He Who Dares: Book Three

by Rob Buckman

“Skipper, two of the ships are lagging behind.” Mike closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.

  “Conner. Slow down and fall back… maybe we can help.” He had no idea how. Once the Harmony started attacking, they didn’t stop.

  “The Sirriens have dropped out of nth space, Skipper, about half an hour behind us.”

  “They are the least of our worries. Maybe the Harmony will go after them first and give us a chance to get the hell out of here.”

  “Those asteroid things are starting to move towards us and the Sirriens, sir,” Jan reported.

  “Shit! Here it comes. Shields to max, standby all weapons!” All they could do was put up the best fight possible, but with six hours to get to the southern warp point he didn’t hold out much chance of making it.

  “Can we surrender, Mike?” Pete asked, seeing Mike shake his head.

  “They don’t think like us. To them, most things outside the Harmony are enemies to be destroyed if they enter their space. It’s as simple as that.” He saw Pete visibly shiver. It was one thing to meet your enemy in open combat, but this was something else.

  “Sir, more of those asteroid things are popping up on long range sensors… they just keep coming… my god, there must be thousands of them.

  At this distance they had a ringside seat as the first of the spiky looking asteroids started impacting on the Sirrien shields. At first it was a few here and there then more and more. As Mike had hoped, the Harmony saw the Sirriens as the major threat and concentrated on them. There were still a few coming towards his fleet yet for some strange reason they’d stopped about a thousand yard away.

  “That’s odd.” Mike checked the battle tank again. “Why aren’t they attacking?” he mused, a puzzled frown on his face.

  One small group of Sirrien destroyers came out of the blackness speeding towards them in an attack run. Someone must have given orders to stop them while the fleet took care of the Harmony attack. As the destroyers neared more and more spiky asteroids impacted on their shields. Now instead of just a few dozen, hundreds of them came streaking in. They didn’t attack in the conventional way, they just simply dove into the Sirrien ships in Kamikaze or suicide attacks.

  “Good god! Those have to be unmanned ships or missiles,” Jan breathed.

  “I don’t think so, Jan. Those things are being guided somehow, and how do they discriminate between us and the Sirriens?”

  “They should be attacking us, right?”

  “Right, Pete, and I don’t know why they aren’t.”

  “Thank god for small mercies, Skipper.”

  “But… but how do you put that many manned ships in space and keep them there just in case of an incursion… that’s impossible,” Adam interjected. “Think of just what it would take in maintaining them in the first place.”

  The questions of the how and why kept piling up with no answers. In the end, they all sat in silence as they watched the slow destruction of the Sirrien fleet. No matter how good their shields were and how many their point defense systems destroyed before they impacted, the stream of kamikaze ships didn’t stop. The explosions were definitely nuclear and after a while it looked as if the whole Sirrien fleet was surrounded by a cauldron of nonstop nuclear fire like a miniature sun. Gradually, ship by ship, the Sirrien fleet vanished, but even so, the stream of suicide ships didn’t stop. As Mike had said, they wouldn’t stop until even the debris was blown to dust. Gradually, the horrifying spectacle vanished astern and six hours later, they were in range of the southern warp point. By now their small fleet was surrounded by the spiky looking asteroid yet none attacked. It got to the point where they couldn’t even see where they were going the cloud became so thick.

  “I get the feeling they want us to stop, Skipper.”

  “Yeah, I get the same impression. Cooper, signal to all ships to come to a stop and hold positions. No one is to fire on those ships, or whatever they are for any reason whatsoever.”

  “I think they got that message already, Skipper,” Pete breathed. Just then, the hatch opened and in walked Jenks holding the strange cylinder.

  “I think you’d better have a look at this.” He gingerly handed it to Mike.

  “I’ll be dammed.” He held it up so the rest of the bridge could see it. The scrolling red letters had changed and now read:

  “…welcome to the Harmony, Captain Michael Gray of His Majesty’s Royal Navy…”

  “Skipper, I’m registering a tachyon build up… there’s a ship entering,” Jan called.

