Immortal Guardian: Hoast Saga Book 2 (Host Saga)

by Michael Farlow

  “All my life, Stan. All my life. Let’s go burn some alien ass.”

  “That’s my boy!”

  “Captain, shields are at twenty-five percent and dropping!” said an alarmed weapons officer.

  “Do not be alarmed. The extra power is required for the FTL drive. We will be departing this system very shortly. Communications, prepare a communications drone with all the data we collected and prepare to release to home fleet.”

  “Yes, Captain,” said the communications officer, who, until now, could only watch what was happening.

  “Captain, we are being hit with plasma bursts in addition to the laser hits,” announced the weapons officer.

  “What? I thought the enemy ship could only fire its lasers at this angle,” said the captain with dismay.

  “That is true, Captain. But the plasma fire is not from the enemy ship we see. It is from another ship that has apparently been standing by in stealth,” said the weapons officer.

  “Engineering. How long till we are FTL capable?”

  “Four mets, Captain. The capacitors are still charging,” responded the engineering technician.

  “Four mets is too long. Make that two mets if you want to live!” Skarr shouted, his mature red crest getting even brighter red.

  “CS1 is attacking!” said Ross. “She is firing her plasma cannon and now her rail guns!”

  “Thank you, Stan and Danny,” said Van in a whisper.

  “The scout ship’s shields are failing, Commander,” said Harry. “But there is a large energy buildup inside her.”

  “CS1, Aurora actual.”

  “Go ahead, Actual.”

  “Stan, the scout ship is about to go FTL and her shields are failing. Go for her engines!”

  “Roger, Actual, targeting her engines now.”

  “Captain, the unknown ship is firing on our engines and aft shields,” said the weapons officer.

  “Ancestors! Helm, go to FTL now. Communications, launch the—”

  But before the captain could say another word, the scout ship broke apart in a bright flash of dissipating energy.

  “She’s gone, Commander,” said Ross.

  “Gone or destroyed?” said Van as he stood up from his command chair.

  “Destroyed, Commander,” said Harry. “One of the CS1 weapons apparently breached the FTL containment reservoir, and the ship was destroyed.”

  Van sat back down in his chair. “Do we know if they got any messages off?”

  “Uncertain, but it seems unlikely, Commander. I detected no signals from the ship before she was eliminated.”

  “Let’s hope so. Meanwhile, bring the CS1 back on board and let’s head for Moon base, indirectly. Since we are visible now, we need to appear to be leaving the system.”

  “Commander, engineering,” said Bob Cooper. “The problem with the stealth system was not as bad as we thought and we’ve created a temporary fix. It should be up now.”

  “Thank you, Bob, good work!” said Van. “Change of plan, Helm. Disengage shields and engage stealth mode and head straight for the barn.”

  “Yes, sir,” said Paul with relief.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt the current program for breaking news. This is Allison Cooper, and just moments ago we received stunning video from amateur astronomer Kathy Riley. Kathy, explain what we are seeing while we show the video.”

  “Thanks, Allison. Because of what’s been happening, I’ve kept my telescope active—it’s a GPS computer-controlled reflector telescope with astrophotography capability, by the way—and I saw what appeared to be two spaceships in combat.”

  “You mean they were fighting each other?”

  “Yes, they were.”

  “Were these two spaceships Chinese or Russian?”

  “I don’t believe either one. The Chinese ships were apparently destroyed by one of the new ships, and the Russians don’t have any craft in space at the moment, according to your news.”

  “OK, please continue.”

  “Well as I said, these two ships were fighting in space. You can see in the video that one is about twice the size of the other, but the smaller was more maneuverable. If I skip forward, you will see the smaller ship explode, and moments later the larger one disappeared.”

  “You mean the larger one was also destroyed?” asked a puzzled Allison Cooper.

  “No. That’s the interesting part. It just disappeared. One second it was there and the next gone.”

  “There you have it, folks. Yet another mystery in space. We’ll return you to A Mother’s Love after these words from Gobble, the finest chocolate money can buy.”

  CHAPTER 38

  Van walked around the Aurora, now in the maintenance bay of Moon base. Although the shields had protected her from most fire from the Arkon scout ship, the blasts from the exploding missiles had left their marks on the bow of the old spacecraft. Just dented and discolored skin, but Van had a new awareness of how dangerous space combat was and how fragile and vulnerable this old ship was.

  Nothing like getting shot at to teach you some lessons, he thought. He had changes in mind for the ship, not the least of which was replacing the dorsal and ventral lasers with gimbaled plasma cannons as soon as possible. They needed more punch and more than just forward firing. Right now, however, he had to deal with the seventy-five temporary inhabitants.

