Winter's Galaxy

by F. E. Arliss

  “I’m not sure,” Tate said hesitantly. “I just have this terrible feeling that you’ll blink into the midst of some Arachnians, or be discovered while your back is turned setting the devices. ” he sighed out an explosive exhale.

  “Very well,” Winter stated. “You’re coming with me to watch my back. Kor you have command.” Holding out a hand for Tate, Winter motioned impatiently for him to join her. “Come on, we don’t have all day!”

  Tate grinned, stepped forward and clasped her hand. “Blink me, baby,” he said with a grin. Winter rolled her eyes and they were gone.

  Kor waited tensely for their return, one eye peeled to the viewer and another monitoring the life-signs of the soon to be hatchlings. Some of the monitors that predicted imminent birth were going crazy. His science team told him that the Arachnian ship was beginning to prep the thrusters. If Winter and Tate didn’t get back soon and trigger the devices, it was going to be too late for everyone.

  Just as he turned to pace back the other way on the path he was wearing on the floor of the bridge, the two blinked in and crumpled to the floor. “What the hell happened?” Kor barked, helping a staggering Tate up and then hauling a collapsed Winter up from her position on the floor.

  “Little shits hatched when they felt our presence. We barely had time to set the charges and they were all over us. I think Winter has been bitten several times. They have very sharp teeth for babies. Her sweet human hide attracted them like bait. It was disgusting!” Tate related breathlessly, picking what looked like a piece of limp black, slimy-cloth off of Winter’s arm.

  A trail of goo followed it away from her as he held it gingerly by two long claw-tipped fingers. “Disgusting!” he shuddered as one of the warriors stepped forward with a specimen bag and hustled the offending object off to the science lab to be poured over for hours by enthusiastic tech.

  Winter, having not said a word, was busy keying in the code for deploying the devices. Suddenly, the lights on the small device turned green and she pushed the button hurriedly. A blinding explosion rocked one side of the hive. It listed a bit at the sudden crumpling of the framework near the thrusters. Another explosion rocked the other side. The entire hive was now listing backwards.

  Sloops scrambled to leave the flight decks as the hive’s infrastructure began crumpling. A series of domino-effect explosions rocked the structure again further inside the nodules. Several of the pods broke off and began to drift in a lazy fashion in the general direction of the planet. Winter wondered if they had some sort of homing beacon for life signs. Probably! Damn spiders were a terror when it came to fighting and food.

  General Kor belted out, “We need to blow those pods out of the sky! Prepare to launch fighters!”

  “Shit!” Tate exploded. “At least six of the sloops have managed to break free.”

  “Weapons systems! Track those sloops! When they get within range, open fire!” Kor ordered, a stern tone belying his earlier agitation when the pods began to break free.

  A swarm of six fighters launched from Sister’s bay. Within seconds they were making mincemeat of the pods that had broken free. Winter’s nose wrinkled at the image that created in her mind. Gross!

  Several of the sloops broke off to engage the fighters, trying to prevent the destruction of the eggs. Winter was pleased to see that the Idolum fighters were much more nimble than their larger counterparts, who seemed to be having a difficult time hitting their cavorting targets.

  Winter could see three more sloops had managed to break free of the drifting lump of the hive. All nine now bore directly for them.

  “Fighter Squad One, return to Sister,” Kor ordered as the last of the pods crumpled into dust under Idolum lasers. “Double time! We’ve got sloops up our tail! Deploy all fighters!” Kor barked. “Each squad, break in half and target a sloop. Take out engines and weapons arrays. Get on it!

  Nav, engage Evasion Run Four!”

  Sister was taking heavy fire as all Arachnian sloops engaged her. Shields were holding, and the gigantic laser guns both aft and fore were firing accurately. She was handing out payback as gamely as any ship could when outnumbered nine to one.

  The hive continued to drift in the sky. No more pods had broken free, but nav tracking showed that the damn thing was on a direct trajectory towards Beira. If even one of those pods reached its fertile food sources, Arachnians would eventually overrun the planet. Each pod held at least a dozen hatchlings. From what Winter and Tate had seen, the babies were like mini eating-machines. For being no bigger than one of Winter’s hands when hatched, they grew exponentially as they ate. They were a plague. Of that, Winter was sure. The very nature of their small size upon birth made them hard to detect once free from the shell. They’d never catch the little shits if they hit the surface!

  One of the Arachnian sloops showered off a firework display as it was disabled by a neatly placed string of hits by a fighter squad. It rolled to the side. Its continually firing guns punched a series of holes through a nearby comrade vessel. Putting two sloops out of the fight. Only seven to go, Winter thought grimly. They still had to get in front of the hive and stop its steady drift towards Beira. Geez, this was looking like a total cluster!

  A huge whumping concussive blast knocked both Tate and Kor off their feet. Winter ended up in a crumpled heap against the bulkhead. “There are too many of them, Sir,” Fighter Squad One said. “We’re not making as much of a dent as need be if we’re going to stop them.”

  “Break off, fighters. Move to disable the hive ship on its course towards Beira. We’ll lead the sloops away from you,” General Kor ordered tersely.

