by David Lund
Could it be possible that there were two different species? Or had they colonised two planets?
The other thing he noticed was that two ‘objects’ were approaching their position. They could be ships. The two objects were of different specifications, but both were releasing some kind of power source, and both were coming very fast.
“They can see us,” he whispered.
“What?” Isobel said sharply. She stood and went over to the other console, the one that hadn’t burned in the fire. She saw the same readings as James. “What do we do?” There was panic in her expression, something James could understand perfectly.
“Do we have any means of communication?” Isobel pressed a few keys and nodded. “Try and get a channel open to the lead vessel.”
Again, she pressed a few keys and nodded again. James cleared his throat.
“This is James Henderson from Earth, we are looking for our friends who are lost in your system. If you can understand, please respond.” There was crackle and voice erupted back through the speakers.
“Your humans are dead, you have no right to be here, you will be destroyed. There is no point in fighting, you are no match for us.” The connection cut out. James turned back to Isobel, dread filling his aching body.
“Why can they see us? What’s wrong with our sensor blocker?”
“Nothing as far as I can tell,” she replied, her voice trembling. “Maybe they detected the wormhole, but can’t see us?” she mumbled.
“We can’t take that chance, try to get us some propulsion.” He pressed a comm button. “All hands, this is James Henderson. There is a ship approaching, prepare for battle.” He glanced at the sensors and saw that the ship was now only two kilometres away. It would be here within seconds. The other ship was a couple of minutes behind.
“Mr Henderson, there is a communication coming in!” cried Isobel. “It’s from the other vessel.”
“Let’s here it.” A different voice, which sounded somewhat female, flowed through the bridge this time.
“Earth ship, we are sending you coordinates, go there as fast as your vessel will allow, you will be safe.” The connection cut and before James could say anything they were blasted by the first ship.
Panels exploded around the bridge and James ducked for cover as everything shook around him. He felt like he was in an earthquake. He got up quickly and ran over to the comm.
“Engine room!” he bellowed. “We need power, now!” There was no answer but the ship began to vibrate, and over the noise of the sparks coming from the exploded panels, he heard the gentle hum
of the engines. He grabbed John’s thankfully unscathed station, and brought up the piloting information. The coordinates from the alien vessel had been sent directly to their main computer.
James didn’t know why he should trust the second aliens, but the fact they hadn’t told them they were about to be destroyed made him choose to listen to them rather than the others. He entered the coordinates and locked them in. The ship began to move slowly forwards. On the sensors, he saw the second ship firing some kind of beam at the first, obviously buying them some time. They seemed locked in battle for now, and this allowed them to crawl away, slowly.
John chose this moment to stir, Isobel ran towards him as he got up gingerly. He shook his head a couple of times and looked around the room and saw Tim lying on the floor. He got up quickly and ran over to him, saw there was no saving him and turned to James.
“What… What happened?” his voice seemed deflated.
“You made a mistake in your calculations,” he replied coldly. “But now isn’t the time, we’re being attacked.”
“What?” He approached James and looked at the sensors. “How-? We need to fight back.”
“No, one of them is helping us.”
“NO!” John shouted. He grabbed at the comm. “This is Captain John Hank, prepare all weapons, aim for both enemy ships and fire at will.”
“John, what the hell are you doing? They are trying to save us.”
“And we don’t need help from scum like them!” James saw bullets fly from within the belly of the ship and hurl towards the alien vessels.
“You are an idiot John, look at the facts before shooting. Look, two planets! Two civilisations.
Maybe one of them wants to help.”
“NO!” John’s face had turned beetroot red. “I will not let them get away with it.” They watched as the bullets hit the other vessel without causing any damage. John pressed the comm again. “Ready nuclear missiles!” he shouted.
“John, what the -”
“They took my father! They stole him from me, and they are going to pay for it!” he snarled. James sat down, shaking his head.
“So this about revenge.”
