Scions of Humanity - A Metaphysical Space Opera Adventure (Aeon 14: The Ascension War)
Page 27
“Detonate, you bastards,” Mira whispered, watching the ten canisters on the forward display.
She and Lorra had placed explosive charges in each of the devices. Charges with enough energy to spread the debris over a hundred kilometers of space.
A sigh escaped her lips as the first canister blew, quickly followed by eight others. Only one didn’t, and it was on the periphery of the field. With any luck, it wouldn’t be needed.
Stars, we could use some luck.
Ten seconds later, the Inquiry emerged from behind the moonlet, and Emma began her sequence. Her initial burns pivoted the ship and brought their engine wash out of line with the grapeshot just enough that they wouldn’t disturb the pattern.
“Hit it when you’re ready, Ensign,” Mira ordered.
“Hitting it,” Emma said in a quiet voice. “Let’s hope we can outrun those bastards.”
CHAPTER 26 - KRAI
GALACTIC DATE: 412.12.153
LOCATION: Far Patrol Shell, XI Phrysi
REGION: Void, Mass Conformity Qa-Loar
The cycles had passed slowly as Phrysi continued to drift in the fluid orb’s clouds, endlessly swimming in the opaque haze that protected its lone occupant.
During that time, Krai had watched through kes probes’ eyes as the strangers’ travelshell journeyed to the dead orb, settling into orbit near the small station. Je was curious about the shell they sent to it, and then down to the surface.
Je wondered if there were organics within, or if the shell was a machine, like the one je had sent down keself, albeit larger. The dead orb was dense and would pull so hard at one’s mass that it would be terribly uncomfortable to move around, though Krai was all too aware of creatures that were capable of spending time in such conditions.
A one shudders at the thought.
Eventually, the small shell returned from the surface. It moved in what Krai considered to be a rather inefficient way, boosting hard only to brake again.
Kes thoughts immediately went to concern that they’d found his probe, but je had sent the machine commands to destroy itself, and had received confirmation that kes probe was no more.
The most likely summation was that some other threat had arrived.
Krai turned the eyes of kes probes toward the area of the mass conformity where the strangers’ ship had arrived. At first, they didn’t see anything, but after several sweeps, the signs of a faint ion trail began to appear.
In a populated system, it would be entirely invisible, lost in the clouds created by other travelshells, but in a system where—at present—only three shells swam through the void, it was much more difficult to hide.
Once the ion trail became clear, not much time elapsed before je found the vessel emitting it. The craft was larger than je would have expected, nearly three times the mass of the first strangers’ shell.
And it was moving fast.
Not only that, but the second shell was on a vector that would take it close to the dead orb and the first shell.
Krai really had no way of predicting the actions of the strangers, and even less ability to understand their motivations. However, were they X’Liy travelshells, je would ascribe malice to the newcomer’s motivations.
Were it kes approaching the first strangers, je would launch mass lances at the enemy vessel without decreasing velocity. If their loadouts matched the shells’ relative sizes, it would make for a killing blow with low risk.
In the void, velocity most often led to victory.
With the possibility of the strangers engaging in combat, Krai began to prepare Phrysi to leave the fluid orb’s clouds. That process was aided by the strangers’ probes shifting from monitoring the planet to watching the distant engagement.
The first travelshell finally broke orbit from the dead orb, boosting on a vector that put its travel path at just over one hundred and thirty degrees from the newcomers.
It seemed like a strange path to take, but then again, the strangers were alien. There was no way to tell what they would consider to be logical.
As Krai watched, the smaller vessel passed behind the dead orb’s satellite, temporarily blocking it from the second shell’s view. A moment later, it fired a kinetic weapon—while it was aimed at the smaller orb. For a moment, je couldn’t make sense of it, but then realized that with their lateral velocity, the shells would clear the orb and continue on a path toward the newcomer’s vessel.
Then the shells exploded, leaving Krai to wonder what the point was at all. That event was followed by twelve new ion trails appearing near the strangers’ ship.
Solid lances. A surprise of some sort?
Trusting that the strangers were now focused entirely on one another, Krai initialized Phrysi’s engines, thrusting the shell out of the fluid orb’s clouds and into the void. Je let the vessel drift for several minutes, using graviton drives to turn it and break free of the orb’s mass-pull.
Back near the dead orb, once the first strangers’ shell passed the satellite, it turned and boosted toward the mass conformity’s center. Krai surmised that it was seeking to hide in the light orb’s winds and radiation—a short-term plan, but one that just might work. Je was less interested in their escape than the results of their surprise attack on the newcomers.
