by Doug Farren
“Understood.”
Switching to his private channel, Tom said, “I don’t see any reason for us to stick around any longer, Lashpa. I’m heading back to my ship.”
“I agree,” she replied. “I would rather not stay here any longer than necessary.”
Leaving the channel open so Lashpa could hear, he said, “Orion, transmit all available data to sector command. Ask them to find anyone who has knowledge of Kyrra technology and get them here to tear this ship apart. We need to find out what the Chroniech have in their possession.”
“Acknowledged,” the ship instantly replied.
Chapter 30
“Status?” Commander Varku asked as soon as Masthuma saw him.
The engineer had just emerged from the airlock leading into the newly installed Kyrra energy cannon. Masthuma dropped his helmet on the deck then began removing his gloves.
“We’re working as fast as we can,” he replied. “My men are exhausted. Mistakes are being made. And we still have much work to do.”
Varku overlooked his chief engineer’s lack of respect. He could smell the rank odor of old sweat seeping out of Masthuma’s helmet and spacesuit like a noxious cloud. His fur was matted, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was unsteady on his feet. His left glove came loose landing on the deck with a muted thump. Masthuma’s last statement was alarming.
“We can’t afford to be making mistakes,” Varku said. “An improper installation could easily destroy a significant portion of this ship. Tell your men to stop and give them three day’s rest. I would rather delay the installation and have it done right than push your men too hard and end up with a damaged weapon or worse.”
Masthuma stood, staring at the Commander, his right hand partially removed from the soggy interior of a glove as if he was having a hard time comprehending the order. He had been pushing himself and his men so hard for the past few weeks that the thought of slowing down or even stopping seemed wrong and alien.
“I … We … Yes Sir. Thank you Commander,” Masthuma managed to say.
Varku put a hand on Masthuma’s shoulder. For an instant he thought the engineer was going to fall over from the light contact. Tightening his grip, he said, “You and your men have done well. Get some rest.”
* * * * *
“Lashpa would like to talk to you,” the ship said, startling Tom. He’d been sitting in the command chair staring at the ship’s instrument panel but not actually seeing any of it. They had been in space for two days. Shortly after leaving the Chroniech base, Lashpa had firmly told him she wanted to be alone for awhile. Tom, on the other hand, would have preferred to be with someone as he struggled to deal with the horror of what they had discovered on the planetoid.
“Accept,” he said. The moment her image appeared on the screen, he asked, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she replied, in a tired voice.
Tom raised his eyebrow.
“I’ve not slept since we left the base,” she admitted. “I’ve been having a hard time dealing with what I saw there. How about you?”
“Not much better,” Tom admitted. “I did get some sleep but I woke up in the middle of a nightmare. I keep thinking about Elith Monder and how he’s going to react when he learns what happened to his family.”
“I’ve asked to have such details concerning the passengers be kept from the public,” she said. “I think the shock of knowing would be too great for the survivors to bear.”
“Has command agreed?”
“They have. I received the message just before I called you.”
“I was worried about you,” he admitted. “I’ve never seen you so upset before. I didn’t think you would be so affected.”
Tilting her head to one side, she asked, “Why not?”
Tom suddenly felt embarrassed. It took him a moment before he could muster up enough courage to answer. “Because of what you eat,” he admitted.
Tom instantly regretted telling her the truth. He could see her tail thrashing in the background and was surprised it didn’t cause any damage to the surrounding equipment. “Just because I prefer to eat my food live does not mean- - -”
“That’s not what I meant!” Tom interrupted, desperately trying to find a way to explain himself without making the situation worse. “It’s … I thought you’d be more … I thought- - -”
Lashpa’s tail stopped thrashing but continued to jump around in quick, jerky motions. “How can you think that my choice of food would allow me to accept what the Chroniech did to the passengers. The food I eat is just that—food. Nonsentient life. You may find it disgusting and abhorrent but to a Rouldian nothing tastes better. The smell of cooked meat is just as disgusting to me.”
“I’m so sorry Lashpa,” Tom said, feeling ashamed and embarrassed.
“We’ll discuss this in more detail later,” she said, obviously still upset. “Do you know the Komodo Dragon is on its way to the Chroniech base?” she asked, abruptly changing the subject.
“I do,” he replied, relieved to be talking about something different. “The message said they were stopping by Roulda to pick up Falnath. I remember her from when she was on the Dragon. Brilliant scientist.”
“I only hope they can tell us what type of ship the Chroniech found. They obviously removed a lot of equipment from it. They wouldn’t have done that unless it was of some use to them.”
“The Kyrra aren’t known for building warships,” Tom said.
“Warship or not, their ships do carry defensive armament and Kyrra weapons are incredibly powerful.”
“I would have a hard time believing the Chroniech found anything more powerful than those point defense guns.”
“Let’s hope you’re right. I’ll talk to you later Tom. I’ve been up for three days and my ship is insisting I get some sleep.”
“I’m not going to argue that point. I’ll talk to you when- - -”
“Priority message from Centralis,” the Orion interrupted.
Glancing at Lashpa, Tom concluded she had received a similar interruption. “Display,” he ordered.
