by Frank Carey
"Still crewed by one pilot?"
"Yep, and I hear she's a real spitfire."
"When do the festivities begin?"
"The Yosho Maru should arrive in four hours, the task force in five. The Henrietta Swann Leavitt has been ordered to dust-off and take up station behind a nearby asteroid the moment Kel has shunted over to the Yosho. I'm still kicking myself for sending a lightly-armed research ship on a mission as dangerous as this one."
"A danger you discovered only after the Leavitt arrived on-station. Now, I assume you're going to monitor the op from the castle's command information center?"
Neta nodded. "You're welcome to join us."
Sheila shook her head. "I'll Kibbutz from my living room. My parents are watching Sam right now, so I need to get back. Are you going to be OK?"
Neta nodded. "I'm the boss. I have to be OK."
Sheila nodded. "Call me if you need me."
Neta nodded once more. "Thanks."
Sheila finished her drink in one swallow before heading out the door.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Alex, Governor of the planet Alyson, watched crowds pass below his office window. "How we have grown," he said quietly as a ship passed overhead on its way to a landing at Alyson's Spaceport at the edge of town. Off in the distance, a cloud of dust rose into the blue sky, a sign that one of the fields was being prepared for planting. To any of the thousands of visitors to Alyson, it would seem as if life here was idyllic. How little they knew.
"Governor, Admiral Sullivan is here to see you," Alex's assistant, Felicity Zarn, announced over the intercom.
"Good, bring her in, please. Fel, could you get us some tea?"
"Coming right up, sir."
There was a knock followed by Felicity and the admiral walking in. Felicity left the two alone as she gathered the tea.
"Admiral Sullivan, how go the preparations?" Alex asked as they sat down.
"We are almost ready to depart," the winged Basili admiral replied. "I have to say. I never dreamed that I would be commanding a task force of ships from six different planets, a task force which will enter a nearby galaxy, then a nearby universe. The mind boggles."
"Change is the rule of the day. I promise, you'll never get used to it. Any questions? Need anything?"
"I see we're taking a ground support team comprised of a BORIS and five Centaur biomechanical suits. I'm not familiar with the BORIS unit."
"Late twenty-first century Earth-Nordican design. Eight feet tall, immensely strong, four adamantine mesh tentacles stored in its torso. Can survive orbital reentry and hard landing. Computer system upgraded to latest quantum technology."
"And the driver?"
"Dr. Joshua Gray, its designer. He volunteered for this assignment."
"Wait... You said he designed it. Late twenty-first Earth was over two hundred standard years ago."
Alex told the admiral the abbreviated story of Dr. Joshua Gray.
"Amazing. I look forward to meeting Dr. Gray. Tell me, why did he volunteer?"
"He wants to meet himself. He says he has a feeling."
"Interesting. I thought only the Sokuhl had survived on the other side."
"That's the story. Still, Joshua has a feeling, and I've learned to trust his feelings."
"And his mate, Tayla Hardy, is OK with this?"
"I suggest you bring him back in one piece."
"I have met the Hardy twins, so copy that."
Finished, the two shook hands before Alex showed the admiral out. Alone once more, Alex returned to the window and continued to watch his people while waiting for his next appointment.
###
"Admiral's on the Bridge," the first officer announced when Admiral Sullivan walked into the control room of the Sokuhl cruiser Heart of Flame.
"At ease. Capt. Treema, status?"
"We will be leaving orbit in twenty minutes. The other ships, including Annihilator II will rendezvous with us at the gate. ETA to Charlene is five hours from gate entry."
"Charlene?"
"The VC star's new code designation. I think everyone got tired of using the star's catalog number, sir."
"Charlene. My aunt's name is Charlene. Very good. What about the ground teams?"
"There are two Sokuhl tactical teams aboard the Leavitt, both with winged and wingless members. We have three more teams aboard. They're training in Gymnasium three, sir."
"And the biosuits?"
