“It really doesn’t matter,” replied her father. ““We’ll go to the right and see where it takes us.”
Just as the three of them started to move out Amanda heard something in the distance. She thought she saw a shadowy figure up ahead. “Hello,” she yelled. “Is anyone there?”
“Amanda Williamson,” replied a familiar voice. “You have awakened.”
“Kyron,” said Amanda. “You sure are a sight for sore eyes.”
“Have you been injured?” asked Kyron.
“No,” said Amanda. “Well, I was sick to my stomach. But other than that, we’re all fine. Why do you ask?”
Kyron had a quizzical look on her face. “Did you not say your eyes were sore, Amanda Williamson?”
Amanda, her father, and Commodore Laurent broke into laughter. Amanda looked up at Kyron. “It’s just a saying we use when we’re worried about someone. When we awoke, you were nowhere to be found. I was concerned for your well being.”
“Your species certainly has an odd way of communication,” said Kyron. “When we arrived here, I was conscious. You, along with your father and Commodore Laurent, were passed out on the floor. I could see that you were breathing, however my attempts to awaken you failed, so I took it upon myself to do some reconnaissance.”
“Did you find anything?” asked Admiral Williamson.
“Not in the direction from whence I came,” said Kyron.
“Do you have any idea how long we were unconscious?” asked Commodore Laurent.
“We have been here for about twelve of your hours,” said Kyron. “I spent the first few hours waiting to see if any of you would regain consciousness. When none of you did, I took it upon myself to try and find a way out.”
“Well,” said the admiral, “if you found nothing in that direction, it would make sense to go the opposite way.”
They all nodded in agreement and proceeded to move out. They walked for hours in complete darkness with only the light from their sliders to see by. On several occasions Amanda’s father attempted to use his communications device. Every time ended with the same results: nothing but static.
Amanda stopped and turned to her father. “I think we should take a short break. Maybe eat some rations as well.”
She noticed he was looking past her. “I don’t think so,” he said.
“Why is that?”
“Two reasons,” replied her father. “Reason one, we need to save our limited rations for when they are of necessity only.”
“And the second reason?” she asked.
“Turn around and see for yourself,” he said.
Turning around, Amanda gasped. A path appeared as she watched.
“Look,” said Commodore Laurent. “The amulet is starting to pulsate.”
“We must hurry,” said Kyron. “Follow the pathway.”
Amanda followed the illuminated pathway with her father, Kyron, and Commodore Laurent at her side. After about an hour the entire area lit up. In front of them was an enormous wall as far as they could see. It appeared to be made of some sort of metal.
“What now?” said Amanda. “All I can see is a wall in front of us. What do we do?”
As if on cue, a small opening appeared in the structure. A golden light was pulsating from it. The opening started to take shape. Immediately both Amanda and Kyron recognized it.
“The amulet?” said Amanda. The shape of the opening—it’s the same as the amulet.”
“Come, Amanda Williamson,” said Kyron. “Bring it to the opening.”
Amanda moved slowly towards the enormous wall with Kyron walking alongside her. As they reached the wall Amanda removed the amulet from her neck and placed it in the opening.
At first nothing happened. Then, after about thirty seconds, the entire wall started to rumble. Amanda and Kyron backed up. A seam appeared in the wall and it opened. A cavernous room appeared, then the room started to light up. They could see equipment, and what appeared to be partitions.
“This has got to be what we are looking for,” said Amanda.
Kyron fell to her knees and said a prayer.
The doors stopped moving. Amanda took the amulet from the opening and placed it back around her neck. The massive doors started to close again.
“Come on,” said Amanda. “Let’s go.”
As they entered the enormous room, lighting illuminated it as far as their eyes could see. There was equipment that was obviously alien in nature as well as numerous types of what appeared to be scientific workstations. This was also some type of alien laboratory.
Amanda pointed ahead. In the far distance, barely visible to the naked eye, was what appeared to be a large walled-off area. She took out her binoculars to get a closer look. It was hard to tell just how far away it was, as the room was endless, but it appeared to be many miles in the distance. “Hopefully what we are looking for is behind those walls,” said Amanda. “And from the looks of it, we have a long journey to get there.”
“I’ll say,” said her father. “At the very least, twenty to forty miles.”
“Now I know why we did all that hiking in training,” she said.
“That’s great for you,” said Commodore Laurent. “I graduated twenty-two years ago and have been working in research and development since. The longest walk I’ve made is to the mess hall and back.”
Amanda laughed, as did the others with the exception of Kyron. She was still looking ahead in the distance.
“Let’s get going,” said Amanda. “Time is precious and we can’t afford to waste another minute.”
As they started walking, Amanda prayed that their journey was almost over and the Ship of the Gods was waiting for them. If not, everything that Amanda cared for as well as billions of lives would soon cease to exist.
Ryan continued to run all the scenarios through his mind. As hard as he tried, it was almost impossible to remain calm. Between headquarters losing contact with the fleet and Amanda and her team disappearing without a trace, it took every ounce of strength he could muster to maintain control. He could also feel the tension building within his crew and he knew that most of it was due to his temperament.
