Alutia Rising

by Craig Gerttula

  "This one's alive, he's using his BC node..." a barely audible whisper came from one of the medics. The words seemed important, Sasha tried to grasp why.

  "Energy Shields Up! Bring the Fleet to Battle Stations! Turn Knight High-Admiral Baric's battle groups into hostiles and engage, repeat..." Knight Admiral Bhool put her hand to the combat PDU she was wearing on her ear, opening a communication channel to the bridge. Sasha was amazed at what she just heard. She knew it was necessary, but why did Knight Admiral Bhool suddenly decide on her own? The answer dawned on her as the starship shook and battle stations alarm blared. The man the medics mentioned, the one who was using his BC node, must have been sending a message to Knight Admiral Gregorio, the man now in charge of Baric's two battle groups, informing him of what had transpired. More alarms blared as the starship shook again.

  "We need to get to the bridge!" Knight Captain Quinn shouted, louder then what was needed to get his point across. The three commanders started rushing towards the door.

  "I am coming!" she said it more to herself then to the commanders and fell in line behind them. As she reached the door, a hand slid under her arm, pulling her back slightly. Trent was on his feet, red and sweating, standing at her side.

  "You can't leave me behind..." he wheezed, pain noticeable in his bloodshot eyes. Sasha was about to scream at him, tell him to go back to the apartments and sleep, but Daiyu came up on his other side, supporting him.

  "I'll help too." Sasha looked at the woman and sighed, knowing now she had no choice. They pulled Trent along, after the Admirals that had vanished down the wide corridor, bustling with trained men and women hurrying to their battle stations. Trent's noticeable wincing and heavy breathing made her want to smack him as she remembered his promise, which he seemed to have forgotten yet again.

  "It'll just be another week in bed, so I don't think this can be considered self-sacrifice." A weak smile covered Trent's lips, masking some of the pain. Sasha sighed again...could he read her mind now? They turned a corner and entered a main hall that was packed with crewman running to their stations.

  The ABF Alutia was a super-capital that stood 40 kilometers long, a forth as much wide and tall, with a crew of 20,000. So transport tubes could be easily found in any of the starships main corridors. But this was the first time Sasha had witnessed an emergency. The crewmen flowed towards the tubes in a giant mass, never stopping, just flowing. As they reached the mob, Trent pulled Sasha in front of him, enclosing his arms around her. The sudden strength he showed surprised her as they joined the crowd and the three of them squeezed into a two man tube. Trent let his weight fall on her and Daiyu as the door to the tube closed and it began racing to the bridge.

  "Your Grace. Excuse me if this question is rude, but is there something going on between you and Sir Trent?" The question Sasha knew would eventually come, but hoped to put off till after this entire affair, was asked by Vice Commander Daiyu.

  "I would appreciate your discretion...but yes, we are currently courting." Sasha saw what she thought was momentary sadness flash over the woman's face, then quickly vanished as she nodded. Trent had saved her life and Sasha wondered if that had caused feelings for him to start to appear in Daiyu's heart. She knew something similar had occurred when Trent dragged her around Earth Base, protecting her as they ran from Sir Simwa's men. The memory caused her to flush and she tried to look away from the Vice Commander, while pulling her now noticeably compressed bosom away from Trent. Terra gazed up at her, squeaking his disapproval as he was forced out of her bosom by her movements. But she ignored him, trying to rearrange her rising dress when she felt something press up against her thigh.

  "Sasha, this medicine has a few side effects..." Trent's whisper trailed off and Sasha blushed in embarrassment as she realized what it was. She tried to remove herself further, but ended up rubbing up against him even more.

  The transport tube stopped and she almost fell onto the command deck that overlooked the starships bridge. Trent moved out with her, turning to the side and placing his hands on her shoulder as he bent forward. The starship shook again as Daiyu exited behind them, looking at her, then Trent, nodding crisply before running to an empty command station next to Knight Captain Quinn.

