by Ryk Brown
“Oh, really?” Josh challenged.
“So, it’s been decided?” Marcus asked. “You’re going through with it?”
“It appears so,” Connor admitted, as the airlock proximity alarm sounded.
“How are you plannin’ on gettin’ on and off the planet?” Marcus wondered, calling after Connor as the captain headed forward to the airlock.
“Oh, I’ll just swoop us in and drop him off, then jump back in when he’s ready to go,” Josh declared confidently.
“Just like that?” Dalen wondered. “On a planet full of Dusahn jump fighters?”
“Man, I’ll jump in and out so fast they’ll never even know I was there,” Josh bragged.
Connor returned, along with Doctor Sato, Doctor Megel, and General Telles with several Ghatazhak, each of them carrying several equipment bags.
“Seriously, Cap’n, how are we going to pull this off?” Marcus wondered.
“The general has it all figured out,” Connor promised.
“I’m all ears,” Marcus assured him.
“I’ll explain it later,” Connor replied. “We have some training to do.”
Marcus leaned to his right, noting General Telles and his men, followed by the two Nifelmian doctors.
“We going somewhere?” Josh asked.
“Innis, fourth planet,” Connor instructed.
“Why? There’s nothing there. It’s dust bowl.”
“But apparently it’s got the right gravity,” Connor explained vaguely. “Let’s get going.”
* * *
Cameron walked into the Aurora’s medical department, looking for her new chief medical officer. “Hello?” she called, surprised that no one was there to greet the captain. “Doctor Chen?”
“Captain Taylor,” Doctor Chen replied, coming out of one of the exam rooms. “My apologies, I was with a patient, and apparently we are short staffed. It seems my only two nurses both just came off doubles, and my only med-tech is at lunch at the moment.”
“We can reschedule, if you’d like, Cameron suggested. “I’m feeling fine, after all.”
“Thank you, no,” Doctor Chen replied. “As your new CMO, I am required to personally establish the baseline medical condition of all senior officers within seventy-two hours of assuming command of the ship’s medical department.”
“Yes, I’m well aware of the regulation,” Cameron replied. “I just thought that, considering the circumstances, a little leeway might be prudent.”
“The circumstances are exactly why it is imperative that I see to the health of the ship’s senior officers,” Doctor Chen insisted. “After all, we are at a state of alert, and the crew and the senior officers have all been working double shifts for more than a week now.”
“Of course, you’re right.”
“We’ll use exam two, Captain,” the doctor said, gesturing toward the open door.
“You know, I was surprised to see you returning to shipboard duty,” Cameron said as she entered the exam room. “I thought that, after your last tour, you would have had enough. At least that’s the impression I had when you departed.”
Doctor Chen closed the door behind them and locked it. “Your impression was correct, Captain,” she admitted, her tone suddenly becoming more personable. “I’m not here out of choice. Hell, this morning I was having coffee at my favorite little shop near the hospital, enjoying the view of the ocean, and now I’m God knows how many light years away from home.”
“What’s going on, Doctor?” Cameron asked.
“I have no idea,” she replied. “All I know is that Captain Scott’s sister, Miri, came into my hospital emergency department, pretending to be a patient, just so she could talk to me covertly. Me! Of all people! And now, ten hours later, I’m here talking to you.”
“What did she say?” Cameron wondered.
“That I was being activated, and that if I agreed to deliver a message to you in secret, she would see that I was reassigned back to Earth just as soon as possible.”
“What message?”
Doctor Chen reached into her pocket and pulled out the data chip that Miri had given her. “I don’t know. I just know that I’m supposed to give you this, and I’m not supposed to tell anyone about it.”
“Then you don’t know what’s on this chip?” Cameron asked, as she accepted it from the doctor.
“She wouldn’t tell me, and believe me, I asked,” Doctor Chen explained. “All she would say is that, if I knew what was on that chip, I would be happy to help. Oh, and that the fate of humanity might depend on getting it to you. So, not that big a deal, right?” she added, rolling her eyes in frustration.
Cameron looked at the chip, noticing that it had no markings, which in itself was unusual. “Are you sure she didn’t say anything else?”
“Nothing.”
Cameron sighed, looking down at the data chip in her hand. “I guess I’d better take a look at the message, then,” she said, as she started to get up.
“Actually, I do have to give you a check examination, Captain,” Doctor Chen said. “Regulations. Besides, it’s the only way I could get the chip to you in secret.”
“Of course,” Cameron replied, sitting back down. She thought for a moment as Doctor Chen opened the cabinet and got out a medical scanner. “I wonder what the message is,” Cameron said, more to herself than to the doctor.
“I have a feeling I don’t want to know.”
* * *
“I want them dead!” Lord Dusahn demanded, his voice echoing throughout his headquarters on Takara. “Do you understand me?”
“Yes, my lord,” General Hesson replied. “Might I inquire as to how you wish us to best accomplish this task?”