It had been three days since they had left the Sol system, and since they were maintaining radio silence he hadn’t heard anything from command. Not that he expected to, as according to protocols radio silence would be maintained unless new information was received.
“Jill,” he said, “tell Paul to meet me in briefing room A in ten minutes.”
“Aye, sir.”
Ryan walked over to Tanner. “Come with me. It’s time to discuss our next move.”
“You got it,” said Tanner.
“Jill,” said Ryan, “you’ve got the con. Unless it is absolutely imperative, I do not want to be bothered.”
“Understood, sir,” said Jill. She got up from her post and made her way to the center chair. Ryan could sense the anxiety amongst rest of the bridge crew as he and Tanner made their way out and headed towards the briefing area.
When they entered the room Paul was already waiting for them. Ryan could see he had the 3D simulator set up and ready to go.
“So,” said Ryan, “what’s the prognosis?”
“Hello to you as well,” said Paul. “Honestly, when you told me about your crazy idea I was sure it was Tanner who had come up with it.”
“Which is why I love this idea,” said Tanner. “Honestly, I’m surprised I didn’t think of it first.”
“That’s enough, guys,” said Ryan. “Let’s stick to the point. The most important question, Paul, is do you think it could work?”
“There are a few scenarios,” said Paul. “And honestly, the truth is unknown. Let me run the different possibilities by you.” Ryan watched the simulator intently as Paul ran the first sequence. “As you can see, in the first simulation, the explosion gathers speed and strength through the wormhole causing a devastating force as it exits to the other side. This would be the best of the possible outcomes.”
“That looks impressive,” said Tanner.
“Yes, it does” said Paul. “Now let’s watch the next possible outcome.”
Ryan and Tanner watched as the second scenario played out. This time there was no explosion at all. “What happened?” asked Ryan.
“That’s a very good question,” said Paul. “Since we really don’t understand how a nuclear device would react inside a wormhole, there is a chance that it might not detonate at all.”
The next possible outcome was even more disturbing. “As you can see in our third scenario, the force of the explosion reverses and comes back out towards our side of the wormhole obliterating our fleet,” said Paul.
“I don’t like that one at all,” said Tanner.
“Is that all the possibilities?” asked Ryan.
“No,” said Paul. “There is one more, though it was the least possible according to all the data. But there is also a small chance the explosion could disrupt the wormhole and either cause it to collapse or cause a ripple effect and enlarge the wormhole.”
Ryan took a deep breath. “So we have no idea what will happen if we fire the nukes and detonate them inside the wormhole.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” said Paul. “There is only one scenario that would be disastrous. That would be the one where the force of the explosion reverses. Of course there is the other undesirable possibility that the wormhole would collapse. If that happened it would stop the invasion, as well as trap any ships on the other side.”
“Neither of those two outcomes would be favorable,” said Ryan.
“It’s not like we have a whole lot of choices,” said Tanner. “Either we try our crazy plan and it works, or we do nothing and hope and pray that Amanda finds the so-called Ship of the Gods before the Karang get to Earth.”
“Have we heard anything from command about Amanda?” asked Paul.
Ryan shook his head. “Nothing at all. Amanda and her team are still MIA.”
“That’s not very promising,” said Paul.
“No, it’s not,” said Ryan. “We still have one more day until we reach the wormhole. I’ll decide on what to do as the situation plays out. In the mean—”
Ryan was cut short by Jill calling him. “Sir,” she said. “Rawlings just picked up one of the fleet’s ships on our long-range sensors.”
“What ship?” asked Ryan.
“It’s the Nakhimov, commanded by Captain Bryzlov,” said Jill. “It appears to be heading our way.”
“Have you contacted them?” asked Ryan.
“That’s the first thing I tried to do,” said Jill. “Unfortunately they have not responded.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” said Ryan. “I’m on my way back to the bridge. Just to be on the safe side, have all crew go to battle stations.”
“Aye, sir,” replied Jill.
“Paul,” said Ryan. “Get back to engineering. I’ll contact you as soon as I know what’s going on.”
“You got it, Captain,” said Paul.
“Come on, Tanner,” said Ryan. “Let’s get back to the bridge.”
The three of them left the briefing room. Paul headed down to the engine room while Ryan and Tanner made their way to the bridge.
“So tell me, Ry,” said Tanner, “what gives with a single ship from the fleet coming back towards Earth and not answering our attempts to contact them?”
“That’s a damn good question,” said Ryan. “Honestly I don’t have a clue. I don’t find it very reassuring that a single ship is coming back when originally sixty ships started the mission.”
“When you put it that way, it kind of freaks me out as well,” said Tanner.
Ryan didn’t answer. In fact he quickened his pace to get back to the bridge. Unfortunately, he had to admit, he had the same grave misgivings about the situation.
Admiral Thompson went over the details of the planned offensive against their enemy. Fewer than twelve hours remained until they’d return to the Dyson Wormhole. Hopefully the Karang were still battling the Altarrans. Otherwise they would have to make a hasty retreat. He would have his answer to that question when they neared the observation drones they had left behind after the battle at Altarra. The fact that they had not run into the Karang fleet was a good sign. It meant that the enemy was most likely still engaged with the Altarrans.
