by E. R. Torre
Unlike the Xendos, Inquisitor Cer’s ship didn’t have the ability to hide. This worried B’taav.
“Where are you, Inquisitor?”
B’taav switched the automatic pilot off. He applied thrust and a warning came through the navigation system. It would be difficult to smoothly make Earth’s orbit if he didn’t continue braking.
B’taav kept pace with the alien craft.
He increased her speed.
For over an hour the Xendos followed the one eyed defensive drone. That ship’s sensor pings were joined by a dozen others. Before the Xendos were a large group of alien crafts. Every one of them converged on a single point in space.
B’taav fiddled with the camera controls and locked on that area. He saw a flicker of light, a flash that lasted no more than a fraction of a second. Something was out there, tumbling away and toward the Moon.
B’taav hurriedly turned to his computers and typed in instructions to calculate the tumbling object’s mass and size. The results came in and they were exactly what he feared. The object the drones were pursuing was the shuttle craft from the Thanatos.
The object swirled as it tumbled. There were no propellants detected nor any sign of energy coming from within. The ship was out of control.
B’taav re-engaged the Xendos’ brakes. The alien crafts at his side disappeared into the distance.
The Independent sat in his chair, his mind a blank.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the Xendos approached the tumbling shuttle craft.
Alien drones surrounded and rammed the vessel, furiously ripping holes in her side and nudging her out of her original flight plan. Lying just outside the group was the old, one-eyed drone. She kept her distance and appeared to be overseeing the assault.
Cyclops is the leader.
B’taav swore.
The Thanatos’ shuttle spun around, her sides ripped open. Large quantities of debris pouring out from within. The alien drones continued hammering her.
The whiplash tumbling of the shuttle would surely have crushed anyone aboard.
B’taav’s eyes flickered up. The drones ignored the smaller debris falling from the shuttle and focused on the ship itself.
If the Locust Plague’s defensive drones go after large objects…
B’taav had the ship’s cameras scan the area immediately before the Xendos. Following the trajectory of the shuttle craft, B’taav spotted still more debris. He zoomed the cameras in, looking farther and farther ahead of her flight path, until…
There!
B’taav almost jumped out of his seat.
The object’s dimensions were standard and she was intact.
It was a Phaecian escape pod.
B’taav aimed the Xendos at the pod and checked its speed. The escape craft was moving far slower than the Xendos.
Not surprising, B’taav thought.
Escape pods had very limited energy reserves and, given her distance from Earth, Cer was forced to hold back on thruster use in the hopes she could make atmospheric entry and landing. But her speed was so slow that by the time she reached Earth, the entire Solar System, would be rubble.
I have to get you.
B’taav made more calculations. Given the Xendos’ speed relative to the escape pod, B’taav would overshoot Cer by many miles. There was no way for him to slow enough to pick her up.
At least not yet.
B’taav corrected the Xendos’ direction. He didn’t dare use his communicator to alert Cer he was close for fear the drones would pick up the signal.
Still B’taav wanted her to see he was near. To let her know she would make the trip to Earth in time.
To let her know she wasn’t abandoned.
46
The Xendos approached the escape pod and in moments would rush by. Even with her forward thrusters at full, a minute later the Xendos would be over a hundred miles away.
B’taav inched the ship closer to the escape pod’s path. He considered his next move.
The timing is too tight, he thought.
B’taav needed the computer to initiate all actions.
Hope I don’t scare you too much.
B’taav sat back. The moment came and passed so quickly the Independent wasn’t sure it even happened. As the Xendos flew by the escape pod, the ship’s starboard lights came on for an instant while her gravitational hook momentarily gripped the escape vehicle.
The energy used was enormous and the Xendos shook from the effort. B’taav heard a low electronic buzz, the sound of stressed machinery. He looked at the Xendos’ underside camera. The ship was once again visible.
Nano-probes have their limits.
The buzz stopped but the camouflage remained off. B’taav checked where the Locust Plague drones were. They continued bashing the Thanatos shuttle craft.
“Hope you don’t look my way,” B’taav muttered.
His attention switched to the escape pod. Her trajectory and speed were altered, though not severely enough to injure her occupant. The escape pod now moved in line with the Xendos. In the next half hour she would near the larger craft while it slowed. Eventually, it would be close enough to grab and tow all the way to Earth.
B’taav played back video from the starboard cameras. He slowed the images until they represented fractions of a second. He stopped on one image. Inquisitor Cer was on it, staring out the only window of the escape pod, her mouth open in surprise and the glare of the Xendos’ lights illuminated her features.
“You saw me,” he said.
B’taav killed the video and switched to a real time view of the pod. The Moon approached. Not only were the Xendos’ thrusters fighting to slow her momentum, they were also fighting the pull of the satellite’s gravity. The strain on the ship would be even greater when the escape pod was captured.
The Xendos was about to be pushed to her limits.
“Don’t fail me,” B’taav said.
The Moon grew.
