by Tony Healey
Will stood next to him. He leaned forward to speak to the Captain privately. "Sir, if you want to talk about what happened earlier . . ."
The Spectre's skipper threw him a puzzled looked. "Why would I want to do that?"
"It's not every day someone tries to kill you," Will said.
Shaw laughed. "It is in this game. You get used to it."
I'll accept that, Will thought. For now.
Kalar opened up the engines and their compact vessel lurched forward, into the void and the mystery ahead . . .
4.
Cessqa stood with her hands clasped behind her back, face still, her expression giving no hint as to what was going on inside.
Eruptions of energy detonated in the surrounding nebula of the Chimera Cluster, swift flashes of light accompanied by purple lightning. A pocket of dark gases sat to the right, several star systems wide. In there. That's where they would find it.
The Array.
The Amarax hummed with energy around her. The great cylinder could withstand any bombardment the Cluster deemed to throw their way. It had been built not only as an ark, a refuge of their race. But as a last outpost. A mobile world that doubled as an entire offensive force.
She gave the order to proceed into the darkness. In there, the Array had sat for countless centuries waiting for them to wake and reclaim it, the most sophisticated technology her race had ever developed.
An antenna through which she would reach out to the ghosts of her people . . . and call them home.
Few dynasties, few empires get a second chance. For perhaps the first time in all of history one such civilisation was being given another shot. An opportunity to rise once more from the ashes and claim the stars for their own.
Outland
1.
This place is gonna give the Spectre such a bad case of dust contamination . . .
Shaw gazed upon the surface of the planet Outland with his one good eye, trying to spot any green or blue among the endless sand.
It was a wholly futile effort. These worlds were founded before even the Terran Union was formed, back when it was known as the Terran Federation. The Colonial Wars had prompted the formation of a new governing body, a Union of worlds and races that, despite efforts to destabilize it, was still standing centuries later. Captain Shaw found it amusing that the very worlds that had kick-started the Terran Union were forgotten about, left at the fringes of civilisation to muddle through as best they could. The old colonies were leftovers of a forgotten time, relics of those heady days prior to unity that served as bitter reminders of the direction things could take if the Union were to fall.
"Shall I take us down?" Kalar asked.
"Do it. You've got the co-ordinates."
"Indeed I do," the Xantian replied.
Shaw got up from the captain's chair. "Set her down nice and soft, though, eh Kay? I don't want a repeat of what happened on Nimoy Prime."
Kalar turned to eyeball him. "Captain, that was months ago. And it wasn't technically my fault . . ."
Shaw waved a hand at him. "Heard it all before, my multi-limbed friend. If you need me, I'll be below decks."
"Yes sir," Kalar said in a decidedly petulant tone. As Shaw left the bridge, he couldn't help but break into a grin. He was still giving the Xantian stick for nearly crashing the Spectre on the surface of Nimoy Prime. It was true, it hadn't technically been the alien pilot's fault. Broken landing gear on the starboard side failed to deploy properly when they landed. The Spectre set down on soft ground, tilted right and sunk several feet below the surface. He knew Kalar still hadn't gotten over the embarrassment of the incident and he fully intended to remind him of the event as long as feasibly possible.
He walked into the mess to get a coffee. Will Ardai looked up. "Are we here?"
"What? In the kitchen?"
The Commander shook his head. "Kalar taking us down?"
"He is," Shaw said, filling a cup with coffee granules, scalding hot water, and just one sugar.
Ardai shook his head. "Let's hope he does a better job than he did back on Nimoy Prime . . ."
Shaw smiled. "I've already ribbed him about it. Thought I'd get off the bridge before he slaps me with one of those slimy tentacles."
"God, yeah," Ardai said.
The Spectre trembled and Shaw didn't have to look at a computer screen to know his ship was tearing into the upper atmosphere of the desert planet. He knew the outer hull would be white hot from the punishing heat of atmospheric re-entry. Of course, the true reason he had vacated the bridge was that Kalar genuinely needed peace and quiet to concentrate on their landing. It was one thing putting down a small transport – another to do the same to a big starship.
