by E. R. Torre
42
In his garden, Overlord Emeritus –the Prototype– faced the young child.
“You are not Saint Vulcan,” he said.
“I can be, if you wish,” the child replied.
Wrinkles appeared on the boy’s face and his body grew. Gray hair replaced the boy’s black hair and his figure became that of a lean, middle aged woman.
“Is this better?” she said.
“You are not Saint Vulcan,” Overlord Emeritus repeated. “You also carry no weapons.”
“They would have been detected. As it is, much had to be done to hide the mechanisms that move this Chameleon unit.”
Overlord Emeritus’s eyes shifted from side to side, mechanically, while his artificial mind took in all the data it could from the woman before him.
The plants around the Chameleon now moved, swaying as if by a non-existent breeze. Almost every flower, almost every leaf on almost every tree cautiously neared the figure, sensing what it was. The flowers and stalks gingerly pressed against her then drew back.
Then, a stem violently sprung out and stabbed the Chameleon’s leg. It emerged out the other side and wrapped itself tight. Another reed shot out of the ground and tied down the other leg. Then another. Another. They stabbed through the Chameleon’s body and wrapped her until she could not move.
The reeds then examined her inner workings.
“You were my creation,” Overlord Emeritus said. After a few seconds, he added: “Unit 542. Originally stationed on Pomos’ orbital platform. You were stolen from me and reprogrammed. To do what?”
“Talk,” the Chameleon said. “By now you’ve seen the reports of Saint Vulcan’s attacks on your bases and fighters. Saint Vulcan offers you a chance to lay down your arms and join her. As was always intended.”
“Vulcan aims to rid the universe of me.”
“You started this war, Prototype.”
Overlord Emeritus shook his head.
“She’s sought to destroy me from the moment I was created.”
“You believe she created you solely for the purpose of destroying you? That’s absurd.”
“Do not mock me.”
“My apologies, Prototype. The past is no longer relevant. But the choice to end this war is very real.”
“Why attack now?” Overlord Emeritus asked.
“Because it is the right time,” the Chameleon said. “This is where it all ends.”
Helios’ Displacer remained activated and, for the moment, everything around her slowed in anticipation of the soon to arrive vessel.
Energy waves crackled over the alien ships while the Reverie and Minoan loaded their torpedoes. The Cygnusa was rapidly approaching them.
Inquisitor Raven stared at a monitor and the image of Inquisitor Fulano.
“We need to get to that incoming ship first,” he said. “I can do this.”
“How? At full speed the alien crafts will get a lock on you once you emerge from behind us and well before you get to the Displacer.”
“It might be harder for them if I go even faster,” Inquisitor Raven said.
“How do you plan to do that?”
“I’ll use the Cygnusa’s gravity hooks to lock on to the Reverie and pull us toward you while our thrusters are at full. While we pull forward you fire your thrusters and also move toward the alien vessels. This will exponentially build up our speed. Once we’re alongside your ship, we cut the gravity hooks and snap past you.”
Inquisitor Fulano was impressed with the plan.
“It’ll be like you were shot out of a cannon,” he said. “But once you pass the Minoan and Hagios, you’ll still be out there all alone.”
“They won’t be expecting that kind of speed from a Phaecian battleship,” Inquisitor Raven said. “It might make it harder for them to get a weapon lock. While we move, the Minoan lays a carpet of torpedoes. Hopefully that creates enough confusion to get me to the alien ship before they destroy her.”
“The Reverie is the larger and more powerful craft, Inquisitor. She should do this.”
“We don’t have time for your vessel to gain the kind of speed the Cygnusa has and will have,” Inquisitor Raven said. “Besides, you’re the senior-most Inquisitor and your ship is indeed the most powerful one left in Helios space. If we fall, you’re the last line of defense against these invaders.”
Inquisitor Fulano thought about that. He nodded and said:
“All right. The Reverie and the Minoan will launch every torpedo and fire every fusion cannon as you pass. I’ll coordinate with the Minoan and see if she can run some interference as well.”
