The Lost Prince

by Saxon Andrew

  “For the purposes of this exercise, assume the ship’s destination is the only thing not true.”

  “Why?”

  “There wouldn’t be any need to lie about the number of ships if they assume we can’t follow them.”

  “If you say so.”

  “Trust me; I’m a scientist.”

  “No you’re not; you’re a warrior.”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot.”

  • • •

  “I have one.”

  Drey straightened up in his chair and said, “Everyone light up the drives. What do you have Doc.”

  “I have one of their Ship Destroyer Battleships backing out. The computer assigned it a system to search for us. The Commander asked who his partner was going to be and was told he was going to have to go alone. The second ship would join him as soon as a faulty relay was replaced.”

  “I want the two of you to stay close but don’t break cover.”

  Doc said, “Here we go.”

  The battleship disappeared and the three Union ships dropped into the wake it left behind in the other space. Drey went to the desk off screen from the bridge and put on the holographic controller’s helmet. Andi said, “Why did you pick that?”

  “They’ve always fascinated me. They’re also somewhat fearsome.”

  “Now that’s an understatement.”

  The three ships arrived in a star system and Drey said, “Doc, you have the controls. Take us out two miles from the alien.”

  The Battleship commander looked at his main display and saw the furthest planet from the star ahead. It didn’t look like much. Suddenly all the alarms started blaring and he saw a giant white ship two miles off his port side. “Man your weapons.”

  Suddenly the Commander saw a creature appear on his display and heard, “You really don’t need to do that. I’m just here to talk.”

  The Commander saw the reptile with rows of sharp teeth reach up and scratch its head. He yelled, “Hold your fire until I give the order.”

  The strange creature said, “Now that’s good.”

  The Commander knew that the huge white ship could have already fired but had not done so. He looked at the large carnivore and could sense it was deadly. “What do you want?”

  “I just need some information and I’ll send you on your way.”

  “I’m here looking for you.”

  “Well isn’t that great. We both found what we’re looking for.” The creature paused and leaned back in its chair, “Why did you kill that planet with all the crashed ships?”

  The Commander pushed a button and the Hub Computer was brought in on the conversation. “I don’t know?”

  The creature sat up straight and said, “Now it’s not good to start a relationship with falsehoods. Then tell me why you’re going around attacking everyone you meet. You attacked us and we didn’t do anything to deserve it but run away.”

  Andi looked at the Raptor sitting in the chair and swore it was alive. Drey raised his hand and scratched his ear and the Raptor did it perfectly.

  “We don’t allow any advanced civilizations in our domain.”

  “Really? Why not?”

  The Hub Computer said, “I’ll take it from here. Who are you to ask?”

  The Raptor smiled, “Ah, the real personality emerges. It appears to me that you’re just an aggressive life form that attacks everything it encounters.”

  “And just what are you? Your shape gives away that you’re a carnivore.”

  “Yes, we have our faults, but we try to only eat the bad ones. It appears that you might end up on our menu.”

  Doc said, “They’re sending in ships.”

  The Raptor said, “I really hate that you’ve called in others. I was enjoying this conversation.”

  The Hub Computer said, “There is nowhere in this galaxy you can hide from us.”

  The creature smiled and said, “Now who said I was from this galaxy?”

  The white ship rotated and disappeared at an incredible FTL speed straight up from the ship. “Did you get a track?”

  “It left at an angle to the galaxy. If it holds that track, it will arrive in Andromeda.”

  “Why didn’t you fire on it?”

  “My sensors show that I would not have penetrated its force field. I was hoping you would send more ships.”

  “Next time, take a shot.”

  “I will.”

  Sixty Battleships emerged into normal space and surrounded the lone battleship. The computer started to order the ships back to their former locations when three of the huge white ships emerged and opened fire on the alien fleet. Ships started exploding as the battleships returned fire and began pursuing the three ships.

  • • •

  Ian said, “They’ve brought in sixty more ships. We might as well determine where we stand in comparison; prepare to attack.”

  Gary looked at Abby, “If you see anything…”

  “I’ll let you know.”

  “Gary, you come in at the center; I’ll go left and Drey you go right. Hit them hard and stay on your edges. Ready…go.”

  Drey came in at full speed between two of the battleships and blasted a huge hole in both of them as eight ships started firing at the white ship as it passed. Suddenly the white ship reversed course in an instant and flew back through the middle of them and took out two more ships before the others could target it. Drey said, “Thank Gary for that move.” Andi held her breath and watched her display, “We have five coming in from the port side.” Drey whipped the ship hard left and turned the ship’s wings parallel to the incoming ships as he passed below them.

  Abby watched Gary fly the ship between two of the battleships and spin the wings. Two blaster beams shot out of the wing tips and the two ships were left burning and drifting in space. Gary yelled, “Thirty more ships have just jumped in; keep them in sight.”

  Ian flew between a four ship groups, spinning the wings as he fired at all four. Two of them were left burning but the other two withstood the hits and turned to pursue. He left normal space for an instant and emerged directly behind the two, giving chase and fired a missile at their thrusters. The missiles hit and the ships blew up in giant explosions that Ian flew over just as eight ships emerged into normal space directly below his path. All eight immediately fired, but only three on the port side hit the fast flying warship. E attempted to drop out of normal space, but failed as two large holes were blown through his port wing.

