“Would you like me to fly?” Li’ara offered.
Roland gritted his teeth and focused on the viewport. “Backseat drivers…”
Several alerts flashed across the console, informing him of multiple changes to the ship’s structure. Before Roland could ask what they were doing to his ship, a new message appeared, explaining that Garrion and Ariah were now manning weapons stations. New consoles and chairs formed upwards, out of the nanocelium decking, and created perfect working stations.
“I’m taking command,” Vox announced.
“The hell you are!” Roland had more follow up remarks and insults, but the chair was literally taken out from under him.
Ch’len, Li’ara and himself suddenly found themselves floating above the consoles as if gravity had forgotten them. Roland wiggled about in an effort to reach the floor again, but all three of them were completely suspended.
“What’s happening?” Ch’len squealed.
Vox replied calmly, “I’ve put you all into a stasis field.” The Gomar tapped her temple, indicating the lack of technology involved. “We’re putting the ship into attack mode. You won't survive the kind of manoeuvres we will be forced to use. Artificial gravity has been deactivated, along with the inertial dampeners.” Despite this fact, all three of the Gomar were stood and sat perfectly at their stations.
“I'm not happy about this!” Everyone ignored Roland.
The enemy ship had consumed the viewport by now. The Marillion had been forced to back away, slowly dropping behind the fleets. The golden ship had taken the brunt of the enemy’s retaliation in an attempt to shield them from the constant barrage.
“The Marillion has lost FTL capability,” Garrion said. The male Gomar wore his dreadlocks down to the middle of his back, but it was his vibrant blue eyes against his dark skin that constantly caught Roland’s attention.
“As long as the Sentinel is with us,” Vox replied. “We need at least one of those World Breakers.”
“We’re in range,” Ariah, a typically beautiful blonde Gomar, announced.
“Concentrate on the same coordinates. Do not fire unless you have a perfect target lock, we can't afford to waste ammunition scratching the sides.” Vox was stood in the centre of the bridge, surrounded by holographic readouts and consoles that dropped from the ceiling.
The viewport blurred suddenly when the Rackham changed direction with enough speed to have killed its inhabitants. Defying the inertia, the three Gomar remained fixed in place, while Roland and the others remained suspended in line with the ship’s movements. Had the bounty hunter still been in his chair, the manoeuvre would have slammed him into the wall and reduced him to mush.
The image in the viewport only levelled out for a moment before another sharp turn was required. Their increasing proximity to the enemy ship was making it harder to evade. Every missile that missed its mark continued on to destroy one of the Concave vessels. Roland kept his eyes on the console beneath him, watching the readouts from the Gomar’s assault. The Rackham was firing energy based munitions, as well as missiles comprised of nanocelium. Their aim was uncanny, with the two Gomar syncing their shots perfectly on the same patch of hull. Their firing only stopped when a sudden change in direction was required. More than once Roland thought he saw the projectile that would be the end of them, but Vox always dodged it. Either that or she was using her abilities to re-direct the missiles.
“I’m opening a channel with the Sentinel,” Vox said. “Charge Ilo, respond.”
“We’re here… erm.” The alien hesitated with the name.
“You need to pull the fleet back,” Vox suggested immediately. “Have them surround the Sentinel to bolster your shields.”
“What?” Ilo sounded horrified.
“We’re going to cut a hole in that thing soon. When we do there’s only going to be a short time to fire a world breaker into the heart of it. The Sentinel must survive long enough to launch that missile. Sacrifices must be made if your ship is to last much longer. My sensors indicate that forty-five percent of the Sentinel is already beyond repair, it’s targeting your engines.”
There was a pause on the other end. “Redeploying now.”
“Be ready for that opening.” Vox cut the feed.
The Rackham came back up on the enemy’s port side and continued to hail a rain of nanocelium hell across the hull. Roland looked up from the console below and noted the giant gas planet coming up on the starboard side of the enemy ship. That planet was the closest neighbor to Arakesh, the Raalakian homeworld and the current location of humanity’s remnants. They were getting closer.
