They were only half a minute of travel time from the star beacon. Justine’s initial impulse was to launch herself through first and return to Gliese with the news, but she willed herself to wait.
Sure enough, she detected the star beacon activating, and with the ship’s sensors, saw that it was connecting with the Kulsat System. As she guessed, Alex was leading them back there.
There was one big problem with that, she knew, and felt the iron grip of panic. If Alex led them to Kulsat, he would be there by himself, caught between the thousands of pursuers and the tens of thousands of warships in the system. He would be on his own, and would not last long without help from the Sentinels.
With the star beacon activated, Justine was helpless to do anything until Alex and the Kulsat had passed through to the other solar system.
The moment they were gone, Justine activated the star beacon once more, and went through it back to Gliese.
∞
Moments after arriving, she blasted the news out for everyone to hear.
“Alex managed to lead the Kulsat back to their home system. He’s there alone. We need to mobilize immediately.”
Hundreds of voices flooded the communications system until the Sentinel commander sent out a squelch, silencing the chatter.
Once he had everyone’s attention, he sent out the order. “Prepare to launch for the Kulsat system. First arrivals, once you are there, find Alex’s signature and move in to protect him. Everyone else, be prepared for heavy fire. Ready? Launch.”
Justine, barely able to get her breath, intended to go in with the first wave—damn the protocol—but the moment she quantized with the first few hundred Sentinels and oriented to the star beacon, she realized there was something wrong.
The star beacon would not activate for the Kulsat System.
After repeated attempts, all she could do was return to physical space.
Through her communications console, she heard the commander issue a statement. “Sentinels, somehow the Kulsat have completely blocked their star beacon. We are not able to penetrate it.”
Justine’s senses swam with the implications.
Alex was trapped in the Kulsat System with no hope of rescue.
49
USSF Warship Liberty :
Kulsat System :
Everything seemed to happen at once.
Upon entering the Kulsat System, Alex and the Liberty returned to physical space.
The patrol ships guarding the star beacon detected their presence and began to lock their weapons on the intruder.
Alex knew that he only had seconds before the Solan ship was blasted out of existence, and he was on the verge of quantizing the ship again with the intention of traveling deeper into enemy territory, but his communications console streamed a message from Red Spot.
General Gates, obviously realizing where they were, was shouting at him, but his words were lost on Alex.
The message. The secret that Red Spot knew, which no one else seemed to know. There it was on his readout, but for the life of him, Alex could not understand its meaning.
“The Kulsat did not fear the Grace only because of their ability to nullify the Gift. The Kulsat feared the Grace because they could dismantle the star beacons.”
In the span of a moment, Alex’s mind made several connections.
The transformation into a Kinemat extended the natural lifespan of the affected being by a factor of two or three.
The Kulsat’s natural life expectancy was about two or three years, and a Risen’s average lifespan was five to six years.
The Kulsat System was on the farthest tip of one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way, eighty-seven light-years from the nearest system.
Without a star beacon, it would take a Kulsat ship generations to travel from their home system to their nearest neighbor.
The Kulsat System had no natural deposits of Kinemet. The Risen would hoard whatever Kinemet they had.
The Kulsat Risen had become self-serving, egomaniacal beings since the disappearance of the Grace. Perhaps in the future, they might evolve and be willing to make that kind of sacrifice to reconnect with the galaxy, but it was unlikely to happen for centuries.
If Alex nullified the Kulsat star beacon, he would cut them off from the rest of the galaxy, and end their threat.
At the same time, that would insulate the Kulsat from the other species of the galaxy, protecting them from any possible retribution—at least for the next century or so.
He would save the galaxy from the Kulsat, and save the Kulsat from the rest of the galaxy.
Given their nature, it was unlikely the Risen would squander any Kinemet to create more Risen. Logic and foresight rarely entered into the reasoning of power-mad beings.
“Release my ship, as you promised,” came the follow-up message from Red Spot.
With how strong a personality Red Spot had, and with her exposure to other cultures, it was possible that she might become a force for revolution in the Kulsat System. If she were able to get her story out, perhaps more of the native Kulsat would rebel against the Risen. For the first time in a millennium, their culture would have a new purpose. Perhaps in a few hundred—or thousand—years, the Kulsat might mature enough as a society to be ready to rejoin the galaxy.
All these thoughts occurred to Alex in the span of a few seconds.
He didn’t release Red Spot right then, however. In the midst of the Kulsat patrols, she would be in danger. Also, he needed to be certain the armada had returned to Kulsat space.
“The lead ship is firing—” General Gates began to say, but Alex quantized the ship, and pushed the Liberty’s quantum engines to fly at light speed for the duration of one second.
They were over three-hundred-thousand kilometers away from the star beacon when Alex returned the ship to physical space. He reached out to his console and disconnected Red Spot’s shuttle from the Liberty.
General Gates was red-faced. It was obvious he was not used to being at the mercy of someone else’s decisions, especially one who still looked like a teenager. “You will tell me, this instant, what is going on,” he ordered.
Alex, making certain Red Spot’s shuttle was on its way safe and sound, said, “I’m really sorry to do this to you and your crew, General, but I have no other choice.”