"Back-up, sir. They're piloted by a team of Expeditionary Force Marine specialists and Dr. Joshua Gray, co-inventor of the BORIS biorobotic suit."
"Alex told me about Dr. Gray. I look forward to meeting him."
"He and the Marine drivers are in the gym training with the tac teams. Sir, I would be happy to make introductions."
"Excellent idea, Captain Treena."
"Zeta, you have the con," the captain said as she got out of her chair to join the Admiral at the Bridge hatch. They walked out, leaving the crew to their duties.
###
The admiral and the captain walked into the Gym 3 observation area where they could watch and listen to the training session without interrupting it. The gym was bereft of spectators as the rest of the crew prepared for travel through the Alyson gateway. At the center of a large hexagon painted in the floor stood an eight-foot tall, human, body builder, its gender indeterminate, head bald, and skin dappled camouflage. The admiral could not tell if the being was clothed or naked. It stood there, arms at its sides as it stared forward. Outside the ring stood the Centaurs, their drivers, and their handlers.
From a doorway, eight nightmares moved into the gym and 'walked' to the center where they surrounded the BORIS unit. Each combatant was a foot-wide sphere attached to twelve tentacles. There was no sign of sense organs or breathing apparatus.
"What are those?" the admiral asked the captain.
She smiled. Are you familiar with Dr. Kellen Hardy's work helping the Tegans learn what they could about the Trent?"
"Yes. How is that going?"
The captain nodded toward the tableau on the gym floor. "He's pretty sure that's what a Trent's component looks like."
The admiral peered down at the creatures. "Biorobotic?"
"Yes. We have a Martok driver running them from a location off-floor. It's thought a Martok could most closely simulate the real Trent. Ah, I think they're going to begin."
As they watched, a force field shimmered into existence around the perimeter of the hexagon painted on the floor. The BORIS unit bowed to his opponents who bowed back. The battle then began as all eight Trent units leapt at the BORIS.
The match was over fifteen seconds later with pieces of the Trent stand-ins strewn around the ring while the BORIS carefully retracted its tentacles back into their storage bays. When they finished, the BORIS walked out of the ring to kneel down amongst the other drivers. As they cheered, the BORIS' chest opened to release its driver, Dr. Gray.
"Wow," the captain noted.
"Can we meet him?" the admiral asked.
"Of course, sir. This way."
The captain led the admiral down to the floor just as the other drivers finished congratulating Joshua.
"Atten-shuh!" a Marine barked and every grunt in the room stood at attention and saluted.
"At ease," the captain said as she and the admiral returned the salute. As the marines prepared for their own matches, a maintenance crew worked on clearing the debris from the ring.
"Dr. Gray, I would like to introduce Admiral Sullivan, commander of this task force."
"Glad to meet you sir," Josh said while shaking hands with the winged reptoid.
"Doctor, I've been briefed on your background. You normally design these suits while farming strawberries in your spare time?"
"Yeah, can't get enough of them."
"How did you do that?" the admiral asked while pointing to a piece of simulated Trent being carried off by a robotic handler.
"My mother and our sensei taught me the martial
arts when I was a kid living on Earth."
"I'm familiar with many of them. Which ones were you taught?"
"All of them, Admiral."
The admiral looked to the captain for guidance.
"His mother is Mnemosyne, Immortal of Memory."
"And I'm pretty sure Sensei was an immortal as well, though mom refuses to discuss the matter. Immortals! Can't live with them; can't live without them," the young researcher noted with a smile.
"Amazing. Is your mother aboard the Heart of Flame? I would like to meet her."
"No. Mom and the other immortals are preparing Alyson's and Arctillus' defenses in the event the League is invaded by the other universe. I'll introduce you to her when we get back. She has a thing for wings." This got a hearty laugh from the Admiral and an embarrassed grin from the captain.
"I wasn't aware that we were expecting to deal with this Trent thing on this trip," the admiral noted.
"We're not," Josh explained. "My boss, Dr. Gloria Aymar-Taggart, built those simulations to test the BORIS's responses, and I like to keep my training up to date."
