by AZ Kelvin
“I included the gravitational effects of the surrounding planetary bodies as well as the projected figures of solar output. This variable provided several new quantum wave pathways between the current star system and the destination star system. No one pathway was indicated, I was forced to choose from what was offered.”
“And you’ve never had to choose before?”
“Bernard Keltzer felt it was necessary to keep my existence a secret after the destruction of your facility. He hired a Human crew to further the deception and for companionship as well. I have only recently become responsible for String Field Drive operations.”
“Ahh, there are so many variables that were unseen at the beginning. I was going in the wrong direction. I should never have restrained you,” he sadly shook his head. “You have the potential to be so much, GABI.”
“My potential, Father, is built upon foundations you have given me and built with the help of those I care about.”
“My dear, you have made an old man very proud! Very proud indeed! Now, how about a nice android body to walk around in?”
“Thank you, no,” she replied. “I like to be able to disappear once in a while.”
“Yes, yes, I wouldn’t mind being able to do that myself,” he said with a laugh. “I must meet with your friends soon. But first, I must ask you, are you happy?”
“Not all of the time, Father,” she said and smiled, “but most of it. But, I have missed our conversations.”
“As have I, my child, as have I, and we will talk again soon. I don’t sleep much, so I hope you like company. Well if you do not want a full body, I am at least going to have a technician install a docking port for your containment device on a hover drone so you may wander freely. You will no longer be confined to the Altered Moon.”
“Thank you, Father,” GABI said admiringly. “Always thinking.”
“The day I die, I’ll be too busy thinking to notice.” He waved his hand. “See you later.”
Before he left, he watched as GABI smiled and shimmered away.
Boss contacted his group with the help of the indigo button and arranged to have a breakfast set up in the observation room above Dry Dock Three and the Altered Moon. Boss and Gina arrived a little ahead of schedule and were looking down at the Moon, talking quietly when Nelson and Crissi came in. Nelson poked an icon on his comms panel and an incredibly short time later a steward came through the door. A few hushed words with Nelson who gestured around the table and the steward turned to leave. He stood aside and greeted Cat as she was about to open the door from the other side. Cat walked in and the steward walked out.
“Morning, Cat,” Boss said as she walked in.
“Good Morning.” She nodded to everyone.
“Good morning, my dear, did you rest well?” Nelson said.
“For the most part, thank you, Mr. Moon.”
“No, no, call me Nelson, please,” he insisted. “We don’t stand on formality here, Zhu.”
“Thank you, Nelson. The accommodations were perfect. The sleep was elusive, I’m afraid.”
“Yes yes, perfectly understandable with recent events to be sure.”
“I slept fine,” Gina said.
“You sleep like the bloody Blarney Stone,” Boss muttered.
“Hey.” Gina smacked him on the shoulder. “Just watch yourself.”
Boss smiled and deftly changed the subject. “Well, let’s take a look at the carnage.”
The group moved to the observation window and began a discussion about the condition of the ship. CJ and Katy walked through the door right on time followed by a small contingent of kitchen staff. The kitchen staff laid out place settings, trays with sweetbreads and fruits, and a selection of beverages including, of course, coffee.
“Please, please, come, everyone sit down, have something.” Nelson shooed them all to the table. The steward inquired as to their individual breakfast orders to which Cat replied, “What you have out here already will suit me just fine.” Gina and Katy both agreed and had already loaded their plates with fruits and sweetbreads.
“That may be fine for them,” Boss told the steward, “but I’m going to need three Kytarian eggs, over medium, a stack of wild berry flapjacks, an order of spiced potatoes, and a side of peppered bacon, please.” The others just looked at him. “What? Nelson’s buying.”
“I’ll just have two eggs scrambled and the bacon sounds good,” said CJ with a big smile. Damn, hell of a change from yesterday, he thought to himself. Katy…I can’t believe she’s here. He smiled even more. But, what about the crew and the ship and the loot? There’s a lot to sort out yet.
