by Devin Cain
"You will have it within six hours, Captain Kris," Antonius replied. "Admiral, Lady Death, if you will excuse us?"
"Sure," I nodded. "I want to have the lists in three hours though, not six. Make it happen, Captain Antonius."
"Sir, yes sir!" the older man replied as his hologram blinked out. The rest followed quickly one after another, leaving me mentally exhausted. This kind of thing isn’t what I looked forward to. There was a reason why people didn’t like to be in command, and that was both decision-making, as well as boring meetings.
"So, what now?" Gremory asked. "Just sitting around doing nothing isn’t really my style."
"Well, we still have some time to kill, so why not try and find the ship those nasty bastards used to come here?"
"Oh? I like that! How about a bet? Whoever finds it first wins," Gremory proposed. I shrugged.
"Why not?" I asked. There’s something in winning that makes you want to try extra hard. No, it wasn’t winning, it was losing. No one liked to lose, no matter what it was about, and no matter how big or small the bet was. "But I don’t see what I could get out of it other than satisfaction of beating you."
"Isn’t that enough? And don’t act as you’ve already beaten me, Admiral. I’ve got quite a couple of tricks up my sleeves when it comes to space."
"I’ll give you that, but don’t forget, I’m a natural."
"If you say so, sir," she chuckled. I couldn’t help but smile.
"I give it until we get the manifests from the other ships, anything longer than that is pushing it. We need to get to Beta as quickly as possible."
"Yes, sir! See you in a few!"
She turned about and ran off, cheerful as ever. Just what did she have in store this time?
"Sir?" Kris asked. "You don’t have to hurry, take your time. I’ll have everything compiled and ready by the time you’re back."
"Thank you, Captain," I replied, flashing her a smile. I was proud of her, as the young woman turned out to be more than capable of handling many more things than I’d ever given her credit for. In any case, the die had been cast, now it was time to wait everything out and head to Beta.
Chapter Fifty
For some unknown reason, the cold of space felt almost like home this time around. Maybe it was because my worries were mostly gone now, or because the first part of our journey was slowly coming to an end, or at least I hoped so. I had enough fighting for a good while, and in all honesty, I wasn’t looking for more any time soon.
I finally took the time to look around and see what the system had to offer. It wasn’t much, but the handful of planets and the gigantic sun didn’t give off a feeling of home. Not even Earth could do that for me anymore, but this felt downright hostile for some reason.
"Hey Devil, what can you tell me about this system?" I asked, streaking past an asteroid. It was full of holes as if a gigantic rat had chewed through it.
"Not much. Our legion never ventured this way during its conquests, as it was never a direct route to new, troublesome areas."
"Is there anything of interest I could see here?"
"Well, there is one thing, but you’d have your ass chewed out by the others," Devil snickered. "You sure you want to venture that far?"
"Come on, tell me," I said impatiently. From what I could see, there wasn’t much to look at, but that was only because I couldn’t see that far.
"Follow this direction," he said, bringing up a green tracer line in front of me. "When you get there, you should have one up on a certain someone."
I couldn’t help but grin at the prospect of winning this one, especially if it was what I hoped. Still, I wouldn’t celebrate too quickly, as I had a good twenty minutes to get there. The safety my transformation provided was the one thing that made me enjoy everything to its fullest, as I doubted that any type of suit or spaceship or fighter could let you feel everything.
"Any luck?" Gremory’s voice chimed in my mind. "I’m kind of lost out here if you know what I mean. This system is huge."
"No shit. I have no idea what was on your mind when you took this so lightly."
"That Devil could easily find it and tell me where it was? Something like that."
I couldn’t help but snort.
"Oh man, you really are something special, you know that?"
"Depends on how special," she chuckled.
"I’ll show you once we arrive on Entraxila."
"Just me?"
"I haven’t decided yet, but I’ll keep you in the loop."
She scoffed and closed off our mental link. Devil could open it up for me if I wanted to, but the suspense of what waited for me at the end of the tracer line was killing me. It became very quickly sure that it wasn’t the ship, but rather something else. A glow unlike anything I’d ever seen in my life was the first thing that told me it was special, no matter what he’d found.
"Devil? Dare I go around the other side of this rock and see what’s giving off the glow?"
"Only if you want to. But I wouldn’t wait long, things like these are so incredibly rare, that I’ve only heard two times about their existence."
"But what are they anyway?"
"These things are leftovers from a black hole, condensed into crystals. They have no real power, so even if you’d break them, nothing would happen. However, they’re incredibly hard to work with."
"And what’s their purpose?"
"Beauty. Nothing else," Devil replied calmly. It was as if he’d been waiting to find such leftovers for all his life.
"Can we store it in the hold?"
"We sure can if you want to. But if you ask me, I’d be very grateful to you for doing so."
"Oh? What’s with you today? Why so sentimental?"
"Nothing really. Now go and have a look."
I shrugged and did as he told me to, flying around the rock and coming to a halt at the dead center. It was breathtaking in the least, and out of this world at best. Stalagmites and stalactites had formed a strange symbiosis, reaching toward each other in a strange arc, merging and spiraling past each other. The vibrant red, purple, blue, and anything in between radiated like a rainbow sun, showering me in its warmth and glory.