  At first glance the image being displayed on the giant CID on the command deck looked normal. A small blue planet surrounded by tiny dots in a perfect formation. But at closer inspection, enemy red dots with name tags and status updates intermingled with the ally blue dots, which were vanishing much faster than the red. Knight Admiral Bhool floated 15 meters above the large three-dimensional image, shouting orders and watching the battle unfold. Trent slid an arm around Sasha as the starship shook violently, pulling her towards two seats at the end of the CID without PDU stations. Trent must have assumed they were for non-combat guests, and he was right. They sat, the seats locking them into place, then grasped hands while watching the Battle for Earth unfold.

  Chapter 23

  It was mayhem. Confused...unabashed...mayhem, and Daniel knew who was responsible. Only one man could be to blame for these crazy events that kept occurring, one after the other, and the absolute lunacy of what was now taking place screamed of the Hobo Earthling...unless he died in the destruction of TSB Earth Base...of course. But Daniel knew he wasn't that lucky.

  He was roused from a deep sleep, recovering from his nightmarish ground duty, when the battle stations alarm sounded. After fighting his way through the mass of confused crewmen, he arrived at the bridge, finding that half the Alutia Battle Fleet was shooting at the other, and vice versa. It was illogical and Daniel knew the only person who could cause such an illogical thing to happen...Trent.

  His tactical display was covered in blue, so Daniel had nothing to do but seethe in his anger...let it grow no matter how ridiculous he knew it may be. Then, as if reading his thoughts, half the starships turned red.

  "Tactical! Fire at will! Super-capitals and capitals are priority! Keep an eye out for planet killers! They're large and slow, but have thick energy shields!" The words took a few moments to sink in as Daniel reluctantly targeted the dreadnaught that was beside them and the TSB Reverie, which they were escorting. Why would they need to watch out for planet killers? The question answered itself and Daniel's mind froze, then ticked, fully understanding what must have taken place.

  Someone wanted to destroy Earth and somebody didn't. The thought made him cringe. How could anyone consider destroying a planet of 25 billion? But then it occurred to him...he really didn't care and if Earth was destroyed, then no more TSB. He would be able to choose his own destiny...taking care of Trent in the process.

  "Fire plasma cannon!" Captain Anysi's shout brought him back to the battle and he hit the fire icon. He would have time to think on that later. For now...he needed to survive.

  *********

  Trent studied the scene unfolding around him in utter fascination. Directly in front of him and Sasha was a 20 meter long device with hundreds of small semicircles, which Trent recognized as PDUs, lined across its surface. Above the device was a detailed projection of Earth surrounded by hundreds of smaller starships, colored red or blue, appearing like dots, with clear names and numbers underneath, which he assumed must have something to do with the starships they represented.

  Two of the blue dots vanished as he watched, along with another red as Knight Admiral Bhool hovered far over their heads. It appeared she was in some sort of hover chair that could move around the giant three-dimensional display at precariously high-speeds, making Trent dizzy as he watched. She'd scream into a small circular device on her ear that projected another display centimeters in front her eyes. He leaned over to Sasha who was grasping his hand tightly and wincing every time a starship vanished.

  "What's that device on Knight Admiral Bhool's ear?" Sasha followed his gaze up to the floating ABF Admiral.

  "That is a combat PDU, similar to what Sir Simwa's men wore on Earth. They allow for audio communications and the same functionalit
ies of the standard particle display unit." Trent nodded his understanding, squeezing her hand and forcing a smiling of thanks. Her words, though calm, echoed her sadness and Trent had a feeling it wasn't completely born of the death occurring all around them, but what had happened less than 10 minutes before.

  The memory was still fresh and it suddenly flashed before his eyes. He was prepared to defend Sasha with his life, but he didn't expect himself to react the way he did when Sir Baric pointed the laser arc at her...at his love. Something in his mind had told him that if he didn't act immediately, Sasha would die...so he didn't think...just acted. Pain and nausea suddenly arose from his stomach as the hazy sight of Sir Baric's headless body fell motionless to the floor, a cloud of blood the only reminder of the man's previous location. He'd killed a man...and it frightened him. A tear came unbidden to his eye, a tear that represented the part of himself that would be changed forever by that gruesome deed. He thought he might regret it, regret killing Sir Baric. But he didn't, not after he pointed the laser arc at Sasha. If the same situation occurred a hundred times, he'd take a hundred lives, and he knew it...and it scared him.