Lord Dusahn looked at his trusted general and life-long friend. He knew full well the general was asking only to point out the futility of his leader’s outburst. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, after which he nodded recognition of his friend’s masterful calming of his lord’s demeanor. The outburst had not been befitting of the leader of the Dusahn caste, and they both knew it. Such occasional outbursts of rage were Lord Dusahn’s weak point, one he had tried for decades to master, but as of yet had failed.
“If I may offer my counsel?” the general suggested, now that his leader had calmed down.
Lord Dusahn simply nodded in agreement, saying nothing.
“It is an isolated incident, one that should be of no concern as of yet.”
“I have heard stories of these Ghatazhak,” Lord Dusahn said, his voice low, despite the fact that he and the general were alone.
“As have I, my lord. They are formidable warriors, but they are surface warriors, nothing more. And their numbers are insignificant compared to your Zen-Anor, let alone our standard ground forces.”
“You once told me that such men should not be underestimated,” Lord Dusahn reminded his general. “Such was Captain Equin’s fatal error, was it not?”
“Indeed it was, my lord.”
“Then see that it does not happen again.”
“Of course, my lord.”
Lord Dusahn sighed again. “I don’t suppose there is anything we can do to find these Ghatazhak, and rid ourselves of them once and for all?”
“Tracking their old light would likely be difficult, if not impossible,” the general admitted. “Evasion of such techniques is a simple matter. And we have too few ships to conduct a comprehensive search of the entire sector, let alone beyond. However, there is one thing that might yield result.”
Lord Dusahn suddenly looked interested.
“We believe the ship that aided the Ghatazhak in their escape is the same ship that assisted in the evacuation of the surviving Avendahl fighters during our initial invasion of the Darvano system.”
“Indeed, my lord.”
“Don’t we have his wife and daughter in custody?”
“Indeed, my lord.”
Lord Dusahn smiled, leaning back in his seat. “A man who is away from home so much will not return for his wife, but he might, for his child.”
“My thinking as well,” the general agreed, although without the obvious pleasure.
“Execute his wife,” Lord Dusahn instructed. “In public, first thing in the morning.”
“As you wish, my lord,” the general promised, bowing respectfully and backing away to exit.
* * *
Cameron sat in the middle of her quarters on the Aurora, staring at the blank view screen on the wall in front of her, just as she had been for the last half hour. She had isolated her personal terminal from the rest of the ship prior to inserting the data chip. Surprisingly, the chip had only required Cameron’s thumbprint in order to decrypt its message. Considering the lengths to which Miri Scott-Thornton had gone to get the chip to her in secret, she had expected more elaborate safeguards.
The chip had been in her possession for several hours now. She had waited until the long workday had finished, in the hopes that she would be able to watch the message in its entirety, without interruption. She had no idea how long, or how short the message might be, but she was sure of one thing. Whatever the message was, it deserved her undivided attention, which was exactly what she was about to give.
Cameron picked up the remote, and pressed the button to play the message. The image was black at first, then faded into view. It was a small, nondescript room, something akin to an operational office at a military base, but she could not be sure. There was communications gear on the counter along the far wall, and a map of an airfield on the wall above the comm-gear. The room was properly lit, although not too bright, and by the small amount of light coming through the one window that she could see, it was night.
Then the room suddenly illuminated for a moment. Brilliant blue-white light that was gone a split second later.
A distant jump flash.
A second later, her suspicions were confirmed by the customary clap of thunder that always occurred when a large ship displaced the air by its sudden arrival into the atmosphere. It was a unique, unforgettable sound.
A spaceport.
A voice mumbled in the background, along with some chatter on the comm-gear. She could hear some movement off camera, and could see some shadows moving to the left. Then a man stepped into view. As he turned to look into the camera, Cameron’s mouth fell agape.
“Oh, my God,” she exclaimed, both hands coming up to cover her mouth. She could not believe what she was seeing. The man appeared younger than she remembered, especially considering that seven years had passed since she last saw him. His hair was noticeably longer, and his face was covered with a thick, poorly trimmed beard. But it was Nathan, of that she had no doubt. She could see it in his eyes. The kindness, the determination, the confidence…and the feeling of trust they always engendered when you looked into them.
“Nathan,” she whispered.
“Hello, Miri. I’ll bet you weren’t expecting to hear from me again.” he began. “Yes, it’s me under all this. It’s your baby brother.” He touched his beard. “Pretty good disguise, huh? Well, it is if no one is really looking for you, I guess.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “I guess I should apologize for not getting in touch with you sooner. But, as you might expect, it’s complicated. You see, I haven’t really been myself for a long time. I wish I could explain it all to you, but there’s not enough time. To be honest, I don’t really understand it all myself just yet, but I hope to very soon. Just know that I am incredibly sorry for what I must have put you all through. I hope you know that I was only doing what I felt I had to do, in order to save you all.”
