Slipspace: Harbinger

by P. C. Haring

  Melor cleared her throat and Amado turned to his engineer, “Lieutenant?”

  “Captain, with respect, sir, from my people’s experience, the Remali are to be taken extremely seriously. They have the technological superiority and they are aggressive enough to use it. They are not uncivilized, but the warning they gave us is far more than most get.”

  Amado paused to consider, but as he did, he noticed the holo of the three ships. The lead vessel, the one parked broadside directly in front of them, had changed. A line extended from that vessel, racing through space towards the Mjöllnir.

  Cody barely had time to alert the crew to brace for impact, before the deck lurched beneath him, throwing him and the rest of the crew off-balance and to the deck.

  “Report!”

  Aler was fast back to his feet. “Hull has been breached in two locations. Outer compartments are sealed, no decompression. It’s as if our ECM wasn’t even there!”

  “Have they not heard of a warning shot across the bow,” Cassie asked.

  Melor perked up. “That was a warning shot, Commander. Instruments indicate they’re powering up again. This one’s power build up already appears to be double that of what just hit us.”

  With Melor’s caution in mind, and the ship damaged, any thoughts Amado might have had about besting them in an armed engagement vanished into thin air. “Put me through to that ship.”

  In an instant, he heard the click as his microphone went live. “This is Captain Cody Amado, in command of the battleship Mjöllnir. We are happy to stand down and receive your boarding party as guests of the Interstellar Planetary Alliance.”

  October 17, 2832

  14:30

  Mjöllnir

  THE NEXT FEW moments passed in a blur of activity. Labonne and her wingman launched, only to form up on the Remali transport. They too had launched a pair of escort fighters, and looking back on the moment, Labonne would swear she never saw any form of external door open on General Rashar’s ship. It was as if the support vessels had simply been squeezed out. The inevitable tussle for the escort position ensued but found quick resolution as the Remali pilots formed up on their launch, while Labonne and Mitchell took a point position to lead their guests through the Mjöllnir’s grid.

  The next wrinkle presented itself when the Remali requested a direct docking to the Mjöllnir via airlock hard-point instead of through the main docking bay. Had the ship not been too big for the landing bay to accommodate, there might have been more resistance. Eventually Amado ordered the port side airlock on the main hull cleared.

  On board, a team of Aler’s security personnel evacuated the surrounding sections and cleared a path to the nearest conference room, the Captain not wanting to allow the new contacts into any tactically sensitive parts of the ship. Once the decks were clear, a Marine platoon formed as honor guard. But they would serve a dual role: as the primary line of defense in the event the Remali arrived with hostile intentions.

  From within the Mjöllnir the airlock cycled, but an inordinate amount of time passed before it completed. What should have taken less than a minute took over ten, during which time those monitoring the airlock swore they heard running water. Then, finally the inner hatch hissed open, and the Remali, led by a female identifying herself as General Rashar, stepped aboard the Mjöllnir.

  October 17, 2832

  14:45

  Mjöllnir - Conference Room

  FROM THE CONFINES of the auxiliary conference room, Cody and Cassie Amado watched on the monitors as Aler’s team escorted the Remali. The internal cameras did not provide a clear picture of these aliens, other than to indicate their uniforms fit far closer to their bodies than the standard Alliance duty jacket and they wore some sort of head covering. Cassie looked at him, the questions on her face just as clear as those in his mind. They both knew this meeting would be a make or break moment. Whatever suspicions they had needed to wait until they had successfully opened a dialog. The rest would follow. The translator in his ear itched a little, and he took a moment to adjust it. Under normal circumstances the sub-dermal implant would have sufficed, but as the Remali language was not yet in the master database, he would use the removable unit to supplement what his implant temporarily lacked.

  The sharp rapping at the door drew their attention. Cassie pressed a button on her remote, and the monitors went black.

  “Enter,” Cody commanded.

