“How many jumps do we have to make to reach there?” I asked.
“Nine,” N7 said. “Oh, wait. We cannot go that way.” The blue line shifted. “Ten jumps,” he said.
“Will our battlejumper hold up that long?” I asked.
“In order to insure that is does, we must begin to effect repairs now,” N7 said.
“Do you know how to make these repairs?” I asked.
“I do,” the android said.
“The rest of us can learn as you teach us,” I said.
“I must warn you that the major repairs will take a shipyard,” N7 said.
“Which we most certainly don’t have,” I said. “Maybe we can cannibalize parts from some of the Earth freighters.” I studied the star map. “Well, let’s get started. We need to leave Sigma Draconis.”
The android made adjustments on the panel, and I felt slight acceleration.
Through the screen, we watched the enemy battlejumpers and we watched the Starkien beamships. Hopefully, both Doojei Lark and Axel Ahx had gone down to the Forerunner shrine on the surface. That might force the glowing ball of light into a longer journey.
I couldn’t believe this. We were finally free, and we’d gained a battlejumper and had captured Claath—for a while. I’d expected the answers to enlighten me about the galaxy of warring aliens. Instead, I was even more confused about what was really going on than ever.
I rotated my head, and with my fingers I felt along the base of my skull. What had Claath done to me there at the end? What did it mean that a glowing ball of light wanted revenge against me? What had he said? The Jelk were the oldest race left, at least in this part of the galaxy. I didn’t like the sound of that. The oldest around—and he seemed there at the end to be extremely long-lived—would surely know things the younger races wouldn’t or couldn’t.
“Oh-oh,” Ella said.
“What?” I asked.
“Several Starkien ships are accelerating away from the planet,” Ella said.
“Where are they headed?” I asked.
“Straight for us,” N7 answered.
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“Do we have shields?” I asked.
“Electromagnetic fields,” Ella said, amending my question.
“Negative to both queries,” N7 said. “Our battlejumper is nearly crippled.” The android sidestepped along his station, tapping buttons and switches. “It appears we do have an operable primary beam. That changes the equation.”
“Does our weapon outrange the Starkien beams?” I asked.
“By a considerable amount,” N7 said. “Still, there are—” he looked up at the screen. “There are three beamships to our one crippled battlejumper. I expect they have superior acceleration capabilities. Even so…” he went back to examining the controls. “We should be able to reach the jump entrance before they can.”
“Show me the battlejumpers again,” I said. “Those ships have longer-ranged beams—”
“Jelk drones are approaching the ship,” N7 said. “The drones are coming from the jump entrance. It appears that Claath or the others must have maneuvered some drones there before the battle. Clearly, they are a cautious race.”
“I’m not sure they’re a race at all,” I said. “Maybe they’re immortals.”
“You have insufficient evidence to jump to such a conclusion,” N7 said.
Maybe he was right. I dragged the back of my left hand across my mouth. I tasted salt there, dried sweat. “Destroy the drones,” I said. “We have to get past them before they do something to us.”
“The Starkien beamships might be chasing us as a mere precautionary measure,” N7 said. “If we destroy the drones now, the remaining Jelk will realize something is amiss for certain. They might well order the battlejumpers after us then.”
“Do it anyway,” I said. “It’s a race to Earth now, one we have to win.”
“If I might point out—” N7 said.
“Destroy the drones,” I said. “Do it now.”
“Do you think that’s wise?” Ella asked me. “Maybe we should hear out the android.”
“I’m feeling sick,” I said. “I know it’s radiation poisoning. We need to get into the healing tank, all of us. We have no more time to make fancy maneuvers. It’s has to be a straight thrust like a knifeman trying to kill a Jelk in the flesh.”
“I’m activating the main laser,” N7 said.
“That’s what the beam is,” I asked, “a laser?”
“Yes,” the android said. “What else were you expecting?”
“A neutron beam maybe or an X-ray beam or something I’d never heard about,” I said.
“Curious,” N7 said.
I didn’t bother asking him what he found so curious. I felt sick. I’d been holding it back through force of will. But I couldn’t hold out for much longer. I wanted that healing bath. I hoped Jennifer knew something about the Jelk tech.
Wattage built up. Even here in the control room we heard it. The engine sounded labored, and the entire battlejumper shook.
“My readings show our vessel’s instability,” N7 said, as he indicated his controls.
“Fire when ready,” I said.
“Now,” N7 said. He tapped the panel.
On the screen, we watched the laser stab once, twice, three times. Each beaming destroyed an attacking drone.
“The way to the jump route is open,” N7 said.
I nodded, watching as the android switched the screen back to the chasing beamships.
“Oh-oh,” Ella said.
Three beams lanced from the three Starkien vessels. They speared directly for us, and hit.
“Damage?” I asked.
“Unknown at the moment,” N7 said. “I am rotating the battlejumper, as the beam cannon has partly frozen into place.”
Precious seconds passed as the enemy’s rays struck the outer armor. We didn’t have cameras showing us what happened, but I could guess well enough.
“Why can’t it be easy for once?” I muttered.
