The Fifth Reich: Beyond The Stars

by J Palliser

  "We're crippled, ma'am," Sonya reported as O'Slo hobbled across the room to her. "I gathered that, Lieutenant," she said. As a medic approached her, she swatted him away. "The hell are you doing? The Captain is wounded!" she barked at him, pointing towards a door behind her. "I assume you took command?"

  "Aye, ma'am. A couple of Wraiths attacked and disabled us. We tried to escape, but they were too fast. We're only alive because a Centauri battlecruiser happened by."

  "Centauri don't 'happen by'," O'slo scoffed. "The Centauri Commander said they were sent to hunt down the Wraiths. Apparently the Centauri take a dim view of piracy."

  "And the Wraiths?" O'Slo asked as one of the medics began to examine her, but she waved him off. "The Centauri blew the fuck out of 'em, ma'am," Sonya said, looking over Oslo's shoulder as members of the Damage Control team began to set up lights in the room. She could see shapes and shadows, but couldn't make out much in the darkness. "I was in the Armory when we were attacked. When we couldn't contact the Bridge, I took command."

  "Well done Lieutenant. I'll take over from here though, if you don't mind. Casualties?" "Not sure yet, ma'am," Sonya replied, looking away shamefully. "Current count is 57 dead, 70 wounded, and more than 200 still missing. Internal sensors, communications, and transporters are still down." O'Slo just nodded, and moved towards the Maintenance Tube before Sonya stopped her. "Ma'am, what happened up here?"

  "Commander Saul and the Helmsmen were killed in the opening volley, and we lost power. Kurtz is unconscious, but everyone else is okay. They took shelter in the ready room."

  Sonya was dumbfounded. "How?" she mumbled back, almost in disbelief.

  "Lieutenant," O'Slo whispered, putting a hand on Sonya's shoulder, "look up."

  Sonya's head tilted back to look at the ceiling, but all she saw were stars. "Holy fuck," she mumbled. "No kidding," O'Slo sighed as one of the medics ushered her towards the maintenance tube. "I'm going to the Battle Bridge. You're acting Chief of Security, Lieutenant." "Aye, ma'am," Sonya responded dumbly as O'Slo disappeared through the access hatch. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Casana scanning the bulkheads with her scanner, a concerned look on her face, but she paid it no attention.

  ***

  Deck 5, 1400 hours "Very well. I will inform Ms. Alvarez that you are authorized to access the life support systems on this deck," Dejah said, nodding to the Centauri engineer she was talking to.

  "Thank you, Lieutenant," he said, and moved past her down the corridor. As he disappeared into an access hatch, Sonya emerged from around a corner, escorting the Centauri Commander.

  "Dejah, can I speak to you for a moment?"

  "Of course, Lieutenant," she replied. "What can I do for you?"

  "The Commander wanted to speak with you, if you have a moment." Dejah arched an eye. "Can you?"

  "Diplomatic protocol does not become you, Lieutenant," Dejah observed.

  "Yeah, I know," Sonya sighed. "Well, can you spare a moment?"

  "Very well," she relented, turning to their guest. "I am Commander Alara of the Centauri Empire," the Centauri announced with a considerable hint of superiority. "I command the CDF Imperious."

  "Yes, I was aware of that," Dejah said impatiently, looking down at her smart-pad. "I see," Alara frowned. "Very well, I will get to the point. We have been ordered back to Centauri space. Evidently, our presence here is making the Reich Ministry... nervous. In the interest of peace, the Senate has given us 24 hours before we must depart."

  "In what way does this concern us?" Dejah said. As she looked up from her pad, she noticed a bit of dirty-blonde hair duck around the corner behind Sonya and Alara.

  "This concerns you because the repairs to your ship will not be even close to complete by then," Alara sneered. "Very astute," Dejah replied, glancing back down the corridor. Behind her, a long stretch of the corridor had been blown away. While the structural supports remained intact, the majority of the hull in a 50 meter wide cylinder had been completely destroyed, leaving a gaping hole in the saucer section. What remained was twisted metal, and all that protected them from the vacuum of space was an emergency containment field.

