by D. M. Pruden
“I tend to lose track of time. I think about ten months, give or take?”
“And where were you before?”
“Oh, pretty much everywhere. We’ve spent time in the asteroid mines and on some of the abandoned research stations on the outer planets. We even lived for two years on the surface of Dulcinea. We would have stayed longer, but our CO2 scrubbers failed and we were forced to beat a hasty escape.”
“What were you doing on the planet?”
“Why, studying the Glenatat ruins, of course. I needed to verify some of my theories by examining the actual site, or what was left of it. One can only learn so much from 3D holo-recordings, you know. I sent all my conclusions in my last two reports. When I didn’t get any response, I was forced to assume the worst.”
“They were received, Doctor. How long ago did you send them?”
“Um, well, fifteen or sixteen years, I believe. The light-gate was not accepting transmissions, so I placed them in a courier drone and sent them to the gate at Hip-85.”
“What did you mean when you said you’d assumed the worst?”
“I thought the Earth had been destroyed.”
“By what?”
He sighed, as if dealing with a slow student. “You didn’t read my reports?”
Hayden shook his head. What Iris had showed him was only a redacted summary, but based on what he now heard, he was convinced that this was the unknown author of that document.
“Unbelievable.” Gabriel threw his bread crust to the plate. “Why are you here?”
“We were sent to recover you and return you to Earth. Why do you think we are here?”
“I thought you came to follow up about Glenatat star-gate technology.”
“You mean to tell me they possessed FTL capability?”
Gabriel straightened in his seat, indignant. “They most certainly did. They were an elder race. Did no one read—” He sighed and tried to calm down. “As I explained in my reports that nobody read: to reach their home world. They are the only ones with the ability to stop the Malliac, as they did twenty-five thousand years ago. They are the only chance to save the Earth and every inhabited star system.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Making a Run
THE CAPTAIN’S QUARTERS were only marginally larger than Hayden’s own, yet he insisted on holding meetings there. Hayden, Cora, and Ishmael Gabriel sat crammed around a small desk in the middle of the room while the captain used his bunk as a chair.
“Let’s go over it all again,” said Pavlovich. “Engineering report?”
“Repairs are mostly completed, Cap’n. I scrounged some surplus gravity plating, hull armour, and circuitry and put it to good use. Turns out Odyssey and Scimitar are of similar age and share a lot of common tech.” Cora was chipper and spoke rapidly, as Hayden had learned was normal when she was excited.
“Weapons?”
“Odyssey’s armoury was in a separate section of the wreckage,” said Kaine. “We located it, but it was mostly depleted. Gunney brought whatever he thought useful aboard.”
“So they put up a fight?”
“A substantial one, it seems. We found the aft piece, and its laser generators were burned out. The rail guns were operational but had no ammo.”
“What about the fore section?”
“Nothing left of it. It was likely destroyed before the rest of the ship broke apart.”
Pavlovich eyed Hayden before he spoke. “Odyssey was a class-one dreadnought. It would take an incredible amount of firepower to do that much damage.”
“I recommend we execute repairs and find a way out of the system as fast as possible, sir. We don’t stand a chance if they find us. I think we caught our pursuer by surprise, but I doubt we’ll be as lucky again if they return.”
The small room was warm with so many bodies in it, and perspiration trickled down Hayden’s neck.
Pavlovich spoke to the scientist. “You mentioned that the Malliac are searching for something. Care to speculate as to what?”
Gabriel stared thoughtfully at the captain. “I can’t say for sure, but the engineering section of any ship we’ve found has been torn apart.”
“How about it, Cora? What did you find on Odyssey?”
“A huge mess, Cap’n. The damage was not from the attack itself. The light-gate engines were ripped to shreds.”
Hayden asked, “Any chance the aliens were trying to see how it worked?”
She smiled, like he’d said something cute. “If they did, they had a real odd way about it. Components weren’t disassembled. They were destroyed.”
“What about the energy chamber for the jump drive?
“It was in the same condition as the rest of engineering, Cap’n.”
“What happened to the microsingularity?”
“That is the strange part. It was gone. My guess is that the Malliac took it.”
“Maybe they’re trapped here too and need one to leave?” said Hayden.
“Maybe...” said Pavlovich. “Doctor, you mentioned these aliens are from regions of dark matter?”
“Yes. Records I’ve studied refer to them as the invisible ones.”
“If that is true, they would be undetectable by our instruments,” said Kaine.
The captain nodded at him then probed Gabriel further. “Does your research tell you how the Glenatat defeated them?”
“The ruins were badly damaged even before our colony was established. All I know is that they were victorious, but there are only fragmentary references as to how.”
“Hmm, so much for that idea,” said Hayden. “That brings us back to our own malfunctioning light-gate.”
Pavlovich frowned. “Options?”
“We don’t have the equipment to repair it if it is damaged, Cap’n,” Cora said.
“Even if did, we would be vulnerable while we hung around to fix it. For the moment, assume we’ve lost our ticket home. Other ideas?”