"Sir, no trace of the Trent has been detected in the two years we've been searching for it," the captain noted.
"Good. We have enough trouble without something like that showing up. Well, Doctor, I should let you get back to work."
"Thank you, Admiral, Captain," Josh said as he reboarded the BORIS and headed back into the ring.
A chime sounded over the PA.
"Five minutes to gateway entry, sir," the captain said to the Admiral. "We should return to the bridge."
The two headed to the exit while Joshua and the Marines returned to sparring.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Gus walked onto the Yosho's bridge and sat down at the scanner station next to where Savannah was sitting and talking to Matt. He leaned back in his seat and stared at the young woman.
After a few moments, she looked up at him, annoyed at the attention. "What?"
"I think it's time for the reveal," he said.
"Reveal? What reveal?"
Gus reached over and flipped a switch. The image of FTL space on the main viewer was replaced with a diagram of the station they were approaching.
"Are those energy flows?" Matt asked. "Where is this coming from? Yosho's systems could never produce this."
"I hacked into the data stream running between the research ship attached to the station—the R/S Henrietta Swann Leavitt—and Arctillus.
"There's a ship attached to the station?" Savannah asked in shock.
Gus nodded. "I suspected something like that would happen." He typed a command into the keyboard. A red disk appeared. "That's the energy signature of an inter-universe portal. It's person sized. Savannah, it looks like your people carried your unconscious body across that portal and left you alone in that derelict. How did your mother know a probe was passing by close enough to pick up your life signs?"
"What?"
"The life signs the League probe homed in on."
"I... I don't know."
"One final question: What were you supposed to do when you arrived?"
"We were supposed to contact Mother who would walk us through connecting the drive to the power system and open a portal back to my universe. I figured we could save some time by having Matt do it en route."
"Contact how?"
"She said we just needed to dock with the station. She didn't go into details."
"Well, good thinking about connecting the drive. OK, so we have a slight problem. Even though we have a way across, we can't dock, there's a ship in the way."
"Can't we just radio through that portal?" Morty asked.
"The size of the portal puts a limit on transmission range," Horus explained.
"What are we talking about? Miles?"
"Yards, like the distance between the dock and the portal."
"So, what do we do?" a dejected Savannah asked.
"Form a portal and cross-over unannounced," Gus said.
Everyone just stared at him.
"Can we do that?" Savannah asked.
"Yes. We have your quantum spin signature on file, so it's just a matter of plugging it in and letting the computer do the rest," Matt explained. "Gus, we don't know what will be waiting for us on the other side."
"Savannah, do you have a personal ID code of some kind? Perhaps an ID card, or a driver's license?"
"I have a travel ID. Will that work?" she asked as she pulled a dog tag from under her shirt. Taking it off, she handed it to Gus.
He glanced at Matt who returned a slightly haunted look. The League had laws against travel papers for citizens. It was too totalitarian.
"Perfectly," he said while programming the comm system. His sense of foreboding increasing by the minute.
###
The mortal crew of the Yosho Maru sat in various seats while the Immortals stood, arms crossed, watching out the forward windscreens as the freighter left other-space for normal space, all that is except for Horus, who opted to perch on the back of the pilot's seat having reverted to owl-form—something about the cockpit being too crowded.
By mutual agreement, Gus took the role of pilot and Matt Copilot. Even the immortals felt safer with the Storen’s hands on the controls.
"Real-space in three... Two... One... Mark!" Matt called out as the multi-hued plasma streamers of other-space gave way to the stars of real-space. Ahead, they could see Charlene.
"ETA, ten minutes, mark!" Matt called out.
"FTL core on standby. Activate resonators!" Gus called out.
"Activating resonators, aye," Matt replied.
"Initiate quantum compensators!"
"Quantum compensators initiated and online!"
"Final scan, full spherical."
"Final scan, aye... We're picking up something aft," Matt replied. "Something is coming out of other-space."
