Rak’Fler looked upward skeptically and dampened Strovol’s euphoria.
»Just as long as their mothership doesn’t fire at us or our ship or throw bombs at us!«
With a crashing sound, the communication to the Nebular re-established. Ruby’s voice could be heard.
»The attempts to disrupt our communications by the foreign ship have ceased. We’re now talking via the tachyon bridge. Is everything okay with you?«
Anxiously, Takahashi looked at Sweeney, who lay whimpering on the ground.
»We have one injured person. Everyone else is okay. The Hawk is lost. Sweeney needs to be transferred to sickbay immediately. I was able to stabilize his circulation and heal the bleeding wounds, but he’s still under shock. Tell an emergency physician and neurologist to be on standby.«
»The quickest way is through the portal!« Ruby suggested. »The tachyon valve was sealed by the alien ship, upon which the interferences greatly diminished. I can connect the Nebular’s transport system at any time.«
Takahashi remained skeptical.
»Strovol! Check it out. Can we use the portal again?«
Every one of the landing team had focused their attention only on the alien ship and neglected the portal. Only now, Takahashi realized that the previously observed dangerous effects had subsided.
»The portal is available and has stabilized. It allows us to reach the Nebular,« said Strovol.
Takahashi looked up again to the alien ship and thought, Why is it not flying away?
»Let’s go!« he commanded. »Quick! To the transportation field! Rak’Fler and Ultimus, take Sweeney. You go first through the portal, then Strovol and Peshewa. I secure the platform until we’re all through.«
Attack of the squid
The team had hardly stepped out of the transportation field aboard the Nebular when they were received by the requested medical team. After a brief examination, the chief physician ordered Sweeney to the sickbay. Silently, Takahashi looked after his navigator when he left the portal room on a gurney then he rushed to the command central to take over again.
»The alien ship has ascended and maintains an orbit around Crashpoint,« Twinkle reported when Takahashi entered the command central.
»We leave this system immediately!« Takahashi decided without further ado. »Charge the energy banks for an emergency jump! I want the Nebular out of this dangerous sector as fast as possible. Please, give …«
»Attention!« Enola Peshewa interrupted. »The squid ship just leaves the orbit of the planet and is taking up speed! The alien ship is on an intercept course! It’ll meet us at this speed in four minutes and twenty seconds!«
»Rak’Fler! It seems that they’ve changed their minds over there. Maybe they want to attack us now. Are our weapon systems and protective fields ready?« Takahashi asked.
»Our plasma guns are ready!« barked Rak’Fler. »I have already activated two energy charges and only need to open the gun flaps!«
Takahashi raised his hand.
»Okay, but just as a precaution. We won’t start any hostilities.«
»According to the sensors, the squid is an organic-technical construction,« said Peshewa. »The response parameters of the alien ship are superior to our cruiser by quite some margin. They probably have a couple of surprises for us.«
»After all, they closed the tachyon valve and, therefore, have significantly greater energy reserves than the Nebular. We should definitely avoid a fight,« Art Ultimus replied.
»Running away is not very honorable,« growled Rak’Fler.
»But wise and realistic,« Ultimus answered with a rigid face.
Takahashi glanced at the empty seat of the Navigator and bypassed the flight controls to fly the ship from his command chair.
»I don’t intend to unleash a space battle.«
With a few control commands, he turned the cruiser and activated the gravo-field drive. The ship jerked forward and accelerated at maximum speed.
Enola analyzed the flight data and faintly shook her head. »The squid spaceship appears unfazed and is catching up. The sensors don’t provide information about their drive technology. In any case, it is …«
»… superior?« Takahashi speculated.
Peshewa nodded and grimaced.
»Yes. I’m afraid we have no chance.«
While Crashpoint was falling more and more behind until it was just a point of light among many others, the squid increased steadily in size. The peculiar spacecraft flew with eight tentacles fanned open, making it look very threatening.
Enola Peshewa shivered.
