it was where you were born and grew up.”
“All q’Chek are raised knowing that they are a people in exile – knowing that their real home is in the solar system. We are taught to know our true home, and to yearn for it. I grew up watching visuals of Earth, expecting to one day live there, or for my children to one day live there. Or their children. It is a hope we have carried for many generations.”
“Spreck, I’m a scientist, not a soldier. And I see a way to resolve this ‘right-of-return’ war peacefully,” said Gray.
“How? My people are on their way. They must have a home when they return. Your people are in the way.”
“How long until they arrive in the solar system?”
“Nearly two Earth years.”
“I think together, we can do this. By using our technology and yours, we can terraform Mars – give you a home. We can be peaceful neighbors.”
“Terraform? You can do that?”
“One of my colleagues is working on it. All he needs is a sufficient energy source. And it sounds like your people have a lot of experience with that.”
“Yes, we do. Not all good experiences,” said Spreck, referring to the destruction of his ancestors’ planet, “but we are experts at energy manipulation. That is how we made the scout ships and the fleetship capable of such high speed.”
“Then I think you should speak to human leaders when we get back. You should also tell your people to call off the war – they can stop building a new fleet of warships and start working on how to make Mars their new home.”
“How long would it take to terraform Mars?”
“I think the whole terraforming cycle takes about twelve months. It should be ready in time for the q’Chek arrival.”
Spreck nodded slowly. “You make sense, Captain Gray. Although I have always expected to live on Earth, it has troubled me that it is already populated. It seems a fair compromise to take Mars instead – at least it is still in the solar system – and it is closer to our original home.”
“I have just one question,” said Gray. “You seem like a reasonable man. Why did you torture and kill Cho and the others? Why did you blindfold me and treat me so harshly?”
“I was not responsible for that. The head of q’Chek military intelligence commanded the detention facility. When I learned he was treating our prisoners that way, I had him relieved of duty. That was when I had you brought before me.”
“I see.”
At that moment, a squadron of q’Chek wing fighters came out of nowhere and fired on the Magellan, jarring the whole ship and throwing Gray and Spreck off balance.
“Where did those come from? I thought your whole fleet was destroyed!” yelled Gray.
“They must have been out on maneuvers at the time of the fleetship’s explosion,” said Spreck.
“Well, call them off!”
To Gray’s surprise, blue laser streaks blazed across the screen as a contingent of UEA fighters shot back. The Magellan was caught in the crossfire of a deep space battle. Gray tried to hail his allies, but the comm system had been knocked offline by the first volley of shots.
Before Gray could maneuver his ship out of harm’s way, it was struck in the synchrostatic drive. The ship exploded in a bright flash of energy.
When the debris cleared, the human and q’Chek pilots had annihilated each other. The only thing left intact was the Magellan’s bridge. It was designed to function as an independent, self-contained, blast-proof life raft in case of a catastrophic event such as the destruction of the rest of the ship.
Gray and his three q’Chek guests were plastered to the walls by the energy released when the Magellan’s synchrostatic coils fused and exploded. Gray was the first to wake up. The auxiliary lighting cast a dim red hue across everything on the bridge. Gray pulled himself across the floor to his captain’s module and activated the System’s diagnostic status report. The report started with the big picture and worked its way in.
“No ships in vicinity. Nearest human outpost sixty-four days away. UEA Magellan destroyed. Magellan-A bridge sub-unit intact and fully functional. Four life signs aboard. Three q’Chek life signs in stable condition. Joshua Gray life sign stable. Joshua Gray medical summary: heart rate twenty-three percent above normal, temperature two point two degrees above normal, left radius fractured, left tibia fractured.”
Gray groaned and dragged himself to the medical locker, opened a medkit and administered some painkillers, which took effect quickly. He then splinted his leg and placed his arm in a sling. As he was finishing playing doctor to himself, Spreck woke up.
“What has happened?” he said.
“Some of your guys and some of our guys got tangled up, and we were caught in the middle. My ship was destroyed, and we got banged up pretty bad in the explosion. This bridge is all that’s left of the main ship.”