“Well, the next obvious answer is to kick in the star drive and make a run to the nearest colony with an active jump-gate,” said Hayden.
“Which would only take fifteen years at our top-rated speed,” said Pavlovich. “We wouldn’t age much, and if the good doctor is correct, there might not be a home by the time we arrive.”
“There is the Glenatat star-gate, Captain,” said Gabriel.
“Tell me about this thing.”
“Well, it was in my reports, but since nobody has bothered...” He caught the icy stares of Pavlovich and Kaine.
“Ah, yes, well...things being as they are, I will explain. According to the records I found, both are elder races, meaning they were advanced civilizations long before humanity dug ourselves out of the last ice age. They fought each other in a galactic-scale conflict.”
“That is an interesting history lesson. Is there a point to it?”
“Yes, Captain. The Malliac were defeated because they did not possess the same means to traverse great distances as their enemy. They are relegated to travelling at sub-light speeds; the Glenatat were not. I happen to know where the star-gate in the system is located.”
“What good does their technology do us?” said Hayden. “We don’t have the knowledge to access it.”
Gabriel glowered at him. “I did not claim I knew all the answers, Lieutenant. I merely share what I learned.”
“Do your records tell you what this star-gate is? How it functions?”
“It is stable, Captain. I suppose the only description of it we would understand is to call it a wormhole, but that is imprecise.”
“Where does it go?” asked Hayden.
“They operated a network of these gates throughout their empire. I only mapped out a fraction of it, but all of them lead to their home world...”
“Which helps us how?”
“You need to understand that while Earth’s FTL system is extensive, comprising now over a hundred star systems, the Glenatat version serviced a vast dominion of over a million planets. I would be gre
atly shocked if there are not other gates that access some of the same stars we do, just as they did here at Mu Arae.”
Hayden began to reply, but Pavlovich put a hand on his arm to stop him and addressed the scientist. “So do you suggest we find it to travel to their planet and ask for directions and a means to defeat the Malliac?”
“Well, that is rather simplistic, but yes.”
The captain considered him for several long seconds. “Doctor, please supply your coordinates for this thing to Mister Kaine. If it happens to lie near where we are going, it might be worth the time to look for it.”
“Where are we going, Cap’n?” asked Cora.
“There is no practical choice. We will make our way to the closest Confederation outpost with a light-gate. Everyone should pack a lunch. This is going to be a long road trip.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Stella
ALONE IN HIS own cramped quarters, Hayden paced the small floor space and attempted to make sense of what happened.
The meeting had ended with Pavlovich ordering completion of repairs and a course plotted to the location of the alien wormhole. By some massive coincidence, it lay on a slight deviation from the most direct route to the closest active light-gate.
The captain was more desperate than he let on. That was the only explanation Hayden could come up with for his entertainment of Gabriel’s insane idea. At least travelling at relativistic speeds to the nearest occupied system had a predictable outcome. If they located the doctor’s star-gate and discovered a way to access it, where would it take them?
Who was this guy anyway? Why was he so important that a military ship needed to be sent to rescue him? More importantly, why had Hayden been chosen for this mission?
There were a hundred undesirable assignments the Old Man could select from as a suitable sanction for him to endure. Why did he pick this one? The Scimitar was held together by scrounged parts and a creative miracle worker who wasn’t even an official engineer. The commanding officer was some washout nearing retirement and had been put out here to keep him out of the admiral’s hair. Hayden wondered if that was his own intended fate.
Assuming he didn’t die or screw up and wind up in the brig like his predecessor; assuming he decided to embrace the idea of a life in the military over a diplomatic one, and managed some degree of advancement; assuming they could find a way out of this godforsaken system on the edge of known space—was Hayden’s fate to be that of Pavlovich? An undistinguished career spent on an insignificant ship exiled to the farthest reaches of human habitation.
He threw himself on his bunk and covered his face with his pillow. It smelled of someone else’s shampoo and vaguely like vomit. Disgusted, he hurled it across the room, where it landed on his bag. He realized he had not unpacked yet and wondered what that said about his acceptance of his situation.
He wanted to go home.
He missed his old apartment that he hardly ever slept in, and Kyle’s nagging micromanagement of his life. He regretted no longer being a cadet officer whose only real responsibility was passing enough courses to graduate and not upset his father in the process.
All his life, he was able to sweet-talk his way out of situations his antics landed him in. What persuasion couldn’t accomplish, Dad’s influence could. His life had always worked out for him that way; at least until recently.
It was a rude awakening to discover the low esteem the admiral held his father in. Maybe, just to spite his father, the Old Man had picked this assignment to make a point. Or points.
The first was that he was expected to find advancement on his own merit. It was clear that the only way back to the career path he wanted was to rely on his own abilities and not fall back on luck or privilege. He had to earn his way out of this situation and demonstrate that he deserved to be back on Earth, where the action was. He would be required to do something spectacular to accomplish that. Maybe contacting an alien race and helping save humanity would be just the ticket?
The admiral’s other message was more personal. Hayden had gone too far and broken Katie’s heart. Her grandfather took that personally. He might have to wait until the Old Man died before he ever found his way home. He’d really screwed up and had no way to even begin to fix it.
