by Dean Kutzler
Get a grip!
She took a deep breath, and after she read the message, she exhaled shaking her head, continuing down the hallway toward the autolift. She’d been foolish to think her mother would have a change of heart.
She stepped into the autolift and said, “War room.”
The door closed and the autolift began speeding her around the ship.
When the autolift stopped, and the door opened, Elyria stepped out into the hallway as Lieutenant Vasquez walked passed.
“Hey, Juan,” she said, jogging to catch up. “What did my mother want?”
When he just stared, brow furled, she added, “When she held you back after my debriefing?”
“Oh, come, let’s go.” He resumed walking toward the war room, pulling her in tow. “It was nothing. She was just slapping my hand for agreeing with you.”
“Agreeing? She didn’t give you a chance to speak!”
“I don’t have to tell you how she can be. She didn’t appreciate it, and I don’t really blame her. Regardless of our opinion, Elyria, she is the commander. She’s got a lot on her plate. She’s worked hard to get this revolution off the ground. No one else stepped up. She’s only doing what she feels is right.”
“Just as we must!” She stopped him in the hallway and gave him a look of defiance.
He looked up and down the hallway. “Let’s not talk about this here. We’ve got a meeting to attend. Look, I know she’s your mother, but you should try and forget that fact when talking to her. Give her the respect she deserves, Elyria. This is what serving under command is about—taking orders.” He gave her a wink.
The look of defiance faded and dark-remorse clouded her face. “Whatever—you’re right. It won’t matter soon, I guess.”
Juan looked away, then dropped his head slightly. “I guess not.”
“Oh!” she said, hitting him in the gut. “How ‘bout a little warning next time before you go firing off that big plasma-disruptor gun of yours? I nearly shit my armor!”
He began walking toward the war room and said, “I did warn you.”
“Yeah—after you fired! I think I’m permanently deaf on this side!” She covered her ear, squinting and following after him.
“I’ll try to be more punctual next time,” he said, laughing.
They reached the war room door, and the laughing stopped. A serious look replaced the humor crinkled at the corners of Juan’s eyes.
“Okay, fun’s over, Lieutenant.”
“Should we try one more time?” She gently gripped his arm, the lines on her forehead softening. “It would be better than—you know, the alternative.”
“We’re standing in front of the war room. Not here,” Juan said harshly, in a hushed tone.
“Okay.” Her face hardened into a look of resolve. “Let’s do this,” she said, tapping away at her wristcom.
When she finished, she looked up and found him staring at her. She held his gaze for a moment, then nodded and stepped forward.
The war room door swished open, and Elyria and Juan stepped inside, finding their seats around the war table.
“Elyria? You're still in battle armor.” A look of surprise popped up on Saren’s face.
Elyria's eyes widened, slightly, as she grabbed at the black plating, and quickly said, “I—ah, decided to take a nap and there wasn't enough time for a nice hot enviroshower, too.”
“Well,” she said. “This shouldn’t take too long.”
Saren looked around the table making sure the rest of her crew was present before she began, then brought the war table online. The display lit up with a map of the coordinates to the Scarab homeworld pinned in red. She tapped the controls on the surface of the table, and the image shrunk, leaving a border around the outside for the Unilink.
Images of faces popped up and started spinning in place inside the border around the table, stopping, as each link established a connection. Secure channels to the appointed chancellor for each sector under the federation began filling the edge of the table.
As each chancellor accepted the link, the two-dimensional face morphed into a three-dimensional representation when the Unilink was live.
Once all the links were fully established, and the base of the border turned green indicating the war room was secure, Saren began.
“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen of the council of the United Federation Ward of Authority.”
3D-heads nodded greetings all around the table.
“Now that everyone is here let me start out by commending first Lieutenant Elyria Thorn on the success of her long and difficult mission.” Saren rose from the chair to stand behind her daughter. “If it were not for her bravery, skill, and ingenuity, this revolution would not have come to fruition.”
All the council members, along with the crew physically seated around the table started chattering messages of gratitude. Once the praise finished, Saren stood a little taller and began walking around the war table.
“When we first started this revolution, I—along with many of you—had my doubts. It goes without saying we’re up against impossible odds. UFWA’s fleet was strategically grounded from the start, making it impossible for us even to stage a retaliation.
“Then—“ she said, stopping and raising a finger. “We finally found a way to reach the stars, again, thanks to the brilliant mind of Pavel Tchaikovsky. Not only did he discover the void and invented the VS drive for us to navigate it, but he also stepped up again and solved the issue of tapping into the corundum crystals, making it possible to modify our ships for spaceflight, again.”
She finished circling the table and stood before her seat. “The Scarab took out all our technology and communications, pushing us back to the Dark Ages of Chronun, and we persevered and found a way to re-establish communication through the very Unilink we’re on, allowing us to come up with a plan, restoring hope.
“Is the task still impossible? Absolutely. The Scarab posses weapons and technology we have never seen.”
A proud smile etched its way across her face. “But then Chancellor Zaleskas on planet Saröton took advantage of a devastating situation and came through with the much needed Terra-Disruptor unit.”