“Are the fighters still out there?”
“No, they all killed each other.”
Spreck stooped to check on his two officers. Both were breathing, but not conscious.
“What are the flight capabilities of this vessel?” asked Spreck.
“The Magellan-A is just an emergency life raft. It’s not really designed to cover the kind of distance we’re facing to get back to Earth. We can make synch-two, maybe synch-two-point-one. That’s it.”
“How long will that take to get us to the solar system?”
Gray didn’t feel up to doing the math. “System, estimated time to Earth at maximum speed?”
“Estimated time to Earth fifteen months, eight days, four hours, twenty-six minutes.”
Gray eased himself into his chair. “Alright. Well, we may be able to improve on that. I can send a message to our nearest listening post. It should get there in a few weeks. Then UEA can send a rescue ship. We can be back on Earth in maybe six, seven months.”
“I have an alternative,” said Spreck. “I was a farmer before I joined the King’s Army. But my First was an engineer. When he recovers, he may be able to increase the efficiency of your engines – perhaps be able to push them to synch-three.”
“Synch-three? Wow. That would make a huge difference. System, calculate time to reach Earth at synch-three.”
System responded, “Time to Earth at synch-three is three months, seventeen days, one hour, thirty-nine minutes.”
“Now that I can handle,” said Gray with a smile.
“And when we arrive, we will put an end to this war,” said Spreck.
“I certainly hope they’ll listen,” said Gray.
“As do I, Captain Gray,” said Spreck. “As do I.”
As the days merged into weeks, Gray and Spreck grew closer, discovering they had much in common. Out of linguistic necessity, Gray also gave nicknames to the other two q’Chek – he called them Kark and McKay, after two other characters from Star Path, the old piece of Earth entertainment history.
McKay was the engineer, and after two weeks of work, he’d managed to modify the Magellan-A’s small quantum drive so that it could draw circulating residual energy from the synchrostatic coils. The adaptation greatly increased the efficiency of the system, and by the end of three weeks, they were moving along at an impressive synch-two point eight five.
As the four sat down to eat, Gray made an announcement.
“We’re going to need to take a detour.”
“For supplies?” asked Spreck.
“Yes. System puts us more than twelve weeks out from Earth. I only have field rations for another fourteen days, and there’s even less food available here for the three of you.”
“Are you suggesting we find a planet where we can harvest something to eat?” asked McKay.
“The System nav charts place our route within a day’s travel of a planet that may have vegetation. Then there’s another planet a ways past that one that shows promise. As we get closer, we’ll be able to make more detailed scans to determine the nature of the – er, nature
– to be found on those worlds. It’ll slow us down some to make the side trips, but it’s better than getting to Earth dead on time.”
“Dead on time? Ha! Your humor translates well into q’Chek,” said Spreck. “I am in agreement. Of course, as your prisoner, I do not really have a say in your course choices, Captain.”
Kark, who rarely spoke, glanced over at Spreck without moving his head. Always dour, Gray originally assumed the q’Chek was just in a bad mood because he’d been in a lot of pain following the destruction of the Magellan, since he’d broken several ribs in the assault. But as the days went on, Gray started to suspect something else was wrong.
Later that night, when McKay and Kark were asleep, Gray approached Spreck for a quiet conversation.
“Tell me about Kark,” said Gray.
“He is a loyal officer,” said Spreck. “He has served with me for many years. He has dedicated his life to this mission. He is fiercely loyal to me, and to our king.”
“Maybe even more loyal to your king?” asked Gray.
“Why do you ask?”
“I just get the feeling lately that he isn’t interested in going along with any of this – with our plan.”
“Kark is a simple, strong man – he sees things in simple terms and harbors strong feelings. Perhaps the idea of cooperation between our species is too complex for someone who’s built his whole life around the concept of taking Earth and destroying anything that may get in the way.”
“Maybe you should talk to him – find out where he really stands,” said Gray. “The big picture – peace between our
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