  At Van’s request, Dick gathered all the adults in the dining facility while the children below eighteen years of age were looked after in a separate room by members of the crew. Van faced the group, preparing to talk to them. He fought his base desire to avoid an unknown crowd, but he had to do this. With a slight cold sweat forming on his forehead, he began:

  “My name is Van Childs, and I operate this facility and others. To answer one question you all have on your mind, the international threat posed by China and Russia is apparently over. Both countries have ceased fire, and Russia has lowered its alert posture. The Chinese are still at high alert but have not taken any more actions. The Chinese seem to be angry about losing the Jiuquan space center and its two hundred thousand people, but Harry says there is much internal disagreement in the politburo about what to do next. Hopefully all of you will be able to go home soon.

  “One of the things that I, Harry here, and many in the Carson Group have learned as a result of this experience is that all of us here in this room and elsewhere are facing more dangers than we thought. They may not be imminent, but they will be at our door soon. And I am not talking only about the global threats we just saw demonstrated.

  “You will initially find this hard to believe, but all mankind is at risk of being destroyed. Previously we thought that the risk was well into our future, but now we know it may not be.”

  “What risk? What are you talking about?” came a concerned voice from the crowd, which was echoed by many others.

  “I am talking about the threat from another civilization not from Earth,” said Van as more sounds of disbelief arose.

  “If you’re talking about green men from Mars, Mr. Childs, you must be nuts. Stop wasting our time and let us go home. Just open the doors and we’ll find our own way back.”

  Van continued to sweat but he went on. “That would be difficult. You see, you are not on Earth.”

  All the voices stopped as if stunned, which, for a few seconds, the group was.

  “Come on, everyone, let’s go. This guy has lost his mind,” came another voice.

  “He’s right!” Dick Carson shouted from a far corner of the room as he strode to the front. “You are not on Earth. You’re on the Moon in a secret facility, which, until now, was known only to a few of us. And he’s also right about the threat he described. If I’m right, he’ll give you more details and then make you an offer. I suggest that you listen closely.”

  To himself, Van breathed a sigh of relief at Dick’s strong support, which would likely make a difficult task easier. He felt less heated. “Thanks, Dick. And he’s correct. Once I tell you the
story, I’m hoping that many or perhaps all of you will join us. We need people. People who are motivated, dedicated, and who can help. This all got started over a year ago when I discovered Harry and a very special place….”

  An hour later Van finished, all anxiety now gone. “So that’s what we’ve been doing and why. And now you know about the Arkon and the ship we just fought. For some of the spouses here, that’s what your other half has been doing and couldn’t tell you. Not only do we have the Moon base, but we also have a much larger facility on Mars, which we haven’t yet fully explored. We need all the people we can get to help. I’ll leave you here to chat with the crew and to talk among yourselves in order to make a decision. If you decide not to join with us, you can go home immediately after the required session with Harry and Dr. Ramos in medical. I’ll be back in an hour.” And Van left.

  Feeling strangely ill at ease with having admitted to such a large group what he knew about the human race’s small, disadvantaged place in the universe, Van made his way to the operations center.

  “What do you think they’ll do?” asked Rose as they sat waiting.

  “Not sure. It wasn’t in Harry’s and my plans to disclose so much so soon to so many. But the Arkon just forced our hand. Danny was right. We’re going to need a lot more people soon. Seems best to start with the families, especially those of the crew and our security forces. Makes for less tension and worry on their part, I think.”

  “I think you’re right. People are more focused when they’re sure their families are OK and secrets don’t get between them. You’re doing the right thing.” She put her hand over his on the table.

  “Thanks, Rose,” Van said, not realizing that his hand had grasped hers firmly.

  But Van’s thoughts were elsewhere. I just asked seventy-five people—men, women, and children—to give up everything and join with me in a desperate fight to grow and defend Earth. Do I have the right to put them into danger…. and even risk their lives? Maybe I should just tell them all to go home.

  Just then the door opened and Dick stepped into the room. “They’re ready, Van. Come on back.”

  “But I just left them,” he said as he looked up to one of the clocks on the wall. “And it’s only been thirty minutes.”

  “I know,” said Dick, “but they’re done and ready for you.”

  So back to the dining facility they went.

  As they stepped into the room, Van hoped to see all the people still there even though he knew that wasn’t likely. Even so, he was still disappointed when he saw the fifteen men and women standing in front of him. How can I build the force necessary if I can’t convince even the most likely people?

  “Sorry, Van. I knew you expected more, but better than nothing at this point. The majority had too much attachment to their homes, extended families, schools, friends, and so forth.”

  Then the small group surrounded Van, alternately slapping him on the back, shaking his hand, or on a few occasions, pressing a kiss on his cheek. All offered thanks. They would have the chance to settle their affairs on Earth, and Van would agree to help them pay their debts. They were destined for a very new adventure—and, they all knew, a dangerous one.

  “Good evening, America, and all of those listening abroad. This is Allison Cooper with tonight’s front-page news.

  “NASA and other government agencies around the world have confirmed the speculation of astronomer Kathy Riley. The two spaceships that were fighting near the Moon were not from Earth. This is now proof that we are not alone in the universe. Here with us again is Kathy Riley.

  “Kathy, how does it feel to have your speculations confirmed?”

  “Well, Allison, personally I had no doubts. But it’s always helpful to gain support from professionals.”