The engine made its labored noises, and I dreaded hearing an explosion or something to indicate we’d blown our single chance for freedom. Instead, the heavy beam speared out and stabbed one of the Starkien vessels. An electromagnetic field held the annihilating ray at bay for a time.
“They’re breaking off,” N7 said.
“Keep beaming,” I said.
“I recommend you let them go,” N7 said, “and we save wear to our engine.”
“Stop firing,” I said. “That’s a good idea. Yeah, we have to save the engine.”
The beam quit, and we continued on our way, heading for the jump route.
A multitude of thoughts tumbled through my mind. Did the other races know about the Jelk and their special abilities? N7 hadn’t. Had Rollo and I witnessed something unique in the history of the universe? Could we use our knowledge as a lever? If so, how?
“What do you know about the Lokhars?” I asked N7.
“That is a broad question,” the android said. “Could you be more precise?”
“Why do you think the Lokhars sent a dreadnought to Earth to annihilate humanity?”
“So you humans would not become star soldiers for the Jelk Corporation,” the android said. “Given your performances at the Altair and Sigma Draconis systems, their decision was rational.”
“Rational perhaps,” I said, “but it was highly immoral.”
“Particularly from your point of view,” N7 said.
“From any point of view,” I said.
“I’m not sure I follow your thinking.”
“Do you believe in right and wrong?” I asked.
“Not in a strict, absolute sense,” the android said.
Ella grunted agreement.
“You can say that even after witnessing the disappearance of the Forerunner object?” I asked.
“What bearing does that have on absolute right and wrong?” N7 asked.
I bit my lower lip. None of the battlejumpers had left thei
r orbit around the shrine planet. The three Starkien vessels returned there.
“Why are they letting us go?” I asked.
“It is possible they do not yet realize Earthbeasts have successfully captured a battlejumper,” N7 said.
“How about you call us humans from now on,” I said. “We’re not beasts.”
“As you wish,” N7 said.
“We should start repairing what we can,” Ella said.
“That’s a good idea,” I said. “First, though, some of us need to use the healing tank.”
“You go first,” Ella said. “It is logical, as N7 would say. You have made the critical decisions these past hours. We need you at one hundred percent.”
“I want Rollo watching the android,” I said.
“You still do not trust me?” N7 asked. “Have I not proven myself?”
“I have no complaints against you,” I said. “Call it a precautionary measure on my part.”
“It is now in my interest to see you escape,” N7 said, “as I also get to escape. Do not fear, I will teach you all I know about piloting this vessel.”
“Start by teaching Ella,” I said. “By the way, I’m going to keep my part of the bargain. Soon, now, you’ll be free to leave us if you want to.”
“I knew you to be a man of your word,” the android said.
I turned away. Radiation poisoning was making it increasingly difficult to keep thinking straight. I hoped that healing tank or tanks hadn’t been rendered inoperable.
Soon, Rollo appeared on the bridge. I spoke to him, gave him my instructions and then staggered off in search of Nurse Jennifer.
***
She wore regular clothes: tight-fitting slacks and a baggy blouse with large blue buttons. We sat in a large room with big tanks and dangling tubes around us. Dmitri along with several other troopers looking green around the gills waited nearby for the healing treatment. She frowned at me.
“I’ve watched androids do this,” Jennifer told me. “I helped people afterward. That doesn’t mean I know how to work the equipment exactly.”
I clutched my gut and doubled over, groaning. I felt worse than ever, and we were about to jump. I didn’t want to think about that.
“All right,” she said, with her hand touching my elbow, guiding me. “Let’s try this.”
“I’m supposed to take a pill first,” I said. “I remember that much.”
“Oh yes, that’s right,” she said.
I stared at her.
“I’m the doing the best I can,” she said. “This, this…” She waved her hands in the air. “It’s overwhelming.”
“I know,” I said. “You’re doing great, Jennifer. I’m not complaining. I need your help.”
Her features softened, and she looked at me like she had the day after my neuro-fiber surgery.
“Jen,” she said. “My friends call me Jen.”
“I’m feeling sick, Jen. I really need you to remember everything. This could be critical.”
She nodded, and it sobered her. “I need a pen and paper, something to write with.”
We found her writing material. Then she sat down. As we waited, with our bones aching, trying to keep as quiet as possible, Jen wrote out the steps. She told us it was better to think before acting. Flying by the seat of your pants was the worst way to do these kinds of things. I nodded: anything to keep her working it out.
She wrote, and by the concentration on her face it looked like she was remembering just fine.
N7 interrupted us through the ship’s loudspeakers. He warned us—ten seconds before it happened—and we entered the jump route.
The process hurt, and at the end of the jump, l lay on my back panting. I don’t remember much after that. Hands helped me stand. A woman spoke softly. I swallowed a lump of a pill, and that felt right even though I found it hard to force down my throat. Afterward, I floated in the tank. Jen must have figured out all the procedures, because I felt better.
It took several days, and I missed the rest of the action, the touch and go. As the chemicals aided the healing process that restored what the radiation had stolen from my bone marrow, the crew worked overtime to keep the battlejumper running.
