by John Walker
An older woman stepped forward. “I am.”
Krilan scowled at her. Another proud woman flouting her power over men. He took aim and fired, catching her in the temple. Blood sprayed out the side of her head as her body collapsed to the ground, dead. The others screamed and had to be contained by his soldiers. He turned to the others and cleared his throat.
“Do I have your attention? Someone knows where my map is and I will kill each and every one of you until I’m convinced that person is dead or they have spoken. Choose. Now.”
“Sir!” A man stepped forward. “These people are simple farm hands. They’re colonists. They don’t know anything about star charts. Each of them was specially trained to do a job to make this planet habitable. They aren’t here hiding anything. I assure you.”
“What’s your name?” Krilan asked. “And how do you know?”
“My name is Wyan Sor’Trex. I served in the alliance military for my mandatory period before coming here. I’m an agricultural specialist but worked in naval admin. Believe me, I know these people are unaware of what you’re after. I promise.”
“You offer a compelling story, Wyan.” Krilan considered the man for a time, really scrutinizing him. “You intrigue me. Do you believe telling me this will spare the people here?”
“Of course. There’s no reason to hurt them now.” Wyan seemed as if the answer were obvious. Krilan smirked.
“Naval admin.” Krilan rubbed his chin with his free hand. “Do you remember the penalty for harming civilians?”
“I do,” Wyan replied. “Dishonorable discharge, life in prison or possible execution depending on what the soldier did.”
“Very good.” Krilan nodded. “Take this man to the ship with the others. I’d like to speak with him some more.”
“Sir? He’s too old for the conscript program.”
“Did I say you were conscripting him?” Krilan glared at his subordinate. “And did I invite a conversation?”
“No, sir! Right away!”
Wyan struggled at first. “Wait! Where are you taking me?”
“Be grateful,” Krilan said. “I just saved your life.”
“Saved my…wait! No!”
Krilan nodded to his men and they opened fire on the crowd, mowing down the women, children and remaining men. Wyan continued to scream even as they dragged him aboard the vessel. The soldiers finished off the wounded and went back to their tasks of looting the colony, taking anything technological.
Krilan gazed over the carnage and gave the order to ensure no building was left standing. He then boarded the shuttle and took the co-pilot’s seat. They’d move on to the next colony now and the next. Someone on that rock would be able to answer his question and if not, then he’d find another way to locate the object.
Orion’s Light would light the way for a better tomorrow, even if Krilan had to kill ten thousand civilians to get there.
Chapter 1
Commander Adam Everly went over the after action reports from their most recent mission. As the Earth ship Behemoth made its way back to the alliance capital, he wanted to ensure he had a proper report prepared for the Captain who would then have to speak to the military council. Not all of the information would be complimentary.
The Behemoth’s presence in a seemingly out of the way sector uncovered a pirate operation the alliance had been tracking for quite a while. Kielan forces, loyal more to their own military structure than the human commanders onboard the ship, informed their superiors of the location. This nearly cost the mission as the pirates were stirred up like hornets fleeing a burning hive.
If they would’ve given the Behemoth the time they asked for, a full scale battle wouldn’t have been necessary not to mention hours wasted ensuring they caught every vessel trying to leave the sector. Adam considered it all to be quite the start for their first foray as a joint force with the aliens and not really in a good way.
He compiled a list of the refugees they took on and the technology recovered from the surface with the kielans. Compiling it into a higher level view, he sent it off to Captain Gray Atwell and turned his attentions to daily operations. The ship survived a major conflict with a group of terrorists known as Orion’s Light. They only required minimal repairs but the enemy weapon proved quite dangerous.
A beam weapon which annihilated shields and could easily cut through a hull, this to Adam constituted a more immediate threat than the enemy they were working so hard to track down and face. Clea An’Tufal, their liaison with the kielan people, essentially discovered what they might need to take the fight to their enemy’s doorstep but Adam knew the military.
They wouldn’t launch an immediate attack but rather, gather data and intel. Before any ship was committed to a conflict, a full battle plan would be created with every leader having their chance to put in some feedback. Many soldiers would want the glory of ending the age long war and as a result, a lot of egos would be in one room.
It might constitute another front they’d be so intense.
Regardless, Adam felt thankful he didn’t have to attend one of those high level meetings. He knew the Behemoth would end up in that fight, taking it to the enemy as he always wanted but this would be different. Their success or failure would determine the fate of the free galaxy. Earth and all the other alliance capitals would survive or die depending on how the fight went.
Clea gave them this chance through her lucky memory, essentially a dream of a forgotten moment in a battle that almost took her life. The data she’d collected before her vessel went down held more than some flight patterns and coded communications. Strictly by chance, she found the nearly gibberish communication between their capital ship and their home world, essentially uncovering a way to talk to them and where they lived.
The path to gather this data took them to a remote planet where Durant Vi’Puren lived, an engineer of some renown and a brilliant craftsman. He turned over everything he built to the alliance and granted them access to his automated foundry, a situation which allowed robots to essentially churn out weapons at an alarming rate.
