by Tori Harris
“Yes, sir, it’s coming in now,” Lau replied, opening a window on the right side of the view screen to display the video feed. The distinctive profile of the previously unidentified vessel was instantly recognizable to every member of the bridge crew.
“Sir, it’s the Gresav!” Lau reported, officially acknowledging what everyone had already seen for themselves.
It took only a few seconds more for both Prescott and Reynolds to realize the potential implications of the Wek ship’s arrival.
“This could be a big problem,” Reynolds said, immediately calling up a real-time feed of the Guardian spacecraft and placing it in a window next to the image of the Gresav.
“It could be. When we left the Gresav at Gliese 667, we had no reason to expect that the Guardian would have openly declared itself and be sitting in the immediate proximity of the Earth by the time they arrived. In fact, Admiral Naftur thought that having her transition relatively close to Earth and then join up with one of our cruisers was probably the safest bet for avoiding the Guardian’s attention. Surely it realizes that attacking without provocation won’t be particularly helpful for its PR campaign.”
“I’m not so sure about that, sir,” Reynolds replied. “One thing we do know is that thing is a master of propaganda. It would probably just pass it off as another example of how it continues to protect us from the evil alien hordes bent on our destruction. So if it does attack, how should we respond?”
Prescott stared thoughtfully at the screen for a moment without answering. “Lieutenant Lau, have we seen any movement or changes in emissions from the Guardian?”
“None whatsoever, sir, but unless it has broken our new crypto, it shouldn’t be getting any NRD data. As far as we know, that means we still have a few seconds before Gresav’s light reaches the Guardian’s location.”
Prescott scowled and shook his head, realizing that he had once again found himself in a difficult situation as a direct result of his relationship with the Wek admiral fighting for his life in Theseus’ med bay. It took him only a few seconds to make his decision, then quickly make the mental shift from deliberation to execution. “If it attacks without provocation, Commander Reynolds,” he replied resolutely, “we will do our best to defend the ship that defended us. Set General Quarters for combat ops. Dubashi, plot an intercept C-Jump to the Gresav. I don’t want to have to chase her down, so put us along her path without getting us into a collision.”
“Aye, sir,” both officers responded crisply.
“Sir, the Guardian is moving!” Lau reported excitedly. On the view screen, the Guardian rotated smoothly in the direction of the Gresav, engaged its sublight engines, and began to accelerate.
“Captain,” Lieutenant Dubashi reported. “The Navajo has been attempting to hail the Guardian spacecraft, but there has been no response. They are now trying the emergency Guard frequencies.”
“Let’s hear it,” Prescott ordered.
With a few quick keystrokes from Dubashi’s Communications console, the voice of Ensign Katy Fletcher aboard Admiral Patterson’s flagship blared from the bridge’s overhead speakers. “Guardian spacecraft, Guardian spacecraft, this is Terran Fleet Command flagship Navajo broadcasting in the blind on Guard. Stand down, stand down, stand down. Incoming spacecraft is a friendly unit. Do not engage. Repeat … incoming Wek vessel is a friendly. Stand down, hold your position, and do not engage.”
Prescott drew his hand across his throat, signaling Dubashi to terminate the audio broadcast.
“Intercept plotted and transferred to the Helm console,” she announced as relative silence returned to Theseus’ bridge.
“Alright, everyone, it doesn’t look like the Guardian is planning to transition to hyperspace, that could mean it’s using the situation to test our resolve more than to actually threaten the Gresav. I doubt either of our ships would put up much of a fight if it decides to attack, but we can at least force it to commit itself to open hostilities with TFC if we put ourselves between it and the Gresav. Let’s just hope that’s not something it is prepared to do.”
“Captain, all six reactors at one hundred percent, weapons charged, shield systems online, C-Jump range 99.3 light years and stable. The ship is at General Quarters for combat ops,” Reynolds reported.
“Very well. Ensign Fisher, after we transition, you may maneuver as required to put us between the Guardian and the Gresav. I want a one light-minute emergency C-Jump plotted at all times. Clear?”
