by James Somers
the approaching void.
Orin continued to watch the instrument readouts, looking for any information about what lay beyond the blackness. He noticed all light repelled by the void along with all sensor scans. Somehow the Vorn had been able to keep communication across the rift, even when it had been in collapse phase. But he wasn’t sure what technology they had employed. The ship shook violently and Millo had to work to remain on course.
“I think the void is trying to repel the ship just like it does energy waves,” said Orin.
“I’ll increase thrust to compensate.”
The Saberhawk lurched forward, struggling against the forces of the transdimensional rift. As they began to enter the void, the turbulence suddenly ceased, and all the gauges and dials on the instrument panel went black.
Only the light from their display was visible as the void engulfed them. The ship seemed to surge forward, even though thruster speed remained constant. When the Saberhawk emerged on the other side, it seemed as though they had emerged to the same space they had come from.
A huge space vessel, blazing under attack, quickly changed their perception. It flew right for them as the Saberhawk emerged from the rift.
“It’s a Vorn ship!” Orin shouted.
The ship was much larger than those stationed at Castai, easily a hundred times the size of the Saberhawk.
Multiple explosions and streams of fast burning gases and chemicals trailed at different points on the ship’s surface. Millo took immediate evasive maneuvers to get away from the vessel as it closed on them at a frightening speed. A burst of main thrusters bore them hard to port away from the damaged ship which continued on by without acknowledging them—driving hard for the rift.
Orin began scanned the ship, trying to find out what was going on. Life-form readings appeared along with various discernable statuses on the vessels current hull integrity and power systems.
“It’s breaking up!” Orin reported. “There are ten thousand people onboard.”
“Burn, baby, burn,” Millo said under his breath as he directed the Saberhawk away from the vessel. Everyone remained tense.
“I’m still not sure what’s causing this,” Orin said.
Tiet and Dorian exchanged concerned glances but remained silent, trying to listen to Orin and Millo as they contemplated this surprising find. As the computer continued to pull data from the vessel, something else appeared on the display.
“I’m not sure what these things are—some sort of spheres—approximately thirty feet in diameter. They’re completely mechanical. There’s quite a number surrounding the hull of the vessel and some on the inside.”
Orin continued his scans monitoring the Vorn ship’s engine systems. “Its reactor core has been breeched. It’s going to blow!”
The large ship ran hard for the transdimensional rift. The sheering forces from the void peeled pieces away from the crippled vessel as it entered the darkness with its entourage of attackers in tow. Just as the front half of the ship sank into the void, it erupted into a white hot ball of flame, quickly fading as all gases and chemicals combusted away. Multiple shockwaves surged away from the rift, tossing the Saberhawk like a toy upon the energy waves.
Dorian shouted, “What’s happening?”
I think the explosion has triggered a reaction in the rift!” Orin shouted as Millo fought hard to bring the Saberhawk back under control. In moments the turbulence passed and the voyage became smooth again.
“I should do a sensor sweep of the quadrant and see where other Vorn ships are and what those things were that destroyed that ship. Maybe we have an ally on this side.”
“Well, whatever they are, they don’t like the Vorn,” Tiet said.
The data on Orin’s display recalibrated to his new search.
“There is a planet nearby,” Orin said. “It’s habitable. The readings look identical to Castai. I’m showing some other activity in the near vicinity. It looks like more Vorn battle cruisers near the planet and an orbiting station of immense size. This planet could be their home. I’m picking up a large amount of random energy fluctuations. It looks like another large explosion of a vessel similar to the one that almost hit us. Take us toward the planet so we can get a better look at what’s happening.”
“Someone is doing all the fighting for us,” Tiet said.
“Weapons and shields are charged and ready. We’re going in,” Millo said as he brought the Saberhawk about on course for the nearby planet. The Saberhawk was a fast ship. The trip at full speed would take about twenty minutes.
