by Saxon Andrew
“They’ve more advanced than we are.”
“No, they’re not.” Ian narrowed his eyebrows and Violet said, “The ones that killed them are more advanced. That world is dead.”
E said, “Were the two ships similar in construction?”
“No, the second one was different.” Violet stared at Ian, “What’s bothering you?”
“Violet, the Nebula is not the real enemy of the Union. The ones that killed that planet are the ones we must focus on. Whoever they are, they have demonstrated the capacity to destroy all life on a world. This is the first evidence of intelligent life we’ve ever encountered. It’s not good that they appear to have aggressive tendencies.”
“What do you mean appear? They killed that planet.”
“But we don’t know if that destroyed planet attacked first and the other was defending itself.” Violet shrugged. “E, don’t take any chances. Take us in the same way she described.”
“I’ll come in from the side of the planet away from the moon.”
Violet said, “It won’t matter. All four moons have a blaster building on them, although the closest moon to the planet appears to have the one on it heavily damaged. I don’t know if it’s still operational.”
“Coast in to the planet, E.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Now don’t go all formal on me now.”
“Then allow me the freedom to operate without limitations.”
Ian looked at Violet and then said, “Do what you need to do; but get us there.” The display changed and they saw the planetary system growing in size. Ian said, “I’m sorry for your loss. I really am.”
Violet looked at the display as memories flooded in and whispered, “Me, too.”
• • •
The Officer looked at the plot of the Prince’s escape and shook his head. The Admiral watched him and worried what he might do if he became angry. The Officer turned and said, “This will make it easier. Admiral, I want all ships being used to deploy the scanner patterns in the Union moved to the borders. I want them overlapped in such a way, that any ship crossing the border will be spotted.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“If a ship is detected, I want every available ship vectored in and patterns made around that sector. He won’t be able to escape.”
The Admiral turned and activated his communicator and started issuing orders. The Officer stared at the plot and wondered how long the Prince could hold out before his food and water ran out. It would take years for him to find a habitable planet outside the Union and his supplies would long be exhausted before that happened. He was going to be forced to return. He sat in his chair and remembered the young man with the nurse. He felt something alien, sorrow.
Chapter Six
Ian watched the surface move closer and looked for the tracks that Violet had made. They moved over an ancient city that was being overgrown by vegetation and ten miles outside the city he saw the tracks. He expanded the view and located the two ships Violet described. “Take us down to the first one, E.”
The ship landed and Ian stood up. Violet looked at him and said, “I’m going with you.” Ian started to tell her no but saw her expression and nodded. “Wait just a moment.” Violet left the bridge and came back holding a small bouquet of flowers. They exited the portal and Violet walked forward and put the flowers under a small square piece of metal. Ian waited and Violet said, “This is the largest surviving piece of Tad’s ship. I put it here as a memorial.”
Ian stared at the metal and saw the dark burns around the edges. He lowered his head and waited. After fifteen minutes Violet said, “We can go.”
Ian followed her toward the first ship and wondered if anyone was ever going to love him to the depth Violet loved her dead companion. He watched her and saw her strength. She climbed into the hole blown into the ship and Ian followed. She moved forward and after moving through two rooms he saw the dead aliens. They were dried out, but he could see they were nothing like a human. There had a body with two arms but their face was located in their chest. They didn’t appear to have a skeletal structure. It looked like they were extremely flexible and able to twist more than ninety degrees. Four of them were in awkward positions. He examined the bodies and found three more blasters that he took and placed in a bag. He looked around the ship, “E, do you see anything?”
“The ship is really severely damaged. The impact has destroyed most of the interior.”
Ian looked at Violet, “Let’s go look at the other one.”
“I didn’t go to that one. I don’t know what’s in it.”
Ian shrugged, “Well, we need to see.” He went back to the hole in the side and assisted Violet down to the surface. He put his hands on her waist and lowered her to the ground. She felt wonderful. He said, “You’ve answered my question.”
Violet turned and looked at him with a furrowed brow, “What question is that?”
Ian said, “You are beautiful.” He turned toward the other ship and Violet was left standing in surprise and she rushed to catch up. “How did you arrive at that?”
“I can see how much you loved him. You’ve kept your distance to spare anyone else that heartbreak. You also have a good heart, Violet.” She stared at him as they walked to the next ship and finally looked ahead. “I wonder which ship won this confrontation.”
“The one ahead of us.”
“How do you know that?”
“The hole through it is smaller.” Violet stated laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“Just when I think you’re really not very bright, you surprise me.” She continued to chuckle and Ian didn’t know whether to be insulted or complimented. He knew one thing for certain, Violet was nobody’s dummy.
“I’ll go in first.”
“The hell you say. I’ve made that mistake once and this time I go in first.”