There was another voice, one that was deeper and more official in syntax. Cameron thought she recognized the man’s voice, but could not quite place it. Nathan was looking at the man off camera, nodding his head.
“Look, Miri, I don’t have a lot of time to explain, but I need your help. By now you know that the Dusahn have invaded the Pentaurus cluster, and they control all of the worlds within it. Soon, we fear that they will expand their reign to include the entire sector, and beyond. This gives them a vast industrial base, complete with all the resources and technology, as well as the economy and work force needed, to rapidly expand their fleet.”
As if on cue, to emphasize the point, another jump flash filled the room, followed by the customary clap of thunder. Nathan looked away from the camera momentarily, caught off guard.
“And Miri, they have jump drives. Lots of them. But here’s the thing. They call themselves the Dusahn, and they claim to be acting separately from the Jung. We have no way of confirming this, but everything we’ve learned thus far supports this.”
The man’s voice from off camera spoke again. Cameron couldn’t hear him well enough to understand what he was saying, but it seemed as if he was reminding Nathan of something.
“I know that things back in the Sol sector are not ideal right now. I know that Jung ships have been showing up deep within Alliance space. I have no explanation for this, but I am positive that all is not as it appears. There is something far more complex, far more sinister going on. I suspect that Galiardi is using these sudden intrusions into Alliance space as justification for KKV strikes, and to rally support for his dream of building a space-faring military of epic proportions.”
Another jump flash filled the room, but this time, Nathan ignored it.
“Anyway, to the point of this message. I need you to get the following message to Captain Cameron Taylor, commander of the Aurora. You need to do it without anyone knowing. I know that’s asking a lot, but trust me, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t a matter of life and death, for billions, maybe trillions of people, both in the Pentaurus cluster, and back in the Sol sector as well. Again, tell no one about this message, and for now, tell no one that I am alive. I suspect everyone will know soon enough.”
Nathan paused for a moment, as if marking the end of the first message, and the beginning of the second portion intended for Cameron.
“Hi, Cam,” Nathan began. “I’ll make this short. General Telles, Jessica, Deliza Ta’Akar, and I are resurrecting the Karuzari in the hopes of fighting the Dusahn. Josh, Marcus, and Loki are with me as well, along with what is left of the Ghatazhak.”
Another jump flash washed over the room, but Nathan continued.
“Less than an hour ago, we were attacked by a Dusahn assault ship. By some miracle, we survived, but with heavy losses, and we expect the Dusahn to return shortly to finish the job. We are evacuating now, in the hopes of saving what little is left. The Dusahn invasion was too precise. They must have had good intelligence prior to the attack. However, the general does not believe they were aware of the Ghatazhak until after the invasion. We have no delusions of being able to defeat them, as we have no warships, other than a few combat jump shuttles, and two Falcons. What we are hoping to do is to harass and impede the Dusahn at every turn, in the hopes of preventing them from becoming any stronger prior to the arrival of Alliance ships. Unfortunately, we cannot hope to accomplish this task without help. We have received word that the Alliance is willing to send us aid in the form of weapons and supplies, but is unable to send what we really need, which is a ship. But not just any ship.”
Nathan paused. The look on his face told her what was coming next.
“Cam…… We need the Aurora. With her, and with Na-Tan at her command, General Telles believes we can not only rally support, but we might actually have a chance at defeating the Dusahn.” Nathan stopped and sighed. “I know I’m asking a lot. I know that this goes against everything you believe in, and that it puts everything you’ve
worked for at risk. But do you really want to be a part of the world that Galiardi is trying to create?”
Nathan looked off camera for a moment before continuing.
“Believe me, Cam, I would not be asking if I thought there was any other way. Unfortunately, there is not. The Pentaurus sector needs Na-Tan, they need the Aurora, and they need her crew. I know you never liked the whole Na-Tan thing. But Telles says the people need hope. They need inspiration. They need a leader they can believe in. The same is as true now as it was nine years ago. If we save this sector again, we will likely be saving the Sol sector as well. If the Dusahn are acting on their own, then they are even more dangerous. And if they are acting under Jung authority, then that means the Jung in your part of the galaxy also have jump drives, in which case one ship is not going to make a bit of difference there. Out here, at least you have a chance to make a difference.”
“Ghatazhak! This is the Glendanon!”
The voice was coming from the comm-gear, and it caused Nathan to turn to look behind him. “Three Dusahn ships have just jumped into orbit over Burgess!”
The image on the view screen shook violently, and a nearby explosion erupted, followed by the sound of windows being blown out by the shock wave. It caused Cameron to flinch, gasping as her hands returned to her mouth again.
“Cameron, the Aurora must be in the Darvano system at zero six thirty hours, Corinairan mean time, six Corinairan days from the date stamp on this message. Jump in, guns blazing! Kill anything that you can’t ID as friendly! If you don’t, it is unlikely that I will survive!”
“We must leave, now!” the man off camera insisted.