Knowledge of the strangers’ mode of combat would be well received by the Far Patrol—especially since they appeared to be aggressive in nature.
That revelation didn’t surprise Krai as much as je might have thought. It had long been postulated that more aggressive creatures would be the ones to rise to supremacy on their various worlds; not because they were the smartest or most capable, but because their behavior stifled other species.
The X’Liy might be the exception to that rule. Aggressive if necessary, most inclusions preferred to focus inward, rarely entering into dispute with others. There were, of course, dissidents; if none existed, there would be little need for the Far Patrol.
But Krai’s people had a long history. They had traveled through the void for millions of cycles. Even though peace had been the norm, conflicts had arisen, both amongst the X’Liy and with the artificial minds.
In short, the X’Liy were no strangers to violence.
Krai kept kes probes focused on the second travelshell, waiting eagerly to see what would come of the conflict. It was a shame that the smaller vessel’s kinetics had failed in such a strange fashion; je would have liked to see how much energy they delivered, as well as the methods the defending shell would use to avoid damage.
After nearly tenth-cycle, something strange happened. The newcomers’ shell began to light up with impacts. First a few, then many more. The ship shifted vector, but still encountered more.
Endless ocean, they destroyed their kinetics on purpose!
The barrage of small, high-velocity strikes took their toll on the enemy shield, and before they were past, the first strangers’ mass lances came to life, streaking toward the second shell, each on a different vector.
Energy lances streamed out from the defending shell, slashing through the darkness in a frantic attempt to tear at the incoming mass. Four of the weapons exploded in seconds, but the others proved trickier to hit.
One made it through and struck the newcomers’ forward shields, the detonation enough that one had to believe the graviton protection would be overloaded. Krai’s suspicions were confirmed when another lance hit the shell directly. A third lance managed to strike the vessel, though the rest were destroyed.
One in four is not a terrible ratio for automated systems.
Krai focused on the damage and was surprised to see gas venting from the shell. Spectral analysis showed it to be mostly nitrogen with considerable levels of oxygen and carbon. The discovery shocked kes.
Can these strangers breathe miasma, like that which lies on the surface of some dead orbs?
Ancient tales—legends, really—told of the X’Liy’s encounters with creatures who breathed the vapors which lingered above oceans. T
hey were a brutal and savage people, enslaved by terrible masters. Though there were no modern records of the actual conflict, myths spoke of the X’Liy’s struggle against them.
They often appeared as villains in later stories, reminders of the fact that the void contained many wonders, but also many dangers. The Cria’th, they were called.
Krai shuddered at the thought that his people’s ancient enemy might now have returned.
A one must have no thought other than returning to the Far Patrol and letting a one’s leaders decide what to do.
Deciding that expediency was more important than caution, Krai made the final adjustments to Phrysi’s vector and activated the main engines.
It was time to return home.
PART THREE
CHAPTER 27 - KYLIE
STELLAR DATE: 01.06.8960 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: The Barbaric Queen, Scorpii Minor
REGION: Pi Scorpii Beta, Independent Systems of the Lupus Cloud
After a brief stint in low orbit, ensuring they had the necessary clearances for their planned maneuvers, the Barbaric Queen embarked on a short journey to a geosynchronous orbit above the target area that just so happened to be masked by several other cargo barges.
Kylie hoped they’d get there before Nadine and her team, whoever they worked for—if they didn’t, a complicated situation was going to get even trickier, adding in further complications she didn’t want to endure.
Too bad life wasn’t simple.
While Rogers brought them down, Kylie sat on the sofa in the library across from Grayson. He sipped his tea thoughtfully, but didn’t appear to be outwardly upset or emotional. Despite that, Kylie saw his worry in the way his eyes crinkled.
“She’s right about one thing,” he said finally.
“What’s that?” Kylie asked.
“You’re not ruthless. Nadine is. We both know what she’s capable of and that just might be the tip of the iceberg.”
“I saw regret on her face, and I heard it too, Gray. I just don’t know if I can trust it.”
He nodded. “You do, however, have one thing going for you that she doesn’t. You have more to lose.”
Marie.
He seemed to pick his words carefully. “We might need to entertain the idea that whoever Nadine is working for could be a bigger threat. It might be in our best interest to help take them down in the future.”
“For now, we stick to the mission,” Kylie sighed. “Do you want to prepare a QC message for Seraphina? You’re better at those than I am.”
Grayson chuckled, and the sound seemed relaxed. “Of course. I know how much she scares you.”
Kylie snorted. “Does not. Stop giving me that look.”
“What look?” Grayson asked innocently.
