Starweb

by Warren James Palmer

  Lollo Rosalio knew that with ammunition short, and the plasma weapons becoming dangerously overheated, it was unlikely that they would be able to fend off the next attacking wave. Then, once the main defences were gone, the drones would find their way into the caverns, where the Eco-warriors would be forced to fight running battles they could never win. The end was in sight, and they all knew it.

  Jelde sat close to Lollo Rosalio, whispering intently. Although she now knew it was possible to converse mentally with the Eco-Warrior leader, she still chose to speak aloud, albeit quietly. She wasn’t yet entirely comfortable in her new role as an operant. It was hard enough accepting she had somehow became a part of the defending forces, batting against the Starweb Corporation’s combat-bots. Adding ‘mental operant’ to her new team-player self-identity kit, was pushing things a bit too far…

  ‘We can’t expect any assistance from government forces,’ she told Rosalio. ‘Not only would they be happy to see our demise, they’re also all in the “merde” as much as we are…Are there not other rebellion groups we can call upon?’

  ‘As with the government forces, the other Eco-Warrior groups are also fighting these Starweb hordes. They are in no position to lend us any assistance,’ Rosalio answered. ’Perhaps there is another way? Maybe we could try a mental concert, of the type described by our Terran friends?’

  Jelde sighed then said, ’They’ve had practice at such things. I wouldn’t even know where to start…’

  She was suddenly distracted by a presence, an awareness of another operant in the room, something that should not be possible, as Rosalio and her were the only native mental operants, and yet…Jelde looked up and stared at the person standing at the open glass door to the conference room. Rosalio, becoming aware of the presence of another, also looked up, following her gaze.

  In the doorway stood a pretty adolescent girl who wore long flowing white robes and exuded an air of calm and tranquility, which was at complete odds to the to ambiance of fatigue and combat in the command centre. She stepped bare footed into the conference room and headed directly toward them, strangely ignored by all others. The young woman moved silently between the resting combatants, disturbing none of them, until she stood before Jelde and Rosalio a serene smile upon her face.

  ‘And who might you be?’ Lollo Rosalio thought cautiously at the apparition standing before them. ‘I don’t believe we have met before?’

  Concerned, Jelde began to rise from her chair, before Rosalio, with a big hand on her shoulder, firmly sat her back down again.

  ‘Hello... Please don’t be alarmed, I mean you no harm,’ the adolescent thought back at them. ‘My name is Aquiline and I bring you a gift and a message from Moss Pendragon.’

  ‘From Moss? How can that be?’ Jelde exclaimed aloud in alarm and disbelief. ‘Moss entered a wormhole onboard the Karine, with the others!’

  Rosalio held up a placating hand to quieten Jelde and thought at the girl, ‘That is a fair question young lady…Our friends left this timeline for another, so how can you be in contact with him, Miss….Aquiline…?’

  ‘That is a long story which can be told another day,’ Aquiline calmly told them. ‘Suffice to say that my hybrid DNA allows me to cross space-time in the same manner as baby Arthur.’

  ‘Indeed? That is a skill we could all sorely use at the moment! As you say, perhaps your abilities are a story for another day. So…the gift and message from our friend Moss are what, exactly?’ Rosalio responded with a raised eyebrow.

  Aquiline placed a small phial and a traditional envelope on the table directly in front of Jelde and Rosalio, who both looked suspiciously at the items.

  ‘The phial contains nanobots, programmed with a metamorphic virus. The letter contains the instructions on how to implement the nanobots and the purpose of the metamorphic virus. I suggest you use the contents of the phial as soon as possible; your lives depend up on it!’ She told them. ‘As for the message, it is short and to the point...’

  ‘Go on….’

  ‘Moss says, hang on in there. We’re on our way back…’

  So ends Starweb.

  The saga continues in the next book of the series:

  ‘The Samarcian Chronicles.’