  “Now what?” They didn’t have long to wait, as the cloud of Harmony ships opened up to permit the passage of a huge ship.

  “Oh… my… lord!”

  “I see it, Jan. That’s similar to the phantom ship we encountered in nth space a while back.”

  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was the same one.” As she said it, the main viewer came online and they were looking in on the “bridge” of the Harmony ship once again except in real time now. The regal-looking alien still sat on the throne-like chair with the same attendants fussing around. A very human looking being stepped forward and bowed.

  “Captain Gray. My Queen has ordered me to formally welcome you home. It has been many years since she last saw you and humbly wishes you to attend her, here aboard her ship.”

  “Umm… tell her I am honored that she remembers me… but, no thanks are needed. What we did for her we would do for any ship in distress…” The being turned and spoke to the being on the throne, who had to be the queen he spoke of. He turned back.

  “With respect, honored Captain. You have to understand, you are now part of the Harmony, and the Harmony is you.” Mike sat back, stunned, and for a moment was unable to say a word. In all the tales, he’d heard about the Harmony, there was nothing remotely like this.

  “If you would be so kind, my Queen would be honored if you would agree to come aboard and meet with her.” Talk about an offer you couldn’t refuse. If he said no, would they let him and his fleet depart? Surrounded as they were, there was no way they could jump before they were destroyed.

  “Please tell her I would be honored to meet her… how should I come aboard?”

  “A small shuttle will be dispatched to pick you up. May it land on your ship?”

  “By all means. The rear docking bay will be open for its arrival.” The being bowed again and turned to relay his message.

  “You have the Conn, Number One.”

  “If you say so, Skipper.” Standish-Owen blew out his cheeks and raised his eyebrows. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do if they don’t let you come back, Mike.”

  “We are both in the same boat, so to speak. I have nothing to go on here.”

  “Let’s just hope they stay friendly, is all I can say.”

  “See you in a while… I hope.” Saying that, he left the bridge to change.

  He had no way of knowing if the queen would be impressed with his dress uniform, but he put it on any way. Jenks looked none too pleased as he fussed around unhappy he wasn’t going.

  “You look after yourself over there, Sarge. You know how these alien types can get unfriendly.”

  “Stop fussing. You’re like a mother hen with one egg.”

  “Bloody well stand still while I brush you off. You’re taking your sidearm, right?”

  “Fat lot of good that would do me over there in a ship full of suicidal aliens.”

  The Harmony shuttle turned out to be nothing more than a six-foot high sphere with a flat bottom. Besides the odd glow that surrounded the ship, there was nothing to show how it was propelled. He stepped in and the hatch closed behind him without a sound. There was one seat in the cramped interior, and the moment he sat, the craft was in motion. There was nothing to see inside except the softly glowing curved hull, no controls, and no view screen until the area in front of him cleared to show outside space. Just at the edge of his hearing there was a sound rather like wind as it moved through the trees. Soft and soothing. Even a cursory
look showed that this technology was way beyond anything he’d ever seen, which was curious considering how poorly designed the fusion drive on the phantom ship had been.

  Unlike the landing bay on his ship the strange shuttle headed for a hole in the side of the alien ship that at first glance look to be smaller than the shuttle. It wasn’t, and the shuttle glided effortlessly into the opening and down a short tube all without touching the sides. There wasn’t even a bump as the shuttle settled and the hatch opened. Taking a deep breath, Mike exited, not sure what to expect, but certainly not a group of naked, hairless aliens prostrating themselves on the deck before him. As he stepped out the oddly human looking being came forward. He was clothed, but Mike suspected that it was more for his benefit rather than the aliens. The being bowed with his three fingered hands covering his face.