  “Engines, institute a one, two firing sequence.” Turning to Winter, he explained, “That firing sequence on the thrusters will mimic engine damage. Arachnians won’t be able to resist following us. It’s blood in the water to them,” he added this with a grim laugh. Turning back to the navigator, he grated out, “Hit warp as soon as you get beyond that asteroid on the starboard side.”

  He was right. Within a minute or two, all seven of the remaining sloops broke off and began to gun after them.

  “Jump to these coordinates,” Kor ordered, floating information to the nav system with a flick of one long ragged nail.

  “Jumping, Sir,” stated Nav. In a split second, they were gone, Winter still crumpled against the wall, but following everything with avid eyes.

  They were out of that jump only long enough for Tate to strap Winter into a seat and do the same for himself. Kor eyed him as he snapped the last clip into place on his harness, then ordered, “Jump again. Same line of travel as the last coordinates.”

  “Jumping, Sir,” Nav returned. Each time they jumped, the Arachnians sloops were on their tail. So far, after three jumps, they still had all of them following but one, on the continued flight.

  “One last jump, Navigator,” the General ordered. “Then roll hard to port and dive. Got it?” he snapped.

  “Got it, Sir! Jumping!” retorted the Nav.

  As they dropped out of warp at the new coordinates, the Navigator plunged them down and to the side in a steeply curving roll. Winter felt vomit lurch up her throat. Swallowing it down, she saw what Kor had been hoping for. An Idolum nest ship, ghosted by the shadow of the Talio to one side, met the entering Arachnian sloops with a barrage of firepower. The Talio’s cannons were firing as well.

  “Arachnian sloops! Cease fire or die!” came Queen Altum Juls commanding voice. “You are firing upon vessels of the Idolum Alliance. They are under my protection.” Even hearing the message as an ally, gave Winter pause. She exchanged glances with Tate. Any alien dumb enough to ignore the Queen’s command simply didn’t understand the magnitude of her power. ‘Course, no one ever said the spider people were intelligent.

  The first ship ground to a halt and stopped firing, as did several of the vessels behind it. As all seven dropped out of warp, there were a few seconds of hesitation as they took in Queen Altum Juls’ identity. Most understood the ramif
ications. Most, clearly did not care. They once again opened fire.

  Each of the firing ships slowly blinked from existence. As one disappeared, the next would begin firing. Arachnians had no mode other than fight; they simply did not know what else to do. Winter did not feel sad.

  As the last ship disintegrated, Winter opened comms to the Queen. “We have an Arachnian hive ship drifting towards Beira. If our fighters have not stopped it by now, they will be low on fuel and needful of our help. We must return to Beira now!” she implored.

  “Affirmative,” came the brief reply. Then Talio and the nest ship jumped to warp and were gone.

  “Follow them,” Kor ordered simply.

  “Yes, Sir!” Nav responded smartly. Winter braced herself for warp.

  When Sister broke atmosphere over Beira, it was to give her crew a view of the complete and total destruction of the hive frame. It didn’t just blink out of existence, it became a flaming torch, flames licking over it and sizzling any pods and their contents into bubbling tar-like goo.

  Winter felt satisfied that would kill the little shits.

  “Scans show no remaining pods,” Queen Altum Juls informed them. “Meet us on the surface at these coordinates.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  A Haven at Last

  An hour later, all three vessels sat on a small plateau above a large bay of blue, blue water. Winter couldn’t wait for the Queen to meet Koso. Running down the exterior ramp of Sister, Winter cut sharply across the plateau heading for the icy perimeter where blue water met white snowy tundra. Skidding to a halt, she waited. Unaware that the Queen, Kor, General Behr and Tate had come to a stop a good distance behind her, Winter stretched out her senses and sent greetings to Koso.

  He was near. Feeling his source drawing closer, she scanned the jagged ice boulders forming a ridge from the mountains down to the sea. A white speck was moving slowly down its slippery spine. In a blink, Winter was next to the great bear-like creature. Pressing her forehead to his, she communicated all that had transpired. Slowly pulling back, Winter gazed up into Koso’s eyes. “What do you think?”

  Pressing back down again, he communicated a fleeting message of thanks and gratitude. She hugged him, her small arms only reaching part of the way around his hugely thick neck. Lowering one shoulder to the ground, he urged her onto his back. Digging her fingers into Koso’s shaggy fir, she laughed with delight as he galloped across the craggy peaks and down towards the group below them on the plain.

  Skidding to a halt in a shower of ice particles, Koso dropped one shoulder for Winter to dismount, then sat back on his haunches to contemplate the group before him. He’d met Tate before and simply scanned over him. Large brown eyes came to rest on the Queen for a moment, then moved on to Kor and finally came to rest on General Behr. Koso opened his mouth widely and blew out an enormous huffing breath, all the while displaying his large white, wickedly lethal fangs.

  Winter couldn’t help it, she burst out laughing. “Well, it looks like Koso knows who he’ll be sharing his planet with,” she said with a grin. “Koso, this is General Behr, who is to be your protector from threats from above. This is Queen Altum Juls,” she added, gesturing to the impressively tall figure of the Queen. You know Tate,” she added. Then flicked a hand towards General Kor and said, “This is the General who oversees our troops, Kor. If you would like to search their minds for intent, please do so.”