For the last time, Alex quantized the Liberty. Very soon, he sensed the arrival of the Kulsat armada. Aside from any possible stragglers—mining ships in unpopulated solar systems—the vast majority of Kulsat Risen were here.
Alex focused on the star beacon.
This time, he did not do it with the intention of flying the quantum ship through it to another system.
This time, he pulled at the Kinemetic ‘thread’ connecting the Kulsat star beacon with the galactic network. He knew, instinctively, he could not have done that outside of the Kulsat System.
Without that ‘thread’, the tear in the fabric of the universe repaired itself.
The Kulsat star beacon did not exist anymore.
Alex, along with the Liberty, were trapped within the Kulsat system.
50
Pueblo de Santa Brio :
Copán, Honduras :
January 2197
My name is Rosalia Chiquita Hernandez, and I am the first of my village to celebrate my one-hundredth birthday. It is a milestone, by the standards of any human culture. Of course, the Kinemats of Sol will live two- or three-hundred years, they tell me. In the same breath, they also tell me that those who have become Star Travelers are something beyond human, and something less than gods.
My birthday is bittersweet, to me. It is also the anniversary of my grandfather’s death. Yaxche, who never liked his Spanish name, passed away when I turned twenty. Though it has been so long since then, I remember him and his legacy every day. He passed the care of the Song of the Stars to me, and bade me guard the ancient scroll. I have grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Juan, the gentlest of them, wishes to carry on the tradition
when I pass on to Mitnal. That will be soon, I suspect. But not yet.
I have had a very full life, and often I reflect back on my one-hundred years.
After the Emperor’s defeat on Qin Station, the coalition of nations retook the solar system within a matter of days. While the alliance that had formed for that task might have dissolved over time, the return of Major Justine Turner and Ambassador Michael Sanderson caused an interplanetary stir; they brought alien emissaries from Gliese to Sol System.
While stories of the Kulsat threat—and the destruction they could have brought—both thrilled and frightened people everywhere, it was the offer to become a member of the Galactic Collection that prompted Sol System to revolutionize its political system, since the Collection would only recognize a single centralized government from each member system.
The United Earth Corporate was disbanded, and the Solan Synergy was created. Country corporations and planetary subsidiaries were replaced with democratic cooperatives, which recognized the authority of the Synergy.
Kinemetic technology was advanced with cooperation from the Collection. With cheap space travel and access to the solar system’s resources, there was a population explosion on the other planets and moons of Sol System. Even the poorer regions of Earth prospered, not just economically, but in matters of health and wellness.
It was the beginning of the Fifth World, an era of prosperity and human progress.
Every year, on my birthday, thousands of people from all over the solar system—and even a few from other species in the galaxy—make the pilgrimage to my village. Kinemats and Sentinels, who cannot bear the gravity of the planet, are present in holoform, servo-assistants projecting their images and recording the sights and sounds to send back to them in orbit around Earth.
We host a daylong celebration in honor of my grandfather and his friends, Sentinel Justine Turner and Ambassador Michael Sanderson, who have both attended every year. We honor the fallen heroes, George Markowitz, Kenny Harriman, and all the soldiers who fought and died in the years up until the Emergence.
In the afternoon, I tell the tale of Subo Ak and the Dying God, taught to me by the wise Patli, who had no heirs.
At sunset, I recite the Song of the Stars, which was taught to me by my grandfather, in honor of the Lost Grace, Alex Manez, and the brave crew of the Liberty, who sacrificed themselves by leading the Kulsat armada away from Sol, and thereby saving our solar system.
This year, however, before I am able to begin the Song of the Stars, Ambassador Michael Sanderson asks to speak to the crowd before the final ceremony begins.
He stands before them, and there is much emotion in his wizened face.
“Friends, citizens of the Solan Synergy, Kinemats and Sentinels. A few minutes ago, I received word that the star beacon in Heraiea, the closest system to Kulsat, had activated, the signal originating from Kulsat System.”
When he says this, there is a collective gasp from those gathered together. For decades, we were told how unlikely it was for the Kulsat Risen to attempt to cross such a vast distance. Stories of the Kulsat had endured, however, and they were considered to be the bogeymen of the galaxy.
Ambassador Sanderson holds up both of his hands to quell the crowd. “It was not the Kulsat who arrived, however. It was a century-old warship.” He paused for dramatic effect. “The Liberty and its entire crew have returned to us, alive and healthy after eighty-seven years.”
His last words were drowned out by the resounding cheer from the crowd. It was only once he had their attention again that the ambassador spoke.
“His Grace, Alex Manez, is among them.
“He is coming home.”
METAMORPHOSIS
…the end of The Interstellar Age
About the Author :
Valmore Daniels has lived on the coasts of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans, and dozens of points in between.
An insatiable thirst for new experiences has led him to work in several fields, including legal research, elderly care, oil & gas administration, web design, government service, human resources, and retail business management.
His enthusiasm for travel is only surpassed by his passion for telling tall tales.
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Also Available:
The Interstellar Age
Forbidden the Stars
Music of the Spheres
Worlds Away
Fallen Angels
Angel Fire
Angel’s Breath
Earth Angel (TBR)
Angel Tears (TBR)
Angel of Darkness (TBR)
Visit ValmoreDaniels.com
Worlds Away (The Interstellar Age Book 3) Page 34