by John Walker
“Engineering,” Titus spoke into the microphone. “Can we go to warp yet? And let me remind you of how imperative it is that we’re ready ASAP.”
“I can’t promise we won’t blow up!” Huxley replied. “Give me another… two minutes!”
Titus sighed. “We may not have that long! Hurry. Cut corners, I don’t care, just get me minimum safety standards.” He checked the scans again. They’ll be in firing range shortly. He clenched his fists. “Jane, we may need to get back into evasive maneuvers. Once the shuttle lands, be ready to dance on my mark.”
“Yes, sir.” Jane nodded.
“Um…” Violet grunted. “Sir… I think… I think they might have reinforcements coming in.”
“What?” Titus turned to her. “What do you mean?”
“I’m picking up a bizarre energy reading… again, like nothing I’ve seen before. Incredibly powerful. Warping in fast.”
“I feel flattered.” Titus scowled. “Where?”
“They’re on a direct course for us,” Violet said. “No risk of collision, but… yeah, they’ll be here quick.”
“Fantastic.” Titus pinched the bridge of his nose. His mind raced through the different options of what they might do… or how they could proceed. What exactly can I do against a new threat? We can’t even hold off the one on our asses. And why the hell would these guys ask for anyone else? Unless they believed the Triton could escape.
“Andrews is docking now,” Jane said. “Give him… fifteen seconds to mag to the deck.”
“When he gives you the clear,” Titus said, “alter course to… sixteen degrees port. That should take us away from the newcomer as well.” He thought about hitting the Engineering deck again, harassing them for that final call. They beat him to it, reaching out a moment before he could tap the panel.
“Sir…” Huxley sounded exhausted, his voice strained. “Sir… this… I…”
“Spit it out,” Titus barked, “what’s going on?”
“The warp drive is down. The fire earlier… and the circuits… I…”
“How long?”
“Half an hour,” Huxley replied, “at the very least. We’re talking replacing delicate parts. It’s… it’s done.”
And so are we. Titus felt his shoulders slump. He looked at the others, first Jane then Violet. I can’t keep these enemies off of us for a half hour! We’ve got five minutes. Maybe. He struggled against the sense of defeat, a feeling they were about to die. I can’t do it. I have to think of something… anything!
“Violet,” Titus said, “open all comm channels.”
“Done,” Violet replied. “Your mic is hot.”
This is the only way.
Titus hated himself for what he had to say, for being in the position at all. “Attention, attacking vessels. This is Commander Titus Barnes of the TCN Triton. We appeal to your… your mercy. We are not defensible and offer our… surrender. There are two hundred souls aboard. We need to talk.”
He turned to Violet who shrugged. “Nothing yet, sir.”
“Again,” Titus said into the mic, “we offer our immediate surrender. Please call off your attack.”
“Come now, Commander,” a man’s voice replied with a thick accent. Titus couldn’t place the origin. Somewhere between Scottish with a mix of Russian, maybe. “Surely you aren’t ready to give up quite yet. Perhaps if the odds were evened out, you’d feel a little more confident, hm?”
“Identify yourself,” Titus said, “who is this?”
“Commander Griel Pas Dain of the Prytin Ship Brekka. Sorry we’re a little late. Let’s see if I can’t buy you some breathing room, eh?”
“The message,” Violet said, “is coming from the new ship. Scans show they’re powering something up as they arrive. Oval… looks like there are deployable wings… I don’t know, it’s not like any ship in our fleet. Where the hell are all of these things coming from? What’s going on?”
“We’ll get into that,” Griel replied. “Just keep moving forward.”
The viewscreen continued to show their pursuers. The two ships altered course, moving toward the Brekka. The three ships exchanged an incredible array of beam fire, green from the newcomer toward the constant blasts of red. Shields reacted far more violently than they did when the Triton fired on them earlier.
“I’m… stunned,” Violet said. “Our pursuers are taking a real beating. Shields on both vessels are down to thirty percent. Twenty… they’re down!” The Brekka fired on both, diverting energy to attack each at the same time. Their beams seemed to target a specific part of their opponents, blasting at the exact same point at the top of the other vessel’s center point.
Sparks and electricity danced over the impact points. Their weapons quit firing. The Brekka moved to their sides, lighting them up as they rotated around them until the thrusters were directly in front of them. The next series of shots annihilated the first of the two vessels, turning it to slag.
The second one fired up their engines, lurching forward. The thrusters flickered out then turned back on, but power remained unsteady. The Brekka tore through them a moment later, ripping their hull to pieces from behind, thus ending the pursuit from those two vessels specifically.
Lights flickered again on the bridge. “What the hell happened?” Titus asked. He’d just taken a deep breath. “What’s going on?”
“Those two ships that pursued Andrews,” Violet said, “they’re attacking us!”
“Set the turrets on them,” Titus said. “Hit them!”
“Weapons are down,” Jane replied. “Engines are at ten percent power. Wait…” She slapped the panel. “They’re down. We’re moving on momentum now, sir.”
“Life support is still active,” Violet added. “But artificial gravity is seriously strained by our earlier rush. Shields are holding, but those two shuttles are hitting with enough power to do some serious harm if we don’t contend with them quickly.”