A text message appeared on a second monitor. Tom quickly read it—they were both being ordered to return to PKX-177. “You’d best get some sleep,” he told Lashpa.
“This is rather unexpected,” she replied. “I wonder why they chose us?”
“Because we’re the only peacekeepers in the area,” he replied. “I guess Centralis doesn’t want another repeat of the incident at Shaular.”
“That explains why they’re sending a mixed fleet to relieve the one that’s already there.”
“Get some sleep,” he said. “You look like hell.”
“I feel like I’ve crawled through it,” she replied. A second later, her image vanished.
“Orion, turn us around and head back to PKX-177.”
Chapter 31
Komodo Dragon: Bolivar-class Alliance heavy cruiser. Built at the Almaranus shipyards. While under the command of Captain Ken Stricklen, the Dragon discovered an ancient cargo. Inside, was a stasis machine containing five members of a race called the Kyrra, a technologically advanced race who’s homeworld was destroyed by a rogue neutron star over 45,000 years ago. The Dragon was heavily modified by the Hess (a semi-sentient probe constructed by the Kyrra) before leaving for Chroniech space on a mission to return them to their people. The ship’s weaponry, stardrive, and shield remain far more advanced than anything the Alliance has been able to develop. The Executive Officer, Doug Scarboro was promoted to the ship’s captain following the retirement of Captain Stricklen.
“Captain,” the helm announced. “We’re approaching the planetoid.”
“Very well,” Captain Doug Scarboro replied. “Slow us down then drop to normal.”
“Aye Sir.”
“Incoming message,” the coms operator said.
Doug accepted the transmission on one of his monitors by touching the pulsing icon. Captain Harth’s reptilian face appeared. “Welcome to PKX-177,” she be
gan. “I’m Captain Nareth-ga-Shuf Harth-ga-Lorgrth. It’s an honor to meet you Captain Scarboro.”
“Thank you. I have some very anxious passengers who will want to get to work as soon as possible. Request permission to assume a close orbit and drop a shuttle to the base.”
“By all means Captain. Transferring orbital coordinates now. I’m amazed you managed to make it here so quickly.”
“I have a Kyrra stardrive to thank for that,” Doug replied. “I believe Falnath will be transferring her berth to one of your ships. She’s not very comfortable aboard the Dragon.”
“Of course,” Harth replied. “I’ll have someone make the arrangements. Please remind your researchers that all information and data obtained from the base is to be transmitted to Centralis so it can be shared.”
“I will remind them. Dragon out.” Doug waited until the link was broken before turning to his communications operator and saying, “Sandy, please tell the research team that we’ve arrived and they can begin boarding the shuttle. They can launch as soon as we’ve established orbit.”
“Yes Sir.”
* * * * *
“Locked on target,” the weapons officer said.
Captain Albrath turned his head toward one of the screens surrounding his command chair. “Masthuma?”
“We’re ready,” the engineer replied.
Albrath looked over his right shoulder to where Varku was sitting in his slightly higher chair and received a nod of acknowledgment from the Commander.
“Fire!” the Captain ordered.
A large chunk of what had once been the hull plating of the Spirondak was the chosen target. Varku had ordered several pieces of the cargoliner hauled aboard just before abandoning their base after Masthuma said they would need something to shoot at while aligning the weapon’s targeting system. A glowing beam of light drew a perfectly straight line from the Chroniech battleship into empty space, missing the target by 17 kilometers.
“Target remains undamaged,” the weapons officer reported after a few seconds.
“The weapon did fire,” Masthuma said. “Trink is looking at the tracking data now.”
Varku forced himself to be patient. Several minutes passed before Masthuma said, “Corrections have been entered into the targeting system. We’re ready to try again.”
“Weapons, fire!”
This time, the blue line terminated in a miniature sun as the target was instantly annihilated.
“Target destroyed,” the weapons officer announced.
“Give us a couple minutes to verify our alignment before firing on the second target,” Masthuma said.
“Is the weapon performing as expected?” Varku asked.
“It is Commander,” Masthuma replied. After a short delay he continued, “We’re still slightly off-center. Corrections have been entered. Ready for the second target.”
The weapons officer was already moving to comply. Before Albrath could issue the order, he said, “Second target locked. Distance 140,162 kilometers.”
“Fire!”
A second artificial sun temporarily flared in the darkness of space. “Target destroyed!” the weapons officer practically shouted.
“Masthuma, is the weapon combat ready?” Varku asked.
The engineer’s upper lip curled exposing his sharp teeth. “Fully operational Commander. We were dead on target.”
“Very good. Captain! Take us back to the base. Set your speed at 3kc. Inform me when we are an hour away.” Captain Gritharg had recommended leaving a probe behind to see what happened when the Alliance fleet arrived. Varku was surprised when the Kyrra shield seemed to go down on its own. Masthuma was unable to explain why.
Touching a control on the arm of his chair, he made an announcement to the entire ship. “Attention! The Kyrra energy cannon is fully operational. We are heading back to our base where we will engage a small fleet of Alliance ships that have gathered there. After that, we’ll begin a rain of destruction the Alliance has not seen since our fleet invaded their space.”