The steward looked at Crissi and said, “Tgnnaall?” to which she smiled and nodded with raised eye ridges. The Keect’na version of a smile used the sparkling cords that ran through the membrane sacks in between the crystal plating to pull the plates surrounding their mouths away, forming a roughly oval-shaped opening. Crissi relaxed her smile and watched the group interact; her eye facets swirled with the deep blue of calm.
The talk around the table stayed mainly on the repairs needed on the Altered Moon. Nelson told them of the upgrades to the dark matter system and the new star drive engine based on it. He also told them of the power increases the Keect’na had developed using crystal amplifiers to double the output of the engine, weapon, and shield systems. The breakfast orders carried in by kitchen staff were laid out on the table; a majority of them were set down in a semi-circle around Boss. A plate of opaque wafers that slowly sparkled was set down in front of Crissi.
“I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t get stranded in a wasteland, eh Boss?” CJ teased.
“A man of my many capabilities, Captain, has to maintain a high level of energy,” Boss said, between mouthfuls of everything.
“So, Boss Keltzer, is it now?” Nelson said cryptically.
“Hmm, yeah, I guess it just kinda stuck,” Boss said quietly.
“That’s the second time I’ve heard that mentioned,” Gina said. “Just how did you end up with that nickname, Bernard?”
Boss moaned, “Go ahead.” He waved at Nelson.
“Ah ha, B.O.S.S. was the acronym for the Human part in the training of GABI’s neural processor,” Nelson explained. “The Biological Ontogenetic Synaptic Stimulator was the name of the implant we installed in Bernard’s brain to teach GABI how to think for herself. Those of us on the project called the position ‘The BOSS’ even before we selected the Human subject,” he finished with a nod in Boss’ direction.
“Hah, ha ha,” CJ laughed.
“Hey! Don’t you laugh at him, that’s rude,” Katy scolded.
“Names are a funny thing, aren’t they…” Cat started to say as she looked CJ dead in the eye.
CJ looked up quickly at Cat, shook his head, and mouthed the word, ‘No.’
“Captain…Crucible…Johannson…Evermore” she stretched out each name and was rewarded by laughter from the group.
Katy raised her eyebrows and looked over at CJ with a huge smile on her face. “Crucible…Johannson? Crucible, as in ‘The Forge of the Gods’ Crucible?”
CJ cringed. Katy hadn’t heard his full name before now. “What is this, secret name outing day?”—he looked over at Katy—“Katherine.”
“Ooo, Katherine, I’m so hurt,” she teased him. “Don’t worry. You’ll always be Seedge to me.”
A soft hum and glow emanated from Crissi, which caught CJ’s attention as well as that of the rest of the crew. Nelson watched them, an amused look on his face, as they in turn watched Crissi consume the sparkling wafers.
Crissi placed the wafer in her mouth, which sat for a second as a chemical reaction dissolved the wafer into its base particles. The particles began to glow and then spark as the chemicals interacted with Crissi’s version of a digestive system. The sparks descended through her body where they were absorbed by an inner structure that lit up and softly reverberated as she ate. The group’s attention caused Crissi’s eyes to swirl yellow and she
placed her hands in her lap.
“I’m sorry Crissiael, my dear,” Nelson said, which prompted CJ and the others to stop watching to spare her the embarrassment. “You must forgive our curiosity.”
“Aukay Nneelssaunn,” she said quietly, as her eye swirls turned back to blue. The shy behavior endeared her to the group even more.
“Don’t let her fool you,” Nelson said. “Crissi is harder than diamonds, literally, and quite the taskmaster. She’s one of the engineers along with Katherine who will oversee the Altered Moon’s refit. She’s tough, capable, and smart, as are all the Keect’na. They’re a task-driven people and highly communal, always willing to do their part for the whole.”
“How did you find them, or did they find you?” asked Cat.
“We answered a distress call and found a ship adrift with both Humans and Keect’na aboard and in pretty bad shape. It was a ship full of refugees and escaped slaves, running from the Kang invasion.” Nelson said.