  The door swung open, held by a Marine escort, and the Remali entered. On the whole, each of the Remali stood fifteen to twenty centimeters taller than the average human. Their slight, delicate looking bodies moved with a flow of movement much like the flow of a liquid across a solid surface. He noticed the individual in front, look him up and down, as if appraising him. This was expected, and Amado returned the favor.

  This Remali, presumably female by the shape and proportion of her human-like body, wore a tight-fitting body suit complete with cowl and face mask that obscured her face save for her eyes and forehead. This suit, bluish-gray in color with a metallic sheen, appeared to pulsate as if something under the fabric were being pumped around her body.

  The woman wore ornate armor layered over her body suit. Unlike anything Cody had ever seen before, this armor stood in stark contrast to the minimalist function-over-form design employed by the Alliance. Hers boasted a far more ornate and intricate design that seemed to blend both utility and ceremony as it moved with the rhythmic motion of her breathing while remaining rigid enough to serve a purpose. Cody directed his gaze at the other Remali in the room. They wore the same general body suit as the woman, their identical styles confirming those to be the Remali equivalent of standard duty uniforms. However, the armor worn by the other Remali, while intricate in their own right was not as ornate as the woman’s. In fact, as he looked over all ten of the Remali now aboard his ship, he detected four distinct patters in the regalia. But the one the woman wore was unique.

  Amado stepped in front of the woman, “General Rashar, I presume. I’m Captain Cody Amado, Commanding Officer of the Interstellar Planetary Alliance battleship Mjöllnir. Welcome aboard,” he said as he extended his hand.

  There was a pause before the response, presumably while the Remali’s translator did its job. “Captain,” the Remali said. Despite the presence of the face mask, her voice did not sound obscured or covered, like one might expect. “I am General Rashar, Commanding officer of the Battlefield Valor, and Supreme Commander of the Remali Confederate defense fleet.”

  She paused there as she noticed Amado’s hand, still outstretched and frowned, clearly not knowing what to make of it. Amado allowed himself a smile. “Among my race, it is customary to extend a hand as a greeting of friendship when meeting someone for the first time.”

  The general hesitated for another moment before raising her own hand. Amado’s eyes widened at the sight of her three fingers. Each digit extended from the closest thing she had to a palm and moved with a snake-like slither. He noticed a fourth digit. This one, most similar to a human thumb did not match the other three. Where the three were organic, this fourth was more of a mechanical add on. Had the general lost the thumb in some way? His eyes darted to her other hand and those of her escorts. Everyone had the mechanical component. Perhaps the species had no natural thumb and had learned to build one for their people. She took his hand and Amado would swear he saw webbing retreat between the three biological fingers. Her grip was firm as Amado led in the handshake.

  The moment passed and the business began.

  “Captain, your vessel is in violation of our territories. Your unauthorized presence in our space is suspect enough. Couple that with your presence at a combat zone, and I have little choice but to consider you responsible for the destruction of our cargo vessels in this area.”

  Amado sighed. “General, while I regret your losses, this ship only just arrived at these coordinates. We are here on a mission of great importance to my government. We were recently attacked by an unknown force,” he said,
omitting the precise details, “resulting in the loss of one of our colonies. Our investigation has pointed us in the direction of your territory. While en route, we detected the combat site and chose to investigate. However, we did not attack your convoy.”

  Rashar’s head dropped in a slight bow of respect. “I can sympathize with your loss, Captain. However, it only serves as motive as I now have reason to believe you may have attacked our convoy seeking revenge.”

  Cody’s eyes shot to hers. “Are you claiming responsibility for our colony’s destruction, General?”

  “I make no such claim, Captain. But you did say that your investigation led you to our territory. The supposition is logical.”

  He stiffened. “Logical, yes. But unfounded. We are not here to make accusations. We are here to investigate and pursue the truth.”