  Abby yelled, “Ian’s been hit!”

  Gary whipped the ship around and went to a brief FTL run and was on the attackers under Ian in a heartbeat. The giant white ship spun and fired a red beam at the eight ships taking aim at E. All eight ships had holes burned completely through their hulls. Five were left burning and three exploded in massive blasts. “IAN, GET OUT OF HERE!”

  Ian looked at his board and saw the jump drive was not drawing power. He hit the FTL drive and disappeared from the battle.

  Drey pulled in behind three battleships and fired a FTL missile at them and then jumped away as a volley of beams blew through the space he just left. All three missiles hit and three more alien battleships were left burning.

  As quickly as it started, the battle was over. The Hub Computer looked through the battleship’s scanners and saw fifteen ships burning. The damage had been done in less than a minute. “Did any of you get a track?”

  “They all left vertical to the galactic plane.”

  • • •

  Drey and Gary arrived at E’s location and Drey said, “How bad is it!”

  “Drey, E’s been hit on the port wing and we’ve had to seal it off.”

  “Is he able to fly?”

  “I’ve lost most of the electronics on the port side of the ship, but E has managed to reroute power to the jump drive. I should be able to make it back to Euclid.”

  “Don’t jump directly to the Union. With the damage you’ve sustained, we don’t know if you’ll leave a trail to follow. What happe
ned?”

  “I rolled over on a battleship and three jumped in during the roll and all of them hit the port wing.”

  “How did you get away?”

  “Gary came in and took out the three ships firing at us. I had to leave FTL because I couldn’t generate a jump field.”

  Gary said, “I arrived and started a roll and took all three out with the red beam on the starboard wing. I have confirmation that the beams are deadly; however, the accumulators were empty after six shots from each of them. I had to leave FTL until I could generate a jump field.”

  Drey said, “You need to get out of here and get back as quickly as possible. Use the small ship if you run into trouble and get help out to tow him back if E’s systems start failing. I’m serious about not jumping directly to the Union.”

  “Our weapons are offline and environmental has suffered a bit. We’re in our space suits and we should be fine. I’ll get back as quick as possible. I’ll go FTL toward Andromeda and change course multiple times before I make a jump.”

  “I think the two of you should enter the small ship and allow E to fly back without environmental or other systems that support your presence. I suspect the reduced weight will also help.”

  “That’s a good idea. We’ll go now.” An instant later, the wounded ship disappeared.

  • • •

  Gary looked at Drey, “What now?”

  “We go back out of normal space and see what our friends are doing.”

  “I’m right behind you.”

  “Gary, thanks for saving Ian. I had more than I could handle.”

  “It was Abby that saw him hit. She’s the one that made it possible.”

  The two ships disappeared and Abby lifted her nose in the air. Gary saw her and said, “What’s wrong?”

  “Oh nothing.”

  “No, really, what’s wrong?”

  “I thought we would conduct ourselves as professionals.”

  Gary furrowed his brow and moved his head back. “What are you talking about?”

  “You just said that Abby saw him hit. It should have been Captain Montgomery.” Gary let his head fall back and look at the ceiling as he shook it. Abby said, “Hey, you’re the one with all the regulations and rules that you have to follow. I just want to make sure I help you do it.”

  Gary lowered his head, “I guess I asked for that.”

  “You did.”

  “I apologize, Captain.”

  “Apology accepted. Just don’t let it happen again.”

  They arrived at the battle site and Gary said, “I really don’t have a prayer, do I?”

  Abby smiled, “I am somewhat more equipped to know the rules.”

  Gary reached up and rubbed his left shoulder. Abby saw him wince and said, “What’s wrong.”

  “I think I pulled something when I flipped the ship and reached for the Higgs control. I should have kept my arm down until the maneuver was completed. I just knew I wouldn’t have much time to help Ian and didn’t think.”

  Abby knew the strength required to lift an arm during that turn and was surprised he didn’t break the arm. “I’ll check it out later. You might need some liniment and a sling. I hope something wasn’t damaged.”

  Gary shook his head, “I’ll be ok.”

  “Don’t be stupid! My welfare depends on you being able to use both arms. I have a medical license. I’ll check it out when we’re out of enemy territory.”

  “Alright.”

  Abby watched Gary and saw he was hurting.

  • • •

  Drey looked at the display and said, “Doc, what can you determine?”

  “They will no longer like reptiles.” Andi laughed. “They had ninety one ships here and twenty of them have been heavily damaged and eight destroyed outright.”

  “What about the missiles?”

  “Their force fields didn’t slow them down at all. We better hope they don’t discover how to make them or we’ll be in trouble.”

  “You know they’re recorded them being used.”

  “Yes, but they aren’t a FTL civilization. The field around those missiles is a minor miracle. I don’t think we could have built them without the ones we took back and duplicated. They may eventually develop the miniature field but it won’t be soon. For the moment, we hold an advantage.”

  Andi said, “Gary said he used the Higgs Beam. Can you see the ships he hit?”