"Well, we haven't died yet."
"No, Cap. Still, I wonder if I should go up there," Ardai said. "Help him out in some way."
"I wouldn't Commander. Just let him do his thing. It's usually the best way. If he needs help, trust me, he'll ask for it," Shaw said.
"Of course you're right . . ."
The door to the mess opened. Barbie walked in, filling the entire doorway as she did so. The Mantipor went to the galley and selected a plate of raw meat, as was her way.
"Don't you ever feel compelled to cook it first?" Ardai asked.
She shot him a look. "We Mantipors eat meat as it is meant to be eaten. Raw, for the full flavour."
"You're giving me indigestion," Ardai said.
Barbie smiled, showing all of her small, razor-sharp teeth. She slapped a handful of raw meat directly into her mouth, dripping cold blood down her chin. She wiped the trickle of bright red juice away absently, as if it were barely a consideration. "Makes me more hungry."
* * *
Punk stepped on to the bridge to find the view of an alien world before him. Kalar took the Spectre beneath clouds, headed straight for the starport where they were instructed to land.
"Want 'elp, mate?"
Kalar glanced behind him. "No. Just stay quiet. Remember, this is tricky."
"Will do," Punk said, hopping onto a stool to observe silently the piloting competence of his Xantian colleague.
Kalar grunted as he slowed the Spectre, the starport coming up ahead of them, sprawled out upon the baking hot desert like a giant flower of aluminium and concrete. He took her about, a little pivot in mid-air before beginning the descent to the surface.
"Well done," Punk said.
"Thanks," Kalar huffed, relieved by the prospect of touching ground again. The Spectre lowered through the air and a moment later, it had come to settle directly on the required spot and not an inch out of alignment. "Let's see the Captain pull this landing apart!"
"Well to be fair, mate, that other one was bloody awful."
"Enough! Don't spoil this for me," Kalar said.
Punk reached for the nearest comm. pickup. "Attention one an' all, we're here."
"That was anticlimactic," Kalar said. "I was expecting something funnier."
Punk shrugged. "I got tongue tied."
"You?"
"Yes me!"
Kalar shut the Spectre down. Let her have a rest, he thought. She deserves it.
* * *
Captain Shaw and Commander Ardai left Barbie to her unwholesome lunch and walked toward the rear of the ship. They would need gear for Outland. Permits, too, in the event they were stopped. The kind of permits Shaw had been issued pretty much guaranteed a man anonymity anywhere the Union had a standing.
The weapons were for when the good grace of the Union wouldn't get them out of Dodge.
"Cap," Will said. "Don't mind me asking, but are you sure you don't want to talk about that thing?"
Shaw frowned. "What thing?"
Ardai sighed. "The attempt on your life? On the station?"
"Oh that," Shaw said. "Done and dusted."
"Well . . ."
"Listen, sometimes a man's private affairs are just that. Private. If you must know, I'm into some people for a few G's. So what? I'll pay it back, wi
th interest. They know I'm good for it. In the meantime they carry on sending these chimps, couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag."
"Yeah, but we're not just talking about you getting attacked, we're talking him having you murdered. Does that not scare you?"
"Sure," he said. "But you move past it."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
They stopped outside the airlock. Their individual gear was there: spacesuits, biohazard wear, everything and anything one needed for a sojourn on an alien planet.
"You can do one thing," Shaw said.
"Yeah? What? Anything you ask."
"Shut up asking me questions and get your jacket on. Make yourself look like a nobody."
Ardai checked the clothing he had stowed away there.
"Problem?" Shaw asked. "Need me to loan you some boots?"
His second-in-command guffawed. "You own a pair?"
"That kind of humour is below you, Commander. I'm disappointed."
"I learned from the best, sir."
