The captain had said, ‘I look forward to finally meeting you face to face’. What in the six corners of the universe could that mean? What was the captain planning? Should he inform the rest of the crew, or at least Gallono and Tonwen?
The raging debate inside Valnor’s mind came to an abrupt end when Hastelloy strode out from his office onto the command deck. There was an odd serenity about the captain’s movements that took Valnor by surprise. Hastelloy seemed to look upon the world around him with an amused enjoyment usually found only in young children who were still new to the world. Whatever he was up to, the captain was completely at ease with his decision.
“Are the coordinates set?”
“Yes, sir,” Valnor answered feeling compelled to add, “May I ask where this is taking us? It appears to be yet another desolate position around the galaxy’s outer rim.”
“We’re attempting to evade the entire Novi fleet that is scouring the known galaxy for us,” Hastelloy instructed. “That isn’t accomplished by remaining stationary near the inner core of systems. We needed to stay on the move and get ourselves good and lost beyond the reach of the Novi Republic and their detection abilities. To that end, please open up the event horizon and take us through.”
Valnor complied while the captain moved to take his seat in the command chair. He engaged the ion engines to propel the ship through the sparking, swirling event horizon of the space fold. As he did so, out of the corner of his eye Valnor spotted the captain activating the tactical display built into the chair. That display served only one purpose; combat management.
That did it, court martial be damned, he needed to take action. Valnor was going to have answers before he took the ship, its crew and the Nexus device it carried into harm’s way. He brought his attention back to his navigation workstation and was about to reverse course when he realized it was too late. The monstrous, five-mile long ship had already made contact with the event horizon. There was no turning back now. He could only hope that the captain was ready for whatever was waiting for them on the other side, but there was no preparing for what they found.
Before Valnor’s mind could process what his workstation was telling him, he heard the captain ask in a calm voice, “Tonwen, what do you see out there?”
The science officer sat mesmerized by what his readings told him. “It is remarkable, Captain. I am detecting a planet, an orphaned planet with no sun. It appears to be a gas giant approximately twice the size of Jupiter.”
“What’s so remarkable about that?” Valnor asked. “Our navigational charts are littered with rogue planets.”
“This particular one is almost, but not quite to the point of reaching fusion. It is emitting enough heat and energy to render any number of its moons habitable, yet gives off next to no radiation for our sensors to detect until we were right on top of it,” Tonwen answered.
“How many moons?” Hastelloy asked with his calm demeanor showing signs of concern.
“There are thirty medium to large-sized satellites with enough gravitational mass to hold onto an atmosphere. Beyond those, there are several thousand hunks of rock ranging from a few feet across to fifteen miles in diameter.
“Any life signs on those larger moons?” Hastelloy asked.
Tonwen’s frustration was evident in his voice as he answered, “There should be, but I am not detecting any sort of life in the system. No complex carbon based life forms, not even microbes or bacteria. It is as if the sensors are being blocked by the planet’s radiation, but there is not nearly enough being generated to accomplish that level of interference.”
The last word out of Tonwen’s mouth worked its way across the bridge and fell upon the crew like a suffocating blanket. Interference meant someone was here who did not want to be found.
In that moment, Valnor recalled the captain’s words to his Alpha counterpart over the Flashtrans unit, ‘I look forward to meeting you face to face.’ This was the meeting place, he was sure of it. He intended to hear every word of that meeting and was thankful once more for making that little detour on his way to the bridge. With that in mind, Valnor checked his pocket to make sure that the tiny listening device he procured from the armory was still there, and it was.
Gallono was the first to find his voice, “Raise shields and bring the weapon systems on line.”
“Belay that order,” Hastelloy snapped. “There’s no need to look like the aggressor. Tonwen, alter your scan to search for the specific energy signature of Alpha relics. The profile should already be in the sensor logs. Put the results onscreen.”
“The Alpha?” Valnor asked, shock apparent in his voice. It was not entirely unexpected given what he had seen on the captain’s Flashtrans screen earlier, but it still defied all logic. “Are you trying to hunt the last of them down to win favor within the Novi Republic?”
Before Hastelloy had a chance to answer the question, the results of Tonwen’s scan came through. The surface of every moon in the system lit up with a red and yellow glow onscreen causing Valnor to shade his eyes with his hand. Millions, possibly billions, of Alpha relics were present, and where there were relics, there would be Alpha warriors protecting them.
No sooner had the thought entered his mind, than Valnor’s workstation squealed a warning that demanded his attention. “Captain, I’m detecting hundreds of mass density fields coming on line throughout the network of orbiting asteroids. The nearest point we would be able to create a space fold is now a week’s travel at full speed.”
“I don’t think we have that kind of time,” Gallono announced. “A fleet of Alpha ships space folded in behind us just before the restriction field came online, and hundreds more vessels are emerging from the gravitational poles of the various moons. We’re trapped, but they are staying clear of our weapons range for the moment.”
“Either that or they lack the firepower to get the job done,” Valnor added. “Shall I plot a course out of here and start us down that long journey to freedom?”