  A gentle hand wiped the single tear from his cheek. Trent turned to Sasha, expecting to see her angry that he was dwelling on the past, even though the past was barely 10 minutes old. But there was a different look in her eyes, on her face...not one of consternation, but one of love and acceptance. Another tear broke free as he locked the rest away in his heart. She would not hate him for what he had done, which he found he feared most...she knew it was necessary as well.

  "I don't think I will allow anyone to bring laser arcs into your presence anymore..." The words caused Sasha to tilt her head slightly and lean close, a weak smile showing through the tension on her face as she wiped away his final tear.

  "What you think is best, my duke, my protector..." Her voice was a whisper and she kissed him lightly on the cheek as she pulled back to gaze again at the giant display. Trent's smile was shaken off as the starship rocked violently, a purple beam appearing from a large red dot, Trent almost able to make out its rectangular shape, and crashing into a similarly large blue dot....with the name ABF Alutia.

  "The ESS is holding!" A loud voice boomed over the fleet command deck, originating from one of the stations that ran parallel to the giant display. Twenty seats with differing image projections were lined on each side of the CID, all with their own PDU. Trent didn't recognize the officers sitting in the seats, but they seemed to be in constant conversation, giving orders and entering information.

  On the right side of the CID sat Knight Captain Quinn and Vice Commander Daiyu, along with three others in the blue and white uniforms of the TSB. Trent noticed that a smaller, zoomed in version of the larger image shown on the CID, filled Knight Captain Quinn's display, and instead of dots, actual representations of starships were visible. Trent found it odd that they all seemed to be identical, despite their sizes. Each had the same long rectangular shape with what looked like spikes sticking out all over the ship, with a cloudy haze in-between the end of the spikes and the starship's grayish-silver hull. At the rear, were round, tightly packed tubes that emanated a strange blue light, which Trent figured were the engines. Running along each edge, smaller tubes, similar to the ones on the rear, were placed every few meters, occasionally rotating to differing angles and showing the same blue glow. The front was tapered at the top and larger, thick spikes, with arrow points, were circled around a protruding cone in the center.

  Almost as one, the starships on the Knight Captain's display fired thick, swirling purple beams and thin green beams, born from the end of some of the spikes, at a much larger starship. The green beams faded substantially as they struck the haze in-between the hull and spikes, with the beams being redirected away from the hull and completely vanishing after a few meters. Then, the purple swirling beams hit and the haze was pushed in, coalescing and appearing to turn solid, straining to dissipate the huge beam, when a small flash occurred as one broke through, shooting straight through the hull and continuing out the other side. The rest of the haze vanished as a few more of the purple beams broke through the hull. Small explosions erupted over its surface as the green beams continued to relentlessly pummel the now unprotected starship, air and debris escaping into space. Some of the holes appeared to close, but new ones formed just as fast, until the behemoth couldn't take anymore and broke apart, exploding into pieces with a bright flash that Trent knew was dimmed by the display. For a second, he thought he could see a pure white star, but it was quickly drowned out by an utter darkness that drew in all light as the ship appeared to implode, causing the galaxy to ripple. Sasha pulled him close, wrapping her arms around his, watching the same scene with amazed eyes, gasping at the sight.

  "That was a super-capital...the neutron star drive was pierced...the singularity containment field must have activated... 20,000 people just died..." Her words of despair trailed off and Trent decided to redirect her thinking before she started blaming herself.

  "What do you mean by singularity containment?" Sasha shook her head, as if clearing her thoughts from the edge of the abyss.

  "I am not really sure about the science, but a neutron star drive is just as it sounds. An actual neutron star is contained and harnessed for energy, which is only made possible through the use of black hole physics." Trent nodded, recalling his curious queries on TSB Earth Base returning something similar. But that wasn't important. He had successfully diverted her attention from the death around them...at least for a moment.

