Invasion
Page 19
"Yes, Noah. We did recover new charts. But this system is not one of them. As Lieutenant O'Malley said, it's in a completely different galaxy."
"What about the artifact? Is it possible it knows where we are? After all, that damned thing brought us here."
"We're working on that now, Noah. We've disconnected it from the computer systems for now and continuing to study it in the lab."
"Why? If its disconnected, then how do we have power?" Noah asked.
"Mate, you've been unconscious for four days," O'Malley chuckled. "In that time, we have made many repairs to the ship's systems. We have power, life support, tracking, and weapons back up. We still have one engine online and we're working on the second one now. One of the things that we noticed though is, well..."
Rig'nak spoke up. "The artifact was actually pulling us to an unknown destination. The ship was moving of its own accord, so we disconnected the artifact once we were able to return our own power to the ship."
"Interesting. So, what are we looking at here? I'd like to check out the data," Noah said.
O'Malley handed him a datapad and looked at both Rig'nak and Liana as he spoke. "Well, as you can see from that report, we are in an unknown system in what our astronomers had called the Hellenae galaxy. This system has twelve planets orbiting a star. With the exception of the closest two planets and the two furthest away, each of the other planets can support life. In fact, two planets, that are next to each other in the middle, are mirror images of Earth."
"There is also a constellation of stars that is similar to the symbol my people use," Rig'nak said.
"Which means that his people have obviously been here and this system has some significance to them," Liana added.
"Is there a way to get back home from here?" Noah said.
"The process would take a millennia at full speed," Rig'nak answered.
"We could attempt to blind jump, but at this distance, we would be signing our own death warrants," O'Malley offered.
"Yeah, that's a no go then. We'll deal with how to get home once we've healed ourselves and the ship. What is the sitrep for my ship?" Noah said.
"As I pointed out, we have most of the internal systems back on-line. We are currently repairing the hull and most of the damaged internal structure with the additional materials we were able to bring with us on this cruise. I gotta tell 'ya, that new fuel system saving all that space, really worked out for us in that regard."
"And the crew?" Noah said.
"See for yourself. We had forty fatalities, with many of their bodies ejected into space from the decompression. Another hundred were wounded and have either been patched up or are still here in the med bay with you," O'Malley said as he gestured outside of Noah's private room.
"Damnit," Noah swore under his breath. The one thing he never got used to as the captain was losing people.
Rig'nak chimed in. "Captain, all of my people remained safe during the battle. However, they are still confined to the brig. If we can return those we can trust, back to their positions, I believe we can make up for the losses that we have endured."
"Agreed, Rig'nak, while we figure out what to do in this new region of space, I'd like for you to start the process of determining which of the Xen crew on this ship are returnists and which ones aren't. Can you handle that?"
"I can do so, captain."
"How will you know who is a returnist?"
"Ah, Captain Jameson. Even you humans must know that it is difficult for my people to conceal their true motives. Our eyes usually tell the truth."
Noah chuckled at that. He had to admit it was something he loved about the Xen. He now, really wanted to play a game of high stakes poker with Rig'nak one day.
"How long do you think it will take?"
"One day. Perhaps, two."
"Fine, then in two days' time, I expect to see most, if not hopefully all, of the Xen on this ship, freed from the brig."
"One can hope, Captain Jameson."
EPILOGUE
Noah opened the door to the bridge and slowly walked into the middle. With Rig'nak finishing up his duties in ferreting out the returnists, and the repairs nearing completion, he was excited to begin the exploration of this system. At the same time, he dreaded thinking about why the artifact took them here. He didn't quite know how to reconcile the odd mix of emotions so he simply let them flow over him .
"Is the internal comm open?" he asked.
"It's open...now," the ensign replied.
Noah paused. He looked around the bridge at his personnel, both human and Xen, working side by side. He smiled, and then began.
"Crew of the Titan. This is your captain. I want to commend you on a job well done. We eliminated the Varak worldship and almost certainly stopped the enemy fleet's advance into Alliance space. I have no doubt that the warning we sent was received by Fleet HQ and they have most likely sent multiple fleets to deal with the invasion. As you are no doubt aware, the ship took some heavy damage in the fight. But due to Doctor Sarduun's fuel saving invention, we had enough supplies to repair much of the damage. We should be fine, as long as we don't plan on battling an entire invasion fleet by ourselves again."
