by Frank Carey
"Recording..."
"This is the Vengeance. We are under attack by forces from another universe. We are in need of assistance! Computer, close recording and load EPIRBs."
"EPIRBs loaded, Aye!"
"Julian! Launch all EPIRBs and activate all emergency beacons."
The door to the bridge opened and her personal security team ran in, ready to escort her to her gig. "Belay that and get your asses off this ship," she yelled.
"Sorry ma'am, we all have crushes on you and can't imagine life without you," the security team leader said as they took position around the Bridge.
"You are all wonderful fools. Julian, any luck killing the power?"
"None, and we are running out of time, ma'am!"
"Computer, disconnect all scuttling charges except for the power core."
"Working... Set."
"Julian! With me. Computer, ship-wide!"
"Ship-wide communications active."
"This is Mitrell, hang on, we are blowing the power core," she said as she and Julian inserted keys into two locks controlling the self-destruct system. "One!" she called out. They both turned their switches left. "Two!" They both turned their switches far right. "Three!" They both returned their switched to their starting positions.
The power core exploded, sending power surges and structural ripples up and down the miles-long ship. The gate in Atmar's lab slammed shut, cutting an emerging saucer in half.
The Bridge bucked as the shock wave passed through it, throwing the occupants willy-nilly into walls and ceiling. Mitrell was thrown into a bulkhead before falling to the floor unconscious.
###
"Computer, System check."
"Working... crystal interface is now complete. Alignment is now complete. All tolerances are within mission specifications."
Atmar nodded as he checked the notes he had taken from Harmon's lab one last time. According to Harm's plans, a gateway generator could be built either on an FTL drive platform or on something mimicking one. Atmar had taken a third path by using a biocrystal as a field modulator. According to Harm’s notes, one such drive had been created, but abandoned due to instabilities in the crystalline lattice. Atmar was confident that his superior design eliminated all instabilities.
“Computer set gateway to zero percent power and activate,” Atmar said.
"Zero percent power. Activating, aye."
The thrum increased ten-fold.
"Computer, set power to one percent and hold."
"One percent and holding, aye."
The thrum increased while a low whine developed.
"Computer, open gateway."
"Open gateway, aye."
A small, glowing disk appeared in front of the generator and hovered approximately two meters off the deck. The sound of escaping air filled the lab.
"Warning, air leak!"
"Computer, initiate class one containment field around gate opening."
"Working..."
A containment field formed around the gateway. A moment later, the field expanded to over thirty feet in diameter as it shot through the outer ship's hull, creating an enormous hole three decks high. The ship convulsed as its structure was compromised.
Inside the lab, air rushed out as life support tried to compensate. "Computer, emergency shutdown!" Atmar yelled over the roar from the air escaping past the containment field sealing the hull breach.
"Unable to comply. Containment failure in ten seconds. Intruder alert!"
Atmar looked up and saw a saucer shaped ship emerge from the gateway. It headed out into the void followed by another, then another.
"Warning, containment failure in five seconds."
"Computer, activate pod. Perhaps I can fly out of here and take out the power conduits with weapons fire."
The pod lifted off the deck while its cover opened. Atmar ran and leapt into the pod just as the field failed. The sudden loss of air pushed the hapless vessel into Atmar, knocking him unconscious. Sensing his presence, the pod sealed the compartment just as it was sucked through the gate into the Alue universe.
###
Atmar stood in a piece painted by the love child of Escher and Picasso while on LSD. Most sapients would experience a psychotic break the moment they opened their eyes. Atmar, on the other hand, shrugged and continued to examine his environment.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Xura said as she shielded her eyes with her hand. "I don't know what recreational drug you're using, but you really need to stop!"
"I haven't taken drugs in decades."
"This is the real you? Oh my God. Seek help."
"I did, at least Harmon did. This is the result of the doctors’, and Muntz's, ministrations."
"There is a special place in hell for the people that did this to you."
"I intend to send them there, Harmon and Muntz in particular."
"Harmon? Harmon Aymar? Tall elf, kinda looks like you? What the hell did he do to deserve your wrath? That poor elf has let you live even after all the shit you pulled."
"He begat me, then tried to kill me. I'm returning the favor."
"You are completely mad. I saw what happened in that bar. He gave you both a chance to live, so what do you do? You kill people, then try to escape in a ball of nanorobots. You are the most plarking twisted son of a bitch I have ever met."
"Thank you. I take that as a high compliment."
"Let me explain this to you once, clone. You hurt Harmon in any way, and the two of us are going to have more than words, understand?"
He walked over to where she stood, then leaned down. "When I finish with him and his little friend, Muntz, I'm coming after you. Now, get out of my brain. You're blocking my view."
She disappeared, but not before giving him a look that would scare the dead.
Atmar laughed...
###
"...Such an irritating woman," Atmar said as he regained consciousness. "Ow!" He rubbed his head. "Where the plark am I?"
"Working... You are passing through the Alue attack fleet in orbit around a Ventos Prime-like planet. Cloak is engaged. Scanning for life forms per preprogrammed protocols."