The 3D representation of his head nodded in her direction.
“At which point, we had more than hope,” she continued. “Now we can use their technology against them. All we needed was the location of the bastards, and thanks to my first lieutenant and her perseverance against impossible odds; we now have that piece of the puzzle so we can forge ahead and take back our freedom.”
Saren sat back down in the chair and said, “Let us begin discussion of our plan of attack. Questions?”
Chancellor Xander Aurellious from planet Rylon in the Triangulum Galaxy spoke. “Lieutenant Thorn, I would like to thank you on behalf of Rylon and myself, personally, for your brave efforts. We can only imagine the struggles you must have had to endure.”
Elyria nodded as he continued.
“Commander Saren, our concerns are for how you intend to deliver the Terra-Disruptor unit before the Scarab defenses take out the Avenger.”
“As far as we know, Chancellor Aurellious, the Scarab consider themselves omnipotent, a match for no one across the galaxy. They view us as if we were children. No concerted efforts have been made by the Scarab to study us or our technology, thankfully. The Scarab’s only objective in all this time has been to ground us to our planets and reap us as laborers. Therefore, it is my belief their homeworld has minimal defenses set up—if any. Here, have a look.”
She tapped a few commands on the war table, and the area around the red pin representing the Scarab homeworld filled the table.
All the 3D-heads turned inwards to look at the representation.
“If there were any defenses set up,” Saren said, swirling her hand around the planet. “I would imagine there would be some satellite net set up around the perimeter. As you can see, our scans have detected no such thing, nor anything monitoring the pla
net or relative area.”
“Surely you will be detected once you approach the planet,” Chancellor Aurellious said.
“Thanks to Lieutenant Thorn’s recon, we know they are unable to detect our cloaked signature, or she would not be here with us today. Big underestimation on the Scarab’s part.”
The 3D-head of Chancellor Zaleskas turned to face Saren. “But how do you intend to get the Terra-Disruptor to the surface without detection? Regardless of our cloaking technology, how do you intend to get the unit down to the planet’s surface? Surely they would detect a shuttle landing on their planet.”
“That’s the only part of the plan I hadn’t figured out until Elyria's debriefing.”
Elyria’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you talking about using the EXPOD?”
Saren smiled and said, “Yes. It was a brilliant move, Elyria. Dangerous, but brilliant!”
“What is it?” Chancellor Aurellious asked.
“With the extra corundum crystals Elyria salvaged from Nexus-8’s fifth moon, we can refit an EXPOD—maybe two—with a SAFELD. My science officer, Lieutenant Kohn should be able to help us out with that.”
Saren noticed a startled look flash across his face, then continued. “The unit will protect the EXPOD and the Terra-Disruptor from reentry-burn as it makes its way down to the surface. Once it's landed, we can remotely activate it from the safety of the Avenger. This way no one risks their life, and we’ll slip into the Void Stream before they even have a chance to look for us.”
“What is to stop them from deactivating or destroying the unit once it has reached the planet?” Chancellor Aurellious asked.
“Simple—We’ll just build a cloaking device into the EXPOD and keep it cloaked the entire time. A very smart man from the Earth era once said The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. In our case, annihilate the enemy. We’re the underdog here. We have to jump on our enemies mistake of underestimating our ingenuity.”
Saren observed, as the chancellors suddenly started chattering amongst themselves—3D-heads, bobbling back and forth. It was a solid plan, and from the level of excitement coming from the chatter, they were in agreement.
Admiral Whuang Tog, head of UFWA command on the human homeworld, Aurailia, had silently sat as Saren conducted the meeting. Admiral Tog was from a proud and honorable Japanese culture on Aurailia.
As UFWA’s leader, Admiral Tog held himself solely responsible for the fall of the federation since the Scarab’s reign.
“Commander Saren, you and your crew aboard the Avenger,” Admiral Tog said, pausing to look around the room, “have placed hope back in our hands. We will forever be in your debt. Anything within our power you wish, Saren, we will grant.”
Saren’s face flush at his words.
“Thank you, Admiral Tog. We are truly honored to serve the alliance. We’ll have our lives back, I promise. I’ll just need you on standby with those ships.”
UFWA had been communicating with the planets from the alliance still housing grounded ships, and working together with them on converting them to crude corundum crystal engines.
“When do you plan to attack?”
“VS estimates say we can reach the planet in three days. Just enough time for us to refit the EXPOD to carry the unit.”
Admiral Tog’s eyes widened before he nodded. “Then we shall be ready.”
All 3D-heads nodded in agreement.
Saren surveyed the room, one more time, and asked, “Are there any more questions, comments or suggestions?”
Elyria sat up in her chair, and Lieutenant Vasquez immediately gave her a sharp look, slowly shaking his head. Pleading the case of humanity in front of the Admiral certainly wouldn’t do any good. The Admiral, along with the rest of the alliance members wanted nothing more than to erase the Scarab from existence. They wouldn’t care about UFWA’s prime directive of preserving life at all costs, just like the Scarab hadn’t cared about the people on the planets they destroyed. After much heartache and tragedy for so long, the alliance was no longer open to ethical diplomacy.
