The Key

by Brian Fisher

  Chapter 5

  "Captain, there has been a disturbance on the planet." Angel appeared in Captain McWilliams' ready room, her face stern and her voice urgent. "It appears that a bomb has exploded in a restaurant."

  "Show me." he watched as a hologram appeared above his desk. It showed smoke billowing from the front of a ruined building. People wandered around in front of the restaurant, confused and injured. Bodies were strewn across the ground like broken dolls suffering the wrath of a child. "Magnify the image." he ordered. Instantly the image grew larger, and the details sharpened. He could see faces in the crowd. Faces stained with anguish, soot and blood. Law enforcement robots and medical drones tried to gather and tend to the wounded without much success.

  "Angel, contact the local authorities, and offer our assistance." Jason told the AI as the hologram of Olcai cut out. He drummed his fingers against the top of his desk. During his time as Captain, Jason had grown accustomed to Angel's nearly instantaneous responses, and having to wait on her was never a good sign.

  "I am unable to comply Captain. The transmission has been blocked." Angel replied after a few moments. "Sir, I am receiving an audio only signal. Would you like to hear it Sir?"

  "Put it through." Jason told her as he settled back into his chair. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end at the sound of the voice. There was a menace to it that he had hoped that he would never have to face. There would be no reasoning with the person behind the voice. No, the time for that was long gone.

  "This is a warning. You have until noon tomorrow to provide that which was stolen from us. No one will enter or leave Olcai. Any deviance will result in death. Submit now and bow before your Ta'Reeth masters." a garbled voice resonated through the room.

  Jason rested his head in his hands. "Angel, our schedule has just been shot to hell. We need to be combat ready in twelve hours or less."

  "Understood Sir. I am adjusting the work load accordingly." Angel watched her Captain with interest. She knew the threat that they now faced, and was wary of what she knew must come.

  "Also, I need any information on the Ta'Reeth, and the lunatic support groups that they have." Jason sighed. Memories ran rampant through his mind. The fleet of organic ships that filled the sky over Bakesh, intent on nothing more than domination and destruction haunted his dreams, and nearly every waking moment. That is what a conflict with the Ta'Reeth amounted to. Either you were crushed under their feet, or you became a slave to the whim your new master's. Most people chose to die. He had seen it too many times, had felt the terror race through his body too often to let these monsters crush another planet, another Earth.

  "Angel, put me through to Command." he ordered, then sat back in his chair. Fatigue flooded through his body borne by a stress that only a commanding officer could know. A moment later the hologram of Olcai was replaced with the image of an old, dignified Malgar. His features were sharp, giving his gray skin an edge that no other species could achieve. The insignia on his uniform identified him as an Admiral.

  "Captain McWilliams, I hope that this is important." Admiral Ansyns voice rumbled over the speakers.

  "Admiral, I'm sending a file to you. You should be receiving it momentarily." Captain McWilliams touched a button on his keyboard and waited for a response from the Admiral. He watched as the Malgar played the scene from Olcai. His eyes grew hard as the scene came to an end and the bodiless voice spoke.

  "Captain, this is a serious matter. I know the condition that your ship is in, but we can't send any reinforcements right now. We're spread too thin, and we simply can't spare any ships. I'm sorry." Admiral Ansyn sighed. "You'll have to handle the situation as best as you can."

  "Understood sir." Jason grimaced. He had expected as much. "I would appreciate any assistance that you can provide." It took considerable effort to hold his temper in check. Eviscerating the Admiral with the words and thoughts that he wanted so desperately to use would serve no purpose. No, he told himself, holding his tongue was the best thing for him to do.

  "I will do what I can Captain, but right now it isn't much." the Admiral shook his head and smiled a thin smile. "The Hero of Bakesh should be able to handle something like this by himself. Ansyn out."

  Jason watched in frustration as the Admiral signed off and disappeared. He touched a button on his desk, and brought the destruction of Olcai back into view. This time he did the work himself, without the aid of Angel. Jason studied the image for a few minutes, and then magnified the crowd of injured people. Many of them would be scarred for life. He knew from experience that the worst scars were the ones that he could not see in the hologram. The worst scars were the ones that these people would carry inside themselves for the rest of their lives.

  Jason watched as the police tried to assist the injured, and to keep the semblance of peace. His breath caught in his throat when he saw two women among the people, trying to help how and where they could. Sitting up straight, Jason magnified the women. He let out a breath that he had not realized that he was holding when his wife's face came into focus. She was clearly scared, but at least she wasn't injured in any other way. Kamira said something that he couldn't understand, and then he saw the other woman's face. It was T'Sula Mir.

  A tight smile crossed his lips. The last time he had seen her, they had worked together to save his city. A million people owed their lives to T'Sula, and he owed her a debt himself. Jason relaxed ever so slightly. Kamira's chances had just improved tenfold.

  Home Station was a mining colony, set high in the atmosphere of a gas giant. The city floated in the sky, harvesting gasses and shipping them throughout the galaxy. It seemed like an eternity since he had been the Constable there, in the seemingly safe confines of Home Station. He had thought that the city was safe, until T'Sula Mir had arrived and woke him from his dream.

  His world, his existence was now entirely different. Marriage and command of a starship were things that had never been meant for Jason McWilliams, yet both had happened. Fate had a cruel sense of humor. A man had to become more than the sum of his experiences, or die.

  "Angel move us into the debris field. I want us to be hidden, but close enough to monitor Olcai." Jason instructed the A.I.

  "Yes sir." was the only reply that Angel gave, as Redemption began to slip quietly through space. With her mighty engines under repair, Angel relied entirely on the ships thrusters to move into the protection of the debris field.

  Jason studied a hologram of Olcai and the surrounding star system. There were only a handful of planets, and all but Olcai could never support life. He highlighted the images of a dozen starships that were in the system. Each of the ships readily identified themselves as luxury transports, and freely gave crew and passenger manifests.

  It took Jason only a moment to check the ships and personnel for links to the different fringe groups that supported the Ta'Reeth. Everything came back clean. He weighed his options, then after explaining why, he asked the ships Captains to leave the system.

  In only a few moments, Redemption was the only starship left near Olcai.