by Nick Braker
“Why?” Zara asked. They both struggled to breathe and their effort was evident over the EP team broadcast. Jules estimated their arrival and load time would leave her 21 seconds to get far enough away from Earth and then get them far enough away from the bomb.
“Do you have the device?” Jules asked.
“Yes,” Mira said, “we are carrying it back now. This thing is heavy and we are behind schedule. Do we still have time?”
“Jules has an idea but at least we can save Earth-” Seph said.
Jules slanted her right hand while pulling back slightly with her left. The ship’s engines applied lift on one side of the ship forcing the opposite side to tilt downward. The airlock, on the opposite side, was now at ground level.
“Mira, I estimate you have eight seconds before reaching the ship. Once you’re in, position the bomb, upright, in front of the airlock’s inner doorway and then position yourselves in the corners along the outer hull with your backs to it. Seph, prepare the gravity well for a quick ascension.”
“Already ahead of you on that,” Seph said.
The main screen showed Mira and Zara had reached the edge of the ship and were heaving the bomb into the airlock. It now rested on the floor. They climbed in and positioned themselves as Jules had ordered.
“Go,” Mira yelled.
The airlock door closed as Jules applied maximum thrust to the engines. The initial discharge blew a hole into the ground behind them nearly 100 feet in depth. Hurricane strength winds buffeted the mansion and the force shattered all the exterior windows.
“We have 19 seconds,” Jules said, speaking quickly. She rotated the ship as it ascended pointing the airlock door away from Earth and toward outer space. Since the gravity well was in full force, none of them felt the acceleration. It was as if the ship sat motionless on Earth. “Look, grab hold of anything you can. I am going to depressurize the airlock in space and Seph is going to warp the gravity well in that room to push outward. If this works, our velocity, the air pressure and generated gravity will launch the bomb like a torpedo-”
“Are you kidding?” Zara exclaimed. “What will the decompression do to us?”
“You will only be exposed for a few seconds. You, more than most, know that a short exposure-”
“I’m going to pay you back for this, Jules,” Zara said.
“A contraction, Zara?” Jules asked. “I must be really getting under your skin.”
“Enough, you two,” Mira said. “Jules, make this work. We have to get away from the PB, too.”
The ship could not reach light speed near Earth’s gravity well and, by the time they could, it would not matter for Earth. It was their survival that was at stake now. The bomb had to accelerate with enough force to push it as far away as possible while Jules applied the engines’ power in a quick course change arc to take the ship away from it. She had seconds left.
“Jules?” Seph said.
“Three...”
“Oh hell,” Zara said.
“Two...”
“One...”
“We’re fucked, Mira,” Zara said.
“Opening the airlock door,” Seph interjected.
Jules directed her hands backwards and flipped them. The ship knew the signal as a request for an immediate stop. Several things happened in rapid succession. The airlock decompressed as the doors sprang open, the ship came to a sudden stop and the gravity well system near the airlock warped the curvature of space within the room. Zara and Mira, already on the outer wall, were pushed even harder into it by a force of 22Gs. The bomb torpedoed out of the airlock, spinning wildly out of control.
Jules shifted her hands, banking them hard left and applying maximum thrust. Mira and Zara both lay on the floor. She had less than a second as the ship accelerated along her course that quickly increased the distance between it and the bomb. It detonated.
“Maximum power applied to the rear shield-” Seph started to say.
The shields and hull easily protected them from the various frequencies of deadly radiation bombarding them from the explosion, radiation that reached them at the speed of light. Jules knew that was the easy part. The next step wouldn’t be. The concussive force expanded outward easily catching up with the fleeing ship. The bombs’ energy slammed into the rear shields, warping them. Internal power and lights winked out and the ship lurched forward. The blast’s kinetic power transferred through the failing shields and into the metallic hull. Alien or not, the special alloy hull buckled and both Seph and Jules were launched like rag dolls from their seats. The chair’s restraining systems had helped mitigate the force but they failed in the end. Jules’ last command to the ship’s engines executed automatically. She had programmed it as Mira and Zara had loaded the bomb. The engines slipped them into phased space and they accelerated to two times light speed in an instant. The concussive force fell behind like a rocket leaving the launching pad. Jules rolled over to her side.
“Who is conscious?” Jules asked, barely managing to get her question out.
No one responded. Jules started to crawled back to her console when the ship’s gravity well died. She pushed her way through the air, sailing toward her pilot seat. She gingerly managed to get herself in position as she changed course and headed back to Earth. They would need immediate medical attention. Mira, Zara and Seph didn’t move. Were they dead?
Kron - Capital City of Citron - Mental Projection room
Tuesday, October 27, 1987 - 09:42am
Katerra
Katerra took a deep breath, allowing her body to relax. She placed one hand on her console to steady herself.
The emergency power systems took control, restoring the lights and systems within the room. Several of her scientists struggled to return to their stations while others appeared unconscious. Now that power was restored, the room’s computer systems restarted, returning to normal operation while emergency medical crews attended the injured and assessed the severity of their wounds.
Katerra tapped the control to establish the link again. “Report,” Katerra ordered.