This boon helped shoved the alliance forward in their war effort and brought Durant back into the fight. He accompanied the Behemoth back to the capital and had already offered up several design ideas to optimize operations aboard the ship. Adam read through some of his recommendations and had to admit, the man knew his stuff.
Taking down the pirates, locating Durant and the information and uncovering the weapons foundry made certain their hunch mission would be lauded as highly successful. Adam was happy for Clea because had that turned out to be a bust, high command likely would’ve given them grief over hopping all over the place. After all, they had plenty of other operations to conduct. This whim may have cost them if not for all they found.
The overhead com speakers chimed and Ensign Agatha White’s voice spoke softly a moment later. “Please note, we will be jumping back into Kielan space in the next ten minutes. Secure what you’re doing and ensure you are strapped in. We will send another reminder at the five minute mark.”
Adam donned his jacket and prepared to head for the bridge. His shift began in a half hour so he figured he may as well show up early. He preferred to be out of his office or room when they performed jumps, mostly because he didn’t want to associate the discomfort with one of his leisure spaces.
He stepped into the hallway and made his way to the elevator, having to wait for a good two minutes before it arrived. People must’ve been rushing about, preparing for their departure from the system. Alliance ships outside surrounded Durant’s planet and ensured that it was secure. They stationed a massive military force on the ground and ensured all orbital defenses were ready for any attacks.
Durant also installed distant early warning signs. On the edge of the system, probes sent back images of any ship jumping into the sector to prepare defenses if necessary. The alliance would make use of those, tying the feeds directly into the ships surrounding the system. Technicians
and colonists were expected to arrive to occupy the place, turning it into a technological center.
The hermit days of Durant were certainly behind him.
Adam heard the next message about their jump from Agatha as he rode the elevator up. Just before they left, the ship would inform their tech officer if anyone was stuck in a lift and give them a chance to get off. They hadn’t experienced it before. Most people didn’t want to risk riding out a jump on one of those, even if it had stopped.
Faster than light travel proved to be better after they altered and optimized the jump drive but the first few were rocky. And when someone sabotaged it, they all nearly died. Adam might never forget the physical punishment he experienced after that and considering where they ended up, none of them had a chance to recover before being thrown into action.
The elevator opened and he stepped down the short hallway to the bridge. Quite talking filled the room along with computer beeps and indicators. Captain Atwell read through reports on his computer. Clea stood beside Lieutenant Oliver Darnell, pointing at the screen. Lieutenant Commander Stephanie Redding occupied the pilot’s seat beside Ensign Leonard Marcus, the navigator.
Ensign White took the communications station behind the captain.
“How’s it going?” Adam asked as he took his seat. “We good?”
Gray nodded. “Everything’s green. Durant took a look at the engineering section and seemed shocked we were using out of date scan tech down there. He’s got a whole upgrade plan mapped out for when we get back to the capital.”
“How long will those take?”
“He claims he can have people fix everything up inside a couple days at the most.” Gray shrugged. “Maybe less if he’s given the proper resources. Engineers love to change things, right?”
“I hope command gives us the time. How necessary do his suggestions sound?”
“The scans would allow us to speed up jump times, ensure we catch any glitches long before they’re about to happen and monitor every system in real time.” Gray finally looked up from his computer. “I found out we’ve got a short two second delay on our current setup. Olly didn’t even realize it.”
“How’d we miss that?”
“I’m pretty sure people were under the impression two seconds was more than sufficient.” Gray shook his head. “According to Durant, that’s nonsense but I’ll tell you this, I’d be surprised if any of the alliance ships in the fleet have better right now. He’s working up a proposal for every ship to get a retrofit on that design.”
“I’m nervous about the idea that jump technology is so twitchy we have to worry about a two second delay while monitoring it.” Adam grinned. “But then again, I guess it’s fitting considering we’re dealing with technology that shouldn’t be possible.”
“Risk and reward.” Gray turned to Olly. “Are we clear for launch, Olly?”
“Yes, sir,” Olly replied. “Elevators cleared, all sections report green.
Clea returned to her seat and strapped in.
“You heard him, Redding,” Gray said. “Initiate the jump.”
The ship seemed to warble around them, space outside blurred and a moment later, they were elsewhere. Their first jump left them all feeling strange, giving them a sense of weightlessness. Some crew members reported hallucinations for the few moments it took to complete the maneuver. After upgrades and clean up, they practically felt nothing. It simply happened and they were at their destination.
Adam checked and in this case, they were on the outskirts of the kielan home system with a six hour flight time to make dock. He turned to Gray. “Either we’re getting better at those or our technology is simply improving.”
“Both, I think.” Gray unstrapped himself and stood. “Alright everyone, let’s get moving. Keep on coms and ensure we stay out of everyone’s way. We’ve got a lot to do when we get there. Commander Everly will brief you on your duties while I’m reporting in to high command. Clea, if you could come with me, I’d like a word in my office. Adam, you have the bridge.”