"Shit, this truly is a marvel of nature," I whispered, finally coming to my senses.
"I told you so. Sure, the enemy ship is an important find, but this, this is what life is about. Or at least that’s what I was told about by—"
"By whom?" I asked, curious as to who he meant.
"No one important. Come, we need to take this beauty back with us. You think you can push it?"
"Probably, but I’m not letting you off the hook. Who was it that told you about life?"
"Do we have to do this right now?" Devil snapped.
"No, we don’t, but I’d like to know. You’re not just a ship, you’re a living, breathing—something, so know you can talk to me whenever it is that you need."
"This is so humiliating," he murmured. "I’m being offered therapy from a Human."
"Then make sure no one ever finds out about it, but first, let’s get to the bottom of your unanswered love."
"You’re really not making it easy on me, huh?"
"Not really," I replied bluntly but eagerly awaiting his next move.
"Who else but Lilith. There’s a reason you get along so well with Gremory, even despite many—shortcomings from both sides. See, she was a ship as well, one with a fiery temperament. We argued over everything and everyone, even over the small things like how many sailors we had on board. But then the brass saw it fit to send her on a one-way trip into the unknown and I never heard from her again. Lucifer even tried reaching out, but there was nothing he could find."
"I see. So then there might be a chance she’s still alive?"
"Don’t even go there. I’ve waited for decades, but nothing ever changed, so please, before you say something that will only serve to rile me even further, don’t say anything at all."
I couldn’t even try to understand how t
hat must have felt, especially enduring such pain for a very long time. Could his snarky nature and the way he tried to act tough be a coping mechanism?
"What do you propose we do with this rock?" I asked, steering the conversation back to the previous topic.
"We could ask the Mechanoids if they have ever worked with such material, and then use it to create some things for the officer’s lounge, the bridge, or your room. The lighting will be phenomenal."
"How many lamps could we create out of them? Or long strips of the crystals that would give off enough to light up a room?"
"Oh, I like what you’re going at," Devil chuckled. "You’re still clinging on to your Humanity, aren’t you?"
"Isn’t that a good thing?" I asked, cruising through the cold of space right toward Devil. I felt at peace for some strange reason, as there was no immediate danger on which I needed to focus right now.
"It can be if the circumstances are right, but if you’re about to pardon enemies, then—"
"Really? You’re giving me the speech?"
"You know, I’m not always nice, so don’t take it for granted."
"Speaking of nice, why are you so awfully quiet, Khepri?"
"She’s in hibernation, recovering power. Mutations take a lot out of us, so whenever we’re not needed, we tend to drift off and try to recover as much power as we can."
"I see. In that case, we should leave her be. I don’t want her nagging at me for hours."
"Oh boy, you’ve got that one right," Devil laughed. "To answer your previous question, you could easily create a hundred smaller, and a couple of larger lamps let’s call them. It would be a waste to break down the spirals and the large ones though."
"How about we see who even deserves one first, and use the smaller ones and the debris to practice first, and once we’re good enough, we can work on the big ones?"
"McGregor is saying hi," Devil replied. "Yeah, I contacted him as we were speaking. He says that it’s quite hard to do what we have in mind, but possible. His suggestion is to feed the rock and have it grow more natural crystals, then cut them off at a certain height."
"Feed them?" I asked curiously. "How the hell can you feed a rock or a crystal formation?"
"I have no idea, but he says it’s his problem and he’ll have a solution by the time they catch up with us."
"Have one of his suits pick it up. I’ll leave it here," I said and stopped pushing the rock. "Any news about the ship?"
"Nothing. Gremory has been actively scanning the region for a while, but nothing."
"Have the ships that are staying behind take up the search and tell Gremory to meet me back on Devil. I’m itching to get back to Beta and move to our next destination."
"At least you got something for your wasted time," Gremory murmured. "But don’t even think you’ve won this round. No, neither of us found the derelict."
"I wouldn’t even dream of it, Gremory. But seriously, just look at this beauty," I said, pointing right at the large rock. "Look at the glow. It’s even more beautiful inside the ship than it was outside."
"Tell me about it. But how come I’ve never heard about these?"
I shrugged.
"Ask Devil. He said that they were extremely rare and only ever heard about them a couple of times. Though how one managed to stay hidden in here is beyond me."
"Oh shit!" Gremory snapped. "What if that rock isn’t even a rock, but the enemy spaceship? Look, just look at those lines and grooves!" she said, pointing at an edge I hadn’t noticed before. But it was far too small to be a ship, I thought, barely large enough as one of our dropships.
"Devil? What do you have to say for yourself?" I asked curiously, staring up at the ceiling as if it was going to help me in any way. "Tell me she’s right."
"She is. I have no idea how I could have overlooked the matter. Maybe it was the fact I was too taken in by the crystals."
"Say, would it be possible for them to create these and use them as ships? What better way to camouflage ships than make them appear as if they belonged out there in space."
"Do a system-wide scan for this type of rock and these minerals," I ordered, "And have someone take this somewhere it can be properly contained."