“They have more than enough weapons at their disposal to destroy this ship and anything short of an all-out assault by half the Novi fleet for that matter,” Tonwen announced. “Whatever interference the Alpha were putting out earlier to jam my sensors is now gone. I am reading nearly a billion Alpha life signs, and it appears that every piece of rock larger than one’s fist has been armed with any number of weapon arrays.”
“Trapped like a fly in honey,” Hastelloy mused. “Any attempts at communication?”
“Negative,” Tonwen answered.
In his younger days, Valnor’s first reaction to this situation would have been to crawl under his seat and have a good cry amid a raging panic attack. That was then, and this was now. Time and experience now afforded him the ability to not only function, but focus his thoughts and actions with clarity. The restriction field generators were placed throughout the network of smaller asteroids around the planet. That meant they were in motion as was the restriction field.
Valnor’s hands flew across his workstation to set the ship’s main computer to the task of mapping the orbital paths of every mass density generator. Sure enough, the field was enormous in size and depth for the most part, but riddled with ever changing gaps. None of the holes were remotely big enough to allow their five-mile long, two-mile wide vessel through. These gravitational gaps were more like the size of a compact car back on Earth.
Not all was lost however; Valnor had a plan. “Captain, I’m detecting small gaps in their restriction field.”
“How small?”
“Too small for this ship to get through, but we could launch a probe and use it as a message buoy. Program it to space fold the moment it reaches a gap in the field,” Valnor suggested.
“To whom do you suggest we send a message?” Hastelloy asked.
“Novus!” Valnor snapped, annoyed by having to state the obvious. “Say we’ve located the Alpha’s stronghold, give them all the scan details, and have them send everything they have. We look like heroe
s, the Alpha are decimated, and we get to live another day.”
Hastelloy seemed to pay the winning option available to him little regard. “No, that would provoke them to open fire.”
The cowardly answer took Valnor aback. He could not believe how obtuse the captain was being in this situation. “What else is there for us to do then?”
“We talk to them and attempt to make an ally rather than an enemy today,” Hastelloy answered.
“What?” Valnor shouted on the way to his feet to protest further. “Now granted, it’s been a while for all of us, but have you forgotten just who those beings are out there? Every one of them has sworn an oath to try and destroy our people. That fanatical mission remains engrained in their DNA and will never change. Ever. You are not looking at this situation clearly. You are missing our only way out. We need to contact the Novi.”
“I’m missing nothing,” Hastelloy insisted, “Unlike you, I have my eye focused on the big picture of fixing the entire Novi Republic.”
“You’re trying to look at the whole forest when a single tree is about to fall on your head,” Valnor countered.
“You harbor a remarkably jaded view of sentient beings and their nature. People and cultures can change. We witnessed that time and again during our extended stay on Earth,” Hastelloy responded in an even tone meant to defuse Valnor’s anger.
“I watched Tomal revert back to his natural instinct of selfish greed over and over. I watched humans kill each other for power and riches time and again. The only things that changed through the ages were the weapons of war we helped them develop.
“Those beings out there,” Valnor said with a sharp gesture toward the forward view screen displaying the tactical map, “they are still the Alpha. Their one and only mission in life is to destroy the Novi. We need to contact Novus and face their charges for what we’ve done against them. It is how the Nexus gets out of this. It is for the greater good,” Valnor concluded.
“This is still my command, and I will administer that charge the way I see fit. You may very well have your own command someday, but it is not this day, Ensign.” Hastelloy declared with a finality that left no room for retort. He then turned his back on Valnor to address Gallono and Tonwen. “Send a message inviting parley with their leader.”
Chapter 25: Where Loyalties Lie
“These Alpha seem to be in a talking mood,” Tonwen declared after several anxious heartbeats waiting for a response. “They have insisted upon a face-to-face negotiation.”
“Very well, we’ll do it in my office. Send them the details,” Hastelloy ordered.
Valnor was not yet ready to let it go. He stood up from his workstation to use Tonwen’s wording to drive home his theme of mistrust in the Alpha and their intensions. “Insisted. They have insisted upon face to face negotiations. I can’t say that makes me feel very confident in their friendly intentions. They’re barking orders at us like we’re theirs to command.”
“Would the Alpha of old have offered to sit down at the negotiating table while commanding such an advantaged position?” Hastelloy asked of Valnor and continued with that line of thinking before he could answer. “The collective nature of a people can change for the better. I have to believe that or else our hope of restoring the Novi to higher ideals is lost.”
“I hope I’m proven wrong. Let’s go and find out, shall we?” Valnor said while taking two steps in the direction of the captain’s office in an effort to make his attendance in the meeting an assumed fact rather than a conscious decision by Hastelloy. Just in case, Valnor took the added precaution of digging his left hand into his pocket to retrieve the tiny listening device. As feared, his progress was impeded by a steely grip on his shoulder that held him in place.
“I know what I’m doing, Ensign, and I don’t need a baby sitter. I’ll speak with them alone,” Hastelloy said.