“Thank you, sir.” Adam nodded and quickly took in the current duty roster and read through the major projects happening during his shift. He skimmed for any blockages and requests for help and when he didn’t find any, he turned his attention to their course. Ensign Marcus had proven to be a solid choice and his numbers looked solid.
Looks like all I need to do is be available for a while. Could be worse. This might be the only downtime I get on this bridge. I guess I’ll catch up on some work then.
***
Gray gestured for Clea to have a seat and offered her a cup of tea. They each indulged a sip before he considered the topic he’d brought her in to discuss. Durant might well make a huge difference for the alliance but how long would he stay? Did he intend to see the war through or would he become quickly disillusioned by military protocol?
“How do you feel?”
“I’m fine,” Clea replied. “The doctor cleared me for active duty after all.”
“Good. I didn’t call you in here for that. I’m curious about Durant. What do you think of his…dedication?”
“After he saw the data I found, he seemed fully committed to helping,” Clea said. “He’s been trying to find a way to end the war for some time now. I think we’ve given him the chance to do so. Providing high command proves they’re also interested in finishing this, he’ll do whatever it takes to support us.”
“He’s already offered a lot of good suggestions for the Behemoth. I can’t wait to see what else he’s got in mind.”
“Exactly. His discoveries and technical genius have pushed us forward many times in the past. This situation, finding him working on weapons, only contributes further to our cause. Believe me, if anyone can help us gain an edge with technology, it’s Durant. We just left him on his own without guidance for several years. You can’t buy the type of inspiration he found.”
“Good. I received a message as soon as we made it into the system. One of Earth’s representatives has arrived and is taking their place on the council. Apparently, we’ve got a message waiting from them and the council in general has an urgent problem they’re hoping we can help with. No rest, huh?”
“I wonder what it could be. We’re on the verge of finishing the war. What could they possibly want us to do but stand down and wait for analysis of our data?”
Gray shrugged. “Must be something big. Perhaps more pirates?”
Clea frowned. “After taking them out on that planet, I can’t imagine there are more out there waiting to cause trouble. Not so quickly at least. No, it must be something else. I’m thinking unrest. Perhaps a rebellion? Though no one’s done so for many years. I’d be surprised by that too.”
“I’m glad to hear it. The last thing mission I want to undertake is quelling a civilian uprising. No one comes away clean from those.”
“Can we reach out to them now? Perhaps they’ll brief us while we’re underway.”
Gray shook his head. “Afraid not. They made it clear they would only discuss it in person. They’re not entirely sure of the security of our communications. Tech officers are working on changing all the codes and clearing the channels. That’s why I thought pirates at first. They might have some good hackers.”
“If they’re worried about our coms, then I’d guess military problems. Perhaps even a defector.” Clea’s eyes narrowed. “They might have our protocols memorized and be able to direct a particularly gifted tech to uncover any attempts to cover them up. Again, we haven’t had such a thing in a while. This intrigues me but I have to admit…I’m worried.”
“Unknowns are good for putting one on edge. Anyway, We’ll be there in just under six hours and we can talk to the folks then. You and Durant will come with.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You know…” Gray cleared his throat. “We’ve been so busy, I didn’t have the opportunity to thank you for everything. You did great on that last mission, even as you rushed into some of the most
dangerous situations we’ve experienced. Great work. Seriously.”
“Thank you, Captain.” Clea nodded her head. “I appreciate it but honestly, the whole thing could be considered selfish. After all, I felt tortured by not knowing…finding that data meant a lot to me. I’m free of it now…and know what happened all those years ago. I’m not crazy and knowing that means a great deal.”
“I imagine. I’m glad your previous experience paid off.” Gray stood. “I think I’m going to catch a little downtime before we arrive. I recommend the same. People may have a lot of questions for you when we get there, especially as they try to understand our data.”
“Indeed. Fortunately, we didn’t transmit it if our coms are compromised. Durant insisted on keeping it on his external drive too so at least we’re safe from any prying eyes.”
“Good thinking on his part. Do you think he’ll be able to help the techs secure our channels?”
Clea shrugged. “I honestly don’t know all the things Durant can do. There seems to be no limit to his talents, at least in the technology field. However, he’s primarily focused on getting our ships ready for fighting. I doubt he’ll want the distraction at this point. He’s been reading our schematics of modern hull design and I know he was scoffing at some of our decisions.”
“Ah, the criticisms of geniuses, huh? They really do like to give their successors a hard time. Especially if they don’t perform up to the standards they set.” Gray opened the door. “Let’s meet up a half hour before we make orbit. We can go over our reports then head down together.”
“Sounds good, sir. I’ll talk to you later.” Clea paused. “Thank you for trusting me…on our last mission. I know how it all sounded and you still gave me the benefit of the doubt. I won’t forget it.”
“You’ve been invaluable to this ship and crew,” Gray replied. “Part of my job as a leader is to trust the people under my command. If they come to me with as much conviction as you did, I’d have been a fool to ignore it. Get some rest. We’ll talk again later.”