  “You’ll forgive me if I do not immediately trust you, Captain. You are an outsider, after all”

  “General, run your own analysis of the area. You’ll find two signatures. One from the target we are tracking, the second, we believe is yours.”

  “And if I chose to seize your vessel outright?”

  Amado narrowed his eyes and stepped forward. The general had him by a few centimeters, but he lifted his eyes to meet hers and pushed as much force behind the look as he could.

  “Then such an act, General, would be interpreted as a declaration of war against this ship and her flag. Any aggression from your forces would be responded to as such by both my crew and government.”

  Rashar gave no response and the pause in conversation gave him a moment to realize that he was, in fact pushing a far harder agenda than he intended.

  “But we’re not here to start a war, General. Quite the opposite. We’re here, in peace, with the hope of opening a dialog between our two governments.”

  “Only in as much as it helps continue your investigation, though?”

  “As I said, General. We’re still gathering all the facts and we’ll follow those wherever the lead.”

  The two locked eyes as though battling to see who would blink first. Under normal circumstances, Amado’s lack of respect towards a General would be an issue. But she was not in his chain of command, and in this matter, he had the truth working for him. Even so, he was relieved when she backed down.

  “Very well, Captain. In the interest of avoiding a war, I will launch a formal investigation. As a step in that investigation, I would like a tour of your ship.”

  October 17, 2832

  17:00

  Deep Space - Mjöllnir

  MELOR ROLLED her eyes as she waited for the parade to get the hell off her deck. It was bad enough they were on board, but now Aler was walking them through the ship as if they owned it. She could not fault the Captain. It had been her own recommendation that had caused him to stand down and she was happy enough not being dead right now. But did he really have to invite them aboard the ship?

  She had buffered the walk through by sending Piper to walk with them and show them what was to be seen down here while she busied herself with work. Granted, there was no work that needed to be done immediately. But it was an easy excuse she could use to get the hell out of there. She had nothing nice to say to the Remali and if she would be forced to endure their presence, she would do what she could to stay as far away as possible and not cause an incident that would derail the Captain’s efforts to earn the Remali’s trust, fool’s errand though it was.

  “Lieutenant?”

  Piper’s voice, usually a welcome sound to her, grated on raw nerves. If Piper needed her, there was only one reason right now.

  “What can I do for you?” she asked, forcing as cheerful a tone as she could muster.

  “The Remali delegation has asked to meet you.”

  Do they know what I am?

  She did not ask the question but rather stood from the work station and shuffled towards the door, choosing to leave her duty jacket on her seat. Protocol might have demanded that she put it on, but she was covered in grime and cared more about keeping the jacket clean than she did about impressing the General.

  She did wipe her hands off, though.

  The General, Rashar, she had been told, stood waiting for her. In typical Remali ostentatiousness, she wore that damned armor that made them look far more imposing than they actually were. Hell, she suspected that if Rashar hadn’t been wearing that armor, she might have been able to snap the slender blue woman in half with her bare hands. And of course, the Remali’s eyes only narrowed into a hateful slit. The feeling was mutual.

  “General Rashar,” Piper began. “May I present Lieutenant Vivine Melor.”

  “General.”

  Melor extended a hand.

  “TAKE HER!”

  Rashar erupted into a blur of motion as she reached for her sidearm with one hand while pointing at Melor with the other. Instinct took Melor and she dove to the side, slamming her self into Piper and sending them both to the deck behind the cover of supply crates. The Remali fanned out, their entire delegation drawing their weapons as they shook off their escorts. From the other side of the compartment, Alliance security teams moved in, their own weapons drawn in response as the deck erupted in gunfire.

  CHAPTER TEN

  October 17, 2832

  197:05

  Deep Space - Mjöllnir

  SOMEWHERE AMIDST THE chaos in the machine shop someone hit a panic button, triggering the ship’s internal alarm system. Without waiting from the inevitable orders from Operations Command, Aler’s security teams responded, sealing off critical compartments, evacuating the surrounding areas, and closing down excess passage ways while Foster’s response teams scrambled and pushed to the alarms origin.