The link activated, bringing sounds of her people moaning and others in writhing pain. They were confused and disoriented. No one responded. Katerra severed the connection.
“Continue as planned and send whomever you can to the teleportation room... armed,” Katerra ordered Agneta, as she turned to leave.
Anything was possible with these humans and even her best security personnel might fail against them. With no one able to report, she decided to find out personally. Katerra loosened her cloak, letting it fall behind her. She changed instantly to Ryikoda. Her torso, arms and legs lengthened slightly. She broke into a run, reaching her top speed in two strides. The speed was refreshing and it helped clear her mind. The concussive sound had affected all of them, disorienting them at best and rendering the rest unconscious. Katerra had resisted the effect but not entirely.
The teleportation room was on the opposite side of the complex. She pushed harder, rushing by those in the hallway still confused from the concussion. The corridor was nearly a full mile long. Katerra finished the sprint, rounding the corner and pushing off the opposite wall to maintain her speed. Ahead of her, the teleportation room door was open. From her vantage point, several of her security team lay scattered across the floor, motionless. They were likely unconscious or dead, possibly by human hands. Katerra closed the distance, preparing herself for a fight. Magnus could not be underestimated and Katerra had no room for mistakes. She wanted him alive, if possible... her plans depended on it. If she had to, Katerra knew she’d kill Magnus and his crew.
She slid to a stop within the room. Her security detail was alive. Bree and her staff were in similar condition as those she had passed along the way. The containment field had reactivated after the power had been restored but a large computer station console blocked her view of the containment field’s floor.
Katerra crouched low, searching the room with her eyes. She sniffed the air. She did
n’t know what a human would smell like as she’d never met one while in her own body. The odors were unique. It must be the humans. They were here.
She slowly shifted her feet left, quickly jerking her head side to side, ensuring they didn’t sneak up on her. The containment chamber’s floor came into view. Four humanoid bodies lay unmoving on it. Tiny wisps of smoke rose from their clothing. Were they unconscious? Katerra wouldn’t take the chance but she did entertain the thought of dropping the containment field. She eased herself upright, still cautious.
Magnus.
Katerra glanced back at her people again. They were still unresponsive. She moved to stand next to the containment field, looking down at him. Her heart beat faster. She knelt next to him with the barrier the only thing between them.
Shift back. No!
While in her Ryikoda form, her animal instincts were stronger. Katerra wanted Magnus again and the feeling was stronger than anything she had experienced before. Is this what the humans had done to her Omarii? Had the human, Amanda, affected Katerra, too? She reached out to touch him. The barrier shocked her and she jerked her hand back, growling.
“My queen,” Agneta said, through the communication system.
Shift back.
Katerra shifted form, returning to normal. Her hand went to the side of her head, rubbing it. It pulsed and she felt somewhat confused. She stood, checking the room again and finding everyone still unconscious. Katerra could not afford for anyone to suspect her. Her plan would not be accepted and it could mean her ruin. She had to do this alone. She moved to the nearest computer station, activating it.
“Report,” Katerra answered.
“Are you-”
“Report, Agneta,” Katerra said, raising her voice.
“Twenty-two injured, four are in critical condition but stable,” Agneta said.
“See to their injuries and report any changes,” Katerra ordered.
“Systems?” Katerra asked.
Deira cut in. “My queen, I’m reporting from the central hub. Power systems have sustained critical damage. Emergency power active and unaffected. Projection system suffered a power failure,” Deira paused. “Our connection with Chitra was severed and, though we successfully reestablished her neural links for a few moments, she... Chitra is dead, my queen.”
“Did the bomb detonate during the power loss?”
“Yes, my queen,” Deira said, “but the humans managed to transport it to space before it detonated. The human planet is still intact.”
The female human, called Li, had stopped Chitra. The bomb had not destroyed Earth.
Good, all is going according to plan.
Chapter 10
TIA
Kron - Capital City of Citron
Tuesday, October 27, 1987 - 10:50am
Katerra
Katerra’s people worked with efficiency and urgency. Decades of training and surviving a war the Aliri had brought to Kron had hardened each of them. They knew the price of failure meant their extinction. The Aliri would not give up and, in the end, only one species would remain. Katerra would ensure it would be her people and she would go to any length to make that happen.
For the last hour, her people had worked to repair Kron’s infrastructure. Katerra had ordered her fleet to high alert, bringing several dreadnought class ships into geosynchronous orbit over Citron, their capital city and the home of the queen’s palace. She ordered every fighter class ship launched into a protection grid formation over the city. The rest of the fleet accelerated their patrols through Kron’s solar system making certain the Aliri would regret any decision to attack directly. Repairs were nearly complete and the city was already returning to functional status.
The humans had been anesthetized, secured and quarantined in Kron’s prison facility just outside Citron. The facility hadn’t been used in decades as Katerra did not waste resources on criminals. Any crime worthy of incarceration ended in death. Resources were precious and would not be thrown away keeping prisoners fed, warm and... alive.