  “Greetings honored Captain Michael Gray. These are here to assist in preparing you to meet my Queen.” He indicated the prostrated beings. “Please permit them to remove your clothing so you can proceed with the decontamination process.” So much for carrying a weapon, Mike thought.

  It made sense in an off way. As isolated as they were from the outside universe, they wouldn’t want him contaminating their ship or their queen with some strange bug. Body shyness wasn’t part of his cultural awareness, and as the others stood he could see they were sexless as well as naked and hairless. To outward appearances their faces seemed half formed, in that they had two eyes, two ears and a mouth yet had a smooth unfinished look. He slowly undressed, and as he did so, one of the beings took each article of clothing and carefully folded it. He then stood back so another could take his place and take the next item. Once naked the dressed alien motioned him to enter the next chamber as a hatch slid silently open. This turned out to be the decontamination chamber where he passed through a series of sprays and lights to kill off any human germs. Exiting, another alien was waiting with a long robe with a hood and a pair of soft, boot like footwear.

  “Please don the garment, Captain Gray, as requested by my Queen. The temperature in her chamber is different from what we have learned humans prefer.”

  Mike wondered for a moment how he would have been dressed, or undressed, if the chamber was the same temperature. Naked probably.

  From there, just the two of them proceeded through the ship by a series of moving walkways and lift shafts until at last they entered the queen’s chamber. To his surprise, the chamber was hot rather than cold as he’d expected when asked to wear the robe, at least ninety or a hundred degrees. The robe wasn’t to keep him warm but cool. He could feel the heat on his hands and face, and he quickly lifted the hood over his head and tucked his hands inside the loose sleeves. This was another example of their advanced technology. Inside the robe he felt cool and comfortable, and he thought to ask the queen later if he could take it with him. The queen’s chamber was a huge circular room with more naked, hairless beings sitting at control consoles spaced equally around the circumference from the two o’clock to ten o’clock position. Between the ten and the two o’clock position was an ornate wall of some type of metal, and as they approached, it slid sideways to reveal the queen sitting on her throne-like chair. His companion walked forward and bowed, but if he said anything, Mike couldn’t hear it. After a moment, he turned back and addressed him.

  “My Queen is pleased that you have come, so she can thank you in person.”

  “As I said before. No thanks are needed.”

  “That is not so, Captain Gray. For without your assistance, there would be no Harmony. By rescuing her you became part of the harmony and made it complete.”

  If someone had hit him between the eyes with a hammer, he couldn’t have been more surprised. “Come again… I mean. Can you explain that?”

  “By all means, Captain Gray. Long ago and far, far away from here, our sun was dying, and the Queen knew she must find a new home. She embarked on a generation ship to seek a new home for the Harmony. It was during that flight the fusion reactor of the ship malfunctioned and she became trapped in nether space until you arrived to give aid.” Mike blinked, as what he was hearing didn’t make sense.

  “Once free of death’s embrace, my Queen found a new home and built the Harmony into what it is now.”

  “And what is it now?”

  “The Harmony encompasses one thousand star systems, no more, no less, across this expanse of the spiral arm.”

  “I see.” A thousand star systems was a nice round number. “But… well… how old is your Queen?” This couldn’t be the same queen he’d seen in nth space.

  “My Queen is the one hundredth reincarnation of her kind.” Mike thought about that for a moment. If what he was saying was true, that meant each queen had the sum total of all the previous queen’s memories.

  That meant he’d saved the life of their queen at least a thousand years ago. No one had ever thought about nth space being timeless. It was no wonder some of the ships seen there didn’t match any known design. Now the cylinder made sense in a way. Somehow the queen knew the exact time and place she would meet him again to thank him and sent the cylinder to Earth for him to have with him at this moment. The cylinder was also their passport and protection to stop the suicide ships from attacking him by sending out a signal of some sort. That brought up the question of how long ago this had queen arrived here. To build an empire of a thousand star systems meant she had to have arrived before the Voss, Humanity and anyone else out here. If that was true, how on earth could she have known when and where he would enter the Harmony? Again, it brought up the question of whether they could move back and forth in time. The main question was, why go to all that trouble?

