Invasion

by Jerry Shepard

  Rig'nak could feel the shame crawling over him now as he could see that Liana was upset. "Yes, doctor. We viewed it as necessary to our survival. You humans have justified killing other species, and even your own, in order to survive, yes? This is the same concept. But we never killed an entire species. We simply made enough room for us to live."

  "Except these were sentient beings and you then left them vulnerable!" she yelled as she stood up to pace the floor.

  "Not necessarily, doctor. We would share our technology, like we did with your people. And before we would leave, we would help them restart their efforts to journey into space. Again, doctor, this cycle was all I had ever known. We did it, because we knew the Varak would show us no mercy."

  O'Malley stood up and approached Rig'nak. "So it was all a lie. That reason you gave when you sued for peace. You conveniently left out the part where you were on the fucking run from a murderous horde!"

  "What would you have had us do lieutenant? We had never been bested in battle by an alien species. And we did not have enough information about you as a species to understand if you would accept our offer of peace if you had known the truth."

  Noah shifted his weight on the pillows he was leaning on. "So, since we have your nav charts, we can retrace where you've been, right? We can confirm with these alien races if your claims of eventual benevolence are true?"

  "Yes, captain. I can reveal the navigational markings that were kept hidden when we shared them with you. Though, I warn you. These aliens you are seeking to contact, might be hostile at seeing yet another race invade their space."

  "I would imagine," Noah said. "But taking it one step further, we could trace your trek across the galaxy all the way back to your home world, could we not?"

  "Unfortunately not, captain," Rig'nak said. He felt pained to admit what would follow. "Around twenty years after my people made our escape, the original charts were lost. Many years were spent trying to locate the records, but to no avail. One theory has it that the charts were on the original command ship that was destroyed in battle with the Varak."

  "Just one theory?" Noah asked. He could tell that Reggie had something else he wanted to say.

  "There are a few others. Another theory is that the command ship escaped but met some untimely doom elsewhere."

  "Hmm, that one sounds more likely," Noah said.

  "There is still another theory," added Rig'nak. "And that is that a secret group fighting the returnists, have kept that information hidden away all this time."

  "Returnists?" asked Liana. "Who, or what, are returnists?"

  "There are those among my people who want to stop fleeing the Varak and simply return home. They believe that our homeworld is paradise and we have wrongly fled it. They are called returnists. As they seek to return to our world."

  "And do you know who these returnists are?" she asked.

  "We do not. We can only identify them when they make their presence known. Sometimes they are identified when they perform actions that alert the Varak fleet. Other times, it is during political protests. But returnists are physically indistinguishable from the rest of my people."

  "Which is why Lur'vot could hide in plain sight and then alert the Varak fleet by using the anomaly to send a message to them," Liana concluded.

  "Precisely, doctor. It is obvious that Lur'vot was working with someone else higher up in the political structure as returnists typically don't work alone. Hence why he was put on this ship. When we interrogated him, he mentioned that he was going to take us there. Which I interpreted as him trying to commandeer the ship. And that is why I escaped my house arrest."

  "So where does that leave us now, Rig'nak?" Noah asked. "Your people are currently locked up in the brig."

  "Well, captain, it means that Lur'vot was almost certainly not working alone. It is an almost certainty that there are returnists on this ship. By confining them to the brig, you saved yourself from mutiny," Lur'vot said, turning then to look at Liana. "Most likely when Lur'vot had control of the ship, he would get the strategically placed returnists to take over and prevent the ship from being retaken from him."

  Rig'nak approached O'Malley and turned to look at Noah as he spoke. "We need to figure out which of the crew are returnists and which are not. The ones that are not, can be trusted. As for this fleet we are engaged with. It means we need to take it out or stop its advance long enough for the Alliance fleets to get here. We cannot let it get to an occupied system or, worse yet, Earth."

  "Can you do that? Can you determine who is a returnist and who isn't?" Noah asked.

  "Certainly, but it is a time consuming process and not conducive to fighting a battle. So their freedom will have to wait," responded Rig'nak.

  "Okay then, First Officer, let's get you back to your post."

  UNFINISHED BUSINESS

  Year: 2564 (Alliance Year: 7), Location: Serrat System, Drad'ek bridge

  "Honorable Nal'Sek, we have detected a transmission coming from sector three."

  "What is it?" Nal'Sek asked.

  "It would appear to be the ship that we believed to be destroyed in the asteroid field."

  "I thought that ship was destroyed!" yelled Nal'Sek as he tore down the cabinet next to his chair. "How did that ship make it out of the asteroid field and to the other side of the system without any of our ships detecting it?!"

  "Honorable Nal'Sek, I do not know. It would appear that this alien ship and its captain are more formidable adversaries than we had assumed."

  "Clearly, that is the case, praetor!" yelled back Nal'Sek, annoyed by the praetor's stupidity. "Stop the fleet. We need to deal with this ship now. Spread out and find it. I want that sector checked. And move the pickets in closer to us."

  "She won't be pleased with that, Honorable Nal'Sek," responded the praetor.

  "Just do it. I'll deal with Her Highness."