»If it weren’t totally absurd, I’d say that the squid wants to grab us with its tentacles!«
»You’ve seen on Crashpoint what they did with our Hawk!« Takahashi shouted. »Rak’Fler, fire two warning shots from the tail guns toward its trajectory. At the same time, I’ll initiate a short jump with the Nebular!«
Rak’Fler growled aggressively. This maneuver was to his liking.
»Now!« Takahashi shouted and activated the tachyon drive projectors.
Two ultra-bright plasma charges left the stern guns and targeted the squid. Simultaneously, the Nebular moved briefly into tachyon space.
As the cruiser re-entered normal space, a couple of seconds later, Peshewa shouted a warning, »The squid has executed the maneuver simultaneously with us and even came closer. The distance is only 58,000 kilometers!«
»Battle Stations!« Takahashi commanded. »Rak! Prepare our guns for barrage mode of operations. Maximum charge. Enable protection fields and release energy storage.«
»Plasma guns on standby!« Rak’Fler reported while exactly aiming at the squid with his target computer. »Fire sequence set to two rounds per minute at maximum charge!«
Takahashi frowned.
Just let it happen, he said. Then everything will be fine. What did Arkroid mean and how can he know the future? Takahashi thought.
While Takahashi was pondering the Nebular was badly shaken.
»The squid has jumped again and materialized next to us! We are within reach of its tentacles!« Enola warned. Her voice cracked, »The alien ship performs lightning-fast maneuvers and reaches for us!«
»The squid has embraced us and released a strange substance into space!« reported Strovol. »We’re enveloped by a cloud of dark matter!«
»What is this stuff?« Peshewa cried out irritated.
»The squid squirts its ink into space,« Ultimus said surprised. »Maybe it’s an unknown energy weapon.«
He had just finished his sentence as the central holographic display suddenly darkened. All stations reported a sudden drop in energy.
»The performance of our FTL field projectors is decreasing, the emergency power generation is impaired, the gravo drive too!« Enola relayed the devastating analysis. »This dark matter is very likely causing that!«
»Strovol!« Takahashi urged. »Give me an analysis of this strange substance! I need a quick assessment and want to know why the cloud sticks to my ship, although we’re still moving at almost sixty percent of the speed of light!«
Another violent jolt went through the ship, causing some crew members to scream in panic.
Again, the ship cell began to make some gloomy noises under the heavy stress conditions.
»The squid has the Nebular in its grip! Our protective fields appear to have no effect,« reported Peshewa pale. »We’re slowing down, even though the drives are still working under full load!«
»The squid is responsible for the deceleration,« Ultimus interpreted the incoming data. »The dark energy paralyzes our ship’s functions and with its tentacles, it holds on to us so that we can’t escape. An extremely bizarre and unexpected attack.«
»I have a guess about the dark matter cloud!« Strovol called out. »So far, it’s just a theory, though.«
»Let’s hear it,« Takahashi urged Strovol, who immediately replied, »It could be an unknown form of tachyon wind, perhaps even a corresponding anti-tachyon wind manifesta
tion.«
»Such as matter versus anti-matter?« Peshewa asked.
»Comparatively speaking, yes,« confirmed Strovol. »While the tachyon wind, as we know it, gets carried away during re-entry into normal space and immediately transforms and evaporates into high-energy photons, it seems that it works the other way around with this dark energy. This energy does not evaporate, but develops an affinity for other forms of energy, which it absorbs and compensates for. It presumably will disappear when a certain saturation level has occurred. This medium appears black because it absorbs any photon energy. It adheres to our ship because it’s hungry for our energy. It sucks it up and counteracts it.«
»An unusual way to prevent a spacecraft from escaping,« Takahashi hissed.