“Yes, Captain. Ready.”
“Execute your C-Jump.”
Without delay, the AI’s synthetic voice began a ship-wide countdown. “Capacitive hyperdrive engaged, transition in 3 … 2 … 1 …”
In the center of the bridge view screen, waypoint brackets were displayed around the location of the distant Wek ship. As the hyperdrive engaged, there was no apparent change in the background stars, but the Earth and Moon slid quickly out of view on either side of the display as the AI provided a smooth representation of the instantaneous, nine-million-kilometer journey. The previous surveillance drone feed of the Gresav was automatically removed from the right side of the screen as a live, optical view of the actual ship quickly expanded to fill the center of the display.
“Transition complete, Captain. Securing from hyperspace flight,” Lieutenant Dubashi reported. “All systems in the green. Sublight engines online, we are free to maneuver. Both standard and C-Drive transitions are available. C-Jump range still 99.3 light years and stable. We are less than one meter from our expected arrival point.”
“Thank you, Dubashi. You may discontinue reporting hyperdrive availability and arrival point accuracy unless you see something unusual.”
“Guardian ship still accelerating, sir,” Lau reported from the Tactical 2 Console. “If it continues to do so at the current rate, its projected ETA is five minutes.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant Lau,” Prescott replied. “Dubashi, try hailing the Gresav with the new comm security protocols in place. Hopefully, the two AIs will manage to work out the encryption algorithm between them.”
“Aye, sir. Hailing.”
After a very brief delay during which the Theseus and Gresav easily established an encrypted channel and synchronized for real-time translation, the youthful-looking face of Wek Flag Captain Musa Jelani filled the center of the view screen. “Hello again, Captain Prescott and crew,” he smiled fiercely. “We had just detected the presence of the Pelaran spacecraft when your … rather aggressive-looking, I must say … warship transitioned nearby. I was very much relieved to see that it was you.”
“Good to see you again as well, Captain Jelani, welcome back to the Sol system,” Prescott replied. “As you noted, the Pelaran Guardian ship has detected your presence and is headed in this direction. It arrived at Earth immediately after our return. So far, it has shown no hostile intent towards any of our ships, but I am not sure that the same will apply to a Sajeth Collective spacecraft.”
“I suspect not, Captain. What do you suggest?”
“How quickly can you transition back to hyperspace?”
“We have been driving our engines beyond their maximum rated power for several days. As a result, our chief engineer was forced to take the hyperdrive offline temporarily to correct a problem with one of our reactors. While potentially serious, the fix should not be difficult or time-consuming. We expect to be able to transition again within three to five minutes.”
“If our luck holds, that should be quickly enough. Our communications officer is sending you a set of coordinates we are referring to as ‘Location Willow.’” Prescott said, nodding to Lieutenant Dubashi. “We believe it to be near the location of the original Resistance task force rally point. As soon as you are able, proceed there at your best speed. Before arrival, adjust your hyperdrive to allow your ship to remain in hyperspace. Do not transition to normal space until you hear from one of our ships, or you may be attacked by Resistance forces. We believe the bulk of them have now left the area, but we
also believe they may have left some of their ships behind to wait for additional reinforcements.”
“Understood, Captain. We have the location. We will arrive in just over twenty-six hours.”
“Very good. We should be there well before you and hope to have the area secured prior to your arrival.”
“Would you be so kind as to allow me to speak with Admiral Naftur before we depart?” Jelani asked.
Prescott had sincerely hoped that this particular complication would not have time to come up before the Gresav’s departure. There simply wasn’t time to explain the situation adequately, and he knew that a misunderstanding here could quickly unravel the fragile trust they had just begun building over the past month. He breathed deeply, allowing his face to take on a very sincere look of concern. “No, Musa. I am afraid that’s not possible at the moment. I am very sorry to have to inform you that Admiral Naftur was seriously injured earlier today and is currently in surgery. I regret that we do not have time for me to adequately explain what happened, but I can tell you that his injury was sustained when he pushed our Commander in Chief, Admiral Sexton, out of the path of an incoming pulse rifle round, saving his life in the process.”