“Admiral,” said Barnes. “I have Supreme Commander Granthaxe on the com.”
“Put him on the main screen,” Ms. Barnes.
“Aye, sir. Putting him through now.”
“Supreme Commander,” said Thompson. “Do you have any questions concerning our upcoming plan of attack?”
“None,” boomed Granthaxe. “If the gods are smiling upon us, we will catch the Karang by surprise.”
“Hopefully you are correct. We could certainly use a few more breaks,” said Thompson.
“The only thing I wish to see break would be the spines and necks of the vermin Karang.”
Thompson started to laugh. In fact the entire bridge broke into laughter and he had to admit to himself that it felt good to release some tension. He was beginning to wonder if Granthaxe actually knew what he was doing, as this wasn’t the first time his words had lightened the mood. “Of that I have no doubt, Supreme Commander,” he said. “Just a quick note. You really need to learn not to take everything we say so literally.”
“How else am I to take what you say, Fleet Admiral Benjamin Thompson?” asked Granthaxe.
“In time, I’m sure you will learn many of our odd sayings.”
“Let us pray that we both live to see your words come to pass,” he replied. “Or, as your species would say, from your mouth to God’s ears.”
“Well said, Supreme Commander. Now, let’s get our plan in order. I am forwarding a schematic showing how we will arrange what’s left of our combined fleets to attack the Karang as they exit the wormhole. As you can see, we will form a semicircle near the exit. This will allow us to combine our weapons fire on each group of enemy vessels when they come through. Also, we will stagger our positioning so we do not give them an easy target.” He paused for a moment to allow Granthaxe to digest the information. “Take a few moments to look it over and if you have any suggestions let me know.”
“I shall do that, Admiral Benjamin Thompson,” said Granthaxe. “Give me thirty of your minutes and I will contact you. I must say, your species certainly comes up with many interesting ways to do battle. Our kind are very direct and simple. We just go right after our prey. But when one is severely outnumbered such as we are, your ways are much more effective.”
“Thank you, Supreme Commander,” replied Thompson. “I look forward to your thoughts. Thompson out.”
Thompson motioned for Barnes to sever communications. He sat back and ran the scenario over and over in his head. He figured they’d have the upper hand for about the first fifty to seventy-five Karang ships as they exited the wormhole. After that the sheer number of the enemy would overwhelm them. If they were extremely lucky, they could whittle down the Karang Armanda to about one hundred to one hundred and fifty ships. And maybe, if they were really lucky, ten to twenty of their ships would survive and retreat back to Earth for a final stand.
“Sir,” said Lieutenant Barnes, “we will be in range of the observation drones in two minutes.”
“Thank you, Ms. Barnes,” said Thompson. “Have all ships go to battle stations as a precaution. If the Karang have already entered the wormhole we will need to make a hasty retreat.”
“Yes, sir. Informing all ships to go to battle stations now, Admiral.”
Thompson could see the eyes of his crew looking towards the main view screen. Within the next few seconds they would be in range to pick up any visuals as well as any messages from the Altarran home world concerning the status of the battle. Had they not lost their long-range communications they would have had their answers. Unfortunately, if the Karang had already made their way through the wormhole, their entire plan would fail.
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br /> “Coming into range of the observation drones now, Admiral,” said Barnes. “Information is being downloaded into the computers now. Placing on visual in three, two, one . . .”
Thompson watched the screen intently for any alerts or visuals of the enemy fleet. The seconds seemed like an eternity. Then, to everyone’s relief, the all-clear signal appeared on the screen. That meant that the Karang armada was at least twelve hours away from the entrance to the Dyson Wormhole.
“How long until we are in range to receive updates from the Altarran military?” asked Thompson.
“I am uploading all encoded communications now, sir,” said Barnes. “I will have audio within the next minute or two.”
“Let me know the instant you have it ready for playback,” said Thompson. Turning to his helmsman he said, “Mister Romano, how long until we reach our destination?”
“We will be at the entrance of the wormhole in ten hours, Admiral,” said Romano.
“Admiral,” said Barnes. “I have an encoded message sent from Commander Voraxe of the Altarran ground forces.”
“Put us through, Ms. Barnes.”
“Aye, sir,” she replied.
“This is Commander Voraxe of the Altarran ground forces. Unfortunately after days of fierce battles, our planetary defense systems have been destroyed and the enemy ground forces exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand troops have landed and have taken more than three-quarters of the planet. The Karang fleet left orbit and are less than two of your days from the entrance of the corridor to your galaxy. This will be our last broadcast, as we do not want our position compromised. Inform the queen that we have retreated to the twin peaks. We will make a final stand there as the passage is difficult to cross and we will take to the high ground. Let her know we will fight with honor, to the last breath of our last warrior.”
The com went silent. “That’s the end of the message,” said Barnes.
“Ms. Barnes,” said Thompson, “how long ago was that message sent? We need to calculate how much time we have before the Karang will reach the wormhole.”
Cadets: 2 The Ship of the Gods Page 13