B’taav’s worked the computers furiously, testing algorithms and processing flight path data. So involved was he that he barely noticed the motion alarm.
B’taav’s attention turned to another monitor. He spotted a flash of light and zoomed in on it. The Thanatos shuttle craft was in pieces and the light was likely the last of her propellant systems rupturing. The Locust Plague drones circled the shuttle’s remains at wider and wider arcs, as if predators searching for fresh blood.
Several of the drones drifted away, probably returning to millennia old routes.
Two of them moved in the Xendos’ direction.
One was Cyclops.
The drones drew closer and closer.
They can see me.
B’taav activated the fusion cannon controls. In seconds the systems were green. He locked the cannon on the drone closest to him. Cyclops.
B’taav had his clearest view of her yet. She was indeed a very old vessel. Deep cracks marred her surface and within them were the remnants of asteroids and jagged machinery. Mysterious spires, some bearing fearful peaks while others were dulled with age, rose from her body. At her tip was the single red light. Jutting out beside it was a long, reinforced tip. It was designed to stab its prey.
If they’re after objects of a certain size, they’ll ignore the escape pod and come after me. But the escape pod is between them and me.
B’taav’s finger hovered over the fusion cannon’s activation button.
The Locust Plague drones gained speed.
B’taav projected their course and breathed a small sigh of relief. They would pass the escape pod. Very close, but they would pass.
The Xendos, on the other hand…
Each second the drones closed in, their red lights glowed brighter and brighter. Abruptly, the lights on one of the drones shut off and it broke formation and drifted away.
Cyclops remained on course.
Maybe it’s just checking you out. Don’t fire. Not yet.
B’taav fingers moved away from the trigger.
&nb
sp; He waited.
After a while, B’taav jerked forward in his chair.
The drone slowed. Its direction shifted ever so slightly.
B’taav was back at the controls of the fusion cannon.
“Come on,” B’taav muttered. “We’re no threat to you.”
There were no other drones in sight.
Cyclops came in behind the Xendos. It matched speeds with the escape pod. Its single light glowed bright. Brighter still.
It’s checking the escape pod. What for?
B’taav desperately looked at the monitors and the debris from the Thanatos’ shuttle craft.
Why is it ignoring debris far larger than the escape pod?
The debris was off their port side and several hundred miles away. Chunks of the shuttle fell, yet Cyclops ignored them as they moved on…
…on toward the Moon.
B’taav’s black eyes lit up.
You’re designed to protect Earth from falling bodies.
Thanks to the drones, the remains of the Thanatos shuttle would fall dead center on the Moon. They were no threat to the Earth.
The Xendos and the escape pod, on the other hand, were moving toward the Moon’s edge. They would eventually fly around the satellite and toward Earth.
And the drone was figuring this out!
B’taav released the fusion cannon controls and hit the forward thrusters. He altered the angle of his descent while the escape pod continued hurling toward the ship.
B’taav pressed a series of buttons. He slowed enough to get the escape pod within the range of the Xendos’ gravity hook. The catch would be hard. Hard enough to hurt. But he had to do it now or risk missing her entirely.
“Come on,” B’taav said.
The gravity hook was on. The escape pod moved a little closer. A little closer.
Just beyond it was Cyclops. She remained nearby. She was now checking the Xendos’ trajectory.
“Give us time,” B’taav muttered.
The escape pod was only a dozen miles away.
Suddenly, Cyclops accelerated. Other, smaller lights came on her surface. The red light on her spire glowed bright. She gave off high levels of radiation. She was arming herself. She was preparing to attack.
“Come on,” B’taav repeated.
The escape pod was five miles away. Four.
The drone gained more speed. It was locked in on them.
The escape pod flew under the ship.
So fast…
There was no time. B’taav slammed his hand over the gravity hook, activating her in full. The Xendos locked onto the escape pod and gripped her tight.
The ships jerked wildly. Energy readings spiked as the engine protested. The escape pod was drawn in, closer and closer, until she slammed and locked into the larger craft’s underside.
“Got you.”
Alarms buzzed. The Xendos’ engines were redlining.
B’taav ignored the warnings. His attention shifted back to Cyclops.
It continued its steady advance.
Another, different alarm buzzed.
Two other monitors activated. They displayed a group of drones. Twenty. Thirty. Forty five.
They were converging on the Xendos.
B’taav bit his upper lip. He used the Xendos’ side thrusters to alter the ship’s course even more.
They’ll let me go when they see I’m on a collision course with the Moon.
B’taav continued the craft’s sharp turn. Vibrations threatened to pull her apart. Abruptly, they lessened. The Xendos and the escape pod were now on course.
The engine warnings remained critical. Sparks shot out of one of the monitors.
B’taav ignored them. He aimed the fusion cannon at a surface crack on Cyclops. Perhaps a well-aimed shot might penetrate the…
All the monitors abruptly shut off.
The cockpit was enveloped in complete darkness.
B’taav couldn’t see his hand before his face.
