Talcon Star City

by Gary Caplan

  To set up Alliance defenses quickly and make the system less interesting to the Varlon, the Alliance of World’s science vessels, supported by a few Hegemony ships, did some emergency terraforming of some planets, making it easier for the allied forces to obtain strategic resources. Several worlds were terraformed in rapid successive stages with the Hegemony’s help. Planets with no indigenous animal or intelligent life and with potential mineral resources were selected for the transformation process.

  The Hegemony even shared some of their techniques for a more rapid planetary transformation process. They used the local bacteria some of which were genetically altered to produce more of the gases for life such as oxygen, while other bacteria were modified to clear noxious substances and replace them with more tolerable ones. The Hegemony even brought huge terraforming ships that actively altered atmospheric content, and made planetary pressures more tolerable. Initially to get the colony and resource mining started in a safe way they helped the Alliance rapidly prefabricate some environmental domes to be used as colony hubs while the rest of the terraforming process was continuing. With the Hegemony’s help, it took only weeks to complete the terraforming and have a viable enough atmosphere for most Alliance members to survive what was once a hostile environment.

  It seemed many of the Hegemony ships and the Betellian ships were being held in reserve or were requested to deploy to other needed areas. The sixth fleet, Braddock’s second fleet, and Peregrine’s third fleet were the entrance areas for most of the mixed fleet, since several Hegemony members were already acting as exchange officers in the sixth or second fleet. However, because Garfield was an exchange officer and one of the senior-most of the exchange officers, many of the Hegemony and the Betellian ships were headed to work with the sixth.

  Sheppard received a communiqué from Admiral Viess, the Betellian, requesting permission to come aboard. He had brought a fleet to join the sixth. He also requested Admiral Garfield’s presence. Sheppard recalled that Admiral Viess had recently worked to remove another Varlon base that could launch long range antimatter torpedoes at their “Dyson” sphere as well. He thought back briefly to when he first saw the Betellian at Star One during a briefing that the trilaterally symmetric Betellian had presented on the Accad and Varlon when they had first attacked one of their sphere worlds.

  “I guess you are worried about Star One too,” said Fleet Captain Wilder, as he looked in on his acting fleet admiral. “I have not gotten my orders for task forces from Commodore Sherman, and he is very busy, so I decided to come by.”

  “Yes, sorry. The day-to-day actions for the task force operations are getting more complicated and time consuming,” Sheppard replied. “I have Brandon covering for me while I scan through these tactical briefs.”

  “I can imagine, Sir,” Wilder said. “Well, the envoy vessel from the Betellian flagship has just finished docking, and I’m headed to Alpha hangar to welcome Admiral Viess aboard.”

  “Oh…I should go, too.” Sheppard stood, headed to his private mirror, put a comb through his hair, and fixed his uniform. “Technically, he is not my superior officer, but I don’t want…” Sheppard said, as he straightened his uniform.

  “I understand fully, Sir,” Wilder said. “The Betellians are probably one of the most advanced space-faring civilizations we know of, and we all need to look and be our best.”

  “Admiral Viess has mentioned he is concerned about the presence of the Accad, and it’s not every day you get a communiqué from a well-regarded commander in an alien navy who wants to join your fleet,” Sheppard continued, “if only temporarily.”

  “I heard we are also getting Hegemony starship support, and even the Rhyn will send ships,” Wilder replied, as they headed toward the turbo lift.

  “Well, we already have the Aharri with us, and I suppose the Betellians are joining us more because of Garfield and the other Hegemony commanders who have recently joined us than because of me,” Sheppard said, as he thought of Tairic aboard Orgnar.

  “I’m a little worried about that apparent buildup of some Varlon strike forces close to Star One headquarters,” Wilder said, as they traveled in the turbo lift, which he locked using his code so that no others would board and they could get to the hangar on time.

  “Yes, me too,” Sheppard said. However, that Varlon strike force was going to depend on the support of their longrange torpedo-launching facilities softening up Alliance of Worlds Headquarters defenses,” Sheppard said. “Now, as we both know, that support has recently been removed, and they might be distracted enough by that to reconsider an attack on Star One.”