Ian sighed, “You’ve earned the right.”
Violet went to the hole blown into the ship and Ian lifted her to the opening. She crawled in and Ian pulled himself up and followed her. They crawled through the hull and fell out into a large room that had burn marks on the far walls. Ian looked around and said, “This looks like it was a communication room.” Violet looked at the wall at the front of the room and saw multiple devices with numerous dials. Ian walked over to one of the consoles and saw the body of another alien. It was the same alien as the other ship’s crew. Ian sighed. “What?”
“This is actually good news. If this was a war between two different species, the Union would be facing two potential threats. This makes me think this was a civil war between different factions of the same species.”
“How certain are you that these ships weren’t fighting together?”
Ian reached down and pulled a blaster from the dead, dried out body of the alien. He held it up and Violet saw it was nothing like the one she had found. “You’re right.” Ian shrugged and turned toward the bulkhead door and went through it. They walked forward and saw dead aliens in every room. They arrived at the bridge and saw dead bodies scattered around the room. Violet said, “The impact with the planet caused this.” Ian nodded and looked at the controls. He linked with E and said, “Can you make sense of any of this?”
“I’m scanning it now. I’m going to track the lines of energy through the ship and it’s going to take a while to determine how it operated.”
“Do you think you can decipher how it functions?”
“I won’t know until I take a look.”
“We’re going to move into the rear of the ship. Let me know if you find out anything.”
Ian raised the hand beam and retraced their steps. They arrived back at the room they entered the ship and Ian saw the twisted bulkhead door leading to the rear of the ship. He turned sideways and barely managed to squeeze through. Violet made it through easily. He shined the beam around the dark room and stopped it on the wall to their right. Violet looked and saw what had his attention. “That looks like
a shoulder blaster.”
“It’s certainly some kind of weapon.” Ian went forward and pulled two out of their holders and handed one to Violet.
She checked it and saw a blue button that was slightly illuminated, “These are still active.” Violet showed him the glowing button and Ian turned the one he was holding over and saw the button on it glowing as well. He turned the beam toward the back of the room and went forward. He finally arrived at the rear of the ship and found a small black device fastened to the floor. He put his hand on it and felt it vibrating. He looked at Violet and she shrugged. Ian turned and led the way back to the hole and they left the ship. Ian reached the ground and took one of the hand blasters he collected out of the bag. He showed it to Violet and she said, “It has an orange button just like the one I found. The firing is done by the trigger.”
“What’s the blue button for?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
Ian put his finger on the blue button and said, “Step back.”
“Is this a good idea?”
Ian shrugged and after she had moved ten feet away he pushed the blue button. Nothing happened. Violet came forward and was abruptly stopped six feet away. She looked like she had hit a wall. “Drat!”
“What?”
Violet put her hands out in front of her and felt them touch the surface of something. She kept her hands in front of her and moved around Ian, “You’re surrounded by a force field.”
“E, do you have a moment?”
“I’m busy.”
“I need you to check the power of the force field around me.”
Ian waited and wondered if E was scanning. “Ian, its level forty.”
“Are you sure?”
“My scans don’t penetrate and the gamma rays I used on the outer edge don’t penetrate until they’re at level forty one.”
“That’s stronger than the field around the Obelisk.”
“Yes, it is. I’m going back to work.”
Violet looked at the shoulder blaster and said, “This one has a blue button as well.” Violet pressed the button and Ian could see a slight difference in the air around her.
“E.”
“I told you I’m busy.”
“I need you to scan the force field around Violet.”
After a moment they heard, “I am not able to measure the level of that blaster.”
“Why not?”
“It’s stronger than my ability to measure it. It is at least a level eighty.” There was a pause and E said, “What control activated it?”
“There’s a blue button on the blasters that activate the force field.”
“Thanks, that helps.”
Violet pressed the blue button and the blaster’s force field went off. She looked at Ian and pressed the orange button. The shoulder blaster disappeared. “What the…”
Violet held her arms up and the blaster appeared. Ian pressed the orange button on the other shoulder weapon and it disappeared. “I wonder where it goes.”
Violet shook her head, “I don’t have any idea. However, that process is a good way to transport them.”
Ian pressed the orange button on two of the hand blasters he collected. He held out a hand and a hand blaster appeared. He put it on the ground and raised his hand again and another blaster appeared. He put it down and raised his hand and nothing happened. “Violet, we need to go back in and collect as many blasters as possible.”
“Lead the way.”
• • •
A week later Ian and Violet were sitting next to a pond, leaning against the trunks of two trees staring up at a sky that was filled with stars. The massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way could be seen just the western horizon. Violet took a bite of a fruit from one of the trees that E had declared safe for consumption. “I’ve never seen so many stars in the sky.”