Titus rubbed his eyes. Even the smaller ones are hitting us with enough force to cause real damage. The thought baffled him. How can we face this enemy? How will we stand a chance against their forces? It’s… He bit back the final word. No matter how bad things were, he refused to buy into despair.
“Commander Dain,” Titus turned back to the comm, “if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I need to call upon you…”
“No problem at all. They don’t quit. Something to keep in mind for later. They never give up. Even when it’s the only logical thing to do.”
The Brekka moved up beside them. Smaller beams deployed, cutting through the smaller ships in a matter of seconds. The red explosions lasted mere seconds before the fires burned out. All enemies were down.
We survived. Titus couldn’t believe it. His heart hammered in his chest as his mind raced for what the next steps should be. Medics took Ronin away along with the body of Captain Barrington. I have to calm down. Think through what to do. He turned to Violet. “Get me… get me a damage report. And casualties.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Jane, you’re primary pilot for now. That console’s hosed so you’re on your own.” Titus contacted Dain again. “Commander… I’d like to thank you, but I’m not even sure who you are or what just happened. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful or rude… I need an explanation. Where did those ships come from? Who authorized their construction? And how did they…”
“Slow down,” Dain interrupted. “We’ve got plenty of time to talk while you get through some minimal repairs. Then, we need to talk to your command structure as soon as possible. There are a couple things I’ll give you though. First, you’ve had your first encounter with an alien life form. Congratulations on surviving. That wasn’t easy.”
“An alien… what?”
“Second,” Dain continued, “we’re on your side. We’ve observed humanity for a long time without risking contact. You simply weren’t ready. Honestly, a lot of people think you still aren’t, but that doesn’t matter now. The Kahl have seen to it tha
t you need to be brought into the fold right away.”
“The what? The Kahl? What’s that?”
“And third,” Dain continued as if he didn’t hear the questions, “welcome to the larger universe, Commander. It won’t be easy to acclimate to everything I’ve got to tell you, but provided you have an open mind, your people will benefit in ways you can’t even imagine. But first, we all have some work to do. I’ll be in touch soon. Brekka out.”
Titus sat there, staring at the comm. He struggled to keep his breathing steady and regular. His mind raced at the information he’d been given. Part of him called it rubbish. That’s not possible. There are no aliens. We would’ve found them by now. He recognized the size of the universe but humanity had been in space for a long time.
How could we have missed… all this? Titus cleared his throat. “Violet… what… what are your thoughts?”
“If you’re worried about possibilities,” Violet replied, “then the science division has been theorizing about alien life for years. Many have thought we simply haven’t gone far enough out. Reasonably speaking, the universe is practically infinite. We could engage warp right now and go for sixty years without reaching the end.”
And that helps it make sense, Titus thought, but why now?
“Violet,” Jane turned to the woman, “do you really think they’re aliens?”
“Based on these scans?” Violet nodded. “I certainly do. It’s a logical explanation. Our technology is not this good. Some rogue corporation or people with money wouldn’t be leaping fifty years into our future of defenses let alone on all fronts. At least, I don’t believe they could possibly do it.”
“So we faced aliens.” Jane spoke softly. “And we’re still alive…” She swallowed the rest of her sentence, glancing back where Captain Barrington had been sitting. “Mostly.”
“Let’s focus on repairs,” Titus said. “Get me those reports. We’ll worry about the semantics of what happened later. Right now… well… right now, we need to focus on our own. The ability to get out of here. Survival. Then the fantastic can have a go at us. I’ll coordinate with Chief Huxley from here. Do we have long-range comms?”
“Negative,” Violet replied. “They’re down right now.”
“Okay, get a tech crew on those. We need to report in.” Titus thought about the rest of the crew… what they must be thinking. “Reduce status to yellow. I’ll address the ship shortly.” If I can wrap my head around what happened. Hopefully, informing everyone else will help me do that. Otherwise…
Titus had no idea what to think. His mouth was dry, his head hurt, stress clung to his muscles and back, but deep down, he felt tremendous relief. We made it. And now we can find out what happened. This might be the best thing that ever happened to our people… or the absolute worst.
Depending on what Commander Dain had to say, Titus figured he’d be in for a mixed bag. One way or another, humanity was in for a tremendous change.
Chapter 4
Titus hadn’t been able to speak with Commander Dain again before long-range communications came back online. They had received plenty of messages from their new allies, mostly assuring them they didn’t have to worry about enemy reinforcements. Apparently, the force they met happened to be a probing strike.
It would be quite some time before the Kahls even knew they lost the ships.
Seems odd. Titus wasn’t entirely convinced until Violet let him know what was going on. Apparently, the Brekka mimicked their transmissions, sending an all clear. That’s what bought them time not only repair the Triton sufficiently to leave the area but also check for survivors on the surface.
Unfortunately, the latter endeavor proved fruitless. No one had survived down there. The bunker had been busted open, and the people inside slaughtered. None of the farmers made it either. If anyone happened to be alive down there, they must’ve gone to ground, hiding where they couldn’t be detected by scans.