  "What I mean is, you will not be ready to safely travel to the nearest repair facility within that time period," Alara said angrily. Behind her, a glint of light caught Dejah's eye. Her keen eyes spotted a small hand mirror, stuck around the corner just far enough to allow someone to peek around. "If repairs are to be completed in that time frame, we need to be allowed more access to your ship."

  "Very well," Dejah relented. "You will be allowed access to backup EPS relays and the Life Support systems."

  "I am not sure that will be enough."

  "It will have to be. Now, if you will excuse me, I have work to do," Dejah said.

  "Hey, Dejah, is she still following us?" Sonya whispered, leaning in towards Dejah.

  "Lieutenant Shen?"

  "Yeah."

  Dejah looked over Sonya's shoulder and again saw Casana duck her head back around the corner. "Yes."

  "Is it just me, or is she getting crazier?" "I have noticed that her... quirks have become more prominent in the last few weeks."

  "O'Slo to Mueller," blared the Delkan's voice over the comm. Sonya went to the nearest panel, keeping an eye on Alara.

  "Mueller here." " Lieutenant, report to the Battle Bridge. It's about the captain." Her voice was shaking, and Sonya knew immediately what had happened.

  They'd lost him.

  31

  Thirty

  The remains of Deck 7, Officer's Quarters, 1800 hours The room was trashed. An EPS conduit in the floor had ruptured during the attack, and vented electro-plasma into the room for a split second before emergency force fields came up. In that split second, the superheated plasma burned through the floor and vented up into the room, where it started several small fires. The computer had responded by venting the compartments atmosphere and sealing the plasma leak. Though the whole process had completed in less than a second, it was long enough to leave a mark on the room.

  The carpeting was mostly gone, melted away as the plasma spread over the floor, leaving singed and warped metal as the flooring. A large, circular hole was burned out of the floor, and above it the plasma had done enough damage to cause part of the roof to collapse, including a large support girder that had crushed the bed. All of the standard lights had blown out, and the room was lit by emergency lighting alone. An ODN conduit had ruptured in one of the walls, and now the severed cable sparked on the floor.

  The sight of it overwhelmed Sonya as she looked in through the doorway. She leaned back and looked down the hall. About 10 meters away, the corridor had been torn away as part of the gaping hull in the saucer section. She mutely turned back to her quarters and stepped inside, completely expressionless. The door tried to close behind her, but jammed half open, leaving a sliver of light in the mostly dark room.

  As she walked, something cracked under her feet. Sonya stepped back and bent over to examine it. It was a smartpad, whose cracked screen still showed the text of the last message received:

  TO: Sonya Mueller, Lieutenant

  FROM: Karl Kurtz, Captain, KMS Bismarck

  SUBJ: Commendation and Recommendation of Promotion As she looked at the words of the screen, Sonya's blood boiled. Her fingers squeezed around the broken device until the knuckles turned white. She stood and hurled it across the room with all her strength. The damaged metal case broke against the wall, but Sonya had already turned away by the time it hit.

  She entered the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror, her rage continuing to build. Gripping the sink, she fought hopelessly to maintain control. Finally, she exploded. She released the sink and struck mirror with all of her considerable power. As her fist made contact, she bellowed a deep, vicious scream, full of rage and hatred, her body quivering with unbridled fury. The mirror shattered and pain shot through her hand and wrist with a sickening crunch. Sonya ignored it, and turned her attention to the sonic shower.
Her fist lashed out again against the transparent aluminum, but failed the damage it.

  Sonya screamed again and slammed her foot into the clear metal. Twice more she struck the door of the shower, unable to damage it. Finally, throwing all of her weight and rage into the blow, she kicked out again and the door gave way. The hinges failed, and the door was hurled back against the opposite wall of the shower.

  Sonya stood panting, her burning blood coursing through her veins, and stared silently at door. In an instant, anger turned to pain, and the searing agony from her hand washed over her. It came in waves, each stronger than the next, and her knees gave way. Sonya collapsed, and slid back against the wall, clutching her wrist. The pain overwhelmed her, making her lightheaded and nauseous as she sat against the wall. Tears began to flow from her eyes and she slumped over, lying on the floor as she cried and pleaded with the universe.

  This was how, a few minutes later, Kara found her. At first, she could barely hear the sobbing as she stuck her head through the door. "Sonya?" she called into the darkness, but heard only whimpering in response. She forced the door open and stepped into the shadows, shocked by the destruction. Kara followed the sound carefully through the dark, giving her eyes time to adjust.