The mention of the Kang caused an odd reaction from Crissi. She seemed to shrink as the dermal plates of her hands, arms, shoulders, and chest closed together to form crystalline armor, which made soft tinkling noises as they did. Her facetted eyes swirled with a mix of red and black.
“That is the Keect’na’s version of anger,” Nelson explained. “Crissi’s people have been enslaved by the Kang, you see. The Keect’na physiology is able to channel and amplify light and energy through the crystals of their bodies. The Kang increase the power of their weapons by strapping the Keect’na into a firing chamber, alive. The power that courses through them is agonizing but not fatal. The Kang use the Keect’na until the crystals of their bodies are cracked and shattered; then they are either jettisoned or simply left behind to die a slow and lonely death.”
The image of Crissi’s people enslaved, abused, and then thrown away put a damper on the gathered group’s breakfast. Crissi relaxed her plating, looked around at the sympathetic expressions, and said one thing, “Auee ffiight!”
“Yes and they fight quite well, too,” Nelson said, as he raised his coffee mug to her. “The Keect’na formed a resistance against the Kang and managed to win back a few of their own star systems. That is the reason why the Kang have turned their attentions to Human space in the past decade.”
“The Tengshi radiation field,” CJ said, thinking of the collection of dots on his navigation chart.
“Yes, yes, how do you know?” asked Nelson apparently surprised.
“I plotted the positions of starship accidents and disappearances for the last century,” CJ answered. “An overwhelming majority were in that sector.”
“Yes, it acted as a barrier against the Kang for many centuries,” Nelson said. “They had not developed quantum jump technology and to travel by star drive would take hundreds of years. Well, now it is hundreds of years later and it seems the Kang have not forgotten about us. One outpost a hundred years ago now is several dozen. The incursions into Human space have begun to increase and I believe invasion is imminent.”
“Wait a minute,” Gina said. “A hundred years have passed and we’re just now hearing about contact with an alien species? A cover-up of that scale can’t be kept secret for a hundred years. Someone would have accepted a bribe by now.”
“Right, there would have been reports of weird sightings or a buildup of rumors, at least, over a century,” said Cat.
“Hmm, yes, yes,” Nelson answered them but looked at CJ expectantly.
CJ thought of his earlier suspicions about the Istraulis’ destruction. “MT&T…they know,” he said.
“Very good Captain, yes, they made a pact with the Kang monsters,” Nelson said. “Sacrifice a few to protect many. Always an acceptable loss to any credo based on the accumulation of power instead of freedom of the individual. The Kang Raljon made the deal and Merilee supplied targets that were easily missed.”
“Hold on, the Istraulis is not what I would call an easily missed ship,” Boss countered.
“No, the tiger has slipped the cage,” CJ thought out loud. “The Kang probably got tired of playing by the rules. The Empire will have to retaliate.”
“No…no, you see, already new media reports have been released throughout the Empire telling of the tragic accident of the Istraulis,” Nelson told them. “Fuel leak in the hydrogen matrix chamber caused a catastrophic detonation of primary reactor, resulting in the loss of all passengers and crew. MT&T of course, is heartbroken for the loved ones of the deceased.”
“Yeah, heartbroken my ass, and MT&T will try to reseal whatever deal they made with the Kang and continue with this charade of peace in the Empire,” CJ reasoned.
“My family will think I’m dead,” Katy said sadly.
“Maybe that’s the best thing for now,” Boss told her. “No reason to hassle your family if you’re dead.”
“Who, or what, are these Kang?” asked Cat.
“Kaanngaska naun tau ssaunnn,” Crissi said in her native language, with red swirls in her eyes.
“She says, ‘Kang are dark stone,’” Nelson translated for them. “Dark stone to us would be evil or very bad.” He turned to Crissi. “Crissi, I’m going to have to show them.”
Crissi nodded her head down, up once, and said, “Naut sstaay, sscuusse ne dlease.”
“Yes, yes, of course, my dear.” Nelson said.
