doesn’t mean they’re stupid. If you were being followed by a gang of killers, would you lead them to your front door?” I jabbed at the map. “The Elders identified this as the ancient home of the Punitraq. They’ll be somewhere in the vicinity and their current trajectory passes close enough.”

  “Close enough for what?”

  Everett leaned in, drawing a line from the systems I circled to the line of trajectory. But it wasn’t Everett’s voice. “We have not identified their method of communication. As they have received no backup, they may not possess that ability, as we do.” He raised a hand to his head. “They may use their talents for that purpose. A method impossible to intercept.”

  “Yeah, could be.” I bit my finger for a second, clenching my fist to stop. “They only hit us within close proximity. And I had to have a collection of high-level EH and Elders to reach out to all our people. It makes sense they might suffer the same limitations.”

  Gardner’s expression said she had her doubts. “Then why haven’t they called for help.”

  I glanced around the group. “Because we severely damaged their numbers? Maybe enough they can’t reach that far? Maybe because we haven’t given them a chance to drop out of FTL to draw in enough people to make contact?”

  Everett’s head nodded in agreement.

  “Fine.” Gardner relented. “Huracid, send patrols to these systems and get readings.”

  “Immediately, Commander.”

  “Good.” I circled the clusters again. “The last thing we need is to fly into an ambush if they get close enough to transmit. In the mean time we stay so tight up their asses it hurts. Burn everything they try to throw back at us.” Even though it seemed the Punitraq’s philosophy, total annihilation made me queasy. Though humans could be brutal in their own right, it wasn’t in our nature, even after all the destruction we’d seen, to demand the same devastation.

  I stayed at the star chart as everyone else dispersed to fulfill Gardner’s orders. Sharmila hadn’t come out for the meeting, and after weeks of pursuit, of doing everything asked, I still had no access to my abilities. In battle it was all her, and she was not a pleasant person to be around. Even for the Elders.

  Even Everett kept his distance.

  I looked at him across the bridge. He was distant to me. It hurt. I left the bridge to hide out in my quarters. I did most my work there now, where she couldn’t torment anyone. From her desk, I reviewed new reports from Collective ships retracing the enemy’s energy trails. The evidence towards Sharmila’s total annihilation plan was building every day.

  Along their route the relief teams encountered worlds still smoldering in destruction and grief. The videos were horrifying. Having become accustomed to the many non-human species around me, the new faces and bodies weren’t surprising. And looking at them I came to realize that no matter the species, there was a common look of terror.

  It took an effort to assure survivors that the aliens in front of them weren’t a second wave of obliteration. It took time to assess their immediate needs and arrange assistance. It would take longer to deliver substantial help. All we really left them with was hope and promises. Winning the war was our first and most important duty.

  This was my job between battles, only leaving when it was time for Sharmila to fight. Reduced to being a prisoner as we chased the Punitraq down. Every time the alarms went off, I cringed. Sometimes resisting the change as Sharmila pushed me down into the recesses of my own mind. Everyone could see when she assumed my body. She stood tall and regal stepping onto her bridge.

  Gardner stood different too, a defensive edge to her frame. “They have turned to face us. Pursuit team has engaged. We will be dropping out of Sync in five minutes.”

  Sharmila looked to the star display and our position. “This is it. They’re going to attempt communications. We need to disable their remaining warships.” She took her seat. “Any word back from Recon?”

  A Collective crewman turned in his seat, tucking a tentacle against his chest to touch his com. “Three of the four systems show no emissions, including the initial system the Elders identified. A fourth system shows evidence of life and our scouts are focusing their resources there to identify the emissions.” He changed the star chart to highlight the system in question.

  “Very well.” I could feel her smugness. If we’d had time, I was certain she’d rub it in their faces.

  I was glad she didn’t have the time. Everett started giving orders. “Dropping out of Sync in three minutes. Fighters, prepare to launch! Prepare to relinquish control to your companions.” He looked back at her cautiously.

  Though she feigned no emotions, I sensed her tighten up around him. When in control she clashed with Everett and his Elder, as if they weren’t two different individuals. I couldn’t understand it and she had no desire to explain.

  She all but snarled at him now, but stopped as all the EH on the bridge paused for the transit
ion. Relinquishing themselves to their companions.

  “Two minutes.” Gardner called out the warning.