“Damn right it is!”
“You are making a mistake!” He pounded his fist against the chair.
John ignored him. His finger was poised over the comm button. He was shaking, but with anger, fear or both, James did not know.
“John,” he pleaded. “Don’t do this.” Again he didn’t answer.
Isobel, who hadn’t said anything up to this point, approached her superior.
“Captain,” she said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. Mr Henderson is right, please, listen to him.”
A beeping sound informed them that one of the ships was trying to contact them. James pressed the button himself.
“Earth, vessel. Why are you firing at us? We are tying to help you.”
“See?” James said. “John, we are no match for them. If you fire those missiles, it is more likely we will be the ones who are destroyed.”
“I can’t let them get away with it,” Tears were falling silently down his cheeks now.
“Then punish the ones who did it,” James said firmly. “These people are trying to help us. We need to listen to them.”
John removed his finger from above the comm button and sat in his chair. James breathed a sigh of relief and went to answer the transmission, but before he could do so, an orange ball lit up the view screen, and looking down at the sensors, he saw that their would be helpers had just been destroyed.
31
Michael and the others were stationed a few kilometres away from the giant underwater station debating how they were going to get past all the submarines that surrounded the place. They had been talking about it for nearly half an hour and still had not come close to a way of doing it. The problem was that the longer they stayed where they were, the more chance there was of them being detected.
A forceful entry was out of the question, as they were hugely outnumbered. The only way they could think of was to sneak in. But how could they sneak past so many enemy ships without being seen? Obviously, they had the Friiist vessel, which could work to their advantage, but surely the people in the station would now know about the stolen submarine. They would easily be recognised and questioned.
Videem believed there was a chance the message had not been relayed and that they could use the ship anyway, but Michael was reluctant. They could not leave even the slightest thing to chance, or they would surely die a horrible and painful death. Videem argued that the longer they waited, the more chance there was of the station being informed, and while Michael knew this to be true, he still couldn’t shake the feeling that it was the wrong decision. On the Henfor ship, Gareen agreed with Videem. Michael seemed to be outvoted, and as he couldn’t think of a better plan, and Lindsey, Caitlin, Jal, Jean and Frank had no other ideas to offer up either, so he had to comply with the Henfor.
They docked with each other and the crew from the Henfor vessel came on board. Although the Friiist vessel was slightly bigger and more roomy than the Henfor one, it was still a tight fit.
Michael was worried the station would scan their ship and see a ship meant for five hold eight people, but Gareen waved away his concerns, stating that it was unlikely. Again, Michael felt the Henfor left a lot to chance.
They sailed briskly
towards the structure. As it loomed closer, Michael thought it looked even bigger and surreal than it did from a distance. It was a block, made of dark stone. It looked thousands of years old. Green weeds stuck to the stone, and it felt eerie, and strangely abandoned, despite the fact that hundreds of vessel surrounded it.
To Michael’s relief, nobody challenged them as they entered the vicinity of the ships, and as they got closer, they understood why. The ships were empty, most of them derelict. They scanned them as they passed, and not one of them was emitting a power signature.
“Well, this makes things easier,” Caitlin said, obvious relief in her voice.
They proceeded cautiously and found a docking port. There was no one about, and they managed to dock without any trouble. As they powered down the ship, they all stood, getting ready to exit
and face the dreadful cold which would soon be upon them.
“I think Videem and myself should stay with the ship,” Gareen said. “We cannot stand such cold.
We wouldn’t last five minutes.” Michael glanced at Videem and smirked at the look of relief on his dark face.
“Sure. It doesn’t make sense for all of us to go anyway. Frank, Jean, and Lindsey you stay too.
Caitlin, Jal you come with me.” The other three looked relieved too. Michael had purposely chosen his two best shooters, he had a feeling he would need them.