  "The singularities are also a safety feature. If the drive becomes unstable, they absorb the neutron star before collapsing themselves, which has the ugly side effect of usually taking the starship, crew, and anything within a few kilometers along with it." she frowned again and Trent squeezed her arm as new alarms sounded and five flashing bright red icons appeared from the remaining larger red outlined, starships. Sasha put her hand to her mouth, unable to suppress her gasp.

  "No..." she whispered as all colored drained from her face. Screaming voices started echoing across the bridge.

  "All starships! Destroy the planet killers! I repeat all starships destroy the planet killers!" The screeching words caused the color to drain from his face as well. He stared in astonishment as these five icons...icons of death...that approached the planet of his birth, Earth. The small blue dots started vectoring towards the planet killers when one suddenly vanished, causing a small cheer to roll across the fleet command deck and bridge.

  The remaining four started to undulate while they slowly accelerated. Trent watched in horror as a smaller blue dot raced directly at one the planet killers, vanishing as it intersected the dot...using their ship as a missile. Another cheer broke across the bridge and fleet command deck, while a few men and women had noticeable tears in their eyes at the sacrifice they just witnessed.

  A third planet killer seemed to laugh at the petty attempts to stop it, lurching side-to-side and spinning randomly, causing the weapons to always strike where the planet killer had just been...and the few that hit, brushed off with a laugh. A larger blue dot was closing in on the path of the missile, and to Trent's surprise, both Knight Captain Quinn and Vice Commander Daiyu stood, saluting, tears in their eyes. Trent looked closer at the big blue dot that now stood directly in the path of the planet killer...the TSB Reverie.

  The planet killer attempted to change direction at the last moment, but the TSB Reverie was too big, and as the planet killer struck the starship, two icons vanished and tears started streaming down the large, bearded man's face.

  The fourth planet killer weaved between the frigates that rushed into its path, shedding off fire like it didn't exist. But right as it was about to break through the atmosphere, five TSB starships, apparently cruisers and corvettes, pulled into its path, before suddenly vanishing. The planet killer seemed to be unscathed as it changed direction, attempting to dodge Earth's last hope. But to Trent's relief, and astonishment, it vanished a
s well.

  "They purposely collapsed their neutron star drives...such horror..." Sasha's tears flowed freely down her sobbing face as she spoke. Trent held back his own... he would honor these men and women who so bravely sacrificed their lives for others, and cry for them later. The cheers on the bridge suddenly turned to screams of horror as everyone's eyes turned to the last planet killer, which suddenly vanished from the CID as it broke through Earth's atmosphere, multiple small frigates diving in pursuit...but it was all in vain.

  "All starships, retreat! I repeat all starships, retreat!" The shout struck his ears and time slowed as Trent watched, with unbelieving eyes, as the image of the earth seemed to ripple towards the spot the planet killer had struck. The ripple turned into a wave as a black spot formed in the location of the Pacific Ocean, sucking the light out of the surrounding blue water. The spot grew larger as chunks of the Earth ripped free and vanished into the growing darkness, the ocean draining. With rising horror he watched, unable to turn away, as the west coast of North America sank, then vanished. The east coast of Asia followed, ripping free, rolling through the now empty ocean.

  Then, in almost an instant, the rest of the planet curled into the massive spot of infinite night, causing the ABF Alutia to shake as it too started to get pulled in, desperately trying to escape the death grasp of the planet killer. Trent continued watching, his eyes glued to the horrific sight, as the last piece of Earth vanished into the black void that had begun collapsing in on itself. Within seconds, it was over. The Earth was gone...his past...his people...and the only home he'd ever known...gone forever.

  In the utter disbelief at the sight before him, his mind tore apart...it wasn't true, it couldn't be true. He felt something inside him trying to break loose, something telling him to scream...to stand and shout...to yell at this farce, at this....at this...sick and cruel joke. Why would they show him this...this fantasy ...did they hate him so? There was no way the Earth was destroyed. He looked at Sasha, ready to scream, ready to shout, to shake her...asking her why they were torturing him...why they were doing this.