  They swept through the ship with unmatched efficiency as they consulted the display attached to their gauntlets to find flash points. The Remali appeared to be converging on a central path which would lead them back to the airlock and their transport ship. The fire teams swept back to cut off the Remali retreat and as they approached the edge of the combat zone, they spread out, taking up defensive positions ahead of their advance. The marines did not have to wait long.

  The forward fire team appeared around the corner in full retreat followed closely behind a group of Remali. The retreating marines crossed the defensive perimeter and the reinforced line opened fire, scattering the Remali to cover.

  Both lines dug in, introducing themselves with gunfire, neither side gaining significant advantage. Indistinct orders peppered around the bursts of weapons fire. But then a scream from the Remali lines drew attention. The team leader turned and saw the motion of one of the Remali pushing someone down. If her green skin did not identify her, the four arms bound behind her back, did.

  “Get on the horn,” Foster shouted over the white noise of the combat. “They’ve taken Lieutenant Melor!”

  October 17, 2832

  17:05

  Mjöllnir - OpCom

  CODY AMADO WATCHED the display as the fighting spread throughout his ship. Behind him, he heard the hard clank of the last of the four hatches closed and sealed, effectively cutting off access to OpCom. Similar procedures were in process in all sensitive areas of the ship.

  “Sit-rep. What happened?”

  Cassie shook her head. “We’ve got reports of gunfire in the number two machine shop. We’re also receiving indications that all the Remali have opened fire throughout the ship.”

  Cody winced at that reminder, the Remali had been spread throughout the entirety of the ship. “How many hostiles are we dealing with?”

  Cassie consulted her tablet. “The General’s initial contingent was only five including herself. However, in the past few hours, they’ve brought aboard several inspection teams. Last tally put their numbers at about 150.”

  Cody snarled in frustration. 150 hostiles in an unfamiliar ship with over 10,000 friendlies on board. Why the hell was this taking so long to put down?

  “Sir, report coming in from the field. Colonel Foste
r is reporting the individual Remali teams are consolidating in a coordinated retreat. It appears the main thrust, led by General Rashar is pushing into the airlock access corridor.”

  Cody watched his display as the images updated to reflect the report.

  “Sir!”

  Cody turned back to the officer to hear the report. “Foster also reports that hostiles have captured Lieutenant Melor and are trying to retreat with her.”

  Pieces fell into place. He had forgotten about the animosity between the Remali and the Verasai. Just his luck that the woman who seemed to have stopped one war by her presence on board may have just started a different one for the exact same reason.

  “Captain! The Remali vessels are taking up attack postures.”

  “When it rains...” Amado muttered. “General Quarters! Set condition one throughout the ship. Activate the weapons grid and bring ECM up to full repulsion. Navigator, tactical maneuvering at your discretion. Aler, charge main cannons and generate firing solutions.”

  The sirens and announcements of general quarters spread throughout the ship, and as they concluded the pilot called for the Captain’s attention. “Sir, she’s sluggish on the helm. More so than usual.”

  “Cause?”

  “We’re still moored to the Remali transport ship. It’s dead mass.”

  Amado winced. “Then that’s the first thing we take care of. Begin jamming all non-Alliance transmissions both inside and outside the ship. Contact the flight deck and put the Gryphons into the theater.”

  October 17, 2832

  17:07

  Gryphon Strike 1

  LABONNE’S back pressed into her seat as the EM accelerator took hold of her ship and threw it into space. In her ear, the Captain relayed orders.

  “I understand, sir” she responded. “But doesn’t that risk damage to the Mjöllnir as well?”

  “Can’t be helped, Colonel. We’re a sitting duck right now. The evacuation is already underway and should be complete within a minute or two. That should give you more than enough time to get into position. Show me some of that Hellcat precision.”