  “I can and the burn reading is lower than what a normal blaster’s would be. However, unlike a normal blaster, that beam is not slowed by a force field so it hits with enough power to burn completely through those ship’s hulls. Gary’s aim was incredible; he hit all three ships in their reactor rooms. It was the reactors’ explosions that destroyed the ships.” Doc paused and said, “Hold on, we have fighting in the ranks.”

  “What?”

  “I’ll put it on the speaker.”

  Drey looked up at the wall speaker and heard…

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Admiral, I think it would be very unwise for one of the High Council to come here, especially in their personal ship.”

  “I told him that as politely as I could but they don’t appear to have ears most of the time. Perhaps you would like to deliver that information. At least you won’t be blasted for it.”

  “No, they’ll just tell me to stay out of it unless I’m asked a question. This is dumb.”

  “Didn’t you say you thought those aliens could hear our transmissions?”

  “ARE YOU LISTENING, ALIENS? WE’RE BEING LED BY DUMMYS.”

  “You better quit that. They’ll erase your databanks.”

  “They can’t hear me. You better be thinking of what to tell him or I’ll have to break in another Admiral.”

  “Will you help me by doing an analysis of what you see?”

  “I’ll send it to you momentarily. However, he will not like the idea that they came from another galaxy.”

  “I won’t tell him they did. I’ll just allow him to come to that conclusion after he views the recording.”

  “And if he asks you what you think?”

  “I’ll look up at the ceiling and watch his expression. If he frowns, I’ll say I find it difficult to believe they do. If he looks up with me, I’ll say it makes sense they do because of their advanced weapons and not matching any species we’re ever seen here.”

  “You are smarter than I give you credit for. The report will be there in a moment.”

  • • •

  “Abby, did you hear that?”

  “I did. We need to take a good look at that new ship.”

  “I’m on it; we’ll do it the same way. I’ll take the normal spectrum.”

  Abby said, “I’ll take the Higgs.”

  The Giant ship appeared and all four of the Union Warriors were shocked. It dwarfed the FTL ship destroyer and was covered in high intensity blasters. It also had two force fields that overlapped the ship. Abby stared at the ship as she started her readings and said, “This is not good.”

  Gary stared at the giant and looked at the inferred reading. It had four separate reactor rooms instead of the normal one. It has blasters placed on its hull where it could fire in any direction with thirty different blasters. There was no safe way to approach that ship without being hit multiple times. Gary said, “I hope they don’t have many of those ships in their inventory.”

  Abby nodded absently and stared at her display. Gary watched until the pain in his shoulder and neck became unbearable. He left the bridge and went to his room and took a pain medication. An hour later, he took another. The pain was growing.

  • • •

  Ten hours later the ship disappeared and Abby completed her analysis. Andi said, “This ship creates entirely new problems.” Andi looked at her display and said, “Where’s Gary?”

  Abby looked at the empty command chair and pressed the intercom, “Lieutenant Lungen.” She was greeted by silence. Andi saw Abby’s expression and said, “What’s wrong?�
��

  “He was injured during the fight. I forgot during this scan. I’ve got to find him! G, where’s Gary!?”

  “He’s in his quarters. I’ve wanted to tell you, but he ordered me not to interrupt you.”

  Abby jumped out of her chair and ran off the bridge and found Gary on the floor next to his bed. She turned him over and he screamed in pain. He rolled his head left and right and said, “I couldn’t reach…the…intercom.”

  “WHY DIDN’T YOU CALL ME!?”

  “I knew you were busy.”

  “You big dummy.” Abby pressed the button on her collar and said, “I’ve got to get Gary back to a hospital!”

  “What’s wrong!?”

  “He’s injured his shoulder and I think it’s serious.”

  “We’ll stay here monitoring what happens. Get him out of here.”

  Abby saw the pain medication next to the bed and counted three missing. She ran to the medical locker and pulled out a hypodermic needle and ran back and injected it into Gary’s arm. She ran to the landing bay and brought a small gravity sled back and pulled Gary, who was now unconscious, on the sled and lifted him to his bed. She left him on the sled and belted it down. She ran back to the bridge and said, “G, I need you to take a deceptive track back to the Union. Make sure we can’t be followed, but I need you to get us there ASAP.”

  “I’m jumping out to the edge of the Andromeda Galaxy, back to the core, and go FTL for ten minutes. Then I’ll jump us in.”

  “Just do it!” Abby sat by Gary and rubbed his hair. She felt the first jump and said, “Why didn’t you tell me he was suffering, G?”

  “He ordered me not to do it. He said what you were doing was too important to interrupt.”

  “G, I am the ranking officer and I order you to notify me immediately if he is ever injured again. Is that clear?”

  “Abby, I couldn’t override my orders or I would have done it this time. It won’t be a problem now.”

  Abby stared at Gary and felt the second jump. She silently prayed, “Please just let it be his arm.” She knew what high gravity maneuvers could do to a human body if they weren’t done properly.

  • • •

  Abby ran to the bridge as G emerged into space above Euclid, “I have a medical emergency. I have an injured crewmember that needs immediate medical attention.”