N7 knew things all right. I’m not sure when he slept or if he used drugs to keep him going around the clock. He taught Ella and several other technologically inclined troopers. They each picked others to help them, and the teams worked tirelessly. The rest carted dead Saurians to the incinerators, scrubbed away blood and gore and did whatever else they could that needed fixing or righting.
Despite the hard work, the battlejumper remained a wreck. Instead of a Flying Dutchman—the ghost ship of the space lanes—we were the Flying Battlejumper, limping our way through the star systems.
I had one hundred and sixty-eight troopers left, including Jen and myself. That was too few for what I had in mind. Aliens had given us our troubles, right? I planned to make the aliens solve them for us.
“N7,” I said, six jumps later. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”
We were in a spacious hangar bay, inspecting one of the three remaining assault boats.
The android straightened. We stood in the piloting chamber. After these past few days his eyes had tightened so crow’s feet showed around the edges, and he’d become testier.
“Do you think we can we fix the battlejumper back to full capacity?” I asked.
“Negative,” N7 said.
“What if we cannibalize parts from the freighters?” I asked.
“They are old freighters and their design is quite different from a battlejumper. These are uniquely Jelk craft.”
“Is there anyone who can repair the damage?” I asked.
“The more highly industrialized Jelk Corporation worlds could do it easily.”
“I’m talking about somewhere we can go?” I said.
“Jade League worlds would impound the ship in order to study the technology,” N7 said. “So you cannot go there.”
“That makes sense. Do you think the Jelk are coming after us?”
“There are unforeseen factors involved,” N7 said. “The most critical is if Shah Claath—Permit me to rephrase: if Claath communicated his desires to the others and possibly offered monetary inducements then the Jelk will be hunting for us.”
“What about the Starkiens?” I asked.
“I do not understand your implication.”
“They’re contractors, right?”
“Of course,” N7 said.
“They must have some idea what occurred: that we captured a battlejumper. Might they track us down in the hope of capturing this ship and selling it to the Jade League?”
“Devious,” N7 said. “Yes, they might do so. Conceivably, they would bargain with the Jelk Corporation and receive an even greater amount for the stolen vessel.”
“I don’t understand why glowing balls of light, or a form of mass radiating light that Claath became, would care anything about profits.”
“An interesting thought,” N7 said. “Perhaps the need for profits is a sham that hides a greater truth. Yet I am more intrigued by the transformation itself. Perhaps the transformation to a light-like state was a primitive defensive mechanism.”
“I doubt that,” I said. “I think it was Claath’s natural state.”
“If so, why do the other Jelk maintain their physical shells?” N7 asked. “Perhaps it is easier for them in ways we do not understand when they remain as physical entities. Clearly, Claath only reverted to the ball of light, as you say, when his life was directly threatened with imminent death.”
“And yet I saw him bleed smoke or light from a wound I’d given him while he was in the physical state.”
“It is very intriguing, to say the least,” N7 said.
“He claimed to be the oldest race in this part of the galaxy,” I said.
N7 slammed a hood shut. “This assault boat is operable. You will be able to take it down to the surface.”
He meant t
he Earth’s surface. We still had several more jumps to go before we reached the solar system.
“Do you think Claath left defensive drones in the solar system?” I asked.
“I do,” N7 said. “We should be able to detect and destroy them, however.”
“I think Claath’s interest in the Forerunner object was motivated by more than just money or profits,” I said.
“I am inclined to agree with you,” N7 said, “even though we have insufficient data to reach that conclusion. I am learning how to make leaps of logic to arrive at possible or theoretical conclusions. Is that how you operate?”
“No,” I said. “Mine’s more through intuition, I suppose.”
N7 stepped out of the piloting compartment, his boot thudding onto the hangar floor, knocking a stray tube so it clattered across the metal. I followed him and I slapped the side of the assault boat.
“Here’s my plan,” I said. “I want to run it by you and see what you think?”
“I am honored,” N7 said.
“I plan to restore my planet to its original state. To that end, I need an antidote to the bio-terminator.”
“It is a noble goal. How will you scrub the bio-terminator from the soil and from the atmosphere?”
“Since Earth doesn’t possess the needed technology or expertise, I’m going to have to find it,” I said. “Then I’m going to need currency, enough to entice traders to sell me the antidote.”
“You will probably need great amounts of currency,” N7 said.
I drummed my fingers on the side of the assault boat. “I suppose I could sell some of my fellow humans into slavery as assault troopers to garner cash.”
“A feasible plan,” N7 said.
“Except that I’m not a slaver,” I said. “And my goal is the survival of the human race, not its further degradation or extinction.”
“That is imprecisely stated,” N7 said. “You are alive. You are not extinct. Further extinction is illogical. You are either extinct or not.”
“Thanks for the grammar lesson.”
“You are welcome,” N7 said.
I shook my head. Sometimes the android said the funniest things. Sometimes he seemed like he was made out of tin.
“I plan to fix the battlejumper and use it like a Starkien would,” I said.
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