Noah chuckled at that last part as he looked around at the smiling faces on the bridge.
"Someone close to me asked me once, what are you fighting for? I think that is a question that we all must answer for ourselves and for our brothers and sisters in arms. I know that we have also lost friends in that battle. And I mourn for them as you all do," Noah said as he looked at the faces of the crew. He continued to speak to in the comm to the ship but to Noah, he seemed to only be having a private conversation with his bridge crew.
"We will give those who we have lost, a military funeral. All of our dead will be remembered and their names and gallantry have been recorded and will be provided to the Alliance High Command upon our return to Earth."
Noah looked around as the faces were eagerly awaiting a plan to get them home.
"We have been brought to this system by the alien artifact. Our scientists, both human and Xen, are working hard on discovering its secrets so that we might be able to reverse that jump and get ourselves home."
Noah turned to face Liana as he continued.
"I mentioned that the human and Xen people are working together. This is an important milestone in our peoples' histories. The Varak were engaged and stopped by humans for the first time. And from what our First Officer Rig'nak tells me, his people had never taken down a worldship before now. We did that. Together. And I say this even with my decision to remove the Xen crew from their stations. As you know, I made the decision to remove all Xen to the brig before that final battle. It was not my intent to harm or insult those who earnestly wished to serve on this ship. My only thought, and it still remains to this day, is for the safety of my ship and my crew. To that end, that is why I had the Xen crew members temporarily detained. However, I am happy to report that almost all of the Xen crew have returned to their posts and performing admirably." Noah at this point could see Liana was starting to smile at him. He then turned to look a Rig'nak as he continued to speak to the entire ship.
"Our First Officer Rig'nak has identified which among the Xen are returnists and which can be trusted. The returnists will remain in the brig for the time being until we have decided what to do with them."
Noah continued. "And one other thing about Rig'nak. He saved us all. If you had not heard, a rogue Xen tried to assassinate me and take over the ship. His last resort would've been to blow up the bridge. First Officer Rig'nak neutralized that threat to the ship. He exemplifies the highest standards of conduct and gallantry that we hold dear in the United Alliance Fleet and it is my pleasure to nominate him for the Distinguished Service Cross, upon our return to Earth. First Officer Rig'nak has earned my deepest respect and I hope he has done the same with you."
Noah turned to look at O'Malley. "As for this system. The artifact wanted us here for a reason. I'm prepared to give
it what it wants. We will scan and land on each planet in an effort to understand the system it has brought us to. In the meantime, we will stock up on water and any supplies we can get from those planets. Once we have explored this system and are ready to go, we should hopefully have the way back home extracted from the device."
Noah then looked at the entire bridge crew at once. "I know that all of this is quite a bit to take in. But I'm confident that if we work together and have each others' backs, we will get through this and be home in no time. Good luck and Godspeed! Jameson, out," he said, giving the signal to cut the feed.
"Okay," Liana said, getting up to leave. She stopped to see Noah, who had sat back down into his chair. "So what are you fighting for?" she asked.
Noah thought for a moment and looked up at her squarely in the eye as he rattled off a list. "I'm fighting for you. For Kevin. For Torrance. For Rig'nak. This crew. The Xen. All of humanity. And the most important thing in the entire universe…Lily. She has gone far too long without a hug from her dad and I think it's time I rectified that."
Noah paused. "And besides, I owe her a fishing trip."
"Well then, I think it's time for me to get moving on finding a way back home from the artifact so you can do just that, Noah." She put a hand on his shoulder, and squeezed, and then she was gone.
"Rig'nak, can you take us to the first habitable planet?" Noah asked.
Rig'nak regarded him for a second. He saluted Noah and then walked toward the center of the bridge. He paused and turned around to address his captain.
"I'm honored to have your respect, Captain Jameson."
"The honor, Rig'nak, is mine."
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
Thank you for reading INVASION!
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COMING SOON / ABOUT THE AUTHOR
COMING SOON!
Book Two in the Lost Frontier Universe ( MISSING) will be coming soon!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jerry Shepard lives with his wife and 3 kids (one of them a furry, 4-legged kind) in the foothills of Virginia. When he is not managing IT Projects, or writing novels, he can be found spending time with the greatest gifts he's ever received. His family.
He has always had a lifelong passion to tell stories that delight people. The fact that they are stories in his favorite genres is just the icing on the cake.