"That you did," Shaw said. "As you were."
2.
Commander Lisa Chang hesitated at the door to Admiral Kerrick's office. She straightened her uniform tunic, looking down as she gathered herself.
You can do this.
She felt lost at sea. Captain Jessica King hiding out, labelled a criminal by the Terran Defence Force top brass. The Defiant decommissioned, having her components removed piece by piece in order for her to be scrapped. Everything felt up in the air. And there was the threat of Cessqa out there, somewhere – thus far they'd failed to locate her. The Chimera Cluster had proved a perfect hiding ground for Cessqa and the Amarax – as it had for the Draxx when Captain Driscoll and the crew of the Manhattan had hunted them there decades before.
Chang signalled her intention to enter, waited, then looked up as the door opened in front of her. Kerrick sat at his desk.
"Come in, Commander."
The door slid shut behind her and she came to stand in front of the Admiral, giving him a crisp salute. "Admiral."
"At ease," he said. He leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head. "Take a seat."
She did so and waited for him to speak.
"You're probably wondering why I've called you in here," Kerrick said. "I understand you currently have no posting."
"Correct sir. The Defiant has been decommissioned. Many of us don't know where we're headed next."
"For some of you, I'm afraid, it will be postings to entirely different vessels. It's unavoidable, I'm afraid," Kerrick said, his voice slippery.
Why is he being so nice?
"That will be unfortunate sir."
"I understand you're a close-knit group, Commander," Kerrick told her. "However that isn't always something to be encouraged. Always best to take the status quo and shake it up a bit, wouldn't you agree?"
"Yes, Admiral."
Kerrick sat forward, his posture rigid straight.
Down to business, Chang thought.
"There is an oppurtunity, Commander. Advancement to Captain, if you feel you're ready for it," Admiral Kerrick said flatly, as if he'd announced the time.
Well this is unexpected . . .
"Captain? Sir, I don't understand."
A smirk lifted one side of his mouth, and it was not an endearing expression. It made the Admiral appear even less trustworthy and noble than he had before.
"The next step for you, Commander, surely. Your own command. A new vessel, no less. The Intrepid. Are you familiar with it?"
She nodded. "One of six new Epsilon class ships, long-range cruisers. Very nice sir."
"Well, she's yours if you'll take her. I need trustworthy people, Chang. People I can rely on," Kerrick said. He got up, hands behind his back, and went to stand by the viewport in the office. Kerrick looked out, face taut, jaw set tight. "It couldn't have been easy, reporting King like that. Doing that to your own Captain . . ."
It broke my heart.
"It took nerve, a strong sense of duty."
I feel like a traitor, even though she ordered me to do so. I can't shake the feeling I betrayed her.
"It took loyalty for you to do that. Loyalty to the ideals of the Union, and respect for the rules and directives of this fleet. I commend you for it. I need people like you in command of our ships."
"Admiral, I don't know what to say."
Kerrick's fierce gaze was fixed on the stars beyond the station. "Say you will join me, Chang. There's a war coming and we need to be ready for when it hits. I need people I can rely on."
She swallowed. "It would be my honour sir."
A cold shiver ran up her spine as he stepped up to the desk, offered her his hand. They locked eyes as they shook. "I'm well versed in your personnel file, Commander. Not a single blemish there. You're a prime candidate for advancement through the ranks."
He told her to stand to attention. She watched as he fetched a gold pin from his desk drawer and came around to stand in front of her, his face inches from hers as he fixed it to her collar.
Now I feel dirty, she thought. Jessica, I hope you appreciate all this.
"You will be responsible for filling the positions of your command crew," Kerrick said. "But one proviso."
"Yes?"
"I cannot allow you to assign Olivia Rayne to your new command. I frown upon commanding officers having relations – sexual or otherwise – with their subordinates. I'm sorry," Kerrick said, seating himself back behind his desk. "But that is the way it has to be."
You son of a–
"Understood Admiral."