  “What more can you tell us about the two spaceships you photographed?”

  “Not a whole lot. We can say with certainty that the larger of the two was over eight hundred feet long and as much as one hundred feet across. That’s over six times longer than the US space shuttles and five times as wide without the wings.”

  “That seems big for a spaceship, Kathy. How does that compare to a navy ship?”

  “That’s about the same size as a World War II aircraft carrier like the USS Lexington, Allison, and weighing in at around forty-five thousand tons.”

  Allison was struck speechless for a moment. Then: “Ah, how is something that big and heavy able to fly around?”

  “In space, weight doesn’t matter much. The more interesting question is how it got into space in the first place. The most powerful rockets we have can lift only about forty-four tons maximum into space.”

  “What about the other ship, Kathy. What do we know?”

  “Again, Allison, we don’t know much. It was a little less than half the size of the larger ship and more maneuverable. But the debris from its destruction doesn’t tell us much.”

  “Thank you very much, Kathy. As a side note, the UN and the Security Council are saying nothing. Reports are that there is mass confusion in that organization about what to do next. Meanwhile, people around the world are becoming frantic at the revelation that aliens actually exist.

  “Now this word from Romance, the preferred fragrance of top models everywhere.”

  Having rested for a day, Van and his team were sitting in the Moon-base Operations Center watching the news reports from around the world. Van was staring into space, still wondering how he had arrived at this point in his life. Then Dick Carson broke the reverie.

  “Van, what do you think of all of this?”

  Slowly, Van absorbed the question and sat up straighter. “You know, Dick, this is sort of what I hoped might happen.”

  “Why sort of?”

  “As you and the others have probably realized, we few had scant chance of getting the Earth united to prepare for the Arkon, even given the time we thought we had to do so. Now, maybe not. I had hoped that the Moon conflict would force world leaders to unite on their own in an effort to get into space in a big way.”

  “That’s why you didn’t want to tell anybody about what was happening on the Moon when the Chinese started building their base?”

  “Yes, but I failed to consider the two powers shooting at each other on Earth.”

  “None of us expected that, Van. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

  “I told you before, Dick, that I never wanted this job. If I had known that two hundred thousand people would die because of a mistake I made, I definitely would not have accepted.”

  “But you did, and whether or not you planned it this way, I think the Arkon scout ship just made your goal possible. The question is, what are you going to do about it?”

  “What do you mean?” Van asked, wrinkling his forehead and looking up at his friend.

  “The UN has always been a paper tiger, now more than ever. The possibility now exists for a new galvanizing world authority to grow into being, but it needs the right boost…. or maybe ‘scare’ is the right word. What would you say to a relatively low-level world tour with the Aurora and a couple of escorts? That might be the tipping point.”

  “Interesting idea, but how would a couple of ships make a difference?”

  “If it were just a few ships, probably none. But might it not be better if they also broadcast some sort of message?”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, don’t you have some messages from a couple of Host admirals?”

  “Yes.”

  “What if you found an appropriate one and broadcast an audio and visual message from the Host while you made the tour? A warning from another race!” suggested Dick.

  “Interesting. Harry, can we do that, and is there a message in existence that we wouldn’t have to edit?”

  “Yes, Commander, to both questions. Apparently, the Host anticipated such a requirement, and there are several such messages and video equivalents in the data we retrieved from Mars.”

  “Using Big Brother or any other sour
ce, can we broadcast those messages worldwide on all frequencies?”

  “Yes, Commander.”

  “On second thought,” Van said to Dick, “how alarming might this be to the people of Earth? Would it be counterproductive?”

  “I don’t think so,” Dick said. “We just stopped what could have been World War III. People must be relieved, and they already know some sort of spaceships were involved. At least one of which appears to have been friendly. This might just be the right time to give them more to think about, including the need to be united. I think the Earth just got a little smaller.”

  CHAPTER 39

  The Aurora descended from space to barely ten thousand feet over the United Kingdom. As it did so, the CS1 and CS2 launched and headed west in formation while the Aurora headed east. While the two combat shuttles raced for the eastern seaboard of the United States, the Aurora proceeded at a statelier pace in its eastward travel.

  Simultaneously over all frequencies came this message:

  “Greetings. My name is Admiral Amal Spector, leader of what remains of the Galactic Host fleet that escaped an invading and dangerous race called the Arkon. When you see this, I cannot know how much time has passed since we started our journey. I hope this message reaches you before you fall prey to the Arkon as we did. The fact that you are receiving this message suggests hope for us all. But beware—the Arkon are coming, and you must protect yourselves and Earth.”

  People around the world were riveted to their televisions and radios. Those seeing the admiral were struck not only by his message but also by his human appearance. He didn’t seem like an alien, despite an anomalously larger head than what they were used to.

  “If you are seeing ships around your world while this message is being sent, that means we are not too late. These ships and more were left behind as we moved out into space to secure the frontiers. It also means that a guardian, acting for us, has successfully been discovered and accepted the role of assisting your world in advancing to the levels necessary to survive.