  “If they do attack, they won’t have enough forces to do more than damage Star One,” Wilder replied contemplatively.

  Sheppard nodded. “Well, let’s go welcome Admiral Viess,” Sheppard said as the lift slowed, approaching the hangar area. As they exited their lift, the two-and-a-half-meter-tall, orange-ish skinned, trilaterally symmetric Betellian was exiting his space transport.

  * * *

  Sheppard had eventually organized his task forces, coordinating with Admiral Viess some of the Betellian contingents who were going to work with Peregrine’s second fleet. Already Fleet Captain Harrolid’s task forces were working well with their assigned Alliance of Worlds units. Sheppard had received the command briefing recently from Fleet Admiral Peregrine, who was now going to be more centrally placed in the battle line now that Grand Admiral Pendragon had arrived with a good portion of the first fleet.

  Looking at his view screen image of the Aharri senior commanding officer, Sheppard recalled for a moment his first meeting with Harrolid. Sheppard was heading a rescue mission to QB7, a planet that Varlon had recently occupied. Harrolid’s two remaining ships had been watching the Varlon and had gone into a stealth orbit near QB7’s moon. Sheppard task force had used a comet’s tail while also in stealth mode to get into an orbital position just before attempting to land on the planet.

  “This won’t be as much stealth as last time; Peregrine has informed us that the Jiyarr ships the Accad are using have detected some of his stealth craft and destroyed them,” Sheppard said.

  Harrolid nodded affirmatively. “Sadly, we will all take severe casualties in this war,” he replied. “I wish it were not the case, but we must conduct ourselves with dignity nonetheless.”

  “Yes, this will be a very difficult next several weeks,” Sheppard said. “However, I think I have some good news. The Talcon will eventually join us, and Lord Garfield mentioned the Cynz are sending a fleet to join us in Rhendal. I will be meeting with them, as well.”

  “I will send you my report, and I look forward to dining with you and your command staff to discuss joint operations tactics,” Harrolid said. The commlink ended, and one of Sheppard’s many senior lieutenant assistants notified him that the starship Indefatigable had arrived with the Rhyn contingent.

  Commodore Sherman walked in right after that announcement. “It appears that we will be working with some of the Rhyn, as well.”

  “I guess we get to be the cavalry,” Sheppard said, “as Braddock likes to say. With all of my advising admirals in the sector now, I have been busy just on the commlink.” Sherman nodded knowingly. Sheppard thought back to one of his earlier briefings with Admirals Peregrine and Braddock. “Sometimes it’s a stress relief, especially with Braddock on the commlink. It’s so like him to make amusing old style comments. Why in the last briefing he mentioned in a strangely positive way that they would ‘all be very well placed to salvage wreckage after the upcoming battle.’ I mean he usually finds something positive to say even if it is odd.”

  “What did Peregrine say about that?” Sherman asked with a half-smile.

  “He took a deep breath tilted his feathered head and looked at me with what amounts to a smile or look of amusement and continued with another point he was about to make.” Sheppard smiled as he listened to some classical music he had put on to help him relax.

  Sherman smiled back and nodded. “Of c
ourse you still have more to do. Commodore St. John is on his way via transmat. The Phoenix’s primary transmat chamber is being reconfigured for living object transport.”

  “David always liked transmat travel ship to ship; he said it reminded him of surfing a wave, and it’s faster than a shuttle.” Sheppard smiled. He recalled that Sharon liked transmat travel, but she was a science officer, after all.

  When Commodore St. John entered Sheppard’s office, he saluted. Sheppard stood and returned the salute, and then he moved around his desk so they could exchange hugs. Their friendship went way back.

  “I have not seen you since you got the Rhyn assignment, Dave,” Sheppard said, smiling and indicating they should sit.

  “Well, it’s good to see you too, Bob, and I have a few things to report now that this campaign is underway—

  things that I did not get into the official report,” St. John replied.

  “About the Rhyn?” Sheppard asked.