Valnor took care to conceal his left side from the captain as he turned to face Hastelloy. The two let a silent war of wills play out in the air between them. Both were resolute and determined that their course of action was the right one, but eventually duty won out. Valnor lowered his gaze and stepped aside. As the captain moved past, Valnor laid his left hand upon his captain’s shoulder in a respectful show of support and compassion. In a low voice, he whispered over the captain’s shoulder so that only the two of them could hear, “I know this was all prearranged. You have been in contact with this group of Alpha for some time now. I trust you, we all do, but I implore you to remember who it is that you’re dealing with in there. Good luck.”
“I make my own luck,” Hastelloy declared without looking back. After Valnor released his grip, the captain proceeded into his office. Everything about his demeanor exuded absolute confidence in his actions except for his shoulders. They hung low on the captain as if he were a condemned man on his way to the gallows.
As soon as the office doors closed behind the captain, Valnor took his seat once again at the navigator’s workstation. To look busy he punched in the commands for his station to run a self-diagnostic. While that took place he activated the display implant in his right eye along with the listening device he affixed to the captain’s shoulder.
The advanced piece of covert technology used passive scans of its surroundings to grant Valnor a view of the captain’s office as if he were standing in a corner of the large room. He watched the captain stride past his desk heading for a long, rectangular conference table with eight chairs placed around it. He stood there waiting patiently until the intimidating sight of two seven-foot beasts with the facial features of a K-9 on a stout and upright muscular frame materialized. Hastelloy casually walked through the holographic projections of the two Alphas and took his seats at the conference table. Over on the Alpha’s lead ship the two leaders sat down and stared across the table at a virtual representation of the captain.
It had been quite some time since Valnor last saw a live Alpha warrior, which made him more than a little distracted by the bizarre sight of the hologram’s silent mouth forming words in the Alpha’s language while the computer translated them into the Novan language. Fighting back a chuckle was not difficult when the meaning of the words hit home.
“My ships that monitored your progress through the space fold sequence I gave you tell me no warning messages were sent to your people during the journey. That fact has piqued my curiosity enough to give you five minutes of my time before our forces destroy your ship and that infernal Nexus device you carry,” the Alpha leader said while sporting an acerbic attitude. “First things first, how did you find our stronghold? This system masks all of our energy signatures; we’ve made sure of that.”
“Yes it does; however, the relics of your deceased ancestors you keep give off a unique reading. One or two I could have easily missed, but over a billion of them gathered in this system made it light up my sensor array like a glowing beacon,” Hastelloy answered in a matter of fact tone.
The Alpha nodded his head up and down in wonder. “I see we will have to look into that before the rest of you Novi wise up and use a similar method to locate us again. That leads me to my second question, why are only you here? Why haven’t you informed the other Novi of your findings?”
“Like I told you over the Flashtrans, we are not part of the Novi Republic that savaged your home world,” Hastelloy explained. “We are survivors from your ambush of the Fifth Fleet all those years ago.”
The Alpha leader roared with laughter dripping with irony upon mention of the fleet name. “Ah, the Fifth Fleet. I’m told by the relic elders who were alive back then that the day news of that great victory reached Alpha, the entire planet celebrated for three weeks.”
“Little did any of them know that the assault carried out on the Novi Fifth Fleet was the beginning of the end for our people,” the Alpha said with his laughter turning to somber reflection. “No one, not even the most pessimistic among us, thought for a second that such barbarism could ever be awakened in the Novi people.”
“Their behavior in the years that followed confirmed every reason we held for fighting you Novi. Tragically for us and the rest of the galaxy, we were unable to stop the Novi from carrying out their will and unleashing it upon us.”
“That is why we’re here,” Hastelloy began. “My men and I represent the values of the old Novi Republic, the one that respected life and other civilizations.”
The Alpha leader looked Hastelloy up and down with a skeptical eye. “It is a fascinating story you want me to believe. You and your Nexus stranded on a lost world for thousands of years, insulated from the horrors that your people carried out over the millennia. I suppose I might be able to trust a Novi from the old ways, but I only have your word that what you say is true. What proof do you have?”
Hastelloy gave the question some thought before saying, “An Alpha ship also crashed on the planet with us captained by an Alpha named Goron. He and I got to know each other quite well over the years he fought against my plans in his relic state.”
“He told me he was the lone surviving male of the Vinmare pack. He also told me that his mate’s brother, a key rival apparently, made sure all the male heirs in his pack were involved in the Fifth Fleet attack while none of the brother-in-law’s were involved. He didn’t realize this until it was too late. This would leave him as the only male left and in prime position to make a challenge for all the assets of his pack. I can only assume that came to pass as foretold by Goron. There must be a relic or two still around that lived through that and can validate my information,” Hastelloy suggested.
The Alpha leader looked away to a corner where a relic on his ship was probably conferring with the collective relic consciousness to confirm the story. He turned back to face Hastelloy, “That is exactly what happened within the Vinmare pack. I believe you just might be telling the truth, so where does that leave us? Why are we, former enemies, talking?”
Origins: A Greater Good Page 16