  "You in there, love?" she called, but again heard no response. She slowly made her way into the bathroom, and recoiled in horror when she saw Sonya. "Baby? Are you hurt?" she cried and rushed to Sonya's side. Kara tried to pull Sonya into her arms, but as soon as they touched Sonya became hysterical.

  "No!" she wailed, and shuffled away from Kara into a corner.

  "Love, sweetie, what happened?" Kara begged, tears welling up in her eyes. "Please, no!" Sonya continued, ignoring her. "Please, I'm sorry! I was wrong, I'm sorry, please, I take it back!" she screamed, clawing at her face with her working hand. Kara panicked and lunged at her, grasping both wrists. As soon as she took hold of Sonya's right wrist, she felt and heard the sick scraping of broken bone sliding together, and Sonya shrieked in agony.

  "Oh, God, I'm sorry," Kara cried. Sonya did respond, but buried her face in Kara's neck, screaming into the dark. "I killed him! God, I killed him! I'm so sorry, please!" she howled, curling up in Kara's arms and weeping.

  "What? Who?" Kara asked, still confused. "The Captain!" Sonya whimpered, her strength beginning to fail again. "I diverted the repairs! I gave the order! I left them to die!"

  "Shh," Kara cried softly, trying to comfort her. "It's not your fault, baby." "I gave the order," Sonya whispered. "I take it back. I take it back..." Her voice trailed off as Kara slowly rocked her back and forth, trying to get her to calm down.

  "You saved us, love. You saved us all," she whispered. "You saved me."

  ***

  Deck 4, Turbo-lift, 2350 hours Becker stared suspiciously at Alara as they waited for the turbo-lift. He knew full well what would have happened if the Centauri hadn't arrived when they did, but that didn't mean he trusted them. But what was more concerning was Casana, who happened to be working on the life support systems a few meters away. He kept one eye on each of them, Casana glaring at Alara and Alara looking the other way. Finally, the turbo-lift doors opened.

  "Ma'am," Becker said, gesturing for Alara to enter the turbo-lift. Without turning to look at Casana, she walked confidently through the door. As he turned to follow her, though, he was pushed aside.

  "Sorry Jacob. Catch the next one," Casana said as she slipped by him into the turbo-lift. Becker moved to follow her, but the door shut in his face.

  Before she could turn around, Casana slammed into Alara's back, hurling her against the wall. The Arcadian immediately grabbed Alara by the shoulder and pulled. Casana stuck her hip and leg behind and below Alara's as she pulled, dragging the Centauri off her feet. As her target fell backwards, Casana slipped the sidearm from its holster.

  "What are..." Alara began to say, but stopped when she looked up to see the barrel of her own pulse pistol pointed at her face.

  "I thought there was a Centauri saying: never turn your back on a Arcadian?" Casana said calmly as she entered a series of commands into the turbo-lift panel. They dropped half a deck and stopped. "Or is it a Bren? I can never remember."

  "What is the meaning of this?" Alara said through gritted teeth. "You know, the turbo-lifts on this ship tend to be very dramatic places," Casana said, ignoring her. "If something important is going to happen, there's a good chance it will happen in a turbo-lift."

  "I said-"

  "I heard you," Casana barked. "I know what you did."

  "What are you talking about?" "We have our own saying, you see. Beware of the Centauri bearing gifts," Casana explained, her eyes narrowing. "You see, I've been busy. When we were attacked, it was without warning, which means the Wraiths were cloaked. Which isn't surprising, considering the fact that they're Wraiths. They could easily buy a few cloaking devices from one of the lesser Drac houses, especially if they promised to use it against Kriegsmarine.

  "They also could have bought some old Predators. Lord knows there are enough of them in Drac scrap yards, and the Dracs aren't very picky about who they sell them to."

  "I don't understand what this has to do with me," Alara snapped.

  "Bullshit," Casana spat. "The Wraiths didn't get anything from the Dracs. They got them from you."

  "We have had problems with Wraith raiders. That's why we were hunting them."

  "No, I mean they got them from you personally," Casana explained. They stared at each other in silence for a moment.