"I'm damn good," he muttered. Then he remembered the Vengeance. "Computer, status of Vengeance?"
"The ship has broken up. Analysis of debris pattern suggests the power core self-destruct was activated. I am reading scattered life signs."
"Open emergency channel to the Bridge."
"Working... Too much interference to establish link..."
"I will revenge your deaths my wife and my daughter," he whispered as his madness progressed.
"Full scan," he ordered while he programmed the refreshment center to dispense water and a dose of analgesic. "Find anything yet?"
"One million five hundred thousand Alue, zero grange, and one Tralaskan."
"Location of Tralaskan?"
"Planetside. Coordinates set."
"Proceed. Find inconspicuous landing site within one mile of Muntz's location."
"Course plotted and site chosen. Initiating deorbit procedure."
"I so love it when a plan comes together."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The Alue leader stood staring out the window at the forest beyond. "We are running out of time."
"Leader, Platinum and Malaki are here," the attendant announced.
"Good. Show them in."
Two Alue entered and knelt as the door closed behind them. "Leader, we and the other members of the advanced team have returned for debriefing, sir."
"Get up off the floor. Things have changed since you were here last."
"Sir?"
"My name is Gentach, and I am the thousandth and first leader of the Alue since you two and the rest of your task force botched the Logash invasion. What the hell were you thinking?"
"Sir, I don't understand. We didn't botch..."
"I read your report. You allowed the Logash to maintain control of their planet long enough to blow it to hell. Not only did you
let them destroy a breeding ground, you allowed them to lock the continuum for two million years."
"Lock the continuum?"
"Yes, when the Logash destroyed their home world, they initiated a transcontinuum shock wave which bollixed the whole system. You allowed them to spin the dial and jam the tumblers."
"Sir, we had no way of knowing," Platinum sputtered.
"Oh, it gets better. Not only did you scramble access to the Logash continuum, you scrambled the codes for three other continua. Because of your incompetence, our breeding efforts are in a shambles."
The two Alue bowed their heads. "We await your judgment."
"My judgment? Back in the day, you two would be executed or exiled. Fortunately for you, we need every Alue we can lay our hands on to breed. Now, go find that moron, Muntz, and light a fire under his arse, and while you're at it, find out what the hell happened with Task Force Eight. They're supposed to be preparing for a sortie, but they've dropped off the radar." A centralized command structure was never the Alue's forte. They preferred a more privateer model for invasions. The downside was their tendency to misplace (lose) task forces.
The two Alue subordinates backed out of the room, thankful for both their lives and the chance to prove their value to the current leadership of the Alue.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Harm thought about the Alue as he walked to the Logash party. As a smuggler, Harm had dealt with virtually every sapient species of the League, yet the Alue were unique. No League member species was more ubiquitous than the Alue--so many planets had legends about the "Gray aliens" stealing herd beasts or abducting citizens--yet so little was known of them. Come to find out the Alue had been around since the beginning.
He arrived at the Logash party and was astonished at the difference. Instead of a closed door and the muffled sounds of singing, Harmon found open doors flanked by a pair of Katalan security guards, while the sounds of muffled chamber music could be barely heard.
"Sir!" the guard on the right said as they went to attention, "They're waiting for you inside."
"Maisie, Ferdinand, you can stand easy. Did I get the days mixed up? It sounds like a funeral reception in there."
Maisie shrugged. "To each their own," she said. "Good luck, sir."
"Thanks," he said as he stepped into the room.
The dichotomy between the two parties shocked the smuggler as he surveyed the room. Several dozen Logash, all in proper cocktail dress, milled about in small groups, each holding a Champagne flute. It looked like a state function on Government World.
"Harmon! How good of you to come," Agendor said while handing Harm an iced tea. "What do you think?"
"Let me guess, politics are very important in Logash society."
"You've guessed right. The Logash are consummate politicians. You know, I may run for office once this Alue thing is put to bed. Have you ever run for office?"
"No, I was born into it, and truth be told, I'm terrible at it. I'm much better at making friends than making political alliances. Ask my sister."
"Ask your sister what?" Losira asked as she joined her brother. He took her hand and linked to answer her question. "Silly, you'd be a great king."
"Perhaps for the five minutes it would take for the whole damn planet to fall apart. No, I'll just stick to the groundwork while the smart people make the decisions. I know my limitations."
"So, did you visit the Alues?"
"Yep. They bring happy to a whole new level. The most number of crew I ever had on a ship was one. There was Gretchen, who saved my life, and one or two Alue. I find the Alue to be refreshing. Yes, there are the ones who want to turn us into fertilizer, but the others, like Ruby and Roscoe, will make great additions to the League."
"Really? You plan to bring them into the League after what they did to my people?"
"I thought you liked Ruby."
"I do. It's the others..."
"Like Roscoe? You do know that he saved the LWS Protector from being overrun by grange, don't you? Agendor, they're people, for God's sake. Look around this station; look at who's running around. We've got Goranthi who hunted Tralaskans working side by side. Torsans, who we killed hundreds of in the Hell Spawn incident working here, helping us build a better world, a better League. Talk to Tannith, she'll tell you that people who were once bitter enemies in the past, become friends and are much better off for it. If you think for one moment that I will stand here and allow the Alue to be put into internment camps, then you have..."