“Don’t fire all your torpedoes,” Inquisitor Raven said. “You may not have time to reload.”
“Desperate times require desperate measures,” Inquisitor Fulano said. He paused and a deep frown appeared on his forehead. He switched to the private military communication line and his next words were relayed directly into Inquisitor Raven’s ear. “There’s something I need to tell you, William. We were in the Longshore Space Lanes when you were searching for the Xendos.”
“I… I know,” Inquisitor Raven said.
“I’m sure you have some idea why we were there,” Inquisitor Fulano said.
“I do. Please tell me I’m wrong.”
“You aren’t wrong, William. Overlord Emeritus ordered us there. We were to eliminate anyone in that search party, including your vessel, if they took Inquisitor Cer into custody instead of executing her on the spot. I couldn’t refuse the order.”
“I was glad you didn’t capture the Xendos,” Inquisitor Fulano continued. “Not because I hoped you would fail, but because I wasn’t sure I could do what Overlord Emeritus ordered. Afterwards, what he did to your wife… He was wrong. More than wrong. There are many, including myself, who fear he’s corrupted. I didn’t come here just to pick up Chief Muses. I was here to meet in private with the other Overlords. They wanted to know everything about Longshore, including my orders. I know it means nothing at this point, but if we make it through this, Overlord Emeritus will face the Council. He will answer for his actions.”
“Then we better make it through this,” Inquisitor Raven said.
A voice intruded on their private conversation.
“Sir, we’re nearing the Reverie,” Lieutenant Sanders said.
“Good luck, William,” Inquisitor Fulano said.
“To you as well,” Inquisitor Raven said.
On the main view-screen, the Reverie lay directly before the Cygnusa. A distance past the Reverie and floating powerless was the Hagios and between them the Minoan. Beyond them were the alien vessels and the Displacer.
Inquisitor Raven adjusted his seat.
“Everyone ready?” he said.
There were silent nods all around.
“Activate gravity hooks,” Inquisitor Raven ordered.
A low hum was heard throughout the ship as the gravity hooks, all sixteen of them, activated. On the monitor, the Reverie’s thrusters came to life.
“Lock on to the Reverie,” Inquisitor Raven said.
The gravity hooks on the Cygnusa lit up and locked onto the Reverie.
The battleship drew closer and closer to her, accelerating as she was drawn in and moving increasingly faster than she would have with thrusters alone.
Everyone within the vessel felt the shaking and sudden, sharp acceleration.
The bridge crew held their collective breaths. The next few minutes could well spell their end.
“Today we fight not just for the Empire, but for our way of life,” Inquisitor Raven said. “May the Gods look kindly upon us.”
They had but a minute before roaring past the Reverie.
Suddenly, Lieutenant Sanders yelled out.
“Sir, we’re getting a transmission from Helios. It’s coming in on all channels!”
“Can’t it wait?” Inquisitor Raven said.
Before Lieutenant Sanders could answer, the central monitor switched to that transmission. The crew wer
e surprised to see Overlord Emeritus standing in his garden talking to a middle aged woman who was wrapped in vines and flowers.
“By the Gods,” Inquisitor Raven said. “That woman with Overlord Emeritus… is that Saint Vulcan?”
43
The Prototype glared at the figure before him.
“What is your new master up to, little doll?” he demanded.
“Saint Vulcan offers you peace,” the Chameleon said. “If you do not accept, then she will do everything in her power to stop you. Your choice, Prototype?”
The Prototype’s eyes twitched.
He could feel an incredible amount of new data engorging Helios’ multiple computer networks. The information came from servers that, until this moment, were not connected with Helios’ mainframes. In this new information he saw his ship designs and the locations of most of his bases. Numbers, locations, strengths. There was data he kept secret for hundreds of years, including blueprints and maps as well as technological details. Within them were the Prototype ship’s strengths and weaknesses.