  Ten minutes later the guards appeared once again on the bridge. They motioned for Nal'sek to follow them. Nal'sek continued to be annoyed that they never spoke in his presence. But at this point, he had stopped being surprised at the new ways the princess found to irritate him.

  "Okay," he said to the guards as he passed them on his way to the elevator. "Let's go talk to her."

  ***

  "Why are those ugly ships blocking my view again, captain?" Lon'Kah said as Nal'Sek entered her quarters.

  "Your Highness, the ships are there for your protection. We…"

  "What protection?" she interrupted. "The ship we were chasing was destroyed. You reported that very fact to me, not too long ago. What else is there that is a threat to us?"

  "I did indeed, Most Glorious Lon'Kah. However, it appears that the alien captain was far more resourceful than we previous anticipated. The ship has somehow survived and…"

  "I don't need the details of your incompetence, captain," she said as she slowly stalked closer to Nal'Sek. "I want to know how you managed to let one ship simply disappear, and then reappear later on. Do I need to replace you?"

  "No, you do not. Forgive me for losing track of the alien ship. It will not happen again," Nal'Sek said.

  "See that it does not. I do not want to have to remove our most respected captain from command. But I will if I keep having to see these ugly ships right outside my window."

  "Yes. Your Highness. I will not fail you," Nal'Sek said with a bow

  GOOD NEWS / BAD NEWS

  Year: 2564 (Alliance Year: 7), Location: Earth

  Roskan was busy getting his gear ready to deploy with the 4th fleet. He was looking forward to getting back in command of a ship again but hated packing for it. It would be nice to command his fleet again as well. The last time he was in command of the 4th had been shortly after the war. Right before he had been promoted.

  The reports he had received this morning, were that the two fleets had already jumped and were on their way to intercept the invasion fleet. The 4th was taking some time to assemble as they had to leave their current positions. They had b
een used as pickets for Sol space and their replacements, the 6th, had just arrived.

  Roskan was about to take a shower and get dressed to leave when the transmission from Pon'mot came through. The screen popped up and the Ambassador smiled and greeted him.

  "Greetings Admiral Roskan! I have good news and bad news for you."

  "That's good," Roskan said. "Because I have nothing but bad news for you. It's chaos in the Alliance fleets right now. The mixed crews are fighting and there have been mutinies and attempted mutinies on those ships. There are some reports of fighting between Alliance ships themselves. Please tell me that you have something up your sleeve that can stop this madness"

  "Well, Admiral, that is certainly bad news. I hope that what I'm about to say will help resolve the current situation. The good news is that the invasion fleet is not composed of the ships of my people. The bad news is that, well...I have a story to tell you about a people named the Varak."

  BETRAYAL

  Year: 2564 (Alliance Year: 7), Location: The Titan (Serrat System)

  "That sonofabitch!" Liana said as she returned to her lab. She picked up a metal container and threw it across the room.

  Liana could not believe that she had been so deceived by Rig'nak. Hell, the entire Xen race really. All her life, she had repeatedly been let down by everyone she had cared for. From her stream of foster parents, to her lovers, and finally the people in her field. All had either betrayed her, or they never gave her the respect she felt she deserved. All made sure that she knew that she was utterly unimportant to them. And, the one thing they always did, was lie to her.

  Every damned one of them. Lied to me.

  Which is why, when the Xen had sued for peace, she had jumped at the chance to study them. Here was a species that was truthful to a fault, or so she used to think. In her years of study, she learned of their history and of their flight from their dying world.

  And now they are just like everyone else.

  Instead of a dying world, the official story now is that they have been chased across the stars by another race.

  Now I can't believe a word that comes out of their mouths.

  Just then, she noticed a strange orange hue in the lab. It seemed to be coming from the stasis chambers they brought up from the surface of Ankarii IV.

  She walked slowly over to the chambers and as she approach the one containing the artifact, she slowed down and peered from the corner of the chamber.

  The artifact had changed to a slight orange hue and seemed to be...humming.

  Liana retrieved her scanners and pressed the pad to open the comm to her team.

  "Get in here! Quick!"

  NO WAY OUT

  Year: 2564 (Alliance Year: 7), Location: Serrat System

  "Sir the enemy fleet has stopped," said Ensign Torrance.

  "Rig'nak? What do you make of this?" asked Noah.

  "It's possible they are trying to figure out where the signal came from that we bounced off the Oort cloud. See how the pickets are fanning out to establish a wider perimeter around the fleet?"

  Sure enough, the frigates and destroyers were expanding out of the tight column that had been. They were clearly, actively searching for the origin of the signal.

  "Yeah, I see it now," answered Noah. "And now, look. They've stopped moving outward."

  O'Malley pulled down the headset and looked over at Noah. "Captain, I can hear active pulses from their scanners. I'm picking it up on an ultra low frequency. And it appears that all of the comms are being routed through that large capital ship in the rear. It's acting like a Xen command ship would've, during the last war."

  Rig'nak eyes changed to green. "Captain!" he yelled out. "Do you remember the massacre in the Than system from when we were enemies? You led a small group of ships to defeat our fleet by taking out our command ship from the rear."