"Minnie, main scanners. What the hell is joining us?" Gus ordered.
"On it..." she said as she switched places with Savannah. "Scanning..."
"Three minutes. Leavitt still docked. Energy output suggests she's gone to full alert. Life signs still present on station. Derelict is clear."
"Minnie! Where's my scan?"
"Twelve tangos just dropped out of other-space. They are on an intercept course. They're eight-foot wide, mutli-tentacled, biomechanical..."
Alarms went off.
"Computer reports they match the latest description the League has on file of Trent units."
"Let me see them!" Savannah demanded.
"Do we have visual?"
"Aye! Switching views..."
The image on the main view screen shifted. A dozen tentacle-covered spheres appeared.
"The Prohedron has returned," Savannah whispered as she hid her face in fear.
"Matt, activate cross-over sequence. Computer, modify entry vector for null-delay." Gus thumbed the mic switch. "Research Vessel Leavitt, Research Vessel Leavitt, this is the Freighter Yosho Maru. We have a confirmed sighting of twelve, I repeat, twelve Trent units on a collision course with the station. I suggest immediate dust-off. I repeat, I suggest immediate dust-off, over."
"Gus, this is Marsden. We are evacuating personnel. Will initiate dust-off ASAP. Gus, veer-off..."
"No can do, buddy, we're committed."
"Thirty seconds..."
The station loomed in the window.
"Computer, transmit codes, continuous loop. Transmit friendly-lingo all channels, continuous loop, Shields to max. Open portal!"
The ship rocked as a blinding white portal appeared ahead of them. Alarms sounded. "Hull breach! Aft cargo bay. Intruder alert, multiple tangos!" Matt yelled as they passed through to the other universe. The ship rocked once more as the portal immediately closed behind them. "We've lost an antenna and part of the dorsal stabilizer fin. Aft hold has depressurized."
"Emergency stop," Gus ordered as he and Matt gripped the throttles and pulled them to 'Full Reverse' position, only to pu
sh them to idle moments later as the freighter came to a stop.
"We've got company," Minnie said. Out the front window they could see a fleet of ships surrounding them. Beyond the ships was an immense space station.
"Computer, star scan. Where the hell are we?" Gus demanded.
"Position unknown. Warning. Star position variance five percent."
"What does that mean?" Savannah asked.
"Stars don't match," Matt explained.
"It means we're not in our Kansas anymore," Gus noted before taking the microphone and handing it to Savannah. "You're on."
"What do I say?"
Matt looked out the window, then down at the control board. "Say something that will stop them from firing on us."
"Gear down! Engines off. Shields off." Gus ordered.
"This is Savannah Hardy," she said into the mic before rattling off a series of numbers.
Outside, guns retracted as a small shuttled launched from the nearest ship and headed toward the Yosho.
Savannah turned away from the window and saw Minnie and Horus were gone. "Gus, where did your friends go?"
Gus shrugged. "They're shy, but they'll show up at some point."
"Gus, what about the aft hold? I'm now reading only one life form."
Gus leaned over and read the scanner report. Interesting. Hit the auto-sealer. Meanwhile, let's go meet our visitors," he said as he activated the port side-aft docking lock lights.
###
The port side-aft docking lock shared a hatch with the aft hold, so Matt was able to peer through the hatches porthole into the darkened hold. "Yech!" he said. "Cleanup in aisle six."
Savannah ran over and peered inside. "What the hell could do that?" she asked. tentacles were strewn about the hold as if several Trent units had exploded.
"Sealers are finished," Matt said while tapping a dial gauge. Atmo is coming up.
Everyone turned as sounds of a ship attaching itself to the lock rang through the room. Moments later, the hatch opened followed by several armed troopers rushing in with heavy weapons raised and aimed at Gus and Matt. The troopers were a mixed lot from different races including human and Goranthi.
"I thought you said the other races were wiped out a long time ago," Gus yelled to Savannah as two of the guards grabbed him and pushed him to his knees before handcuffing him.