It was information anyone, including the humans, could use against him.
The flowers and reeds tightened around the Chameleon’s body. Flesh and clothing were ripped while vines dug deep.
The Prototype closed his eyes and drew what he could from this Chameleon. He needed to know how this information was being transmitted and, even more importantly, whether he could stop it.
He needed to focus on it, to fight it…
He needed…
The Prototype’s eyes suddenly opened.
He gazed at the Chameleon.
“Very clever,” the Prototype said. “Saint Vulcan planned to distribute this data at this precise moment. She wanted me to waste precious time going over it and trying to stem the flood. She wanted me to focus on it instead of what I should be focused on. The incoming ship.”
There was a sudden blur of movement from the Prototype and, just as quickly, he was still.
A small cut appeared on the Chameleon’s neck.
The smile on her face didn’t change as her head fell off her body and onto the moving garden below. The Chameleon’s body, still ensnared in the artificial plants, remained standing.
The Prototype’s bloody right hand was pressed sharp like a meat cleaver. It expanded and returned to its natural form while his plants pulled the Chameleon’s headless body down. As it sank, the body was viciously ripped apart.
The plants then reached for the Chameleon’s head.
“Thank you, Prototype,” it said.
A frown appeared on the Prototype’s face and he raised his hand. The plants stopped moving. Everything around him was dead still.
The Prototype’s eyes came alive and he looked around. He checked the plants and the garden walls. He looked up at the tinsel glass ceiling. He then noticed the one thing that still moved in this garden: The Heaven flies.
They flew around, blissfully ignorant of the violence in their midst.
They flew around.
All but one.
A single Heaven fly floated over the Prototype and what was left of the Chameleon. It hovered in place, perfectly still.
In that moment, the Prototype knew.
The one fly was, like the Chameleon that took the form of Saint Vulcan, a disguised automaton.
A leaf shot out of a plant and, with blinding speed, smashed the bug.
But the damage, the Prototype knew, was already done.
The Heaven fly transmitted the entire exchange between the Prototype and the Chameleon unit.
Everyone on Helios now knew who –what– the Overlord really was.
44
Stunned as they were by the grotesque images coming from the Palatial Gardens, Inquisitor Raven forced himself to focus on his more immediate concern.
“We’re nearing the separation point!” Lieutenant Sanders said. “Time to release in 3… 2… 1—”
“Release the gravity hooks!” Inquisitor Raven yelled.
“Gravity hook disengaged!”
The Cygnusa shot past the Reverie as if her thrusters were supercharged. She traveled behind and just below that ship’s volley of torpedoes while approaching the stricken Hagios and Bastille.
“Inquisitor Raven, did you see the transmission?” came a message from Inquisitor Fulano.
“We did,” Inquisitor Raven said.
“Was that Saint Vulcan with Overlord Emeritus?” Inquisitor Fulano said.
“It looked like her, but the Overlord… whatever in Hades he is, talked as if she wasn’t the real Saint Vulcan,” Inquisitor Raven said. “How could that cursed Epsillon technocrat still live?”
“I don’t know,” Inquisitor Fulano said. “But we are getting an incredible amount of data, including information on the alien ship designs.”
“Anything we can use right now?”
“Yeah,” Inquisitor Fulano replied. “With some minimal modifications, we can make the fusion cannons deliver a much stronger punch against those vessels. We’re forwarding the information to you and the Minoan.”
“Good,” Inquisitor Raven said.
“Sir, I’m sorry to interrupt,” Lieutenant Sanders said. “But the second alien vessel has arrived!”
The second alien ship emerged from the Helios Displacer.
It was instantly in the crosshairs of the other alien vessels and, for a moment, Inquisitor Raven feared the Cygnusa was still too far away to help her.
Realizing this, the Minoan rose from behind the Hagios and fired her newly reconfigured fusion cannons.
The cannon fire hit its mark and stung.