Repairs went well enough. As promised, the warp drive was up in thirty minutes. Engineering restored power to key systems, restoring the ship to basic operational status. They still had some hull damage to contend with along with replacement of temporary parts but returning home was possible.
Huxley made it clear another fight would end them, though. He suggested immediate dispatch to the nearest station for dry dock repairs.
Titus sat in his office, preparing himself for a conversation with high command. He didn’t look forward to giving his report. Offering it with perfect honesty might paint Captain Barrington in a poor light. It seemed unnecessary to trample his name posthumously. Cruel even. The man had a family. They didn’t need to think he made a mistake.
But did he really? Titus couldn’t blame him entirely. Yes, he wanted to exercise more caution but they had no way of knowing the enemy they were facing would be so devastating… so dangerous. When the destroyers went up, we should’ve immediately backed off. Part of him picked the situation apart because he knew high command would do the same.
A message appeared on his screen from Violet. Commander Dain and his second would like to board the ship for a conversation with you in person. You weren’t answering the comm. Titus glanced, noting he had missed a couple incoming requests. They’re… kind of being impatient about it.
“I wonder why,” Titus muttered. He brought her up on voice chat. “Give them clearance. I’ll meet them at the hangar. Send four security guards to meet me. I’m on my way now.”
“Yes, sir.”
Titus pulled his jacket on, looking in the small mirror beside his private washroom. He looked tired, but about as good as could be expected given what he and the crew had been through. Other news weighed on him heavily. The deaths of the men on the surface, nearly the entire landing party. Gunny and Hans were the only two to make it.
And this new person, the militia soldier named Alon Dess. If not for him, even they would’ve been lost. He’d proved a bit more heroic than expected. Andrews filed a report suggesting he had really freaked out on the way off the planet, but otherwise, he seemed like a solid operative.
I’ll have to find out what he wants to do with himself now that he’s survived this threat. Titus didn’t know what his future held with the TCN. Whatever it was, he hoped he might offer Alon a position somewhere. Perhaps as a consultant. Someone who had seen the Kahls in action might prove valuable to intelligence. Though I don’t know what Dain wants.
That fact bothered him the most. If the alien had some sort of demand for his aid, Titus had no idea what he might do. He wasn’t authorized to commit the TCN to any sort of action and the Triton didn’t have it in her to help with anything immediate. They needed at least a week, possibly more before she’d be mission ready again.
And what are we supposed to do against this new enemy anyway? We don’t have the power or the weapons to fend them off. Titus let out a sigh, departing for the hangar. People rushed about, technicians working in every hallway. He’d never seen so many missing panels in the middle of a shift. Exposed wires hung down in several places, making it feel like a hazard.
“You guys sure this is safe?” Titus called out.
“It’s fine!” several voices called back. One man yelled, “Don’t touch any red ones! Those are hot!”
“Thanks for telling me!” someone else replied from behind Titus. “I nearly fried my nuts off, you ass!”
Ah, there we go. Titus shook his head. Bantering is good. Means they’re not brooding over the losses. The casualty report felt like a kick to the gut. Of the two hundred men aboard, fifty had died. Twenty more were injured. This left them with a skeleton crew. Plenty of headcount to get them home but they couldn’t operate long in that state.
He arrived at the hangar to find the four security guards standing with their rifles held in front of them, aimed at the floor. Titus leaned against the wall in anticipation. He figured he had a few minutes before their shuttle arrived, giving him a moment to contemplate what they might look like.
How different would they be? They knew English… probably from the fact they’d been observing humanity as Dain said. That still struck him as odd. It worked out, yes… and a lot of his concern came down to simple paranoia, but he had many questions. Most of them irrelevant given the current situation.
I’ll have plenty of time to quiz them later.
“Hello, Acting Captain,” Doctor Anders Brett stepped up to him, clasping his hands behind his back. He stood six-four with gray-blond hair and a rail thin frame. In the wrong light, he looked somewhat cadaverous, especially as his face aged prematurely. Lines and crags gave him a lot of character. “I understand we’re about to meet some aliens.”
“Doctor.” Titus inclined his head. “Indeed. You here to see what they look like? Offer a medical opinion? I would’ve thought you’d be too busy at a time like this to pay us a visit down here.”
“The crew that can be helped have been,” Anders replied. He took on a somber expression. “Everyone’s in recovery. My assistants are down there, but if they need me… you know the drill. Besides, I figured you might need someone with a little more life experience to make first contact.”
“I didn’t think of it that way,” Titus said. “I don’t know why. I guess I’ve got other things on my mind.”
“High command?”
Titus nodded.
“They won’t come down on you hard. There are so many extenuating circumstances, no one will have the balls to get on your back. Besides, you saved all our lives. They have to take that into consideration when they perform their evaluation. You want to hear my bet? What I think will happen?”
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me regardless.”
Anders chuckled. “I am. I think they’re going to give you a commendation. Anyone who sees the data of what we faced will be surprised as hell we made it out of there in one piece. Engineering, tech officers… they’re all talking about how extraordinary the opponent was. Once that spreads around…”