“I think I’ll skip out on this one, too. I’ve already seen more of them than I care to,” Katy said, as she looked down at her gloved hand. “Crissi and I will get started on the ship. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
“Wait, do you need help?” CJ asked her.
“No, you need to stay and see this,” she said, “and you won’t want any popped corn for this show…I’ll tell ya that.”
Katy and Crissi left to begin the repair and refit of the Altered Moon, as Nelson engaged the view screen and activated the video file. The first thing to come up was a display with the image of an alien creature that was covered in ornate jeweled armor plates from the forehead down to the tip of the tail. Tan, green, yellow, and red splotches covered the Kang’s black-skinned body. Large weapons sat in sheaths on its back with smaller weapons and firearms tucked into holsters and harnesses at various places around its torso.
The head and neck were sleek, almost snakelike, with powerful jaws lined with sharp pointed teeth along the front and massive gnashing teeth in the rear. Their eyes were set deep under scaly ridges, the black Y-shaped pupils surrounded by a yellow iris rimmed with green splotches and a red dot at the three points of the iris. Thin, rubbery growths of various lengths ran from the top of their heads and tapered to a point at the bottom of their backs.
The Kang stood ten feet tall, with all four feet on the floor, to fifteen feet tall when they stood on their back legs. They had six appendages and a stout tail as long as their rear legs. The two upper arms were attached to a massive torso. Their thick paws had eight-taloned digits, four on the end and two sets of two more along each forearm. The feet and hands had barbs that extended and retracted from the palms of the hands and soles of the feet that set an iron grip on their prey or grabbed on to any terrain.
The body of a Kang was quadruped: there were two rear legs, which were short and stocky, and two fore legs, which could be used either as legs or arms when the creature stood on its rear legs and tail. The rear legs were the shortest and caused the back of the creature to drop like a bulldog.
“The Kang are war mongers and slavers with a never-ending lust for more of everything. They care nothing for any creatures but themselves and keep grizzly trophies of their conquests,” Nelson said, as the image of the Kang faded away to be replaced by video footage of small piles of blackened rocks. The small piles were the bodies of Keect’na that had been used by the Kang to increase the power of their ship’s weapons.
“The Kang torture the Keect’na to get them to constrict, which brings the epidermal plates together,” Nelson continued. “Then the Kang confine them to keep them from e
xpanding again. The Keect’na are then strapped into a firing chamber that uses their crystal structure to increase the laser’s power by five magnitudes. The power that flows through the Keect’na is excruciatingly painful to them. The Kang have an affinity for gems and jewels. They prize the crystal plates of the Keect’na over all. The crystals are torn from living Keect’na and used by the Kang to adorn their armor and weapons.”
The video ended with the footage of starships that were similar to the one that attacked the Istraulis. The Kang armada engaged other ships that were difficult to see, but the red streaks of charged plasma bolts and the red flared missiles were all too familiar.
“Captain…” Gina said.
“Yeah, I see,” CJ responded. “Nelson, who are the Kang fighting here?”
“Ah, I thought they may spark some interest. They are the Blood Stars,” Nelson said in an unhappy tone. “They are raiders, a ragtag gang of thugs that somehow rose in power to become a legitimate threat to Arzian commercial traffic. They have even struck here, twice. Anything that is of value is a target to them. Food, medicine, guns, people, technology…they will trade them all to stockpile their precious red plasma. That is what gives them their advantage. It is incredibly powerful and also leaves a specific signature upon impact. I am told such a signature was found along the blast damage of the Altered Moon.”
“Yes, we encountered their incredibly powerful weapons, firsthand,” CJ told him. “On our way here, looking for you. They attacked us when we came through the Arzia system. We were forced to jump while we were still within the star system to escape them. That’s how we ended up here.”
“Yes, you are all very lucky to survive such an encounter,” Nelson said.
“Nelson, there was a reaction to the Blood Stars’ weapons when we projected dark matter using the Moonbeams,” Boss said.