  Sharmila settled into her chair, spreading her control outwards. Collecting the strands of energy from so many EH minds. The network was in place by the time we dropped out of Sync. “Disable them, if possible.” She preferred total destruction, but she’d lost that battle, for now.

  “Know your enemy.” It was Everett’s companion. His animosity towards Sharmila wasn’t any better hidden than Everett’s. He resented her insensitive behavior towards the crews, pushing them harder than he felt necessary. These men knew war, but still had limits. He also hated the way she kept me isolated from my bonded mate. It was a distraction for his mortal.

  She didn’t care what Everett’s Elder thought or felt, any more than she cared about Everett. Still, trapped inside her I could feel her sensing his military mind at work. There was some logic of capturing a Punitraq ship, if only to confirm how they communicated with each other. To discover how evolution had changed the ancient Punitraq.

  Sharmila knew she had to concede to some of the demands, but remained firm on one condition. “Disable, but no prisoners! No mercy!” She ripped her attention away from Everett, back to the crew. “Proceed with the attack.”

  We dropped into a full battle between the pursuit squadron and the remnants of the Punitraq fleet. As a unified force, we disabled one warship, then another. Our ships dove onto them like carrion birds, stripping metal hull plate like carnivorous birds of prey peeling away carrion flesh.

  The enemy attempted a new tactic, clustering the monstrosities of their warships into one, like ancient swordsmen standing back to back. Sharmila found this behavior confusing. She slipped from her throne and went to the huge display screen, studying their configuration. She leaned in close. My hand reached out.

  The odd lines stretching down into my fingers, started to shimmer as she pointed to the cluster. Then suddenly I felt a jolt, like a shock sizzle through me. She recoiled as if she’d touched them from this far away. This one.” She jabbed at the screen and the ship she touched changed color. “This is their command ship. They’re attempting to combine energy sources to boost weapons. Stop them!”

  Everett echoed her command over his com as she sent it to all the fighters. Attack strategies changed in an instant, the focus now on breaking apart the cluster. Everett replaced Sharmila at the screen to scrutinize the enemy construction. “She’s right. Their command ship is sucking the life out of its own ships.” He tapped harder at the connection points. “Hit them here, with everything we have. Now!”

  He kept at the screen, driving the warships to his target points, while Sharmila and her ravens drove off the enemy fighters. The enemy ships shuddered, either from our attacks or from being cannibalized by their own command. It took everything our warships had, but one by one, their ships collapsed away from the pack. Severe backwashes of energy caused explosive hull breaches.

  Their command ship attempted to make it into FTL, but our combined weapon fire breached their hull at several points. Explosions sent those strange driftless clouds into space as the ship came to a jerking halt.

  I didn’t feel any excitement in Sharmila. Only a deep seething anger. She tapped three small ships, damaged but still operational. “These we let go. They will lead us to their home world, or their command base.” She looked between Everett and Gardner.

  Everett climbed from the pit to the upper deck, heading towards the door. “We will prepare an armed boarding party. That warship will provide us with information, before we engage their full wrath.”

  She followed him. “Have your teams get what you want, then get them off that ship. We destroy everything when we rejoin the pursuit.” She focused her will on him, but the Elder had cut her off already. She reached out and gripped Everett’s shoulder. He jerked out of her grip.

  It was like a knife in my heart, even though I knew he and his Elder were reacting to her, not me.

  She glared at him. “No mercy! No prisoners!”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  While Everett knew Kali was trapped inside the woman squared off against him, he’d come to detest Sharmila. Daily he struggled not to let his feelings interfere with the mission, or his bond to Kali. Sharmila’s hatred for the Puni radiated so violently it made him sick.

  Her hatred also seemed aimed at him. He felt it every time she came out and every issue was a battle. Having won this point, he and his Elder clamped down on their thoughts and emotions completely. Shutting her out, he stomped off the bridge to prepare his boarding party.

  He’d already planned this mission and selected his teams. His companion ordered them to the armory. He watched his soldiers suit up. True EH, they were eager to board the alien ship, to finally see the faces of their enemy. Geared up, they silently climbed into the shuttles.

  Wordlessly they traversed space and entered the combat bay of the enemy’s command ship with no resistance. The decks were eerily devoid of the fighters. The ship was dark and ominous, looking disorganized in function, but clearly not clumsily built. The Puni sustained speeds faster than anything humans constructed. They’d attacked and destroyed countless worlds. They’d fought the best the Collective had to throw at them.