Chapter 32
Falnath: Rouldian expert on stardrive field dynamics. She is one of only a handful of individuals who completely comprehend the complexities of continuum calculus—the special mathematics created specifically to define the complex interaction between stardrive fields and spacetime. She was one of two scientists involved in the release of the Kyrra from their stasis chamber. She accompanied the Komodo Dragon during its voyage to return the Kyrra to their people. She is now a recognized expert in Kyrra technology.
Tom walked into the packed conference room and was immediately approached by Captain Scarboro. “I told you one day I’d be taking orders from you,” the Captain said, raising his hand in a salute.
“You’re one hell of a prophet,” Tom replied as he returned the salute. “Lashpa and I are only here to ensure that no single government tries to take control of the Kyrra ship. We don’t want another power play like we had at Shaular.”
“I still don’t know what got into the Tholtarans back then,” Doug replied. “Damn near started an interstellar war within the Alliance even while we were at war with the Chroniech.”
“Hopefully, everyone has learned a lesson from that,” Tom replied.
Doug looked around the room and said, “Looks like everyone is ready. Stop by my stateroom later on so we can have a private chat.”
“I’ll do that.”
Doug took his position at the head of the table. Raising his voice, he said, “May I have everyone’s attention please.” After allowing the noise of a dozen different conversations to end, he continued, “Falnath has called this meeting to make an important announcement. She’s still on the surface and will speak to us through a video link.”
The main monitor at the front of the conference room came to life. The image of a figure dressed in a Rouldian spacesuit appeared. The shining interior of a cramped ship could be seen in the background.
“I’ve asked for this meeting to make a very important announcement that may have implications for the security of the entire Alliance. We’ve been examining the Kyrra ship for the past two days in an attempt to learn what technology the Chroniech have removed from it. Our past experience with Kyrra technology has allowed us to establish a workable interface with the ship’s memory systems. A few hours ago, we identified the ship’s primary function as well as a comprehensive list of its armament. This is no ordinary Kyrra ship. It’s one of the legendary planet killers.”
A murmur of excited side-conversations began to fill the room with noise. Raising his voice, Doug said, “I have first-hand knowledge of that story, and from what I was told all of the planet killers were destroyed by the Kyrra. This can’t be one of them.”
“What’s it doing this far from Kyrra space?” someone else asked.
“We don’t know why this ship survived,” Falnath replied. “Based on what we’ve seen, it looks like it was never activated. It may have been hidden here in case it was ever needed or perhaps it was one of several spares built but never deployed. We’ll never know for sure. Just like we’ll never know why it was hidden this far from Kyrra space. These are questions only the Kyrra can answer.”
“What’s more important,” Captain Harth spoke up, “is what have the Chroniech learned from the planet killer?”
“That’s why I’ve asked for this meeting,” Falnath said, her tail twitching. “Several key components of this vessel are missing. All of the ship’s fusion reactors, the point defense systems, and the shield generator were removed and used to provide protection for the base. The main reactor as well as the ship’s two primary weapon systems are gone.”
“We detected signs of welding on the hull of the Chroniech battleship just before they left,” Tom said.
“The Chroniech were able to figure out how to power up the Kyrra fusion reactors as well as to fire the point defense guns,” Falnath continued. “We can only assume they’ve also figured out how to fire the ship’s main weapons.”
“What type of weapons are we talking about?” Captain Harth asked.
“An energy cannon of incredible power rumored to be able to penetrate any shield and a device that is capable of transforming matter into antimatter at a distance.”
There was a stir of conversation as people turned to their neighbor to express their thoughts. A voice rose above the general noise. “The Kyrra use superheavy antimatter to fuel their reactors,” Skip Bucannon, the Dragon’s chief engineer pointed out. “They’re the only race capable of building such reactors. Can Chroniech power sources provide the energy needed to operate the main weapon?”
“We know next to nothing about the weapon’s capabilities,” Falnath replied. “The Chroniech are very intelligent and are familiar with technologies similar to what the Kyrra have mastered. If there is a way for them to power the weapon, then I would assume they’ve already done so.”
“That ship must be found and destroyed,” someone said.
“Centralis has already been informed.”
“What of the Kyrra shield generator?” Harth asked. “We were lucky it quit working otherwise we might not have learned any of this.”
Skip stood up so he could address the room. “The Chroniech inadvertently activated some of the stardrive circuitry when they bypassed the normal controls. This put the unit into an improper configuration causing a considerable amount of internal heating. The machine is severely damaged and- - -”
A loud alarm sounded causing Skip to stop talking. “Battle stations!” a voice blared over the ship’s PA system. “All hands: Man your battle stations.”
Through his biolink, Tom instantly knew what was wrong—two Chroniech ships had been detected on an approach vector. Taking a step toward the large screen, Tom shouted, “You and your crew get back to the fleet. Now! Leave everything and evacuate the base.”
Captain Scarboro approached grinning from ear to ear as the room quickly cleared. “They couldn’t have made it any easier, could they?”