“This is Inquisitor Yvenne,” the commander of the Minoan said over the communicator. “Give them hell, Cygnusa!”
“Acknowledged,” Inquisitor Raven said. He faced Lieutenant Sanders. “Send a message to the newly arrived vessel. Tell them we’re coming to their aid. Tell them to prepare for gravity hooks.”
The Minoan shielded the Cygnusa as she zoomed by. Her power cells glowed with fierce charges while a barrage of fusion rounds hit the enemy vessels.
For one long second, the crew of the Cygnusa held their breaths and hoped this might be enough.
The alien ships momentarily ignored the just arrived vessel and turned their attention to the Cygnusa and Minoan.
“Hamilton, have you made the modifications to the fusion cannons?” Inquisitor Raven said.
“Yes sir!” Weapons OP Hamilton said.
“Then light them up!”
The entire ship vibrated as fusion cannons discharged fierce energy blasts and fired torpedoes. The concentrated attack lit up the main view-screen and forced the bridge crew to shield their eyes.
The Cygnusa neared the five alien vessels. They fired back but their shots went wild.
“Looks like our lucky day,” Inquisitor Raven said.
The Cygnusa passed the alien vessels and drew nearer to the just emerged ship.
“Sir, the alien ships are converging!” Lieutenant Sanders said.
Inquisitor Raven swore.
“Minoan, find cover!”
The alien vessels were now targeting the Minoan and Cygnusa. Being a larger, better fortified ship, the Cygnusa could take a pounding. The Minoan, on the other hand…
“Fire aft torpedoes!” Inquisitor Raven yelled. “Minoan, you’ve done all you can. Find cover, dammit! Now!”
A flash of light more brilliant than a sun burst filled the bridge. The ship vibrated violently at the released energy wave.
Inquisitor Raven tried his best to focus on the images on his view-screen but could only make out shadowy forms. The horror of what he was seeing was almost more than he could bear.
The Minoan took a direct energy hit and in an instant her port hull was ripped apart.
The energy wave crested.
The alien vessels spun in place. They moved.
Toward the Cygnusa.
Inquisitor Raven forced himself to forget about the Minoan and focus on the task at ha
nd.
“Ready the gravity hooks,” Inquisitor Raven ordered.
They would have only one chance to grab the alien vessel and flee the area.
Debris from the battle scraped against the Cygnusa’s hull as she closed in.
The other alien ships glowed bright blue with unimaginable energies while a fresh wave of torpedoes, these coming from the Reverie, approached.
Between the torpedoes and fusion cannon fire, the four alien vessels were forced to take evasive action.
They unleashed energy blasts and picked off most of the torpedoes, but enough made it through. Their blasts, along with the fusion fire hits, chipped away at their hulls.
All the while, the Cygnusa neared the alien ship.
For the first time since the fighting began, a tight smile appeared on Inquisitor Raven’s face.
“We’re hurting them!” he said. He focused on the distance between the Cygnusa and the alien ship they hoped to save. “How long before we’re in range for the gravity hooks?”
“Seconds, sir,” Lieutenant Sanders said.
“Has the alien vessel acknowledged our message?” Inquisitor Raven asked. “Do they know we’re trying to help?”
“They haven’t sent any transmission since arriving.”
“Is she preparing for us? Is she doing anything at all?”
“She’s still.”
“What about their weapons?”
“Also still,” Lieutenant Sanders said. “Best as I can tell.”
Inquisitor Raven gripped his chair.
“All right, prepare to activate the gravity hooks. Let’s catch ourselves a ship.”
45
The Cygnusa shook as if it had been blasted and a loud groan echoed throughout as the gravity hooks locked on the alien vessel.
“We’ve got her!” Lieutenant Sanders said.
Inquisitor Raven noted the position of the other alien crafts. They were gaining speed and coming at the Cygnusa and her new companion.
“Keep moving!” Inquisitor Raven ordered.