Energize (From the Logs of Daniel Quinn Book 1)
Page 26
As I watched Damon’s hologram speak, I grew increasingly confused. What the hell was I supposed to do about this so called war? My skills in diplomatic relations were nonexistent. Besides, I never visited either planet and, to my knowledge, I didn’t know anyone who lived there.
Just turn off the hologram and think nothing more of it, I thought.
Nerves crept into my stomach and up my spine. Memories surfaced, some old, some recent, but they all had one thing in common: Every time helped someone, shit always blew up in my face. My best friend was captured and mutated into a cybernetic freak when I helped my old Captain, Gregory Smithson, escape from the hands of the mutinous Sarah King. And an alien I bonded with, Laraar, was killed by a woman whom I had tried to befriend and show mercy.
Why the hell would I want to be placed between two warring planets? How could that end in any good way? What difference could I make? I considered asking Al to stop processing the information. If I did that, all I had to do was deliver Damon’s body home. But how many people could die from this war?
There were never minor casualties in war. The lives lost throughout history can’t be summed up by using numbers. I agreed to take Damon’s body home. I would already be there anyway, so why not look around? Would it be so bad to take a look around?
Yes, probably, but despite my trepidation I stayed silent and let Al continue the download.
You want to involve yourself because you care, I admitted to myself.
But why do I care? Was I seriously having an internal discussion with my conscience right now?
You care because of all the wrong that’s been done to you—Ashley’s murder, your failed jobs, the destruction and deaths on Dawn, Jason Hobbes. You can’t change the past, so you look for things you can change in the present and future.
I wanted to think of an argument against what I thought, but I couldn’t. The holographic video ended and Damon’s digital body dematerialized. I breathed in deep and let it out slow. I didn’t have to do this. All I needed to do was chart a new course, somewhere far away, and hide.
Hide, like a coward.
“Al,” I said, resolved. “While you’re processing the memory drive, I also need access to any records we have on the alien race known as Leondren. One of them was responsible for bombing the docking gate on Karth. We’re going to try to hunt him down.”
“Acknowledged, sir,” Al said. “Although, that will not be difficult. There is a Leondren starship precisely 1875 meters off our starboard bow.”
“What?”
“That will not be difficult. There is a Leondren—”
“Al, shut up! I heard what you said the first time!”
I cut the power to the thrusters and scanned the area Al mentioned. There was definitely something out there. I rotated the navsphere gently to bring the Belle into position facing the object and then turned toward my operations console and zoomed in to the location I had submitted. I never got a chance to see the Leondren vessel up close, but the ship in front of me was the shape of a diamond with three separate wing structures on each side of her. The hull was a dark grey color, but my databanks couldn’t register the metal. Sensors indicated the ship was stationed at a higher altitude than the Belle, and she was leaning down facing us, like a predator looking to strike.
Granak.
He denied every attempt I made at communication and scans of his ship revealed weapons fully activated and charged. The time for talk was apparently over. He said his business, successfully intimidated me, and pissed me off at the same time.
“What’s happening?” Tress asked as he leaned over my shoulder.
“He’s waiting to see what I’m going to do,” I replied.
I wanted to attack, to fly in and unload a barrage of plasma, but his ship was superior to mine in weaponry alone, over a dozen launchers equipped, and I didn’t even compare other systems yet. The Belle was agile, but could I really outmaneuver him if I made the decision to attack? I didn’t want to take that chance. My mission was to apprehend him, but I needed to face him on even ground, wherever that may be. I hated to admit it, but the best option was to turn and run.
Live to fight another day, a voice echoed inside my head. It wasn’t my voice, but that of Captain Gregory Smithson. He had said that to me after our successful escape from the Echelon.
“Al, do we have the coordinates for Terra?” I almost whispered as if Granak could hear me. I doubt he was going to let me escape so we needed to be quick and precise.
“Affirmative, Captain. The course is entered into navigation.”
I reached to the slingspace primer, pushed it forward, and waited. The only way I could engage the ship faster than light was to reduce my thrusters to half power, but if I did that Granak would have no problem catching up and taking us out. As long as he didn’t detect the buildup of my slingspace core, we should be able to launch without any reaction from him. At least, that’s what I hoped.
“All right then,” I breathed. I wiped my sweaty hands on my pants and placed them back on the navsphere. They trembled against the cool metallic device. “Tress, make sure you’re buckled up.”
I took my own advice and strapped myself securely into my seat. I breathed deep to attempt to calm my nerves. Power levels rose and the soft hum of the Belle grew louder. Granak’s ship kept stationary. I imagined his feline eyes staring right at me, his mouth formed in an open smile with those sharp pointed teeth.
The slingspace engine core blinked green.
“Hard starboard,” I whispered.
I thrust my hand to the right. The sphere effortlessly spun, turning the ship. That's when Tress started mumbling something.
“Look out! Look out!” I translated too late.
The display screen in front of me flashed red. Granak had fired his weapons.
"Flux! Al, engage slingspace!"
I reduced my thrusters to compensate for the energy output needed to launch, and expected to see the stars around me shift and fade away, but instead the Belle flew off course. The bridge violently shook and the straps around my shoulders dug into me as I jerked forward.
"Captain, impact on the dorsal midsection. Slingspace has been deactivated."
Granak knew exactly where to hit me. I grabbed the navsphere and activated the main thrusters. The Belle groaned but responded and we shot forward.
