by Terry Frost
“What is this word, global?”
“It means all over our planet or planet-wide. May I ask if it would be possible to sit down with you so we can answer each other’s inquiries about the Daakie and the Earthlings?”
Maalik hesitated for a few seconds and turned his head to look at someone off screen and seemed to be listening to whoever it was talking to him. He turned back to face Admiral Allen and asked, “Do you have teleportation technology?”
Stunned at the question, Allen thought for just a moment if they have those capabilities they must be an advanced race.
“Our race has not developed that technology yet. Are you saying you have the ability to teleport?”
“If you would give me the exact coordinates of your location so we can lock in your position, I will be happy to transport you to our ship, but no more than three of you, please.”
“Give me a moment or two, please. Then I will give you the coordinates.”
Allen turned off the screen and pressed his commlink. “Colonel Hammer, this is Allen. Make your way to my Ready Room and step lively, Colonel. Anatoly, you and Commodore Jeeves follow me to my Ready Room as soon as I give the coordinates to the Daakie general.”
Allen turned the screen back on and said, “My second in command, Rear Admiral Petrov, Commodore Jeeves, and Colonel Hammer will be at these coordinates, and I will contact you when they are ready for transport. But prior to transporting my officers, I’ll have to get an analysis of the air on your ship to determine if your air is breathable for Humans.”
“Humans? Is that another word for Earthlings, Admiral.”
“Yes, Burseq Maalik, we call ourselves Earthings when meeting alien races for the first time, but our race, or species, is Human.”
“I understand. There is no need for you to analyze our air, Admiral. We already have, and know the composition of our air is exactly the same as yours. Oxygen 21%, Nitrogen 78% and other miscellaneous gasses 1%.”
The admiral gave the coordinates to the alien general, then signed off. He accompanied his two officers to his Ready Room while they waited on Jak to get there. With about forty-five seconds left before teleporting, Hammer made it to the Ready Room, breathing only slightly elevated.
“Colonel, you and these two are about to be teleported from this location to the Daakie warship. Here is what I want you to find out if you can.”
Jak listened to what the admiral wanted from him and the other two officers, then they stood at their designated location. Just prior to teleportation Jak thought holy hell, I pray all my parts make it to the Daakie ship and back in the same place they were before this .”
Chapter 19
Commander Clive Chalmers, Chief of Security, and his team were busy going about the business of making sure security protocol was being adhered to during the red alert status. Store and caféteria fronts were to be closed down as soon as they were evacuated.
During the red alert, all citizens on Colossus had a multitude of safe ports they could go to in case an abandon ship was ordered. Back on Mars, and several months before the Colossus was to begin her maiden voyage, the USC took charge of training all civilians registered to be on board in the art of making it to safe ports during an abandon ship order. The concept was a sound one, but life and those daily activities associated with it didn’t respond well to non-notification drills.
For sixty days, every citizen on board, including off-duty military personnel would be subject to ‘red alert’ training drills. Three red alert drills were performed during a two week period, and they were all a disaster. At the end of the third drill, one-third of the population didn’t make it to the safe ports where four-person bubble shaped ejection pods were located throughout the ship’s five levels.
The ejection pods were on a rail and lined up back to front, like cars on a roller coaster. Under the supervision of military personnel assigned to each safe port, once a section of pods was full, they would begin the ejection process, which began shooting pods out of airlocks.
Located in the belly of Colossus, and just under its huge hangar bay, was three LRS’s (long range shuttles) to be used for picking up all the ejection pods. Below the flight line in the hangar bay was the LRS bay, where the shuttles would exit the ship.
Once the shuttles left the ship they had to fly into the main hangar bay one at a time and stop on a large circular section of the bay which would spin the shuttle around where it was facing towards the bay’s exterior doors.
Then the circular section would drop down to the shuttle bay and move off the circle so the section could rise back up to the hangar bay level and retrieve the next shuttle and then eventually the third one. The shuttle bay wasn’t configured so the shuttles could fly back into the bay because there wasn’t enough room in the bay for taking off and landing.
Recovery of the shuttles was sufficient if all three were to be recovered, but did take more time than Command liked. Even with the three large shuttles, there wasn’t enough room for all 2400 souls on board. Because of available space, there wasn’t room for enough escape vehicles. The USC knew the total count of those without a way to abandon ship would tally a few over a hundred, information that was kept from all on board with the exception of Admiral Allen.
There were many heated exchanges between Allen and the USC about the shortage of escape vehicles, but he lost the argument when the vote came back nine to one for proceeding with the construction of the massive ship.
Allen’s last thought when he left the meeting for the final time was fucking USC and their damn what you don’t know can’t hurt you philosophy. Bet it would be a different philosophy if their asses were going to be on the ship.
Commander Chalmers was forty-four years old with blazing green eyes, and a head he kept close shaved. He was born in a southern town fifty miles from London, England. A well respected ex-British Commando overseeing the daunting task of security on a spaceship from port to bow that was over a thousand feet long and five stories tall.