“That’s it!” Garrion shouted. “We can't fire any more projectiles without compromising the Rackham’s structural integrity.”
“We still have energy-based projectiles,” Ariah commented, her focus never wavering from the holographics.
“It doesn't matter now,” Vox observed. “That hole’s plenty big enough.”
They all watched as the Sentinel slowly came up on their port side and overtook their pursuit. Hundreds of Conclave vessels were being picked off by the enemy ship, which had yet to slow down or drop into an attack pattern. The Sentinel’s green hull was awash with flashes of exploding ships, though more than one found a hole in the protective net, punched through the shields and into the green hull.
“Come on…” Roland muttered under his breath. “Fire it!”
“They’re hit!” Garrion called out. “The Sentinel’s main engines have been taken out.”
The gas giant dominated the starboard viewport now, its swirling orange and red surface mixing together like oil. Lightning danced across the storm that consumed a whole quarter of the planet’s upper hemisphere. Roland could see what was going to happen before Garrion finished his report.
“They’re falling behind,” Garrion continued. “They’re caught in the planet’s gravity well.”
“Where’s the Marillion?” Ariah asked.
“They’re not even on our sensors anymore,” Vox replied with dismay.
The enemy ship continued ever onward, oblivious to the path of sheer destruction it had left in its wake. Even the Rackham was backing off now, the bronze ship losing its size with every second, every second that brought it closer to Arakesh.
“What do we do?” Ariah sat back, concern etched across her beautiful features.
“We chase it down and find another way to bring it down.” Vox was already redirecting power levels to the engines.
“Wait!” Li’ara shouted. “We can't just leave the Sentinel to fall into the planet. That kind of atmosphere will crush it.”
Vox turned from her station. “If we waste time saving them, we risk the death of every human. A few human lives are more precious than those of a few aliens.”
“They do have World Breakers onboard…” Roland pointed out.
That gave Vox pause. The Gomar knew that it was the only way to destroy the hulking ship, but it also meant killing their pursuit. They were hunters, after all, trained by Savrick to seek and destroy, nothing more.
“Wait wait wait…” Ch’len held his stubby hands out. “Even if we do stay and help or borrow a world breaker or whatever… How exactly are we going to help a sinking ship?”
They all turned to the viewport where the Sentinel, surrounded by debris, was slowly falling into the gas giant’s atmosphere.
“He’s got a point,” Roland agreed. “It’s a little big to tow…”
Vox sighed and looked from Garrion to Ariah. “Not for us.”
Within minutes, artificial gravity and the inertial dampeners had been restored and everyone was in the hold. The Rackham had been placed above the gas giant, directly over the falling Sentinel. Roland threw his long coat aside, feeling the heat and the sweat that quickly built up when one thought they were going to die. He stood now, side by side, with Li’ara and even Ch’len, who found the whole plan hard to believe.
Three of the twelve Gomar took Malekk aside and crouched
low over his body. Of the two faces Roland could see, the Gomar were deep in concentration since they were keeping the infected Terran subdued on their own. Sef stood the furthest away, in front of the ramp, with eight of his brothers and sisters behind him. They had discussed their strategy for all of ten seconds, each apparently understanding perfectly what was required of them.
The ramp dropped down, exposing the vastness of space before them, or at least it would have, had the gas giant not inhabited the entire view. The turbulent planet churned, as a hungry god, ready to devour the Sentinel. One of the Gomar, Roland hadn't a clue which, was keeping a barrier erected at all times, preventing them all from being turned inside out. Apparently, they needed to see the Sentinel to help their concentration, since their abilities weren't refined enough to pull off the incredible feat blind.
“Together…” Vox’s confidence and determination were inspiring - and something of a turn-on for Roland.
He really hoped they weren't reading his mind at this point.