Saren stood and said, “Thank you, everyone, for attending and for all your hard work, dedication, and concentrated efforts in seeing this revolution come to light. We, the Alliance, will overcome the Scarab’s reign, and with a little luck, the next time we speak will be from the position of peaceful authority UFWA once was! To the Alliance!”
Elyria looked across the table at Lieutenant Vasquez who was staring back at her.
Peaceful? How is annihilating a whole planet full of people, peaceful?
“TO THE ALLIANCE!” repeated the room.
PLANET AARU
SAREN tapped the war table, and the inner ring of 3D heads flattened back to the surface of the table before disappearing and powering down. The crew members started filing out into the hallway, returning to their duties when Saren placed a hand on Lieutenant Kohn’s arm as he was walking by, pulling him aside. “Stay for a moment, Alva. I want to speak to you.”
He pulled out a seat next to Saren and sat down. “Of course, Commander. What is it you wish to speak about?” His ice-blue eyes searched her face.
“I apologize. I didn't mean to put you on the spot in front of the council. I should have spoken to you first. I’ve begun to rely on your—well? Reliability. When Elyria told me how she used a modified EXPOD to get down to the planet, it made perfect sense. Now I realize a Terra-Disruptor unit is a lot heavier than my daughter. I really should’ve run the mechanics by you first. I saw your expression when I mentioned your name.”
Lieutenant Kohn looked away as he said, “I do not think the weight will be a problem. As you stated, we can retrofit two together on each side, and that should work just fine—should not take long to accomplish. Three days will even give us time to run simulation tests.”
Lieutenant Alva Kohn was her Science officer, but he was also her second Lieutenant and friend. She knew when something was bothering him. He’d never had a problem voicing it in the past which is why she had to ask, “Is there something troubling you, Alva?”
Icy eyes roamed back in her direction, meeting her with a look she’d never seen on his face. She knew Delnorians, as a logic-minded race, suppressed emotions since they only clouded the mind, causing the rash, nonlogical decision-thinking known of many others. But she could read the feelings of regret all over his face.
His mouth moved to answer, then closed.
“Come on, Alva. Out with it,” she urged. “I can sense something is wrong. What is it?”
“I—well, I just think more time should be taken to consider what it is we are about to do. There is no question the Scarab need dealing with, and I understand everything has fallen in place to do so. But I question their motives.”
That was the last thing she expected to hear from him.
“Motives? Do you mean enslaving us to do dangerous work in return for bits of universal power?”
She tried to keep her tone in check. She was the one that asked him to speak freely. But he had shocked her with his statement.
“Please do not misinterpret me, Commander. Every race has faults in varying degrees of ignorance. Before we discovered a better way for nourishment, we killed and devoured living things, when it was clear to see all around, other viable sources of food excluding sentient life.
“I question why they have kept us grounded. Was it truly to ensure supremacy over the known galaxies? Cutting off universal power has certainly accomplished that, but what it has really done has stopped us from being able to tap into an immense power source. Why then ban the usage of fossil fuels? You have said so yourself. They have underestimated us. So what is the concern of a few ships roaming the galaxy burning fossil fuel when even the smallest battle dart can blast it from space?”
Saren nodded her head. “Ah—so, you’re talking about what happened during the old Earth Era?”
He looked away.
There was that look again.
“The human race destr
oyed quite a few planets before universal power was discovered. Your people knowingly destroyed their worlds without regard for the next generation of life. It was callous selfishness in the purest form. History is repeating itself all over again with fossil fuels. I cannot help wonder if this is a test? What it is we are about to do will prove we haven't learned anything.”
Saren couldn't deny the logic.
“What would you have me do, Alva? I can no longer sit by while these barbarians rape us for manpower and destroy our worlds because we’re just trying to live. How is that better? The Scarab have ignored every attempt at communication. Wouldn't you think, Alva, after all this time the Scarab would have allowed some rapport to build if in some sick scenario they were trying to help us?”
He shifted in the chair, and said, “Which brings me back to the question of their motives. No remembers, or, possibly no one ever knew where and how universal power came into existence. The early days of the history of many cultures were always lost. Like oral traditions getting muddled, generation after generation until people stop telling them because they’ve become too fanatical. Maybe the Scarab aren’t the ones that took it away. Where did universal power come from? Have you ever thought about it?”
Now that he mentioned it, Saren never had. Universal power had always been one of those things that just, always was—like air. It was used and never questioned. It had been around so long, people had forgotten about fossil fuels, or how to even use them.
It reminded her of growing up in the orphanage when the house mother, Xandrieka, would always tap a spoon against the empty cake pan right before she filled it with batter. She was trying to teach Saren how to bake. When Saren had asked her why she always tapped the pan before pouring in the batter, she replied it was the way her grandmother had always done it.
Later on, Saren learned before the discovery of real nonstick metal alloys for baking, Xandrieka's grandmother would grease the old cake pan with butter, then sprinkle a little flour inside and tap it all around with a spoon to make sure it stuck to all the sides and in the corner. That way the cake wouldn’t stick to the pan when it was time to take it out.