The intruders had cut a perfect circular hole into the hull and docked their ship with an airlock coupling. A short tunnel connected the two ships, making it easy for them to enter the Yax K’uk’Mo’.
Vasina counted the scintillating fields moving about within her field of vision. Now she knew how many they were and she prepared herself.
»I count at least three!« she said to Scorge.
»They docked on my ship, and I didn’t notice it!« Scorge replied. »The pirates must have learned from their earlier setbacks and changed strategies. They must have upgraded their camo-shields, or I would have detected them.«
Vasina nodded.
»I think they observed us for quite some time before they entered the Yax K’uk’Mo’. They probably thought there was nobody home!«
»Nobody home? What do you mean?«
Before Vasina could answer, an energy blast hit a shelf stringer above her, vaporizing it. This caused the shelf to lean over, threatening to collapse under its weight, and bury them under its contents. Vasina jumped out from her cover and held her shield in front of her. The following shot hit her, but the shield deflected the energy beam at an angle toward the ceiling. The shield’s material shrugged off the beam easily. It didn’t even show a mark.
»I’ve determined how they modified their camo-fields and I think I can jam their generators!« Scorge yelled from his cover behind a machine block. A moment later the camo-shields began to destabilize and flicker.
»Keep going! You’re on the right beam, Scorge!« Vasina urged him.
She knew her own defense shield set to its highest frequency was superior to their enemies’ weapons. She took more hits, but the shield held. If Scorge was right then they would learn and adapt their strategy. She didn’t have to wait long. They split up and tried to get to Vasina’s back, attacking her from different directions.
»Move it, Scorge! I’m resetting the defense shield to sphere mode!«
They fired at her from three directions. Vasina was forced to extend her shield farther, which weakened it, causing some overload arcing under fire.
Vasina returned fire and hit one of the intruders. Her shot didn’t penetrate his shield, but the kinetic energy from her blast jolted him from his feet, or whatever it was they were walking with.
»Scorge!« she screamed at him. »Get rid of those camo-shields, damnit!«
Scorge worked feverishly on eliminating the shields, while Vasina distracted the attackers.
»What do you want here, you bastards?« she yelled at them, hitting another intruder. The attacker was whirled around and then thrown against the wall. The other two attackers used the moment to fire at her simultaneously. They focused their beamers on a single point on her shield, causing it to flicker ominously.
Suddenly the intruders panicked. Their attacks ceased as their camo-shields collapsed. Scorge had neutralized their shields! No longer invisible, they should be easier to fight. Yet Vasina froze and held her breath as one attacker wavered into sight. She stared at him with wide eyes, unable to move. She had expected anything but this!
»Vasina! Watch out! A pirate is in front of you! He’s coming right at you!«
The pirate knew that he had become visible and looked at Scorge and Vasina with hate-filled eyes. He was humanoid, stout and muscular. He was holding a heavy beamer in each of his claw-like hands and tensing to attack. He looked vicious, more predator than intelligent being. Vasina’s heart pounded, her mind raced and memories began to seize her. She still stood as if paralyzed.
I know you bastards!
The pirates were no strangers to her. They stood a meter and a half tall on two feet. Their skin was covered with thick, tough, reddish scales. Their hands had six finger-like claws. They were able to move their deep-black eyes, chameleon-like, in all directions. The heads had a fin, a ten centimeter high and three centimeter narrow band from forehead to the neck. A ten centimeter long goatee grew from their chins. Their faces were elongated, reinforcing the resemblance to lizards. They were Rexas, beings who had changed their appearance only slightly over the last million years.
Vasina took a deep breath. The attackers, whom Scorge called pirates, belonged to the Rexa clans – servants of the Dark Brotherhood, better known to the Progonauts as ‘Deporters’! Beings who had occupied the Progonaut home-world after their defeat, slaughtering the civilian population and then deporting the rest, mostly young people, to Earth. Now their descendants were standing before her. Vasina had barely finished her thoughts, when the Rexa lunged at her with his claws extended. Vasina reacted instinctively like a programmed, deadly fighting machine. She leaped at him, and at the last moment rolled underneath him. Lightning fast, she pulled her dagger-like sword and rammed it into the attacker’s unprotected underbelly. The Rexa was dead before he hit the ground.