  “No, about the Talcon,” St. John said. Sheppard remembered back to when he’d first observed his friend’s briefing to the admirals’ board, the time the Varlon had compromised Star One station security by using shape shifters and ultra-tech humanoid robots borrowed from the Jiyarr. “I’m really glad they decided to help the Alliance of Worlds…” St. John continued.

  Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Phoenix, the crew and officers prepared for the upcoming events. Fleet Captain Wilder looked out on his bridge crew and realized this was the calm before the storm of a major battle. The bridge crew was working, sometimes with a flurry of activity, yet within moments it could get very quiet. Most of the bridge officers were concentrating on their individual work. Wilder looked at each of his crew. He had been allowed to select a few, but many, including himself, had been selected by Commodore Sheppard, since Phoenix was the sixth fleet’s designated flagship. He smiled confidently, knowing he was with one of the best crews in the fleet.

  The first officer, Commander York, was working to ensure that all of his officers had successfully completed battle simulations; Commander Zachary was working with Lieutenant Commander Darani and Lieutenant Pelori on simulating tactical helm maneuvers. Commanders Taylor and Andor were at the science stations and were examining remote-sensor scan data for Varlon activity. Lieutenant Commander Ares continued working on weapons simulations and operations security with her officers and with Lieutenant Commander Sterling.

  Ares had been so busy with making sure her officers were up to speed that she almost forgot to arrange a security escort for the arriving Cynz leader, Kalst, who had arrived via a beautiful crystalline shuttle. She was not sure of his rank, since Admiral Garfield had arranged the meeting for acting Fleet Admiral Sheppard. From what she heard, the Cynz had also been attacked by the Accad.

  “The Cynz shuttle is docked, and they are disembarking,” Commander York said, looking at his station’s remote monitor. “Interesting design for a shuttle. I guess that is what a silicon-based culture considers a shuttle; it’s the size of a T200, and it displaces a notably greater mass.”

  “Meaning it’s a highly dense spacecraft with probably an organo-crystalline hull,” Wilder stated, as he accessed his interlink and the sensor scans from the docking bay.

  “Ares, we had better go and join Admiral Garfield and Commodore Sherman to welcome the Cynz,” Wilder said, standing. “I have never met one, and our protocol is for three command officers, if available, to greet a visiting dignitary. “Mr. York, you have the Conn?”

  “Aye, Sir, I have the Conn.” Commander York stood and then sat in the captain’s station, and Mr. Sterling moved into the first officers’ station. Ares motioned for her senior security officer to take her place and moved gracefully to join Wilder, as he exited his station and headed to the turbo lift.

  Wilder turned toward her as she joined him. “I was recently informed through the interlink that the Cynz have brought over a security team and want to exchange ideas with our security.”

  “Yes, Sir,” Ares said.

  “Since a less formal meeting like this with the Cynz has not happened before, I want you to learn what you can from them,” Wilder said. “It’s not every day we get to meet a leader of one of the more ancient and advanced civilizations.”

  “I suppose having Admiral Garfield as the fleet science officer has its benefits,” Ares replied. “He seems to have some notable allies, even if that does increase my security concerns,” she finished with a half-smile as they left the bridge.

  Commander York used his interlink to access the captain’s station and accepted command of the bridge. Momentarily he watched his crewmates, who had become friends since they had left Star One’s dry dock. York wondered about the future and was determined to meet it and survive. He noticed that Commander Taylor got up and moved toward the admiral’s office past the command annex. She seemed to be walking slowly, and since Sheppard had his door open, he must have waved her in, since she began to walk faster before he lost sight of her.

  “Commander York,” Andor said to get his attention. “Most of the ships have refueled their hydrogen converters and will be able to proceed to the rendezvous area in five hours.”

  “That’s good; it’s about time we got going,” York said.

  “We’re ready here,” said Commander Zachary. “Just give the word.”

  “The course is plotted,” Darani added.

  “And laid in, Sir,” Pelori finished. “Awaiting hyperspace jump order.”