"Yes, Admiral," Devil replied calmly. Gremory shot me a mean look, though I knew it was meant playfully.
"So you two pulled a quick one on me. You deserve each other," she laughed. I frowned. Why not? We worked well enough together, even though he was a snarky bastard.
"Not on purpose, but yeah, now that you mention it—"
The door whooshed open, revealing Khavvrin along with ten of his mutated soldiers. He stopped a couple of foot from the rock and observed it, then looked my way and shrugged.
"How do you want us to handle this, Admiral? When Devil said rock, I thought he meant something— smaller?"
"Have the drones do the heavy lifting, you just secure the place. Devil, scan this thing thoroughly and give me an update once you finish scanning the whole system. I need to go and prepare orders for those we’re leaving behind."
"We’re not leaving them behind," Gremory said. "They’re staying behind to finish repairs. To you, it may seem the same, but not to them. Leaving is a—bad word that can demoralize the outfit."
"Yeah, you’re right. I’ll need to be careful in the future when it comes to such things," I replied, walking off the cargo bay. The occasional stare spacers sent my way was the only real acknowledgment I got from the crew. Fear hung in the air, it was almost palpable, but that was a good thing in this situation. Everyone would be doing their best for whatever reason they would see fit.
I found Kris waiting in the officer’s lounge, drinking together with the Doc, so I decided to join the two. Kris filled a cup and handed me the black liquid topped by three cubes of ice.
"Devil told us something about finding the enemy spaceship?" Kris asked.
"Or something like it. I have no idea. They’re taking it into quarantine right as we speak, and Devil is scanning the whole system for any more of those things."
"I don’t think they’re spaceships," Doc said, interrupting us. "See, it has no propulsion system, nor any of the usual things like sensor buoy’s, weapon ports; you name it, it’s missing."
"So it’s what? A part from the ship?"
"Exactly! I think it’s the engine, or rather the propulsion system itself. I’ve seen Devil’s scans, and they support my theory to a degree. See, the crystals were used as a source of energy to propel the ship at tremendous speeds over great distances. Even more, I think that they were never meant to go back, not from what I’ve managed to see."
"And why do you think so, Doc?" Kris asked. She seemed genuinely interested in the matter, maybe even as much as I was.
"I think they were sent here to colonize, most likely prisoners sent on a one-way trip. It isn't like Humans haven’t done so in our own history, no? I won’t count examples, but we’ve even done so in the last decades, sending ships full of prisoners and scum of the Earth into faraway reaches. Who is to say these aliens haven’t done so as well?"
"Whatever the reason may be, Doc, they’re here now. If there’s one thing I’m sure of, is that if there’s one group, there are bound to be others."
An uncomfortable silence reigned over the officer’s lounge as both women stared right at me. I knew what they wanted to ask, but I wasn’t sure that I wanted to address the matter. Still, someone had to, so why not me.
"No, we don’t warn them. I couldn’t care less about them, not after what they did and after what I saw for the thousandth time."
"But what if something happened to that guy Dimitriy or what was his name again?" Kris asked. "Your smuggler friend. What if we lost him? Along with him, we’d lose our only trade partner from Earth."
"Who needs Earth?" Doc asked. "There are countless planets who’d trade with us if we had what they needed, and besides, there are so many alien races out there with whom we could trade with as well, and what’s more, the
y’re far more advanced than Humanity."
I sighed, annoyed by where this was going. After all, I came here to leave orders for the ships staying behind, and not to get into more politics and whatnot.
"Devil, relay my orders to the dreadnought as well as the ships that are under repairs. I want us out of here as soon as possible."
"And what orders would that be?" he asked.
"Give them the coordinates to Entraxila, then tell them to hurry the fuck up with repairs and meet us there. McGregor is in overall command, and they’re to follow his orders, whether they like it or not. I’ve got a bad feeling about all this, and overstaying our welcome here isn’t in our interest."
Chapter Fifty-One
"Sir! There’s an unknown vessel stationed over Gebradim Beta," Helena’s voice rang out on the bridge. It was a note higher than usual, but I couldn’t blame her, she was still fresh.
"Bring it up on the screen. What are we looking at?" I asked, staring at the center console on the bridge. Gremory, Kris and the rest sat around our usual lounge space, but everyone was all eyes and ears.
"There you go, sir," she replied a moment later. "And this is our position in comparison along with our two sister-ships."
"Don’t make any rash decisions," Devil warned. "This is an organic ship, just like me."
"So then it’s extremely valuable?" I asked, studying the massive behemoth.
"You don’t want a firefight with these guys, trust me. From what I can tell, it outclasses all three of us combined by a magnitude. If the dreadnought were here, it would be a different story, but we’re alone for now," Devil said. "It’s even more heavily armed than all three of our ships combined, and the same goes for the armor. It’s giving off strange radiation and bounces our sensors like their nothing."
I remained quiet for a moment until Gremory put her hand on mine and looked over at Esma. I nodded.
"Esma, have we received any hails from them? Or can you try and get through?"
"Yes, we did. They want to talk to the Nephilim in charge."