"Lucien!" Losira said as she squeezed his hand.
He stopped and forced himself to calm down. "Forgive me. I'm tired. I've spent the last twelve hours staring into another universe, and it's made me cranky."
"No apology necessary. You are a passionate elf."
"I've seen too much death is all. My wife and brother-in-law were almost killed by someone who believed in species cleansing as a solution to a problem."
"And where is he now?" Rutile asked from her place on Agendor's arm.
"Dead, though his cause lives on. Segue Six is still wracked by civil war. Forgive me, I seem to be in a foul mood. I don't usually pull out the soap box until after my third martini."
"Harm, you don't drink," Losira reminded him.
"Yes, I know. I will leave you to your party. Sister, Agendor, Rutile, good night."
Harm walked out of the room, leaving the others to wonder what his outburst was all about. Concerned, Losira walked over to the wall comm unit and made a call.
###
Marta headed out the moment she got the call from Losira. "Computer, location of Capt. Harmon Aymar."
"Capt. Aymar is currently in viewing lounge 18, deck 9."
Marta quickened her pace.
###
The lounge was dark. According to the terminal in the hallway, there was only one occupant, an elf by its life signs. Marta walked in and stopped, allowing her eyes to adjust to the gloom while the door closed behind her.
"Harmon?" she asked quietly.
A hand appeared above a chair and waved. She walked over. "Hey, you."
"Hey. I take it Losi called you."
"She's worried about you. I'm worried about you, she said while sitting down in his lap. "What's going on?"
He put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "Something Agendor said set me off. I think he wants to put all the Alue someplace where they won't be a problem."
"Why?"
"I think he and the rest of his family are scared of them."
"But only Caleb and the elders were part of that era. Ruby and our Alue are innocent of any wrongdoing."
"His fear runs deep. It could be a trait of the Logash, or it could just be delayed battle fatigue. All I know is it rubbed me the wrong plarking way. I kinda let him have it, and I shouldn't have. I apologized and left before I put my foot in it again."
"OK, so what's really bothering you"
"I am tired of saving the League. I want to retire, maybe open a bakeshop or a day care. I'm tired of traipsing around the cosmos."
"And..."
He closed his eyes. "I'm tired of being a failure."
"What? Are you kidding me? You're as much a failure as I'm the Martok queen! You have single-handedly saved the League on not one, but two occasions. And what about Elven Industries? I don't care about the cover story; you built that from the ground up, then gave it to Gloria. And what about the kids? You saved Aerith's ass more than once. You adopted the quads and gave them an opportunity to thrive, and what about Sana? She and Lenneth would have had to elope if you hadn't adopted her. Harm, why do you think you're a failure?"
"I suck at being a prince. I saw Losi and Agendor working the crowd, and I realized that I suck. Losi needs my help and all I can do is embarrass her."
"When was the last time you slept?"
He wrinkled his brow. "When did you and the 1st Logash leave?"
"Shit, Harmon, that was almost a week ago. You need to get some sleep. Harm?"
> She looked and saw he had fallen asleep. She kissed his cheek before sliding down to sit next to him. "Silly elf," she whispered before falling asleep beside him.
###
"Alert. Alert. Alert. All Cube personnel, set condition 3, disaster stations. Repeat, set condition 3, disaster stations. Prince Lucien, General McMurphy, report to mission control. Prince Lucien, General McMurphy, report to mission control."
"Harm, honey, wake up," Marta said as she gently shook him awake.
His eyes snapped open as his body shook. "What? Where? Huh?"
"It's OK. The station is at condition 3. We need to get to mission control. Do you need to hit the head before we go?"
"Head?" he asked. "Yeah, good idea." He ran over to the lounge restrooms and disappeared inside.
"Mission control, this is McMurphy. We're on our way. Can you tell me what's happening?"
"Starguard has picked up dozens of mayday calls from the last known location of the PS Vengeance. They are under attack by a number of saucer shaped craft and request assistance. Dir. Devlin has committed all space going assets to the rescue effort."
Harm came out of the head, slicking his hair back as he walked.
"We'll be there shortly. McMurphy out. Harm, the shit just hit the fan. Vengeance has been attacked by saucer shaped craft," she told him as they headed out the door.
"It may be a trick by my clone," he said while they quickly made their way to mission control. He pulled out a hacker ball and held it while activating it with his free hand. "Atmar 387 initiate," he said.
"What the hell?" Marta said as the ball pulsed green while they continued to walk. After a few moments, the ball flashed red before deactivating.
"Not good," he said as he returned the device to his pocket. "This is a direct line to Atmar through a matched pair of hacker balls. He's not answering. He always answers. I set this up after Mother hired him to kill Muntz. He seems to have a thing for Lenora. He respects her, so I made it easier for the two to contact each other."
"You think he's dead, don't you?"