  “York briefly looked over at his second officer, Lee Sterling, and smiled back at his friends. “Soon enough, crew, soon enough.” They returned confident smiles, even though each was anxious and slightly on edge, since they had fought the Varlon before and knew it would be a bloody battle.

  Sheppard had introduced Sharon to his old friend St. John, who happened to be a somewhat famous great explorer who Sheppard found out she admired. She was a science officer, after all, and St. John had seen a lot of interesting astronomical sights on his trip to the Magellanic Cloud galaxy, which was an irregular galaxy and the closest neighbor to the Milky Way galaxy. They were still talking when formal pipes blew and an announcement was made that Ambassador Kalst and a small entourage had arrived on bridge level. Since he was actually a friend of Garfield’s, it was he who had brought Kalst onboard and arranged the meeting.

  The Cynz representatives had already met officially with Fleet Admiral Peregrine, and like the Betellians, decided to either work directly with Peregrine or integrate their ships with the sixth fleet. Sheppard continued to have about one-third of the sixth fleet defending part of the Quellus sector, and the infusion of alien ships had swelled the numbers of the sixth fleet to almost double. Sheppard motioned both Sharon and David to follow him to the larger main briefing room that was not far from his office. It was there that he would greet Ambassador Kalst.

  As Sheppard approached the briefing room, he sensed via his Star Knight abilities an active telekinetic force on the other side of the entry door. Upon entering, he saw the Cynz. There were three nonhumanoid multi-faceted crystalline beings each over two meters tall, and two were using something similar to telekinesis to move across the floor while the third appeared to be sitting.

  “This is acting Fleet Admiral Robert Sheppard, the officer I told you about, Kalst,” Garfield said, looking at a crystalline being that was emanating multihued light and soft vibrational sounds. “Robert, this is Ambassador Kalst and his commanding officers, Myrez and Szleh. I have actually translated their shorter names for communication convenience.”

  Sheppard walked forward and closer to the one Garfield indicated was Kalst. “As we agreed earlier, this is not a truly formal meeting,” Garfield continued, “so we can dispense with most of the ceremonies.” Sheppard sensed that Kalst was observing him.

  “Yes, I am Kalst. Greetings, Robert Sheppard,” resonated a vibrational sound emanating from the crystalline body. “We Cynz do not have as much pomp and circumstance in our meetings as some humanoids, and
I am glad that Gar fa’ eld arranged this meeting.” As Sheppard watched, the Cynz seemed to grow a crystalline tripod on which to stand. He realized that continuous telekinesis would be energy consuming.

  Garfield looked at the group of officers. “The Cynz have developed a symbiosis with a crystalline nanomachine,” Garfield said, “that they developed in the past. It gave them greater mobility and allowed further development and travel beyond their world of origin.” Several nods of comprehension occurred among those present. Sharon Taylor mentioned, more to Myrez, who was standing closer to her, “I look forward to exchanging some scientific information with your science officers.”

  “Well, as this is a get-to-know-your-ally gathering, why don’t we just break into smaller groups?” Sherman suggested. Sheppard nodded affirmatively, and the Cynz seemed to hum in a positive manner as each moved away from the other. For a moment, Sheppard thought they were laughing about breaking apart, but he was not sure. He did see Garfield smile briefly after Sherman’s statement.

  Aries moved closer to Szleh to at least start a conversation in which perhaps both of them would be comfortable. “Now that we are finally able to talk, it’s time to perhaps discuss what you did tactically that worked against the Accad.” Ares was happy, as she was fairly sure the “living rock” would not be distracted by her good looks.

  “That idea resonates well with us,” Kalst commented. Sheppard smiled, noting the hint of humor in the delivery of that statement, as the Cynz used a vibrational resonance to communicate with his crew. It was as if they hummed in an understandable manner, mimicking the Alliance common language’s tonal sounds. This would be an initial exercise in working with new beings. The Cynz did not need special atmosphere and could exist in the present humantolerant one; it would not be as uncomfortable as being underwater or in a humid environment, as with the Lyramenians. Sheppard still had much work to do before his fleet was ready to rendezvous with the combined Alliance of Worlds fleet, but now there was a greater sense of hope.