»Obviously, a very effective one,« Ultimus added bitterly. »We’re practically defenseless.«
✭
»Lot of systems have ceased functioning on board,« Twinkle reported with trembling whiskers. The excitement was written all over his fur. All of his hair was standing up as if electrically charged. »The motion sensors are, however, still sending signals and report the approach of many objects that seem to come from the squid.«
»Mini-squids,« Takahashi hissed between his teeth. »Our unknown opponents are sending a boarding party!«
Takahashi immediately initiated that invasion alarm. All crew members were armed according to a special alert plan to secure key sections of the cruiser. The crew was getting ready to fight any intruder.
»If necessary, we must defend the ship,« Takahashi commanded. »Once they’ve actually boarded the ship, we have no chance.«
The security officer opened the weapons vault of the command central and handed out deadly plasma weapons. Normally, carrying of arms in the command central was prohibited. Excluded were only authorized security personnel. The Nebular was not a warship, but a research cruiser.
Our mission is to research, not to settle any conflicts by force, thought Takahashi. But whoever commands the foreign ship is forcing us to act.
»Boarding … is, nevertheless, still better than … atomizing …« a weak voice sounded from the central airlock. Sweeney was leaning against the airlock frame for a moment before he staggered into the command central, followed by two protesting doctors. The Navigator threw Peshewa an indefinable look, then he slumped wearily into his pilot seat.
Sweeney looked horrible. His eyes flickered.
»Commander … I won’t let you down now … just because I feel a little … indisposed. These quacks have given me something that got me on my feet again. They still want me to stay in bed. Can you believe that?«
Takahashi nodded worriedly.
»Are you sure?« he asked Sweeney.
Sweeney pushed the doctors away who were still trying to take him back to sickbay.
»I’m fine … enough! I was told to have received numerous head wounds, which have healed in the meantime. I didn’t expect to heal that quickly. Do I have to thank you for that, Sir?«
Takahashi nodded and blinked at Sweeney.
»I can’t do without you.«
Sweeney laughed harshly and said with a hoarse voice, »I was on board the squid, in a very strange room. I have seen strange things … we’re definitely dealing with a very angry being.«
»Only one?« asked Ultimus stunned. »Have you spoken with the commander or leader of these strangers? Currently, more than a hundred beings are on the way to us.«
»No beings. He called them executors!« Sweeney said exhaustedly with a muted voice.
»Organic-technological robots who obey all his commands!«
»You’re sure about that?« Peshewa asked, wondering again how Sweeney looked at her. »Why are you staring at me?«
»I had a close encounter on board and I’m still a little confused,« said Sweeney not replying to her question. Then he said quietly, »Yes, I’m absolutely sure. I’ve seen only a single being – it called itself the Guardian of the Continuum«.
»What does that mean?« Ruby asked, his holo appearing next to Sweeney.
»How should I know?« Sweeney replied. »I’m happy that I survived the guardian’s tortures.«
»The GCC data banks don’t contain any information about these beings. Their title is unknown to us,« proclaimed Ruby. »This seems to be a first contact.«
»I’m not so sure about that,« Sweeney contradicted weakly. »He did not know the position of our solar system, but gave the impression that he knew Humanity.«
»Mr. Sweeney, tell me, what exactly happened on the other ship …?«
An alarm sounded and interrupted Takahashi. He listened to the rhythm. He knew this wailing alarm well.
The integrity of the hull was breached. The simply cut a hole into the hull and penetrate my ship, thought Takahashi.
Before Takahashi could instruct his team to intercept the supposed opponents, the central display shone suddenly in bright light. An enormous light source must have appeared in the ship’s vicinity, consuming the dark, which still enveloped the Nebular.
»The darkness gives way to light!« oracled Strovol.
In fact, the crew was able to observe how the ink-black energy faded rapidly in the light of the artificial sun.
Hundreds of executors, who had set out to penetrate the hull, fled in panic to their mother ship and flowed, like a startled flock of birds, toward the narrow, glowing hangars. The squid detached its tentacles and, within a few seconds, retreated to take a faraway position to the Nebular.