  “I’m glad I was there to help her. But why am I here?” The being turned to consult the queen again.

  “My Queen has told me that the Harmony is incomplete without your union, and that she has been remiss in not bringing everything into complete balance within the harmony and the universe.”

  “Okay, so?”

  “Without you, there can be no completeness.” That didn’t sound good to Mike’s ear. Maybe she wanted to eat him or something. “My Queen begs you to become part of the Harmony and make it complete.”

  “How do I do that?” Running was out of the question. There was nowhere to run.

  “My Queen humbly begs you to join with her so the Harmony will be complete.”

  “Err; I’m not sure it’s possible for us to have sex. Our two species are not compatible.” Despite being inside the cooling cloak, Mike started to sweat.

  “My Queen asks that you permit us to extract a small portion of your DNA. This will be combined and incorporated into the next Queen to make the Harmony complete. Her DNA will also be combined with yours thereby making you and all your dependents part of the Harmony forever.” Mike let out his breath not even realizing he was holding.

  Was that all? For some peculiar reason they wanted to combine his DNA sequence with the queen’s. The geneticists on Avalon knew a few things about gene splicing, but he’d never heard anything like what they were suggesting. It was common practice for immigrants, after they were accepted, to receive the treatments so they could live on Avalon without using an anti-grav belt. What alien DNA would do to him he had no idea. He shivered slightly at the thought of being turned into one of these hairless drones sitting at their consoles.

  “Umm… what would combining your Queen’s DNA with mine do to me?” He had to ask the question, even fearing the answer.

  “Nothing on the outside nor would it change you in any way other than that you would be able to enter the Harmony at any time and go wherever you pleased. Once you are part of the collective, your mind would be one with my Queen’s.” The being bowed and covered his face again, remaining that way as if waiting for an answer.

  Mike’s mind was in a whirl. What he was suggesting sounded crazy, and yet, being able to enter the Harmony any time he wanted and cross it to strike at the Sirriens from a direction they didn’t expect n
or follow him back afterwards did have a certain appeal.

  “If I come with other ships, would I still be able to enter and cross Harmony space?”

  “Of course. Once you are part of us, and those ships are with you, they may cross without fear.” That was the hook. He didn’t know if they knew anything about human psychology, but they did know about making a deal. They were making him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

  “Okay… um… let’s do it.” Hearing that, the strange being became almost animated and quickly turned to his queen. The moment he finished, a door slid open and in walked another drone with a tray.

  “If you would permit me the honor. I will extract the needed DNA and inject you with my Queen’s. Please, hold your arm out for a moment.” Mike expected to go to a lab of some sort not have a medical looking device placed around his arm. Lights began to flicker the moment it was locked in place, but he didn’t feel anything. Whatever it did, it did it painlessly and very quickly as after a few moments the light stopped flickering and the being took the device off.

  “Thank you Captain Michael Gray. You are now one with the Harmony.”

  “Thanks… I think…” Mike froze, he’d heard the words in his head yet the beings mouth hadn’t moved. So, that’s what having her DNA gives me, telepathy, he thought. It was a bit of a shock, knowing someone could now see into his mind.

  “I greet you, Michael Gray.” A powerful voice spoke in his head. Mike turned to face the queen, knowing who spoke to him. Instead of speaking his answer, Mike tried to speak the words in his head.

  “I greet you as well… my Queen?”

  “No, Michael Gray, I am not your Queen. We are now equal, and I see there is another you would call your Queen.” There was humor coloring her reply, yet she spoke the truth.

  “Yes, there is another, a female of my race who I would call my Queen.”

  “As it should be with your kind now that I understand the nature of your species.”

  “Yes, we are a peculiar lot.”

  “It has taken us many cycles to understand your race and gain the technology needed to protect the Harmony.”