Clive was built like a tank, and though a short man, he was mostly muscle. He and his team of forty men, all with some kind of military training, had just finished checking almost a third of the common areas throughout Colossus during the abandon ship training when his comlink chirped.
“Commander Chalmers.”
“Clive, this is Jak,” he said while running. “We have made contact with the Daakie and I am about to go over to their commander’s ship for a little meet and greet. General Dubois wants you to cancel the abandon exercise and have your men go to their battle stations and hold for orders. The old man wants you to meet him in ‘weapons’ immediately.”
“Bloody hell, Jak. I thought we would be out here for a couple thousand years before we ran into any kind of intelligent life. Could be as crowded out here as back home at the Boar’s Head, my favorite pub, on a Saturday night.”
“You could be right about that, Chalms, now beat feet to weapons, old boy. The General wanted you there like yesterday.”
“Yes sir, Colonel. Make sure you stay on your toes while on their ship. Chalmers, out.”
Admiral Allen felt the hair on his neck and arms stand up and then heard a buzzing sound and then three of his command staff disappeared into thin air. With an astonished look on his face, he thought holy hell, teleportation isn’t a myth any longer.
Anatoly, Jak, and Jeeves appeared in front of four alien Daakie all dressed in their version of the military dress. Three of the four Daakie were wearing muted gray, and silver striped uniforms. The other alien was wearing a black and silver high-collared uniform with three diamonds mounted into a channel sewn into his uniform’s blouse (compliments of the Nawi gemstone cutters no doubt).
The three Earthlings stood still with their arms at their sides, as Anatoly and Jak were trying hard to shake a nauseous reaction to the teleportation. Jeeves did not feel any different than he normally did.
The Daakie commander spoke.
“Welcome. You are on board
the Zurgut, Battlestar of the Daakie space forces. I am Burseq Maalik, Commander of the Zurgut.”
“I am Rear Admiral Petrov.” With his arm only slightly bent and moving to the left Anatoly said, “This is Colonel Hammer and Commodore Jeeves. We are honored to meet you, Burseq Maalik.”
The three men bowed their heads only slightly as a sign of respect and part of USC protocol when first meeting with a new alien race.
“The honor is mine, Rear Admiral. Please come with me so I can learn about Humans, and what it is you seek while traveling through the Burus System.”
The Daakie warship’s command area was bathed in a light blue color emanating from its interior lighting. As they followed the alien general, Jak was making mental notes of the ship’s design and a quick count of Daakie in the command area.
Maalik walked them to a room with double doors that slid back into the wall on both sides of the room. Upon entering the spacious room the first thing the three Humans saw was a large round table. It was a handsome table with many coats of a clear covering that made it shine brilliantly.
The Daakie general motioned to his guests to take a seat at the table. The two Daakie warriors that accompanied their general, stood behind Burseq Maalik with their arms folded across their chests.
In front of the general was some type of functioning control center which Jeeves concluded would probably allow the general to access any area of the ingeniously designed Battlestar.
When all were seated, Maalik asked the first question on his mind since meeting the Humans.
“The first question I have for you, Rear Admiral, is how is it that your Admiral Allen knew who I was?”
“We have been traveling through the universe for many years without running into any intelligent life until we came upon the planet Yopa. There we had the honor of being introduced to the Nawi and their Supreme Emporer Nulashin.”
“Ah, yes, the Nawi. And how is my friend Emperor Nulashin doing these days, for I have not seen him for at least one whole period?”
“The emperor is in good health, and asked our admiral to extended his good wishes to you if we did, in fact, find your world.”
Maalik switched his gaze to Jak and after giving him a good once over asked, “Colonel Hammer, is it?”
“Yes, sir. I am Colonel Jak Hammer.”
“Colonel sounds to me to be a title given to a military person. Am I correct to assume you are a member of your Human military forces? You look like a soldier.”
“You would be correct, Burseq.”
“Then I would like to ask you, why is it that when we first approached your ship you didn’t charge your weapons? Wouldn’t that have left you with a tactical disadvantage.”
“Yes, it would have, sir. But we are a peaceful people and didn’t think it prudent for the first time we met the Daakie to show any kind of aggressive intentions. Our shields were activated with hopes we wouldn’t need to go weapons hot.”
“I understand why you might have made that decision and I commend you for it, but there are many aliens in this arm of the galaxy that would not have been so thoughtful as you Humans.”
Maalik looked at Jeeves next and asked, “You do not look like your Human friends, Commodore Jeeves. Are you Human also?”
“No, Burseq Maalik, I am Commodore Jeeves, Science Officer of the Colossus. I am not Human. Some define me as an android or cyborg, but I prefer to be called a Humanoid.”
“I do not mean to be callous, but are you saying you were engineered instead of being born?”
“No sir, you are not being callous, and your inquiry doesn’t bother me at all, and yes, I was engineered.”
“Very interesting. Daakie pride ourselves on our ability to engineer many great things, but engineering an intelligent being such as yourself is quite amazing. Maybe at some point, we can discuss the technology needed to engineer our own brand of Android.