She had ordered her maintenance crews to repair the prison facility’s power and environmental systems. Power had been restored with the promise from her chief engineer, Kulani, that the other system would soon follow. The humans were separated from each other into their own cells and then chained and shackled to the prison’s floor. They would not escape unless they wanted to commit suicide. Death would be minutes away if they left the prison facility. Kron’s atmosphere had been the attack point by the Cortians to destroy Kron. It had almost worked, forcing her people inside environmentally controlled and airtight buildings, which they later connected to each other via tunnels. A latticework of tunnels connected all Kron’s cities to one another.
The prison facility was the exception. The earthlings were isolated from all other buildings by Kron’s deadly atmosphere. It contained a fatal and constantly mutating pathogenic bacterium created by a now extinct race. Any Kron being exposed to the bacteria would die in less than a minute. Based on the Aliri probes’ data, Agneta had assured her the humans would, also. Katerra had ordered the humans into isolation without medical observation or treatment. Her people must not discover the truth regarding their ancestry.
Galibri’s revelation that their two species were originally from the same planet had given her unexpected options. Alestron’s attempt to use humanity to destroy Kron would fail. Centuries of war with the Aliri vermin would end in one generation. The Aliri were close to extinction, they just didn’t know it yet.
Blip.
A blue light flashed on her desk console, alerting her. Katerra activated the monitoring system in Kron’s restored prison. She cycled through the camera images of the human women. They were unconscious. She pressed the button once more. It showed Magnus’ cell. There, shackled to the floor, was Magnus. The human male from Earth that had, so far, thwarted her attempts to destroy them. He struggled against his bonds, testing their strength.
“Tia,” Katerra said.
The communication link opened.
“Yes, my queen,” Tia answered.
“The human male is conscious. It is time to begin,” Katerra said.
“My queen,” Tia said, “may I ask a question of you?”
Katerra knew the nature of her question. Why her?
“Proceed.”
“There are hundreds of others more capable. Why did you pick Carena?”
Katerra had chosen them for several reasons. They were expendable. Normal human pathogens, perhaps harmless to Earthlings, could bring sickness and death to Katerra’s people. The containment field had dropped briefly after the power failure but Agneta and Kulani had assured Katerra that no foreign matter from Earth had left the room. Kron’s computer controlled decontamination system had cleansed the Earthlings from known internal and external bacteria and viruses. Their human bodies had been infested with them.
Katerra had chosen Carena and Tia because they fit several key profiles needed to move her plan along. War, and their species’ survival, meant allocating resources as efficiently as possible. Every member of Kron’s society was categorized - intelligence, endurance, athleticism, ideology... if it could be measured, it was. It was a program Katerra’s mother had started and that Katerra had continued.
Carena was a perfect fit for Katerra’s plans as Carena was a physician and the least xenophobic. They scored lower on intelligence, each were weak willed and unusually submissive. Their ratings were among the lowest tolerated scores. Katerra knew Magnus’ weaknesses and she would exploit them. He was inherently protective of the opposite gender and especially vulnerable to comely women. Carena and Tia were both.
“Tia, your people need you. Find out what the Earthling knows about us and use whatever means necessary to extract that information.”
“As you wish, my queen.”
Unknown Location
Unknown Time
Magnus
Magnus opened his eyes. He tensed, unable to see. He was either blind or
there were no lights.
What the hell is going on? Take stock. Where am I?
Magnus remembered the debilitating torment preceding the blackness that engulfed him. That was one experience he didn’t want to live through again. He and his team had been less than twenty feet from Omarii. Miguel’s henchman had laughed as Magnus’ team had attacked them. The alien shit had laid a trap. Had he fallen into the creature’s hands? If he was, the creature would regret not killing him.
His back was pressed against something.
A floor?
Magnus’ arms were above his head. He tried to move them but his wrists were secured and apparently bolted to a floor that he could not see. Was he on his spaceship? Gravity felt the same as it did the first time he was on board his old ship. It was certainly less than Earth which meant a gravity well was active or he was on another planet.
What had happened? His head ached with the focal point right between his eyes. It pulsed, sending tendrils of pain into the back of his skull and then down his neck. The last thing he remembered was the deafening noise. Waves of low and high pressure zones had hit his entire team. Miguel, controlled by the Omarii, had pretended to give up. It was another trap.
Ruth!
Were they all okay or at least alive? Magnus was still clothed but by the feel of it, his belt and weapon were gone. The only noises in the room were his own movements and breathing. He tapped the floor with his finger lightly. The room was large enough to create a slight echo. It sounded empty with metallic walls. There were no unusual odors, not even from the metal bonds that held him. It was cold and it had already seeped into him. The icy floor leached the heat from his backside causing him to shiver. Whatever had happened and whoever had done this to him, Magnus was their prisoner.
Damn it. I’ve got to find a way-
The muffled sounds of footsteps on metal drew closer. Someone was out there. If they were coming for him, he had better find a way to break free now. If he were next for harvesting, he didn’t have much time. The Aliri had to surgically extract organs from live human beings and use the molecular compounds to animate dead hosts that they had selected to do reconnaissance work on Earth. They had to kill several human beings in order to animate one host who would infiltrate human societies. Their claim was that it was necessary to save mankind from the Kron.