As one, the eight Gomar reached out, as if they could actually grab the green ship. More than one of them was dragged across the floor in their bid to pull the ship upwards. They were literally fighting the gravity well of the biggest planet in the system.
“Holy shit…” Roland was nudged by Li’ara and given a scornful look.
Many of them grunted and shouted out, not dissimilar to Roland when he lifted weights or took a particularly big shit. Sef held up both of his hands and shifted his broad shoulders, his entire frame now on an impossible angle towards the floor. One of the females, Roland had yet to be introduced to, dropped to her knees with her arms outstretched and an expression of agony to match.
The Sentinel tumbled end-over-end, as the top of the planet’s atmosphere engulfed it, licking the hull with lightning. In moments it was completely hidden beneath a thick layer of stormy weather, where the pressure would slowly go to work on reducing its considerable size.
A Gomar on the edge of the group dropped to the floor, unconscious, with a nosebleed. It was only seconds later that all but Sef were on their knees, struggling to maintain any grip on the Sentinel. The three Gomar, surrounding Malekk, had left the infected Terran and joined in the effort to lift the doomed ship. Roland hadn't noticed and wondered how long they had been assisting. If Malekk woke up there would be nothing he or Liara could do to stop him. Without thought, one of his Tri-rollers was in his hand.
“Keep… going!” Vox shouted over their combined strain. Still, the green hull was nowhere to be seen.
The three Gomar had dropped to their knees now, their energy already depleted from containing Malekk. Sef stood defiant, a giant among gods. His face visibly shook from the effort he exerted. It didn’t matter however, Roland could see where this was going. The planet would devour the Sentinel and Telarrek and Uthor with it, not to mention the World Breakers and any chance of stopping the enemy ship. The Gomar simply weren't refined enough to achieve such a feat.
Then he saw it.
The bow of the green hull poked out from the stormy surface and continued to rise. Li’ara gasped, but not at the sight of the Sentinel. Malekk had found his feet in Roland’s moment of distraction. Instead of killing them all, however, he stood behind the Gomar with his own arms outstretched, adding to their magnificent pull. Roland was already levelling his Tri-roller when Li’ara pushed his arm down.
“He’s helping,” Li’ara whispered, barely able to believe her own words.
The Sentinel continued to rise until its entire body had been lifted from the planet. Soon it was free of the gravity well and levelled out before the Rackham. The Gomar turned around and stared at Malekk, who cradled his head and ignored them. Bar two, the rest of the Gomar stood up and began to circle Malekk, pushing Roland and Li’ara away.
“Help...me..” Malekk’s voice was different, more organic somehow. “I don't know how long I can…” The infected Terran dropped to his knees and cried out in agony. The parasite was winning back control. “You have to… kill me!”
Sef stepped forward and slammed his armoured fist into Malekk’s face, ending his pain.
We need to resume our guard over his mind. Sef’s voice held no trace of his visible exhaustion.
Li’ara was already keying in commands to the wall-console. “Sentinel, this the Rackham, respond.”
There was only silence on the other end, leading Li’ara to ask for a response again and again.
“This is the Sentinel.” Telarrek’s voice finally came back. “We have many casualties... and even more fatalities.”
“What happened?” Uthor came over the line, sounding somewhat dishevelled.
Li’ara looked out over the exhausted faces. “The Gomar saved you.”
Roland whirled his finger around. “World Breaker… extinction of humanity…”
“High Charge, we need one of the Sentinel’s World Breakers as soon as possible. There’s a hole in the enemy’s hull and we still have enough power to chase it down.”
“Consider it done, but do not linger any longer than you must. The Marillion will be along soon to assist us. You must destroy that ship, Miss Ducarté. I fear that once it is done with your people, it will move onto my homeworld.”
“We’re on it.” Li’ara was resolute in her reply.