  "How dare you," Alara hissed. "I am-" "You are an agent of the Tal'Shar," Casana cut her off. "I knew it the moment I saw you. After spending as many years as I have around the Centauri, you can pick out Tal'Shar in an instant. You're all just so damned... emotionless."

  "You arrogant..." "An Arcadian, arrogant? No," Casana gasped. "The thing that puzzled me was why. Why would you go to all that trouble just to save us? Then I remembered something Jacob said during the attack. The Wraiths weren't using disruptors. So I scanned the crap out of this ship. Every breach, every impact, every scratch. And you know what I found? Plasma and anti-protons. Every inch of this ship is dripping with plasma residue and anti-proton traces."

  "Plasma weapons are decades old." "Plasma torpedoes, yes. But these were plasma energy. I recreated the battle from the sensor logs, and all of the plasma hits came from one ship, while all the disruptors came from the other. And they targeted the same areas. It was a field test."

  "You have no proof," Alara sneered. "The Wraiths were destroyed by our weapons. Any residual traces can be explained as residue from our attack."

  "Not all," Casana smiled. "Jacob got off a good shot. Blew one of the wings off of a Predators. And on that wing was a single cannon. When help comes, they'll tractor us back to outpost. Unless someone tells them to collect that cannon."

  "What do you want?" Alara said, admitting defeat.

  "I don't intend to tell the Kriegsmarines about what I've discovered."

  "What?" Alara looked up in surprise. "Why?" "What's the point? My government will accuse your government of plotting against the Reich. Your government will deny it," Casana explained, waving the pulse pistol from side to side. "The Kriegsmarine will trot out the cannon. Then the Centauri ambassador will go before the Reich Council. He'll admit that the Centauri are developing new weapons, and he'll say that the Wraiths stole them. He'll apologize to people of the Reich, and he'll give his deepest regrets to the families of those killed," Casana continued, placing her hand over her chest and swooning dramatically. "And that will be it. The Kriegsmarines won't be able to prove that you gave them the weapons, so we'll just drop it. End of story. Except for you."

  "You see," Casana smiled, crouching down across from Alara, "the Tal'Shar will not be happy with you. Your mistakes will have caused a great deal of embarrassment to the Centauri Empire. The Tal'Shar will lose a lot of prestige in Centauri politics. And they will blame you."

  "I would likely be executed." "If, on the other
hand, I was to say nothing," Casana explained, "you can take credit for a successful operation, and, more importantly, not be executed."

  "In exchange for what?" Alara asked.

  "How very Centauri of you!" Casana said gleefully. "A debt of honor."

  "And what have you done that would place me in your debt?" Alara laughed.

  "Save your life."

  "You impudent-" "You listen to me!" Casana screamed and lunged forward. She pressed her foot into Alara's chest, pinning her to the wall, and pushed the pistol against the Centauri Captain's forehead. "Your scheming cost a lot of lives, lives I care about! I'm not going to let their deaths be wasted in some diplomatic pissing match. You can either accept my offer, or face the Tal'Shar."

  Alara hesitated, weighing her options. She had none. "Very well." "Good," Casana smiled sweetly and stepped back. "And remember: Arcadians have long memories. Now, where were you headed?"

  ***

  Deck 5, Junior Officer's Quarters, 1800 hours "Ten years, and I'm back here again," Sonya sighed, sitting on one of the bunks. The Bismarck had suffered heavy damage to its accommodations, forcing the crew to use all of its spare quarters until repairs could be made. Like most of the officers, Dejah, Sonya, Kara, Casana, and Zira were now quartered together in previously vacant crew rooms. "So much for privacy."

  "We are short accommodations, so two of us will have to share a bunk," Dejah observed.

  "I wonder who that will be," Kara smiled, staring at Sonya.

  "Not me. Dibs!" squealed Casana as she came through the door. She ran at Sonya and leaped onto the top bunk.

  "For fuck sake, would you watch it?" Sonya cried, narrowly avoiding Casana's knee. "This is gonna be fun!" Casana giggled, lying down on the top bunk. "Hey, Zira, why did Jacob want to switch quarters with you?"

  "Gee, I don't know," Zira replied from her chair across the room. "Maybe something to do with how the last time the four of you were together, the ship had a hole shot through it?"