"Al, keep an eye on Granak and prepare to drop the aft weapons."
"Acknowledged. Leondren ship closing in at 300 meters. Mines are set and ready to deploy."
Granak's ship easily matched our speed as it fired another round. The disruptor fire missed but was close enough to make me hold my breath in anticipation of a hit. I took evasive maneuvers, turning left and right, diving down and shooting up. Every time I turned the Belle, I released one of the mines in the hopes that Granak wouldn't see it coming. I couldn't hear the explosions, but I felt the Belle shudder, the floor clanging. His weapons locked on to the mines and destroyed them shortly after I ejected them.
“We are dead!” Tress shouted from behind me.
“No we’re not,” I replied, though I wasn’t completely sure of that answer.
That’s when I remembered the marksmanship Granak displayed on Karth. He hit Damon in one shot, but after multiple attempts he either missed the Belle entirely or grazed her hull. He was toying with me. Just like back on the planet surface, he had no intention of killing me, but to what end? Was he going to give chase and fire at me until my power reserves drained out? Our two ships danced in the darkness of space. I lost track of how much time passed. Tress whimpered behind me, terrified.
"Al, divert power to the port thrusters and prepare to fire forward plasma guns," I said, tired of the battle being one-sided.
"Sir, that is not—”
"Just do it, Al!"
When the adjustments were completed, I cut power to the main thrusters and activated the port side. In the blink of an eye, the Belle spun 180 degrees and we faced Granak's ship.
/> "Fire!" I screamed. Two beams of pure green plasma erupted from my ship. A barrier of energy stopped the plasma from directly hitting his ship.
"Impact to vessel’s forward shields, Captain,” Al reported.
Flux. I returned all power to main thrusters and shot past Granak. He had more weapons and more defensive systems, but I turned toward him again and fired my plasma at his stern. Each hit met the same barrier as my first. I gritted my teeth. Anger fueled me, the same anger I used when I nearly shot Damon Derringer.
“Captain. This is futile. We will exhaust our plasma banks long before the Leondren’s shields fail. I recommend a full course correction back to Karth.”
Al wanted me to tuck my tail between my legs and run. That’s what I tried to do in the first place, but Granak had other ideas. He wanted me to attack him.
He wanted me to attack him, I realized in a moment of clarity. He’s trying to cripple my ship… and I’m helping him.
My slingspace drive was out of commission and the main thruster control felt sluggish the more I pushed the ship. If I continued my attack, I would be a sitting duck, completely defenseless.
“Stars above, Al,” I said out loud. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Set course back to Karth. Maybe we can get the bastard to follow us back.”
If I didn’t know any better, I thought I heard Tress sigh.
That’s when Granak resumed his attack. His ship turned toward us, the exact same tactic I used against him earlier, and unloaded multiple disruptor blasts. Every one hit my ship. The lights on the bridge flashed red, a sign that hull integrity was dropping. In any other circumstance that would have scared the shit out of me; a hull breech on a ship this old could tear her apart. But before I could react, the computer station in front of me exploded and showered me with sparks and smoke.
Tress screamed; the sound came out of him like the combination of a loud whistle and the screech of an earth elephant. I threw up my hands and turned my head to guard myself from the damaged console and I saw his eyes shimmer deep, neon indigo. He was more terrified than when I threatened his life and I didn’t blame him. I told him we weren’t going to die, but the onslaught of weapons fire convinced me of that inevitability. In those last few seconds, I regretted bringing him onboard.
“Tress,” I said. “I’m so sorry.”
I closed my eyes and waited for the Belle to shudder, to split apart and suck me into the void of space, but the attacks stopped. The Belle didn’t break apart like I thought she might. When I opened my eyes, Granak’s ship was right in front of me, on the other side of the shield window. He won and I lost and this felt like his way of gloating. After a minute or so, the ship turned and thrust out of sight. A ripple effect from his ship traveling faster than light caused the Belle to drift backward. I unbuckled my harness and stood carefully. The left side of the blackened main console still smoked. The right side seemed intact as well as the navsphere, but when I attempted to turn the ship nothing happened. The thrusters were offline.
“Al,” I said, hoping to hear an answer from him, but it didn’t come. I called his name a handful more times, but heard nothing.
For the last five years, the only companion I truly had was Al. He was an artificial intelligence, sure, but he was the only voice I consistently heard. When he was first installed on the Belle, he spoke like nothing more than a standard computer, assisting me with operations on the ship. But he was designed to evolve and after years of traveling together, he began to show signs of emotion and sentience. He joked with me, insulted me, and I him. Man and machine became the closest of friends. He used his vast database to teach me about the worlds and races we met in space and I taught him how to behave more like a human.
Now Al’s mainframe had been damaged in the attack. I wanted to scream, to throw or punch something. Al was literally a one-of-a-kind A.I. I didn’t have access to replacement parts, nor did I have the technological prowess to repair him. And what if he couldn’t be repaired? What if I had lost him forever?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Thomas R. Manning is the author of Energize: From the Logs of Daniel Quinn. Born just outside the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Thomas spent his life in the worlds of creativity and imagination, whether through drawing comic books, performing in school musicals, or writing stories.
His love of science fiction inspired the Daniel Quinn series, but Thomas is excited to share many other stories in various genres in the near future. For more information, visit www.thomasrmanning.com
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