She only smirked. “You send the update, and I’ll owe you.”
“We’re a team. You owe me nothing.”
She slipped onto his lap, and it was a welcome respite from everything else that was going on. Kylie nuzzled his neck, and Grayson held her close.
“Do you still feel the old feelings?” he asked. “Do you feel the need to save Nadine?”
Kylie pulled back to look at him. “No. I fight for my crew. I fight for you and our family. That’s it. Nadine makes her own choices—I think even she realizes that. If she’s had a rough go of it…well, I’m sorry about that.”
“Me too. Next time, though…we can’t afford to keep letting Nadine go. You know that, don’t you?”
Kylie nodded. “I should’ve taken her in. I just wasn’t ready.”
“Are you ready now?”
“I hope so,” she said maybe a bit too honestly. “I won’t put this ship, the crew, or the kids in jeopardy to avoid a confrontation. I just needed time.”
“Understandable. I—” Grayson stopped with a scowl. “What was that noise?”
Kylie shook her head. “I didn’t hear anything.”
When she paused for a moment, she did hear some scratching.
“Oh, wait.” Kylie slid off Grayson’s lap and crept toward a closet next to one of the bookcases.
“Chuck, is there someone else here?” he asked.
“There are heat signatures, but small. Very tiny. I almost didn’t notice it. Maybe a game of hide and seek?” Chuck suggested.
Kylie firmed her lips and pushed on the access panel. The door opened, and something white and fluffy flew past her face.
She yelped and fell backward into a chair that flipped over and spilled her onto the deck.
Thank the stars no one saw that other than Grayson.
“Cap!” Rogers called out. “Are you okay?”
Well, so much for that. “I’m fine,” she huffed.
“Whatever it was, it escaped,” Grayson said. “We’d better find it.”
“It was obviously a cat,” Kylie said. “I could smell fish on its breath when it…pushed me over.”
“Fizz?” Rogers asked.
Kylie shook her head. “I don’t think so. It was pure white and, no offense, fairly thin. Definitely not our cat.”
“Let’s check all of his favorite spots, though. This cat might be able to answer what happened to MFP,” Grayson said.
“You want to interrogate a cat?” Rogers asked.
“Well, you make it sound crazy…but yes. If it’s uplifted, it might be able to shed some light on why we’ve been unable to get in touch with him.”
The former colonel led the way into the corridor, pulling his pistol from his hip.
“Gray,” Kylie hissed.
“It’s on the lowest setting. Don’t worry.”
She shook her head. “Better warn the kids to stay in their rooms for now.”
Rogers’ expression grew strained, but he nodded. “You’ve got it.”
Ugh, did he have to be so cheerful about everything?
* * * * *
They broke off into pairs and began systematically checking room by room, searching every nook and cranny. There were only two spots left, if the cat wasn’t on the move.
Kylie and Winter took Marie’s room and made her wait outside in the corridor, just in case.
The girl’s room had a pink rug, a play spaceship in the corner, and a big, fluffy bed designed for her dolls, covered in two white blankets. Kylie immediately noticed food crumbs on the top layer; same thing for the small table covered in play coffee mugs and a teapot.
Something had been in this room, likely making the lump she could see beneath the blanket.
Kylie crept toward it, prepared to pull the covering off. Winter aimed Dolph at the bed and gave Kylie a nod. Cringing at what she might find, she gripped the blanket and yanked it back.
“Mr. Fizzle Pop!” she screamed.
The cat who was supposedly missing was laying on his back, his paws tucked behind his ears, and a cigar in his mouth. He wore a dreamy expression.
“HEY,” he greeted, while a petite, white cat curled up beside him, purring softly.
“We’ve been looking for you. How the—Give me that!” Kylie snatched the cigar out of his mouth. “You could’ve done some real damage with this thing.”
“NOT LIT. SETTLE DOWN, TOOTS.”
Kylie raised her eyebrows.
“Damn, he’s getting more action than I am,” Winter grumbled, and Kylie silenced him with a look.
“This is Marie’s room,” she fumed at the cat. “This is where her dolls sleep. And you…you…” She couldn’t even finish the thought.
“COMFORTABLE. BEST MATTRESS.”
“Marie’s been worried about you! Rogers has been worried sick, and you’re telling me you’ve been here all this time, doing…doing…”
“BOINKING,” Mr. Fizzle Pop finished for her.
“Do you even know her name?” Kylie whispered on a hiss.
Mr. Fizzle Pop leveled a look at her. “WHY MATTER?”
The captain exhaled heavily from her nose. “And to think I worried about you.”