»A large unit has left the tachyon continuum, barely one light-second away from us,« said Peshewa with a cracked voice. »The ship carries a GCC signature. It’s the Atlantika, Vasina’s flagship!«
Again, the space around the Nebular flared up as dozens of small ships materialized, which Ruby identified as Krolakan and Neo-Sapien units. Immediately, the small fleet surrounded the Nebular to protect the ship.
Takahashi held his breath and then said relieved, »I have no clue or idea how this is possible, but I’m grateful for every miracle.«
»This intimidated the squid,« Sweeney confirmed exhausted. »But he doesn’t flee and remains in the same space sector. He just retreated.«
»We got hailed by the Atlantika!« Enola Peshewa announced and switched the link to the main holo.
Vasina’s large likeness was hovering in the middle of the command central and seemed to look down on Takahashi. The Atlantika’s command central was bathed in dark blue light, a sign of combat readiness. The golden eyes of the Progonaut Queen shone like two stars, when she asked relieved, »I hope all is well at you end? We probably came at the right time.«
Fascinated, Takahashi looked at her.
»To be precise, at the right second. The crew of the Nebular says thanks! These squids almost entered our ship.«
»The squid ship is still near and seems to be waiting. The enemy appears to be undecided. Distance to the squid is about 450,000 kilometers, within reach of our guns. Shall we fight the enemy?« Rak’Fler asked, exposing his teeth while observing the scanner displays. The Krolakan ships had positioned themselves to form a typical attack pattern.
»A fight is not necessary. Everything will end well if we wait. No one can say what will happen next if we fired the first shot,« said Vasina. »The alien ship will soon switch to FTL mode and leave this sector.«
Takahashi squinted.
»How do you know that, Vasina?«
Vasina’s eyes looked serious. Suddenly, Vasina held a small memory cube in her hand.
»Takahashi, we need to talk! I come on board with my shield-bearer!«
Takahashi nodded silently.
Well, let’s find out what comes next.
Information about the future
Horatio Takahashi and Art Ultimus received the former Progonaut ruler in the portal room. Directly behind her followed a Progonaut warrior with a golden shield, accompanied by a Neo-Sapien, whose alert eyes looked around probingly.
Silently Takahashi and Ultimus led thei
r guests to a nearby conference room. As the doors closed behind them, Vasina insured again whether they were truly alone, then she introduced her companions.
»This is Ambassador Herimos from the planet Equinox and my shield-bearer Tranos of Atlantika.«
»Welcome aboard the Nebular,« Takahashi greeted them formally. He took a relieved breath and said, »You can’t imagine how much we’re happy to see you. The squid spaceship has really left the system in the meantime. How could you foresee that?«
Herimos showed his yellow teeth. The Neo-Sapien seemed to smile.
Vasina gave him a quick look and also smiled.
»We couldn’t foresee this, Commander.«
»But someone else did?« Ultimus asked astutely.
»I think, you already know the answer,« Herimos said in a deep voice, nodding at the HOT specialist.
Takahashi drew his conclusions and said, »Toiber Arkroid?«
Herimos grunted approvingly.
»Even to an expert on temporal anomalies like me, these circumstances are scary. Our old comrade, to which we, unfortunately, have no contact, appears to be in a dilemma. He risked a glance into the future and is now a part of it.«
»Arkroid used similar wording in his message to us,« Ultimus said. »But we don’t know how to understand this statement.«
»We’re far from being able to understand Arkroid’s thoughts or understand what it exactly means to look into the future,« Herimos admitted.
»The fact is, nothing had happened by chance since you left Earth,« Vasina came straight to the point. She didn’t want to beat around the bush. »We only know part of the story; the rest we hope to hear from you. That’s why we’re here.«
»A small part of the relationships will, nevertheless, remain in the dark due to the temporal blur, until the true future reveals itself in its entirety,« Herimos oracled.
»I don’t understand a word,« said Takahashi, looking at Ultimus, who had become very thoughtful. »Allow me, as your host, to ask the first question, before we begin to exchange our information.«
Vasina nodded.
NEBULAR Collection 7 - Guardians of the Continuum: Episodes 31 - 34 Page 12