“What is this, Colossus?”
“Colossus is the name of our ship, Burseq Maalik.”
“Please call me Maalik. We can reserve my military designation whenever we are in a military forum. I have a lot I want to know about you Humans, but for now, I have decided that we should be friends, and in the world of Daakie, we do not use military designations while addressing friends.”
“You Humans have been most forthcoming in answering my question,s and I do have much more to ask, but I must not take advantage of your willingness to answer my inquiries without giving you the opportunity to ask what questions you might have for this Daakie commander.”
Chapter 20
“You said there are a lot of aliens that are not so friendly that live in this arm of the galaxy. Can you tell us how many that is?” Petrov asked.
“My age is over 150 periods, and in my time I have come to know of seven worlds that aliens call home. But there is one more that Daakie has met many times, that I do not know where their homeworld is located, and those aliens are vicious killers known to us, and much more, as the Hive.
“Only our King Gaagin knows the history of the Hive. He has seen 346 periods and is the only one with total knowledge of the Hive. Maybe when I report to our gracious King that we have met you, considerate Humans, he will ask to meet your Admiral Allen, and then he can inquire about the Hive.”
“If you would be so kind to arrange that meeting, I know Admiral Allen would be honored to meet your gracious King Gaagin. Am I pronouncing his name correctly?”
“To say Gaagin is correct. To say Ga-agin, would be incorrect.”
“So pronouncing your name as Maalik is also correct?”
“That is correct, Petrov.”
“If I may, Jak said, “Supreme Emporer Nulashin had told our admiral that your military saved the Nawi from a Hive attack. After meeting the Nawi I couldn’t think of a single reason why the Hive would want to harm a peaceful alien race such as the Nawi.”
“Do Humans have insects on the world called Earth?”
Jeeves decided to answer the general’s question.
“Earth has some 900 thousand different kinds of living insects that are known, but some estimates say there may be as many as two million different species on our planet. The largest numbers of described species fall into four insect Orders: Coleoptera (beetles), Diptera (flies), Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps), and Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies).”
“Thank you for that detailed answer, Commodore Jeeves, but just telling Maalik that we do have insects would have answered his question,” Jak said.
“No, I appreciate details, Hammer. But the reason I asked, is that the Hive are insectoids. I believe their proper distinction would be very similar to what you call ants. King Gaagin has taught us in the military to engage them at every turn because he has learned they aren’t interested in any kind of dialogue. Their aim is to prey on any and every alien race they locate in this section of the galaxy. To them, the Nawi, Humans and Daakie are a food source for their hordes.”
“Insectoids or not, they are obviously an intelligent alien species with their ability to build and pilot spacecraft. You said no one has found their homeworld, but I wonder if they have satellite bases throughout this part of the galaxy arm?” Petrov asked.
“I’m somewhat convinced they don’t have any bases in the Burus System, but then again, we haven’t scouted all the moons and worlds in the Burus System, for it is quite large. I assume the population on board the Colossus has been finding out.”
Jak saw that Maalik was thinking about something, as he seemed to be disengaged for a couple of seconds, then the Daakie commander spoke again.
“Where are my manners. I have not asked if any of you would like something to drink. We must toast to a good relationship between the Daakie and Humans.”
Maalik pushed a button on the control panel on the table and said, “Junal, would you please bring four chalices of Pombal to Visitation?”
The three Humans didn’t really require anything to drink, but Maalik hadn’t given them time to refuse
the offer.
The first thing that came to Jak’s mind was I sure hope the Pombal tastes better than Hopus’s Yuklin. But wait a minute, I remember him saying Yuklin was a gift from the Daakie. Maybe the Daakie are a bunch of alcoholics.
After about a minute, the double doors slid open, and the next thing Jak saw was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on, carrying a tray with four silver chalices. As she sat a chalice in front of the four sitting at the table, Jak couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Junal was obviously not a Daakie. She was about 5’10”, long blonde hair with shimmering gold streaks running through it, and large breasts that seemed as if they were going to burst from her blouse. Her eyes were emerald green, with gold specks in the whites of her eyes. Her skin was lightly tanned and covered with the same gold specks as in her eyes.
Maalik took notice of his visitor's astonished looks while staring at Junal. After she had placed all the drinks in front of the four men sitting at the table, she turned, nodded at Maalik, then left the room.
“Well, I see you men enjoy the beauty as much as I. You might be interested to know that Junal is a Venic, and her homeworld is called Obon. Many periods ago her people came to our world asking for immediate assistance. The Hive had located them and was slowly eliminating them from their homeworld.
“I have not personally seen this, but our attack squadrons that were sent by King Gaagin said they witnessed the Hive loading up hundreds of Obon citizens on their ships without killing them. Soon after loading the Venic they would jump to hyperspace. None of those loaded on their massive ship has been seen since. Our fear is that they were taken to one of their bases and were eventually fed upon.”
Jak thought why would anything want to eat something as breathtakingly beautiful as Junal. Well, come to think of it I might eat her too.