The memories of Katie poured forth in an overwhelming flood. He missed the warmth of her body next to his; the subtle scent of her favourite soap. Her strength of character, her amazing intellect, her unrelenting dedication to her work, her sense of humour, her patient and forgiving nature.
He’d managed to hold back the recollections and the regrets since that day in front of her office. The journey to Scimitar and the rapid flow of events had kept his mind occupied until physical exhaustion forced him into dreamless sleep. The last thing he needed, he now realized, was down time to indulge in self-pity.
He sat up and wiped the wetness from his cheeks. Perhaps Kwok required some assistance in locating the wormhole. If not, he was sure Cora could put him to work.
The buzzer to his door sounded. The crew always flagged him on his implant if they needed him. He stared stupidly at the closed door, wondering who would pay him a visit like this.
It buzzed a second time. He walked to the door and after only a second’s hesitation opened it to Stella. Her eyes were moist, and she appeared disturbed about something.
“Stella? What can I do for you?”
Determination crossed her face, and she placed her hand on his chest, pushing him back into his quarters with far more strength than her size belied. The door closed behind her, and she looked about the room, confusion clouding her face.
“Is something wrong?”
Her gaze fixed on him, and the look of determination returned. Without any warning, she lunged at him, throwing her arms around his neck. She pressed her lips to his with such force that it hurt. Inertia carried them both to his bunk, where she fell on top of him, never breaking her lip lock.
She covered his face with rapid, desperate kisses and ground her supple young body to his. Her knee pushed aggressively into his groin. She grabbed his right hand and pressed it to her small breast.
When the shock of her amorous assault passed, he found himself submitting to the moment, returning her kisses, trying to slow down the pace to a more sensual one. She responded to his cues and wriggled sensuously against him.
Realizing how inappropriate his behaviour was, he opened his eyes and gently but firmly disengaged from her embrace.
“Please, stop. We can’t do this.” He couldn’t believe what he heard himself saying. Spontaneous trysts were not an unusual occurrence for him. Even while he dated Katie, he had succumbed to similar temptations, but usually when both parties were under the influence of alcohol. It was against his character to dissuade willing women from going to bed with him, but something about Stella was off. He couldn’t explain it, but there was something about the situation that suggested she did not realize what she was doing.
She struggled for a few seconds to reinitiate their coupling then abruptly sat on the edge of the bed and looked into space. Hayden leapt off the bunk and stared at her, but she did not look at him.
“I don’t want to hurt your feelings. You are a very attractive woman, but...”
“I felt your pain.” Her voice was faint, and she continued to stare blankly ahead.
“I’m sorry?”
She looked at him, tears running down her cheeks. “I shared your sadness. I thought I could help you make it all go away.”
He didn’t know how to respond. The girl was crazier than her old man.
He helped her to her feet. “Why don’t we pay a visit to the infirmary? Do you know where your father is?”
She shook her head and allowed him to escort her out of his quarters. He was grateful that nobody was in the hallway to see them exit.
When they were halfway to the medical centre, Stella’s back stiffened and her limbs went rigid. Terror contorted her features, and her mouth opened and closed,
uttering silent words.
Her hands flew to her head, and she dropped to her knees. The mournful scream of a banshee erupted from her, and she rocked back and forth, pulling her hair from her head. He stood, helpless in front of her.
Two crewmen rushed down the corridor to investigate the source of the commotion. At the sight of them, Hayden snapped into action and issued orders. One assisted him to carry the screaming girl into the infirmary while the other went to locate Doctor Gabriel and the captain.
By the time the medical synths had strapped Stella to a bed, her father rushed through the doorway and to the side of his pitiful daughter. She seized his hand and squeezed her nails into his flesh until she drew blood. He endured it without comment, like it was a common occurrence.
“What the hell is wrong with her, Doctor?”
He ignored Hayden and fought to gain Stella’s attention. “Stella! Tell me what it is.”
He feared that she would begin confessing the events in his quarters and accuse him of assaulting her. She shook her head and struggled against the restraints. One of the synths approached with a hypo. Gabriel stopped him.
“No, not yet!” He grasped her head and forced her to look him in the eyes. “Stella! It’s Papa. What did you see?”
She halted her struggle and locked her gaze on his, though terror still filled her eyes.
Her voice croaked. “Them.”
“You’re sure? “
She nodded, and tears flowed. Gabriel fought back his own and caressed her cheek. He turned to the medical synth holding the hypo-spray and indicated he should proceed. He didn’t step away from the bed until the sedative was administered and the girl began to drift off to sleep.
“What the hell was that all about, Doctor?” said Pavlovich, who had entered unnoticed during the commotion.
Ishmael Gabriel regarded both him and Hayden. “Captain, we are in grave danger. The Malliac are on their way here.”
Pavlovich’s brow furrowed, and his face reddened. “I thought you said they don’t revisit sites they already searched?”
“No...no, I said they don’t usually return, except when...unless they make a connection.”