TWIN
As they drew near, Orin worked to get a visual of the battle taking place ahead. A tactical map replaced part of the information on the display. Markers representing various sizes of Vorn space vessels moved on the screen as faster moving dots, representing the mechanical spheres, intermingled with them. A large ship disappeared from the map along with two smaller ships traveling near it.
“Those things are slaughtering the Vorn fleet,” said Tiet.
“It’s about time someone gave it to them,” replied Millo.
Orin remained focused on the tactical data coming across his monitor. Just because these mysterious mechanical spheres decimated the enemy ships did not necessarily mean they were allies. The tactical map tracked all of the engaged vessels, but the Vorn signatures were rapidly disappearing from the display. Each time a vessel exploded approximately, fifty spheres were destroyed with it. The objects were clearly running suicide missions. But why?
“What are we going to do when we reach the battle, Orin?”
“I’m not sure, but at current speed there won’t be many Vorn ships left when we arrive.”
Orin recalibrated the scanners to bring up a more accurate picture on the display. After a few adjustments a visual appeared, showing two remaining Vorn vessels with spheres swarming about them. Explosions erupted at various places along their massive hulls as the spheres strafed the lengths of each vessel with powerful energy weapons.
The individual spheres moved in concert and soon the last two ships broke apart on the Saberhawk’s display. Even watching the destruction of the Vorn fleet could not erase the feeling of imminent danger. The spheres were too deadly for the Saberhawk crew to be happy about the victory.
“What if they turn on our ship next?” Tiet asked. There seemed little chance of surviving such an attack if the entire Vorn fleet of space cruisers could not. So far the massive Vorn space station was left unharmed. Orin’s computer showed nearly one hundred thousand people aboard it.
“I wonder why they didn’t attack that space station?” Dorian asked.
Before the last syllable escaped her lips, a massive beam of energy emanating from some point beyond the planet, smashed into the Vorn space station, knocking out its shields and further vaporizing one quarter of its surface area.
“Where did that come from?” Millo shouted.
“I don’t know. There’s nothing on scanners—just empty space,” Orin said, mystified.
Within moments, another powerful burst slammed into the station. Without shields to buffer the blow, the structure shattered like a window pane. Several large sections of debris began to fall toward the planet, dragging the atmosphere with white hot material, vaporizing during its descent.
“That’s an unbelievable amount of power coming from somewhere,” Tiet said. No longer content to stay in his chair, he joined Orin at the systems control station, with Dorian close behind.
“Millo, I think the planet would provide us with at least some protection—better than just sitting out here,” Orin said.
“I’m for that,” he said. “Setting course and speed.”
The Saberhawk veered away from their previous course toward the planet. They hoped to avoid whatever predator was lurking nearby and find further information about what was really happening on this side of the rift.
☼
Vale was unable t
o discern the trouble occurring around the ship. Wedged inside the landing-skid housing, the android had no view of the surroundings. Except for vibrations given off through the hull of the ship and some flashes of light, all was quiet in space. Now was the time to break into the ship and acquire his target again. He did not have proper schematics for the vessel. But Vale was within the shield perimeter of the ship, and any weak place in the hull would suffice for an entry point.
Using the hypermagnetic discs in his appendages, the android climbed out of the skid housing and began to cross the surface of the ship. Coming across the top of the ship, Vale spotted a docking hatch. He crawled toward it, paying little attention to the nearby planet they were approaching. The android located the emergency panel and peeled it away effortlessly revealing the keypad underneath. Vale applied his hand to the pad and sensors beneath his pseudo flesh began to scan the internal controls. Within moments his processors had decoded the lock. He applied the code.
The outer hull door unlocked. Vale turned the manual lever and released pressurized gases as the bulkhead doors parted, allowing him to enter the vestibular area to await atmospheric equalization. The outer door automatically closed and the area re-pressurized to match the interior of the ship. Once the process was completed, the interior door unsealed itself and opened, allowing Vale free access to the interior of the Saberhawk.
☼
“Orin, I’m reading a hull breech,” Millo said.
“What?