He couldn’t do anything…
47
Long, terrible seconds passed.
The drones surrounded them. B’taav saw them through the ship’s front window without the aid of his cameras. They circled his craft.
If they still perceived the Xendos or the escape pod as a threat, B’taav and Cer were finished.
Suddenly, the ship’s lights came back on.
B’taav jumped to the monitors. Energy readings were still red and the Xendos remained crippled. B’taav checked the gravitational hook. It was still online and, through one of the cameras, he saw Inquisitor Cer’s escape pod nestled below his ship. The drones around them circled a few more times. Slowly, too slowly, they backed off.
“Move on,” B’taav said.
A couple turned away. Others followed.
All but one.
Cyclops appeared directly in front of the Xendos. She was less than a hundred feet away. Her single red light shined into the ship’s cockpit, illuminating her interior in a bloody red.
B’taav was frozen in place as she remained there, eye to eye, hunter to prey. Cyclops waited. Her single light grew brighter, then brighter still, until it was blinding.
She remained before the Xendos, her tip practically touching the front of the ship.
B’taav’s heart pounded. If he reached out, he could touch her…
Abruptly, the red light dulled.
Cyclops backed up.
She veered off and flew away, disappearing into the darkness.
B’taav took a few seconds to let the tension dissipate.
That was close.
He then focused on the ship’s approach to the Moon… and beyond.
The ship rocked side to side, the escape pod moving with it.
B’taav scanned the monitors, searching for any alerts. He examined the outer camera monitors. The Moon filled the forward view screen.
“You’ve been through a lot,” B’taav told his ship. “Hang on for a little longer.”
The nano-probes, if they were capable of doing so, didn’t answer.
The energy levels within the Xendos fluctuated as she and her companion neared the Moon’s surface. B’taav kept the ship’s path directed at the celestial object. No turns, no deviations.
The escape pod’s sole window was dark. What was Inquisitor Cer thinking in there?
B’taav wanted to contact her, tell her what he was about to do.
Any such activity might attract the Locust Plague probes.
B’taav’s free hand hovered over the thruster controls. His other hand tightened on the yoke. The Moon’s surface, its gray valleys and craters, filled the view screen.
At the last possible second, B’taav acted.
He engaged the Xendos’ full thrusters while pulling back on the controls.
The Xendos and her companion spun to the side, paralleling the satellite’s rocky surface.
B’taav kept his hands locked while focusing on the monitor displaying the escape pod. For a second Inquisitor Cer’s pod pulled away and looked like she might rip free. The ship’s engines groaned and lights flickered. The escape pod snapped back.
Thank the Gods…
The Xendos and her companion skimmed the Moon’s surface. B’taav switched the images on the monitor and searched for drones. All of them, including Cyclops, were gone.
His gaze returned to the dreary lunar terrain. It passed under him in a blur. Craters and their valleys. Mountains and—
Abruptly, his eyes opened wide.
In the far distance, he spotted a structure. It was a large, flat building.
B’taav swore.
It was too late to turn. Whatever the structure was, he’d pass right over it.
If it was another Locust Plague defensive system…
A second passed. Another.
He spotted a single light shining from a window within the building.
Oh no…
Just like that the ship was over and past her. A moment later the structure
was long gone.
B’taav checked every monitor for signs of defensive measures. He spotted none.
Did I really see a light? he wondered.
He thought some more. Was the structure human or alien? He couldn’t be sure. He was frustrated there would be no chance to investigate.
B’taav applied more thrust.
Another light shone. This one was at the edge of the Moon’s horizon. It grew brighter.
B’taav held his breath. His mouth opened.
The light grew brighter still.
The Independent knew what was rising before him. Inquisitor Cer and he would be the first humans to lay eyes on her in over five thousand—
And there she was.
The Earth rose like a miniature sun. She was a heartbreaking sight. Her surface was almost as gray as the Moon’s and a crosshatch of dark metallic tentacles of incredible length extended like chains around her. They lay near the edge of the planet’s atmosphere and enveloped its prey.
Over the Earth’s southern hemisphere floated the Locust Plague’s mother ship. She was a patchwork monster, larger even than the Thanatos and made up of odd pieces welded together over thousands and thousands of years. The vessel covered a fourth of the planet and had the shape of a ball split in half. She did not rotate with her captive, instead remaining stationary and gathering sunlight while not allowing it to filter below.
B’taav recognized the ship and her tentacles. They were a vision of a recent nightmare.
The Xendos flew away from the Moon. If the drones were to reappear, they would do so now.
Yet B’taav saw no sign of them. Perhaps their patrol area lay just outside the Moon’s orbit and they were not programmed to protect the space between the Moon and Earth.
Which meant the Locust Plague’s mother ship could take care of anything that made it this close.
B’taav heard a low hum. He frowned.
The Xendos’ engines were again taxed to their limits.
B’taav checked the ship using the outside cameras. He wasn’t surprised to find she was trying to cloak herself.
The nano-probes sense danger.