  "Right!" shouted back Noah. "We took out the command ship and it paralyzed the entire fleet..."

  "...and if the Varak are still using the tactics that we used when we fought you fifteen years ago...," Rig'nak continued Noah's thought.

  "...then it would make sense that we could do the same thing all over again, right here," Noah finished.

  "The pulses have stopped," O'Malley said. "It sounds like they are no longer looking for us."

  "Look at the command ship," Rig'nak said. "The picket ships are moving away from it. It is no longer tightly defended. They think we're gone."

  "Which means that they will be moving out of the system soon," Noah said. "We need to strike as soon as the fleet passes by us. Fortunately they need to get around the sun in the center of the system first. That is going to play havoc with their scanners and allow us to get in close."

  Twenty minutes passed and the entire Varak fleet made its way past the Titan. The command ship came into view as it passed around the sun.

  Noah opened up the general communication to the ship. "Prepare for battle. All stations on high alert. Gunnery, fire on my command, holding railguns in reserve. Engineering, we need that speed! And, Gardozo... we are going to need maximum power to the shields." Noah terminated the transmission and turned to the pilots at the helm.

  "Helm, Full Impulse on an intercept course with the command ship," Noah said. "I want to approach as fast as possible and hit her before she even sees us coming!"

  The ship's engines flared back to life as they opened up at full thrust. The ship slowly roused from its slumber and gradually grew faster. The ship accelerated toward the enemy command ship and within one minute was at full speed.

  "Range to target?" Noah asked.

  "At present speed we will be in range in five minutes, sir. The enemy fleet is now moving at one quarter impulse."

  "From the looks of the command ship, it appears to be a Khat'urk class carrier," Rig'nak said.

  "Yes, I fought against quite a few of those in the war. No wonder they have so many light fighters out in force," Noah added. "Gunnery?"

  "Yes, captain?"

  "Do you see the large pod protruding straight up on the top rear side of the ship. It's about a third of the way from the rear of the ship."

  'Yes, Captain!"

  "That is your initial target. It is their shield generator. You take that down and we can take down this command ship. Once that is down we will focus on the engines and then the weapons batteries."

  "Captain, if I may, do you also see that larger structure here?" Rig'nak said as he highlighted the area on the screen. "This is no simple command ship. It is a worldship. And as such, a member of the royal family will be on board. That structure is where the royal quarters usually are on these ships. If we destroy that, we destroy the leader of this fleet. Coupled with this area here," Rig'nak indicated another area,"which is the bridge. Once we take out the shields, those should be our primary targets."

  "Agreed Rig'nak," Noah said. "Ensign Torrance, we need to get in danger close to her. Inside ten thousand feet."

  "Ten thousand, sir?"

  "Yes," Noah continued. "Their main weapons are most likely zeroed to tens of thousands of meters away. If we get inside that, we can render most of her weapons inaccurate."

  Noah continued. "Hold fire until my command. I want to make sure that we are inside her shields by the time she sees us. I want us so close that we can watch them through the portals taking dumps in their bathrooms."

  Liana strode onto the bridge and tapped Noah on his arm. "I need to talk with you," she said.

  "Not now Doctor Sarduun, can't you see I'm a little busy here?"

  "It's the artifact. We've been studying it in the lab and I have some interesting news about what we think its capabilities are."

  Noah could feel his eyes rolling even if he tried to maintain a steady poker face. "Liana, that's great. But for now, get off my bridge unless you are here to help me kill the enemy!"

  "But captain, I have a discovery to share with..."

  "Look, Liana. I'd really love to hear what you have to say, but you have some p
retty shitty timing. We are only minutes away from engaging in the fight of our lives. I don't have time right now to hear about the artifact!"

  "Okay, I'm going! But you will need to hear this sooner or later!" she yelled as she walked away.

  "Worldship in range in one minute," Torrance said.

  "Keep me posted on range. And let me know once we've dropped inside her shields."

  Noah looked around the bridge. The veterans were settling down with the relaxing confidence that comes from knowing your job and doing it as second nature. The recruits, on the other hand, were either too scared or too eager. He stopped to look at the command ship and marveled at its size. In the Xen war, the command ships were only slightly bigger than the Titan The Titan was the largest ship in the Alliance fleet, and yet the Varak command ship was at least twice that size. Far bigger than anything he had been up against. Noah felt like he was back as a raw recruit just out of the academy, making a run on a destroyer in a snub fighter.

  An explosion on the screen in front of him shook him from his reverie. "She's firing on us, captain," came the call from Ensign Torrance. Noah could see on the viewscreen that the laser batteries on the command ship had started to fire. A few of the enemy fighters were starting to pour out of the launch bays of the worldship as well.

  "Evasive action! Full power to the forward shields! Open fire with Laser, Tachyon and Ion cannons!"

  "No railgun or missiles, sir?"

  "Not yet, Ensign Torrance. Just watch and learn."

  WORLD SHIP

  Noah knew that any evasive action the Titan could take wouldn't amount to much. A ship its size was not going to dodge too many shots. But sometimes all it takes is one lucky shot to take out a key component of the ship and render it helpless.