  With that, the enormous creature bent down and presented his forehead towards the group. Queen Altum Juls stepped forward and pressed her own broad forehead to his. Koso huffed in acceptance. Then came General Kor and Tate. Both were accepted with minimal fuss. When General Behr stepped forward Koso rattled out a impressively explosive coughing challenge. A scowl floated over the General’s already shadowed features.

  Pressing his forehead firmly against the large animals massive skull the General and Koso tested each other’s strength. Clearly, this was about more than intent. Koso wanted to know what Behr was willing to do to protect this planet and its people. This went on for several minutes, until finally, Koso lifted one massive paw and pushed the warrior back. Huffing out a satisfied breath, he sat back on his haunches once again.

  “I believe that is settled,” Winter said with a laugh, reaching up to clasp Koso once more around the neck. “Thank you for your support,” she whispered against his gently nuzzling jaw. “He’ll take good care of you,” she said nodding towards General Behr. “This is their home now, too. They will cherish it and protect it with their lives. Be safe,” she whispered, then pressed a kiss to his furry muzzle and blinked aboard Sister, too sad to say goodbye any further.

  It would be a good planet for General Behr and his nest. Everyone agreed. What no one could figure out was why the Arachnians had pushed this far out. Their homeworld was a galaxy over. A hive birthing frame should have been much, much closer to home. It left them with only one alternative. They had to go see what was driving a birthing frame this far out from home.

  Queen Altum Juls was loathe to send only Winter and her crew to explore such an outlying post. Comming Princess Arc Exousia Quirke and her son, General Apollo, she requested both share the daily management of the Idolum Empire while she was away. Tate, Winter, and her warrior guard would accompany the Queen to explore conditions in the next galaxy, while Sister and a skeleton crew would remain on Beira. If something was drastically enough wrong to send an Arachnian hive frame this far from home, this was no longer a diplomatic mission.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Dark Energy

  It took the Talio less than a month to traverse the distance from one galaxy to the next, due to Queen Altum Juls’ impressive ability to channel energy. Once a vessel was at full speed, they could coast indefinitely on the skids of zero-resistance in the void of space. The Queen could simply speed that progress by added influence. It was stopping in space that was the problem. Talio ran on nothing. Just the Queen’s power to form energy into whatever she needed at the time.

  As they hit the beginning of the next galaxy, a red alert sounded over Talio’s comms. Winter hurried to the bridge, practically smashing into Tate and Kor, as they rounded the corridor at the same time. Queen Altum Juls and her husband, General Freux, were already there.

  A grim silence lay heavy over the room as everyone stared at the vids returned by the long range sensors. The telescopic zoom of their feed showed what had once been a heavily populated world. Ruins of large settlements dotted its surface.

  “Let’s go have a closer look, shall we,” Queen Altum Juls ordered. “Ready a small party. Science officers to accompany,” she added. “I want a full rundown on what’s going on down there.”

  “I’ll go,” Winter volunteered.

  “No,” the Queen returned abruptly. “Just a science team in full quarantine gear.”

  It took two days for the science team to finish their analysis of the planet. As they all came together in the conference room, even its walls of waving, tendril-like vines couldn’t soften the air of grimness that settled over the group. Rumors had been rife, but the Queen had cracked down hard on any speculation until all reports had been compiled. Now as they waited for her to begin, her countenance radiated sadness.

  “We’ve compiled all the results from the last days of scanning over the planet. It was previously logged in the ancient Idolum data streams as Jerod IV. There has been no travel here for the last three millenia. There are three more Jerod planets in this system. All of them are closer to the Arachnian homeworld than this one,” the Queen began. “None of these planets have been logged as space-faring. They were mostly farming planets or hunter/gatherer type planets.”

  “Our science parties probes have returned extensive information on the devastation of this planet. It would seem that over the centuries the Arachnians have raided the planet in a cyclical fashion, using its population to feed their young upon birthing. For some reason that we are unaware of at this time, the Arachnians have ceased to rotate the
killing times. Instead, they have used up the population of this world in its entirety without letting the necessary time for repopulation to exist,” she said quietly.

  “I think we can assume that if this is the Jerod planet farthest from the Arachnian homeworld, that the other Jerod-type planets have all suffered the same fate. Our coming investigations will explore that theorem,” Altum Juls added quietly. “What we don’t know is why the Arachnians are doing this. There must be some reason. They’re clearly trying to birth an enormous amount of soldiers. With ‘what’ in mind we have no idea.”

  “We will travel on towards the Arachnian homeworld and see if we can detect any anomalies that would have been a cause for this type of reckless behavior. The warrior species of Arachnians have no fear. They are born to fight. Our ancient databases say that the royal strain of the Arachnian hierarchy is reasoned and somewhat intelligent. It would seem out of character for them to endanger the future of their hives by birthing all at once. Our onward journey will hopefully give us an answer to that dilemma,” Queen Altum Juls finished. “For now, we continue on. Be on alert. We are traveling into space that hasn’t been navigated for several thousand years.Things could have changed. Dismissed.”