Armageddon's Pall
Page 35
“Of course, Lord of All.”
From somewhere deep within fas mind Gondral felt a pull fae’d never experienced before. It was a call of distress, and it pulled Gondral’s eyes towards a distant star; commanded all Gorvians to come. Through fas connection to the other Gorvians, Gondral could feel them answer the call as well. Recognition of the ‘voice’ spurred them all to action. Intruders had violated the Tre-Tian home system. Gondral turned to the Old Mind’s ball, even the head within appeared transfixed. “What word is there from the shipyard in Beshtrig?”
The Old Mind didn’t reply. Gondral reached out, kicked the ball, then slipped into the fragile mind to silence the cry.
Blinking with a rapidity that didn’t seem natural, the head responded after a moment’s hesitation. “All telemetry with the shipyard has been cut off. They’ve missed their last two scheduled check-ins and are not responding to hails.”
Gondral whirled around and hurried off towards fas shuttle, calling out to all Gorvian to make best speed towards Beshtrig. Before Gondral could even reach fas shuttle, Mini-Gorvians came pouring into the bay. They raced towards their own shuttles, unaffected by the Tre-Tian’s call. Gondral took one last look as the admiral stood there dumbfounded. “See that this place is made ready. We have found the Dondicks and will strike them from the universe.”
UCSB Date 1004.045
Medical Bay 3, UCSBS Mercy, Beshtrig System
It reminded Marda of watching one of her father’s negotiations when she’d been a child. It was just like then; his, the more powerful side, sat back and let the weaker party control the conversation. The Confederation had hammered the Gorvian shipyards without mercy, shattering their defenses in the opening hects of the engagement. The fleet had then turned their weapons on the massive network of trusses that had given birth to the Planet Slicer. Losses on the Confederation side had been minimal. After two cycles of rotational operations half of the smaller Gorvian super destroyers had fallen from orbit into the gas giant below. Despite the elation of the crew around her, Marda couldn’t join in. She knew to her core that the Gorvians would counter their assault and dominate the negotiation table again.
She looked up the view wall at the massive gas giant. She’d come to call it the ‘Arbitrator.’ She had no idea why she’d called it that. The planet just seemed to stare at them, a massive eye in the blackness. There were times that she’d swear that she’d seen it blink. When that happened, the baby would jump - not that he had much room left to do so.
She laid a hand on her extended belly. Her son calmed to her touch. “It’s okay little one. If the Gorvians do show up, then we’ll have done our job and we’ll run out-system to safety.”
The baby hiccupped in response drawing a smile from Marda and the feeling that she had to pee. It hadn’t been the first time she’d felt that way this past tridec. She’d known to expect such feelings, but half the time she went to relieve herself nothing would come. It was infuriating and every time she got mad about it she’d feel giddy, like she’d played a joke on someone. She’d chalked it up to hormones. But the last few times she’d slept, she’d dreamt of not only holding her baby, but speaking with him. She’d have real emotional conversations with him and explain things that a newborn would need to learn.
A feeling of dread washed over her and the baby jumped again. More than that, he seemed to shiver. She backed away from the view wall and grabbed hold of the nearest chair for support. One of her nurses ran up to check on her. “Ma’am. Are you all right?”
Marda couldn’t shake the feeling of subdued terror welling up within her. She felt her own emotions beginning to peek under the dread; she looked about for a reason. Even the nearby spirits looked on with concern. Then, one by one, they all turned towards the view wall. The primary jump point they’d arrived through lay between them and the local sun. Something massive had eclipsed that star. Marda simply stared at the image for a long moment, pushing down the fear inside her the best she could. “We knew they were coming,” Marda announced to her staff. “Prepare to receive casualties.”
The ship’s PA sounded a moment later, drawing their attention. “All hands. Sensors have detected and we have confirmation,” the captain’s shrill voice announced. “The Planet Slicer and Gorvian fleet have arrived. Prepare for acceleration. We are awaiting orders from Fleet Command to commence the evacuation.”
Bridge, UCSBS Wolfsbane
“Tactical. Give me the news,” Captain Sardenon barked from the overhanging platform of the upper command deck before marching back to his hologram projector.
From the level below, where rows of consoles with technicians appeared to hover in the middle of deep space, the tactical officer leapt away from one of the two large holoprojectors towards the stairs to the command deck. He took the stairs four at a time in the low gravity. Before he could arrive, the wireframe had morphed to reveal the system-wide tactical situation. Even the view walls of the bridge filled with images of the Planet Slicer emerging through the system’s major jump point. “The Planet Slicer has arrived through the primary jump point with a full contingent of escorts.” The jump point lit up on the plot, a crude model of the Planet Slicer beside it with a cloud of smaller ships. “The other five jump points have received blockade forces as well,” he continued, highlighting each with a different color. “Fleet numbers are coming in. But it looks like all of them. They have us hemmed in.”
The dark skinned Lycan scratched at the stubble on his chin. He’d slept only a little since they’d begun this operation and hadn’t even considered shaving. They’d been expecting this counterattack from the moment they’d arrived. He needed to be on the bridge when it happened. “Signal the fleet. What’s the status of our jamming corvettes?”