"Excellent. You're dismissed, Captain Chang. Report directly to the Stationmaster. He'll bring you up to speed on the Intrepid."
She snapped him another salute, but he'd already turned his attention to the reports on his desk. Chang couldn't get out of his office quickly enough. She felt as if she'd had to make a deal with the devil. The man had had Admiral Grimshaw murdered and here she was accepting a promotion from him. Making an unspoken agreement with him that he had her complete, unadulterated loyalty. She liked the way he'd thrown the catch of taking the promotion after she'd accepted it.
How on Earth would she break the news to Olivia?
* * *
"Lisa, I never thought we'd get posted to the same ship, anyway," Olivia told her, holding her hands in the quarters they both shared aboard the station. "I didn't bring it up because I knew how much it would upset you."
"I can't believe we're going to be apart like that."
"Apart, but still together. That's the crucial thing here," Olivia said.
"True."
"It's going to be different. A new challenge for both of us, but we'll get through it."
Chang searched her face. "You believe we're strong enough?"
"I do," Rayne said. "You know what else?"
Chang shook her head.
"I believe you're due this, Lisa. It was the inevitable next step, especially once the Captain went into exile."
"The Captain," Chang said, looking away. "Don't remind me. What will she think? She'll be ashamed of me."
"Hey, don't be like that," Olivia said, reaching out, turning Lisa's face back to her own. "She'll be proud of you for staying the course. You're doing everything she wanted you to do."
"I hope you're right."
"I am."
"I wonder where you'll get posted."
Olivia shrugged. "As long as you're only a Trans-Gal message away, I don't care where they put me."
Chang took her in her arms, held her tight. "Anywhere but here will always be too far . . ."
* * *
Stationmaster Givens brought up a schematic of the Epsilon class. The holographic model rotated slowly in front of them.
"This her?" Chang asked.
"Not specifically, but they're all exactly the same. They make the old Archon class you're used to look like tin cans, trust me."
Chang frowned as she looked at the specs. "Is that right? It's all nex
t gen weaponry. I'm not familiar with any of it."
Stationmaster Givens grinned. "Yep. They've not spared any credits fitting these babies out, let me tell ya. Rasa Torpedoes. Class three laser cannons. No more duotonic warheads. No more artillery. See that?" he tapped a section of the hull.
"Yes, what am I looking at?"
"That there's an energy shield emitter. No more need for hull plating."
"My God. I'd heard there were advancements in this stuff, but I never imagined I'd see all of it fitted to one ship," Chang said, openly impressed by the Intrepid's abilities.
"She's one helluva ship, if you ask me," Stationmaster Givens said. "She's ready to inspect, if you want to take a look around."
"Sure. Why not?"
Givens grabbed his communicator as they left his office. "I'm on call twenty-four-seven. Better take this. They'll go nuts if they can't get hold of me."
"Understandable I guess."
They took the first tube to the docking bay where the Intrepid awaited her arrival. They sped through the superstructure of the station, passing the promenade and the crowds of people there.
"You've yet to pick your crew, so I heard," Stationmaster Givens said.
"I'm still mulling it over," Chang said.
"Don't let the Admiral rush you. Take your time, 'cause once you're out there, you're stuck with each other."
You're full of useless advice, aren't you, Givens? Do you think they just promoted a rookie to command one of their newest ships? Dolt.
"Thanks. I'll remember it."
"That's okay," he said, proud as punch to have instructed her in some way. "You have your second in command, but the Stationmaster's always a Captain's first mate."
It was all she could do to keep from rolling her eyes.
The transport angled to the left on its track, and headed straight for Docking Bay Three.
* * *
Stationmaster Givens never stopped talking, it seemed. She could hear his voice droning on self-importantly even as she stood in the scream of the decontamination jets.
". . . towed here, then my boys did the final assembly. You wouldn't believe the performance of these new Jump Drives, Captain, trust me. Faster. More reliable . . ."