Captain Jelani stared intently at Prescott for a long moment, then, seeming to find what he was looking for, glanced down and closed his eyes momentarily as if offering a prayer. “I am gravely concerned to hear this news, Captain,” he began again, “but I have no doubt that Rugali Naftur was doing exactly what he believed was required of him at the time. Is Nenir Turlaka assisting with his care?”
“Yes she is. She is assisting our own Doctor Chen in the surgery as we speak. So far, they have indicated that his injury is serious, but not necessarily beyond their skills. We should hear from them again within a couple of hours. I am sorry that you will be unable to receive an update until your arrival at Location Willow, but rest assured we are doing everything within our power to save his life.”
“And I likewise assure you that I have no doubt that this is indeed the case. Otherwise, our conversation would have taken quite a different path,” Jelani smiled, a hint of bold defiance flashing in his eyes.
“Captain, the Guardian is transitioning to hyperspace!” Lieutenant Lau bellowed from Tactical 2 just as the image of the Pelaran ship on the right side of the view screen blurred slightly before disappearing in a faint flash of blue light.
“I’m afraid we’re out of time, Captain,” Prescott said as calmly as he could manage under the circumstances. “I will maneuver to keep my ship between you and the Guardian. Please stay behind us and make your transition to hyperspace as quickly as possible.”
“Understood. Thank you and good luck, Captain Prescott. Jelani out.”
“Alright, Lau, how much time do we …”
“Contact, close aboard to starboard!” Lau yelled.
“Helm, block its line of fire!”
Although Prescott had responded immediately, his order came well after Ensign Fisher — growing increasingly comfortable with his ability to work seamlessly with Theseus’ AI — had rolled the ship into a left bank while simultaneously increasing power to come between the Guardian and the Gresav.
“Well done, Ensign. Keep that up until Gresav is away.”
“I’ll try, sir,” Fisher replied, trying to think several maneuvers ahead and realizing that the task would ultimately prove impossible.
At fifty meters in length, the Guardian was only marginally larger than an F-373 fighter and, although maneuverability had not been high on its Pelaran “makers’” list of priorities, it was still significantly more maneuverable than the two destroyers. What followed was like an oddly choreographed dance routine between two blue whales and a single tiger shark as the Guardian spacecraft attempted to place itself in a position that would allow a clear line of fire to the Gresav without hitting Theseus. Initially, at least, each of its movements was quickly countered by a combination of move and counter move by the Human and Wek destroyers.
“It’s playing with us, Captain,” Schmidt announced from Tactical 1 after the third such series of maneuvers. “It has had several clear shots at this point.” To underscore the point, Schmidt opened a window on the left end of the bridge view screen displaying an overhead tactical plot of the current encounter in a quick playback loop. Each time the Guardian’s weapons could have been brought to bear, the AI highlighted the path from the beam emitter to the point of impact on the Gresav in an angry, flashing red.
“Looks that way, doesn’t it,” Prescott answered absently, his attention focused on the Gresav, which he sincerely hoped would be on her way shortly. “As I said, I suspect this whole encounter is a test of some sort. In the process, the Guardian gets an opportunity to confirm its suspicions about our relationship with at least part of the Sajeth Collective, while also learning more about our ship’s capabilities.”
“Meanwhile, we are unwitting participants in its little test,” Reynolds added.
“Well, maybe not unwitting, but definitely unwilling,” Prescott laughed. “It’s not like we felt like we had much of a choice in the matter, and I’m certain the Guardian knows enough about how we think to have made that calculation.”
“By the way,” Reynolds asked, “do we even know if our shields can take a hit from that thing’s beam weapons?”
“I had Logan look into that, but the best he could get out of the Science and Engineering Directorate was a definite maybe. Most of them seem to think that they would hold out for at least a few hits, but beyond that it’s anyone’s guess. One thing they were able to tell us with absolute certainty is that our armor cannot.”