  The EH didn’t forget these facts as they reconned the silent bay. They came prepared for an insidious enemy. As soldiers, they rushed into defensive positions. Rifles pressed tight to shoulders and eyes searching every nook and cranny of the bay. Under Elder control, minds swept every shadow for a hint of life.

  As they cleared the deck, they posted themselves at atmospheric doors they hoped led into the main part of the ship. The first team found the door controls. With the ship dead, they fed in their own power signals. After several attempts, the doors opened.

  With all systems down, emergency lighting was a luminescence glow from the walls themselves. It cast a sickly gray pallor over everything. The soldiers hesitated before stepping through the doors, using both scanners and talents to search beyond the bulkhead. Even when assured of no life signs ahead, they took another moment to enter. They could see bodies float by in the airless corridor, limbs askew with no resistance of gravity.

  The forward guard gripped the uniform of a body suspended nearby. The corpse appeared humanoid in shape, but as the guard’s helmet lamp cast a clear light on the body’s head, they could make out the first characteristics of creatures they’d fought so hard against. Any similarity to humans ended in that face.

  It was hard to tell flesh color, between the blend of death and emergency lighting. It might have once been a gray-toned blue. Or their coloration could have been the result of the loss of environment.

  The upper half of the head held flatish, slitted eyes widely spaced. They stared back at the soldiers, dead, but gave everyone the impression of a reptilian species. Below those eyes the face jutted out sharply into a snout. A slack jaw revealed large sharp teeth. Carnivorous reptilians?

  The flesh covering its head was a thick, hairless, scaleless hide covered with scars. Cratered and ridged in symmetrical patterns extending past the collar of the uniform, possibly covering the entire body.

  Carnivorous reptiles with ritual scarring.

  There was little doubt this was a dangerous creature to encounter, alive. It served as an effective warning. The boarding party pushed the body back into its hapless drift and made their way through the ship. After many rooms and bodies, they found engineering, scanned the layout and continued. Another major signal led to a sealed compartment. The doors refused their bypass codes and couldn’t be forced open. It screamed something important was contained inside.

  Not wanting to use explosives, they started laser cutting through the bulkhead doors. Knowing it would take time, another group proceeded ahead to check other energy signs. The cutting team slowly made progress, receiving reports from the other teams as the some of those signs only yielded the ship’s residual energy fading away, except for one signal. />
  That team leader’s com unit chirped a special code. “This is Everett. Report!”

  “Sir! You need to come forward. I think we found…survivors.” The voice on the other side was harsh, but almost a whisper.

  “You know the policy towards any Puni we find.” Everett almost switched off.

  “Sir, they’re not Puni. You really need to come up here.” The voice was insistent, louder. “I think they’re…prisoners.”

  Everett wanted to reach out to the soldier on the other side, but his companion refused. “We can’t expose ourselves.” Everett gritted his teeth. Just because every Puni they’d found was dead didn’t mean they all were. “I’ll be right up.” He turned to the cutting team. “Let me know when you’re almost through, but don’t open it until I return.”

  “Yes, Sir!”

  Following the signal, Everett hurried through dim corridors already cleared, but cautious for any movement, any sensation out of place. When Everett rounded a bulkhead wall, he found open doors, his soldiers at either side of the entrance, tense and disturbed.

  Only steps past the guards, Everett’s pulse quickened. This was a storage bay, the depth and height hidden in the dim lighting, until he cast his head upward. The light on his helmet gave him better perspective.

  “Sir, this chamber is on independent power supplies and we’re getting life signs, from those.” The soldier leading this team cast his eyes a few feet forward of Everett, to the first of possibly thousands of cylinders.

  Everett activated his scanner as he approached the object, seeing a clear plate on the top. He leaned over to peer inside, immediately stepping back in shock. Inside was a body, though he couldn’t tell what possible species. If the creatures in the corridors were Punitraq, this wasn’t. His scanner confirmed life signs, though extremely faint. “Are they all this species?”

  “No Sir, so far I’ve found five different beings, but in a room this large…” He didn’t finish the estimate, his mind already shifted to something darker. “Sir, there’s another room. I shut it again as soon as I saw what was inside, but you need to see this for yourself.”