The tactical officer waved his hand over the hologram and it zoomed out again to show numerous ships on the fringes of the system. Static-filled spheres surrounded each, displaying their effective jamming fields. There was no way to completely contain the system so they concentrated the jamming zones on vectors back into Gorvian space. The most intense jamming field blocked any direct signals to the Gorvian’s home system. Additional jamming craft remained at positions near the jump points but several light pulses above the ecliptic. From there they could focus jamming signals onto the jump points until the Gorvians chased them away. It was a gamble to be sure, but one the Confederation had to undertake. It could prove their only chance to defeat the Gorvians and the Galactic Federation. “All jammers are working at optimum efficiency. Standby.” The tactical officer placed a hand to his ear for a moment, the captain able to pick up only a little of the conversation. “There are no Galactic Federation amongst the Gorvians. At least none we can detect.”
“I see.” The captain looked over the tactical hologram again and zoomed in on the jump points. Clouds of contacts surrounded all of them but even he could see that fewer were arranged near one of the inner system jump points. He turned back to the rest of the bridge and via his command micomm shifted the view towards that distant jump point. A direct course would take them near the Planet Slicer itself. He’d planned for that, and how to, at least temporarily, immobilize the giant. It would slow his own fleet down in the process, but it would still prove the best option. “Can you confirm that the jump point designated Brave Five is in fact the least protected?”
The tactical officer shuffled behind the captain and cleared his throat before answering; fear pheromones wafted off him. “Yes sir. But it takes us deep in-system. If we proceed with the operation as planned, then we’re looking at three cycles hard travel time to get the whole fleet through. And it brings us into the psychological danger zone.”
“The Tre-Tian homeworld is opposite the local sun, we should be okay. The travel duration also affords more time for the Synthetics and Admiral Quin Tosh.” The captain took a deep breath. “Communications. Open channel. All ships, Wolfbane Actual. Per contingency Sardenon Six, prepare to fall back to Jump Point Brave Five. Detonate D
ark Energy Bombs at all jump points.”
Bridge, Planet Slicer
The tactical picture made Gondral smile. The majority of the Dondick fleet held position above what remained of the orbital shipyards which had birthed the Planet Slicer. Beyond them the smaller world devastators had fallen from orbit, most obliterated by their assault. Their loss would be a setback, but not an insurmountable one. A few orbits at most. To have them so trapped however, in the home system of their creators, it was almost more than Gondral could hope for.
Gondral couldn’t have planned it better - the Dondick’s presence here was a blasphemy of the highest order. It served to enrage the Gorvians even more than the death of Gondish had. Every Gorvian salivated to bring about their enemy’s end in this place, to offer them up as sacrifice to their long-departed masters. Presiding over the slaughter filled Gondral with an almost sexual excitement. “Order all fleets in. I want these Dondicks destroyed.”
The whole bridge seemed to growl in unison to the order and set about making their assault. Flashes of energy lit up the sensor screen and a great groaning echoed through the chamber from throughout the ship. The superstructure of the massive ship protested. Gondral turned towards the engineering station as strain warnings flashed upon the board. “All stop,” Gondral roared. “Cut the engines.”
The groan subsided as the great engines silenced and Gondral turned towards the furry little engineer. “What happened?”
“Lord of All. The local dark energy has been disrupted. It appears to be system-wide. We dare not attempt to use dark matter drives until it has resolved.”
Contempt boiled within Gondral at the news. The Dondicks had discovered the greatest weakness of the Planet Slicer’s massive size, its dependence on dark matter drives to travel at all. “How long with the disruption last?”
“Unknown Lord of All. I would estimate at least two cycles. Sooner, if we can eliminate the source of the disruption immediately.”
Gondral scowled and looked back to the main viewer as the Dondick fleet began maneuvering away from the gas giant. “Order the fleet to intercept and send out recon ships to find the source of the dark energy jamming. The Gorvian that finds it will be rewarded with a consumption.”
Bridge, UCSBS Nosh’Tak, Gorvan System
Admiral Quin Tosh couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this way; all four of her feet padded at the deck. Try as she might to stay them, she couldn’t keep her feet still as her ship reverted from slipstream around a massive world. Were it not for the lights of industrial centers and cities poking through the dark grey clouds, she would have assumed the world to be dead. The landscape had been all but scraped flat, a few mountains jutting out here and there. Beyond the lights, there was no color to the sphere other than shades of grey. She’d seen such a sight only once before. It had bene an ancient world where industrialization had run so out of control that only artificial atmosphere processors had kept the population alive.
That thought made what they were about to do here that much harder to accept. She looked around as the rest of her task force and Synthetic Sentient fleet took up positions around the world. Gondral had taken the bait in Beshtrig. Now it was up to them to destroy the rest of the Gorvian’s ability to make war. But at what price? Plasma beams lanced out from the sphere ships, slicing through the atmosphere to strike Gorvian military targets. She couldn’t stand by as her allies did all the work, but she couldn’t condone the slaughter of potential innocents by her own forces either. “All Confederation Ships. Nosh’Tak Actual. Target all orbiting defense platforms and shipyards. Keep the Gorvians off the Synthetics.”