Scorge, following the fight, understood what she was doing. Vasina’s energy weapon couldn’t penetrate the Rexa’s defense shield but her dagger could! The antiquated weapon succeeded where no energy weapon could. With shrill screams the other two Rexas left their covers and bathed Vasina and Scorge in their beamer fires. Now that they had lost their camo-shields, Scorge fired at the Rexas. The heavy firefight that erupted ignited some of the stored goods in the room. The fire began to spread and the air filled with black and heavy smoke. The Rexas realized that they could not win. They ran toward the hole in the hull and disappeared into their ship. The airlock closed behind them while their ship began separating from the Yax K’uk’Mo’.
»They’re retreating! Careful, Scorge!«
Scorge understood. Vasina expected a sudden decompression as soon as the other ship decoupled, that could blow her into space! Instead a reddish glowing energy field sealed the opening. The automatic fire suppression systems went to work extinguishing the fire.
»I’m more worried about what those pirates are going to do next,« Scorge said. »That was only a small ship, a scout with a small crew, but it may be armed. I have to get back to my refuge and get this ship into defensive mode!«
Without further explanation, he stormed out of the storage room and vanished down the corridor. A jolt hit the Yax K’uk’Mo’ and threw Vasina to the floor. Scorge had cause to be concerned. The Rexas weren’t happy about their retreat. Vasina held her breath.
What a day
Arkroid had requested the fastest possible return flight. As before, the ship transferred onto the tachyon trail almost instantly to fly back to Epsilon Indi. The ship didn’t need a preliminary minimum speed to transfer from one medium into the other. Arkroid decided to throw everything he knew to the wind and be far more cautious the next time. Nobody, not even the Techno-Ferry, had expected the attack by the crystalline intelligence. It taught him to always expect the impossible.
Both men speculated on what had happened during the return flight.
What makes this crystalline being on Moontaap want space-farers? What was that platform, why was it destroyed by a huge explosion sometime in the past?
Arkroid wanted to tell Scorge all he could, even if the fate of his fellow trader pained him. It was too important.
»We will arrive in a couple of minutes,« the Techno-Ferry announced.
»What do you think our discovery means for Humanity, Toiber?« Lai Pi asked, visibly depressed.
»I don’t know, Pi,« Arkroid admitted. »We need a lot more information to fully answer that. It’s like a big puzzle … we won’t see the whole picture ‘till we put the last piece in place. Just the fact that this strange being exists on Vega, a mere spit away in cosmic terms, makes me shiver.«
Lai Pi laughed mutedly.
»What’s funny, Pi?«
»Well, we’ve started to think in totally different terms than our fellow Solar Union citizens. You talk about the Vega System as in the ‘neighborhood’ – it’s totally out of reach to anybody else on Earth.«
Arkroid nodded and smiled. He understood what Pi was trying to say.
»I’m not worried that t
he crystalline intelligence would be able to bridge the distance to Earth by itself, but what if it hijacked a spaceship? I don’t even want to think about it. It gives me Goosebumps!«
Lai Pi had become very serious.
»Sooner or later we’ll have to deal with it.«
Arkroid nodded.
»Sooner or later.«
»We have arrived!« reported the Techno-Ferry.
As soon as normal space was visible in the holos, the Techno-Ferry spoke again.
»I’m detecting a second spaceship, flying around the Yax K’uk’Mo’ at high speed and firing at it. A space battle is in progress!«
»What the …?«
Arkroid jumped from his seat.
»Who is the attacker? What’s the status of Scorge’s ship?«
»I can detect a hull breach at the lower section, but it has already been sealed off by a force field. Three energy blasts have scored the hull but didn’t penetrate. It seems that the Yax K’uk’Mo’ has assumed defensive stance. Most of the available energy is being routed to the defense shields. His ship is accelerating, but Scorge isn’t shaking off his attackers. They are smaller, but faster.«
Arkroid’s mind raced feverishly.