“Inspiring,” Reynolds replied cynically.
“The good news is that I think if it was going to fire, it would have already done so,” Prescott said, a wry grin on his face.
“Sir, the Gresav is transitioning to hyperspace,” Lau reported as the starfield surrounding the Wek destroyer blurred momentarily before she disappeared entirely in a flash of gray light.
“Glad to hear it. Tactical, power down the weapon systems for now. XO, we will remain at General Quarters — most likely for some time — please let our people know we will be maintaining a state of readiness so that they can plan their rotations accordingly. Helm, give us a gentle turn in the direction of the Navajo. Comm/Nav, plot a C-Jump back to the general area near the flagship, just in case, then request a vidcon with Admiral Patterson.”
“Aye, sir,” all four officers replied.
Just off Theseus’ port side, the Guardian spacecraft joined up in formation, almost as if the entire encounter had been nothing more than a routine training exercise between allied forces.
“Sir, the Guardian is hailing us,” Dubashi announced.
Prescott hesitated, thinking that under the circumstances, any communications should be handled by Admiral Patterson. Looking to his XO for her opinion, however, he received only a shrug and a facial expression that clearly conveyed a simple question, “Why not?”
“Alright, this ought to be interesting at least,” he replied, shaking his head. “On-screen, please.”
“Aye, sir, opening channel.”
Seconds later, the Guardian’s now familiar Human avatar appeared on the view screen, this time seated at a virtual Command console. Although “Griffin” had swapped his typical sport coat and slacks for what looked suspiciously like a TFC flight suit, his smiling visage was otherwise unchanged from his regular appearances on Earth’s mass media. “Ah, the heroic Captain Prescott, I presume,” he began. “I’m honored to finally get the opportunity to speak with you in person.”
“Thank you,” Prescott replied flatly, unfazed by the Guardian’s typically disarming tone. “I don’t mean to be rude, but unless you require our assistance, I believe it would be more appropriate for you to speak with Admiral Patterson or members of the Leadership Council.”
“Oh no, I’m perfectly fine, thank you. I’m a little confused as to why you would refer me to the Leaders
hip Council, however. Didn’t your vessel participate in removing the duly elected Chairwoman of that august organization from office earlier this morning?”
Prescott stared at the image on the screen, reminding himself that, while not Human or even biological, it represented an advanced and incredibly dangerous potential adversary. “We were indeed at our Headquarters facility earlier today, and were present when Chairwoman Crull was taken into custody for the attempted murder of Admiral Duke Sexton, TFC Commander in Chief.”
“This is the same Admiral Sexton who was, himself, being taken into custody at the time for dereliction of duty and providing aid and comfort to two enemy combatants, one of which, I believe, was seriously injured in the process.” Griffin paused to offer a maddeningly pleasant smile before continuing. “My, how fond you Humans are of leaving out certain key pieces of information when they do not support your version of events.” He paused again, seemingly to provide Prescott an opportunity to respond, but received only a blank stare. “No matter,” he continued airily, “I must confess, however, that I am curious as to why you would put your ship and crew in danger to protect an enemy Sajeth Collective vessel. This is, after all, the very same alliance that even now gathers forces in preparation for mounting an attack on your homeworld.”
“I am no politician,” Prescott finally responded after a long silence, “but it seems to me that you are painting with a very broad brush. It is true that we have had only minimal time to begin forming an opinion of the Sajeth Collective, one way or another, but our experience thus far has not shown their alliance to be openly hostile towards us on the whole. Would the Pelaran Alliance have us behave in a hostile fashion towards all civilizations we encounter for the first time?”
“Only if your species wishes to survive, Captain,” the Guardian replied in an uncharacteristically menacing tone. “You have a great deal to learn, and should be grateful that we have chosen to grant you the opportunity to do so in relative safety. Had we not, I assure you that your period of blissfully ignorant isolation would have already come to an abrupt and violent end.”