“Things are crowded here, close to the core of the galaxy.” Ian paused and said, “I had E pull your history from Euclid’s records.” Violet whipped around and glared at him. “I know it’s an invasion of your privacy, but we’re going to have to go back and I needed to make sure there wouldn’t be any problems if you stay with us when we go to Euclid.”
Violet’s glare softened slightly, “What did you find out?”
“It clarified a lot of issues for me.”
Her glare disappeared, “What do you mean?”
“You were wise to run.” Violet stared at him and Ian said, “You were selected to marry me.” Violet was stunned speechless. “I wondered why Ariene didn’t show up at the accelerated university until her last year. When you disappeared, she was the next one on the list. She took your place. She wasn’t told until after she graduated.”
Violet turned away from Ian and looked at the pond. After a moment she said, “Then I was lucky. I would have been killed in the attack instead of her.”
“I’m not completely certain about that, but you would have been absolutely miserable without Tad. You did the right thing to flee.”
They were both silent for thirty minutes and then Violet looked at Ian, “Why are you uncertain about my being killed?”
Ian stared at her and then looked up at the sky, “I think that if I had spent even a short time around you, I wouldn’t have left without you.”
Violet looked at his profile and heard him say, “Even though your heart belonged to another, I know I could not have allowed you to die.” Violet watched him turn and look at her, “After all, you are beautiful.”
She left the tree she was leaning on and threw herself on top of him. She said just before she kissed him, “Sometimes you discover that destiny never gives up.” Violet was no longer alone and Ian finally discovered what love was. Both of them entered a new world where everything had been turned upside down.
• • •
Violet entered the bridge and said, “E, where are the storage bags? I want to collect some of the fruit for our stores.”
“You’ll find the bags in the compartment under the processer in the dining room, Your Highness.”
Violet froze, “What do you mean?”
“They’re next to the left hand wall under the processor.”
“No, I meant by calling me that.”
“What?”
“Your Highness.”
“You were the number one Section. Whether or not you were married, your selection to that position carries the title that comes with it.”
“I am not a member of the Royalty.”
“If you say so.”
“E, I’m not.”
There was a pause and E said, “A poodle could declare that it is not a dog but that declaration wouldn’t change reality.” Violet stood and fumed. “If it helps at all, all of the top twenty selected for the position are given titles; their superior skills are what define them as being Royal.”
Violet thought about it and said, “So I have the title because of my mind?”
“Among other things.”
“What other things?”
“Your extremely fast reflexes, your physical speed, your ability to…”
“Alright, that’s enough.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Violet sighed, “E, please don’t use that honorific.”
“You’re just like Ian. He doesn’t like it either.”
“He doesn’t?”
“No, he’s always preferred to be addressed as a normal citizen.”
“Why is that?” Violet waited for an answer and said, “E, why is that?”
“I have to speak for what I sense in myself, but I think he views the Monarchy as a prison sentence.” Violet was surprised at the comment. Then E said, “I’ve never seen him happier than he is here.”
Ian entered the bridge and said, “What are you two up to.”
Violet said, “Oh nothing. I’m going to gather some fruit for our stores.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll help you. There’s no telling when we can go back to the Union.”
E said, “I have discovered something that might help us do that?”
Ian looked at Violet and then said, “What is that?”
“The second ship did not have a faster-than-light drive.”
“What!?!”
“It used another process that went around light speed.”
Ian sat down and Violet remained standing. “What did it do?”
“It used a system that exited space and took the ship to another location instantly.”
“Something like those ancient warp drives they used to use in old science fiction stories?”
“Something like that. I’m not clear on the principles that make it work but I do know how to operate the system.” Violet sat down.
“How does that help us?”
“There is a small box on that ship that controls the system. I suspect it’s located toward the rear of that ship.”
“I’ve seen it. It had a small vibration when I touched it.”
“That box can be relocated here and I think I can use it to bypass the Nebula’s patterns.”
“How could we connect it? There’s no way we could move the controls off the ship.”
“You won’t need to move the controls. I’ve traced the circuits and know how to send the right signals to it. We just need to bring it here, power it up, and connect a fifty wire cable to it. I’ll make the connections to the cable once you put it in one of my outlets.”
Ian looked at Violet and saw she was bothered by what she was hearing. Ian said, “Do you know the voltage requirements?”
“Oh please. That’s easy.”
“How can we move that box here? It’s got to be heavy.”
“Use the sled. You can winch it on and bring it here.”
“Let me go back and take a look at it.”
“Take the sled with you.”
• • •
Ian and Violet pulled the sled out of the landing bay and moved toward the alien ship. “What’s wrong Violet?”
“I don’t want to leave here. This is the first time I’ve been happy in years.”
Ian stopped walking and turned to her. “Violet, if we don’t warn the Union about these aliens, it could lead to future disaster.”