What can we do? Can we use the Techno-Ferry?
Arkroid cleared his throat.
»Techno-Ferry, can you keep up with the attacker?«
»Their propulsion system is inferior to mine.«
Did he just hear right? Was there a mocking undertone in the Ferry’s reply or was it his imagination?
The attacker fired at the Yax K’uk’Mo’, hitting her again!
»What kind of weapon are they using?« Lai Pi asked in alarm.
»High-energy plasma cannons with magnetic coil acceleration. Commonly used among the peoples in the galaxy … and before you ask … no threat to my defense systems.«
Arkroid knew what to do.
»Let’s approach them without camo-shields. Techno-Ferry, change your shape to the most threatening appearance you can. I want them to watch the changes. Take a direct course. If that doesn’t convince them, position yourself between the attacker and the Yax K’uk’Mo’ to protect her from their weapons. Let’s not waste any more time: we may be the Yax K’uk’Mo’s only shield. Execute!«
The Techno-Ferry accelerated toward the attackers. They reacted instantly and fired at the Techno-Ferry even as they began uncoordinated evasive maneuvers. They couldn’t know that the Techno-Ferry possessed no offensive weapons systems, and they didn’t want to come under attack themselves. Realizing that their plasma weapons weren’t having any effect, they quickly retreated. Arkroid instructed the Techno-Ferry to give chase. Seconds later the attackers transferred to the tachyon trail.
»The attacker is leaving the Epsilon Indi System. I can easily detect them on the lower tachyon track. They won’t be back soon. Their vector does not point to any nearby stars. The crew seems to have opted for an emergency route without destination coordinates. A dangerous move!«
Arkroid wiped his brow in relief. His gamble had worked. The Techno-Ferry’s sudden appearance had made the difference.
»Lesson learned! We don’t have to always shoot at something!« Arkroid said with a smirk. »This time it worked without fireworks. Please, tell Scorge it’s us, so we can dock in the hangar. I think our friends aboard the Yax K’uk’Mo’ need our help.«
»Already done, Arkroid. Scorge is happy to see us returning in the nick of time.«
»I like your … ‘in the nick of time’,« Arkroid replied, smiling.
»Okay then, we’re back,« Lai Pi added with a labored smile. »What a day!«
We trust you
They were sitting in silence in the climate controlled conference room that Scorge had provided. His Human partners Arkroid and Li had asked him for a serious and lengthy conversation. Scorge was devastated when he heard about his fellow Shwakan’s fate. Arkroid was careful not to hurt Scorge further when he presented the pictures from the ship in the Vega System. It was apparent how the Shwakan had died; they didn’t need disturbing graphic depictions.
»I have searched my archives as you asked, but didn’t find an entry about the Pux Man’Du’. The data provided by the Techno-Ferry is plausible, though. I will pass on the warning to my brothers and their ships. It must have been a horrible, painful death for my brother. The Pux Man’Du’s commander had succumbed to the crystalline being almost two Shwakan life-times ago. I’m grateful that you’re sharing this information with me, even though we don’t know at this time what motivated the attack on the Pux Man’Du. We may never be able to understand how this being thinks. It might be too alien and strange for us to comprehend.«
Arkroid looked at the floor. He had felt the attack on his own body and mind.
»I also want to thank Vasina for her help, fighting the intruders. Without her I might have lost my ship and my life. I still don’t understand how they were able to defeat my systems and take me by surprise. That still worries me!«
»As I mentioned,« Vasina took over, »I think that they thought your ship was abandoned. The Rexas saw the Techno-Ferry leave, and took it for an auxiliary craft. They probably know that there’s usually only one Shwakan onboard a pyramid-ship. That made them believe that nobody was home. They thought it would be easy to raid the ship and take the goods. Well, they got that wrong!«
Vasina looked around before she continued.
»At least we know who the mysterious pirates are, Scorge. Your people have never been able to identify them before because there were no eyewitnesses. Now we know that they are Rexas, which opens another can of worms, to put it in Human terms.«
»Explain,« Arkroid encouraged her to continue.