Roland sighed. “If I help to save the galaxy one more time, my whole reputation is going to be in tatters…”
Chapter 24
Kalian soared through the air, comfortable inside the bubble of telekinetic energy that enveloped him. He had successfully managed two more jumps since their arrival on Hadrok, but he had contained the teleportation to the planet rather than jump around the system. Whether he was comfortable yet or he just wanted to defy ALF, he wasn’t sure. Every time, the machine had required maintenance and Kalian had required some time to collect himself. It was getting easier though. With the added energy from ALF’s ship, the jumps were almost becoming enjoyable. The universe suddenly felt very small to Kalian.
In between the jumps, Kalian would take to the sky and revel in his new found power. Any fear of heights was quickly conquered by the confidence that swelled within him. Naydaalan had voiced his concerns about such unorthodox downtime, insisting that he spend it in meditation. The only conclusion that Kalian came to, however, was that the Novaarian was spending too much time around ALF.
Flying through the sky made him feel free more than anything else. The burden of getting them home, saving humanity from the Vanguard or even just getting his head around ALF’s secrets. The fact that an alter ego of the AI had been responsible for the creation of the Gomar was unsettling, but learning that even the Terran had been just another artificial design, as humanity had been, was mind-bending - and this was coming from a man who was currently flying five thousand feet above the ground.
While in the super subconducer, Kalian had taken the opportunity to look into ALF’s organic mind and explore more of Evalan, their true birthplace. The Terran and indeed the human population had been engineered to be smaller in stature due to Albadar’s size. From what Kalian could tell, that was the only difference. Their planet had been beautiful, without a single man-made eyesore on the horizon. The indigenous population had yet to master such ways of living when ALF came across them. But just as Earth had been destroyed and Albadar rendered uninhabitable, Evalan was no more. It seemed that everywhere humanity put its feet, the soil beneath it would be tainted and destined for destruction. Perhaps with the Conclave looking out for them and their new world, a new way of living could be found.
That’s if we ever get a new world, Kalian thought. He suddenly had the wild idea of transporting everyone across the galaxy and inhabiting a forgotten world of the Terran. That was after they disabled whatever traps Savrick had left behind. How he would transport over a hundred thousand people, he had no idea.
As his thoughts began to drown in responsibility again, so too did his flight drift ever downwards, until he found himself touching d
own outside ALF’s ship. They were on the other side of Hadrok now, thousands of miles away from Esabelle’s first home. The fields of red grass were nowhere in sight, but the ship now sat on the edge of a giant lake. Thankfully, for Naydaalan’s sake, there had been some alien form of edible fish in the water. Kalian had declined the food, stating that ALF’s machine was keeping him perfectly sustained. Naydaalan had voiced his concerns on this as well, believing that nothing could replace traditional nourishment. The Novaarian’s protests had given Kalian pause, as it dawned on him that with every passing day he felt more and more apart from the rest of the galaxy, and yet he had never been so connected to it.
One of the twin suns was just beginning to touch the horizon, while its sister continued to shine high above them. Naydaalan was going through his routines, practicing various Novaarian fighting techniques. ALF was inside, as he always was, tinkering with the machine’s next upgrade. Considering he had been locked away inside a volcano for thousands of years, the cyborg had no gumption to explore the outside world.
“Caught any fish today?” Kalian called over to Naydaalan, who shook his head with disappointment.
Kalian smiled, hoping that would be his answer. With a single, outstretched hand, he felt for life within the lake, ignoring the plant life and the constant flow of molecules. The fish stood out immediately, their collection of molecules far more complex than that of their surroundings, though they were oblivious to his attention. Kalian flipped his hand, palm upwards, and lifted three alien fish from the depths of the lake. He was moments from breaking their necks when ALF called out from within his ship.
“Come quickly!” he yelled.
Both Kalian and Naydaalan ran through the over-sized doors, abandoning the fish to live out their lives. ALF stood in the centre of his ship, manipulating dozens of machines at once with his hands outstretched as if he were a conductor. Above them, all floated the broken cube the AI had been using to spy on the Conclave. New tubes of nanocelium were disconnecting and reconnecting at different ports, hidden inside its bronze husk.
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