Massive explosions flashed across the surface of the Gorvian Homeworld. It was beyond the cold calculus of war to attack a homeworld this way. Even a Confederation-enforced space banning wouldn’t be so total in its destruction. This attack would do more than eliminate their ability to make war. If it didn’t spell the doom of this world, it would certainly reduce the population’s technology to rocks and sticks - assuming they even had any of those left.
UCSB Date 1004.047
Medical Bay, UCSBS-Mercy, Beshtrig System
Warm, dark, peaceful. Sleep, as the minds around called it, was always such. Waking time was filled with light, not just the subdued light that their eyes could see but that of what the mind did. The brightest lights, the most important, were the womb mother’s and the father’s, though he was often far away. They thought of him often. Spoke to him from outside the womb, the sounds muted compared to the thoughts. More lights than he could count flowed around them. Some were common, others not so. Some made him laugh, others cringe. The womb mother often spoke about wanting to meet him, but he was here. The thought of leaving the womb, this safe place, did not sound good.
Food. The womb mother eats. Warmth rises from within in response, but it always makes him sleepy. Time to stretch. There is less room every time he wakes up. He can’t even uncurl now, the pressure all around growing.
The womb mother is worried. New lights come near. Pain shines off them. It hurts to feel their pain. He forces the lights away; hides them behind shadows; focuses on happy lights. The womb mother is ignoring him, focused on the pained lights. That means it’s time to look around. The funny light with three legs. Let’s see what they see. Red stuff, blood, more pain, draw back, find happy lights. Not much happy light around, don’t like this.
A pull, like the dead lights, but stronger, different in color. He does not like this light, it is strong and pulls at him a lot lately. He looks at it, sees the scary light. The scary light reaches out and touches many dim lights. From there are dark spots, dark spots that move. The scary light is always looking for something. Whenever the dark spots come near the father, they chase him. The scary light is the only thing he hates. He’d only just learned that word from the womb mother’s light. Words are strange, but fun, he wants more words.
“I will teach you more words.” The strange light again. It makes many promises. It feels old, older than any other light. “I do not like the scary light either. It is an ---.” The strange lights use many big words he doesn’t know. “Sorry. Your light is bright to me. Without ---, it leaves you open to talk to me. Can you make your own words?”
“Yes.” Sending words is hard. Feelings are easier.
“Fear not little one. Your light will shine brighter than any you know.”
That sounded nice. “Why?”
“--- you are special. That is why. I need you to help me. The scary light, it is…”
“Bad. Make go.”
“I can help with that, but you must help me pass a --- to those around you.”
“What that mean? You say words I don’t know.”
“My --- little one. I need you to tell the lights around you what I will do.”
“How?”
“Let me in. Let me use you to say what I need.”
“Why?”
“The other lights like you. Those that can touch other lights. You have seen them?”
He had. They touched or watched him many times. Most were cold though, the older ones like the strange light the most. “Yes. We play.”
“They teach you games. But they stay closed to me. I need one like you, without ---.”
“Will it hurt?”
“It may. I am sorry. But I need to --- through you. Your --- to your womb mother will let me --- through her. Will you help me?”
“I don’t like to hurt.”
“You will be born soon. That will hurt.”
“Don’t want that.”
“It is needed. You will see the womb mother and the father with your own eyes. Won’t that be nice? You will get to meet all the lights. They will give you their joy.”
“It will make the scary light leave the father?”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you ---.”
* * *
She couldn’t tell what, but Marda knew something was wrong. She stepped back fr
om her patient. Her nurse stepped in to finish for her; placed a hand to her belly. The baby had been kicking, fussing about wildly while she’d worked. Then he’d gone still. It wasn’t even the stillness of sleeping. Her hearts seized. She grabbed the medical scanner from the table. She had to know that the baby was all right and aimed it at her belly. The scan came back in an instant. The baby was fine but dormant. The readings almost matched those of a person in a meditative state. Brain wave activity was off the scale, but the heart rate was fine.
She felt a voice in the back of her mind. Young, immature, it was like the spirit of a dead child. She leapt when it called out again and spun about.
Who are you, what have you done to my baby?
What lights, what do you mean? The orbs appeared to take notice and came to orbit around Marda. Either they’d felt the telepathic call, or they too recognized that something was amiss. “Is my baby okay?”
The nearest orb nodded, and looked on in wonder as a new glow emerged from Marda. It was not unlike a spirit orb, but it had tethered itself to the aura of her unborn son. It felt beyond old, older than even the Electrolite Negris orb, perhaps by eons. It wasn’t an orb though. It was some kind of projection, an emanation from a being of pure energy, ancient and powerful. Orbs expanded their orbit and others raced off, calling out to the ancient telepathic Donvarions aboard the ship. Marda could feel that this being was older than even the Donvarion.
Marda’s tri-symmetric Breshig nurse dropped her tray at the sight emerging from her belly, backing away on her three insectoid legs. Her three beaks croaked. “What be this?”