»That’s easy,« she replied smugly, »I have to wonder if the Rexas have turned into ordinary pirates after all these years or if they’re still working for the Dark Brotherhood. Scorge told me that they’ve been a plague as long as he knows. They seem to have chosen the traders as their primary targets … and I think I know why.«
Arkroid straightened in his seat. Since the infiltration on Techno-Center, he took the Dark Brotherhood’s threat very seriously.
»I think,« she continued, »the Shwakans weren’t infiltrated by agitators long ago because of their unique social structure.«
»Makes sense!« Lai Pi remarked.
»Shwakans live alone most of the time as they travel through the cosmos. They only congregate in their home-system for the Day of the Shwakans. They do not have a government, police force – nothing an agitator could infiltrate to undermine them. They would have needed one agitator per Shwakan!«
Vasina’s face became hard.
»People who cannot be influenced that way are dangerous to the Brotherhood. They’re trying to intimidate the Shwakans with sporadic Pirate attacks on their ships, but if that doesn’t work, they’ll do worse. Maybe they’d even send the Trox to the Shwakan System to cause havoc or who knows what other evil plans they have in mind.«
»The Trox?« Arkroid asked, uncomprehending.
»Plundering space nomads, who could still exist after all these years, if Scorge is right.«
Scorge became restless.
»What do these unknown rulers want from us? Control of the galaxy or perhaps the universe? That’s insane! Even the most depraved dictator knows that’s utterly unrealistic! Every great power in galactic history has failed. The galaxy is too vast – too many species to control.«
»Insane and impossible maybe, but there will always be people who will want to do just that. The Dark Brotherhood still seems to be following their original plans to conquer the galaxy. We need to take them seriously.«
»With everything we know so far, I have to agree with Vasina. There’s the protective shield around the Solar System, a long term plan by the Globusters. We still don’t know why that was done – sentencing Humanity to live inside a conclave of sorts. Then there are the Progonauts, very likely our ancestors and relatives, who stood up against the
Dark Brotherhood in the past and because of that were exterminated. Even the Techno-Clerics, a highly developed robot society, were not immune to infiltration by an agitator. And now the Rexas, who as far back as we know have served the Dark Brotherhood.«
Arkroid sighed deeply, »Then it’s not only Humanity’s future we have to fear for but the future of the entire galaxy!« Arkroid paused for a moment. »By the way, Scorge, what did you do with the dead Rexa?«
»We threw him out of my ship. I didn’t want him onboard. They’ve caused too much destruction and hardship in the galaxy!«
Scorge’s anger was plain despite his alien demeanor.
»I suggest we abandon our original plan to research the Epsilon Indi System and return at a later date,« Scorge said. »It’s too risky to stay here, since the pirates know where to find us. The situation has changed drastically. They’ll be back with reinforcements to revenge their defeat. We need to be a great deal more cautious when we venture into unknown territory. That’s a lesson we learned from the crystalline intelligence too.«
Arkroid nodded in agreement.
»Seconded, Scorge, without hesitation. Don’t forget we have a valuable ally in the Techno-Ferry. We will make more use of it in the future.«
Arkroid caught a strange glance from Vasina. Did she resent Arkroid’s command over the Techno-Ferry? Arkroid had the momentary impression that Vasina had her own agenda, but then her face relaxed.
»The Techno-Ferry is a mighty spaceship in your hands, Arkroid,« Scorge made a direct approach. »You really don’t need the Yax K’uk’Mo’ anymore. You can fly anywhere you want in your new ship. Why do you want to remain onboard?«
»Well, this expedition was part of an agreement between us. Without you we’d never have been able to leave our solar system and would have never found the Techno-Ferry.«
Arkroid tried to sound serious and confident.
»Besides, your experience counts more than all the technology around us. Together with Vasina, who possesses a found knowledge of the past and us Humans – who have slipped into this situation by accident – we’re a team with no equal. We’ve spoiled the Dark Brotherhood’s plans once already!«
NEBULAR Collection 2 - The Expedition: NEBULAR Episodes 6 - 11 Page 25