They each grabbed their electronic guns and headed for the hatch. As Videem opened it, a blast of fierce cold gripped them, filtering its way into every bit of bare skin. The two women and Michael shivered violently. Videem closed the hatch before they had time to exit.
“You can’t go out like that.”
As it was nice and toasty inside the craft, the others stripped off most of their clothes and handed them to the three who were going outside. Hopefully that would keep some of the cold out. Once they were snugly dressed, Videem opened up the hatch again. It felt as cold as ever to Michael, and he made his way forwards, the two women on his heels. They exited into a small corridor, made from the same stone as the exterior. All three of them had their weapons out, ready to shoot a stun bolt of electricity if they saw anyone. For the moment, though, the corridor was, mercifully, empty.
They soon reached a T junction. Michael paused at the intersection and peered around the corner.
The coast was clear and he nodded to the other two, instinctively heading along the right corridor.
After about a minute, they reached a door. Michael stopped and put an ear to it while attempting to stop his teeth from clattering. He could here nothing inside and decided to try and open it.
It was not locked and the door swung open, the hinges groaning as if they hadn’t been used for a long time. As they entered, Michael thought he agreed with the hinges. The office looked like it had been abandoned aeons ago. It was almost bare. The only things inside were an empty desk, which was chipped and had stains on it, and a chair that was missing a leg. Michael approached the desk and saw two drawers, both open and empty. After a quick glance around the room, he decided there was nothing of interest.
But what was this place? It seemed to be completely void of people. It seemed increasingly unlikely that their people were here. Surely it would have been much better guarded if they were.
The underwater station they had encountered nearer the surface was much better kept. Had this old building been left to rot, in favour of the newer ones at the surface? Michael felt dizzy with dread as he thought this. Had they really come down here for nothing?
He exited the room, Caitlin and Jal right behind him. They continued on down the corridor, passing three more completely empty rooms. They all seemed to be old offices, but there was nothing left in any of them. Michael’s suspicion that the whole place was empty was growing
stronger every second. But, just as he was about to suggest they turn back, they heard voices, further down the corridor. They stopped and Michael raised a finger to his lips, trying to listen to what the voices were saying. But even though they were far away, he realised it was pointless. They had not brought a translator along with them. Michael silently cursed himself for not thinking of it.
The voices were coming from the end of the corridor, whether from a room or the corridor itself, they could not tell. They crept forwards, with their weapons at the ready, trying to be as quiet as possible. As they got nearer, Michael thought he could make out two separate voices. One seemed to be deeper than the other. They realised the corridor opened up onto a vast room, so dimly lit that they hadn’t noticed it before. When they reached the end of the corridor, they leaned against the wall in a line, and Michael peered round.
He had been mistaken. There were five Friiist standing in the room. They were in a circle, and seemed to be discussing something. They were all armed: the electronic guns in holsters by their sides. The room itself was like a large hall. On the walls hung some sort of green blue drapes with a cross, done in a lighter shade of blue. There were several doors leading off this hall. Some of them had symbols on them, probably Friiist writing.
Michael turned to the girls and explained what they were facing in a hushed whisper. They had to be quick and take them out before they could react. Michael closed his eyes briefly, then nodded to the women. They ran forwards, weapons held high and Michael fired the first shot, hitting one of them squarely in the chest, and he fell to the floor. Jal had fired just after Michael and hit another one, but the three others had ran for cover, and Caitlin’s shot missed, hitting the stone behind them.
There was a large table on the far side of the room, and the three remaining Friiist tipped it onto its side and hid behind it. The humans had no cover and retreated into the corridor. Michael lay on the floor and fired a shot at the table. There was a crack sound as it hit but it didn’t cause any damage. A shot from the Friiist hit the wall above them, and bits of stone fell down on top of them.
They were shooting to kill.
“Increase the power,” he yelled to his crew, as he did so on his own gun. Jal fired a shot at the table, creating a hole. Michael and Caitlin fired at the same time and the table was blasted apart.
The Friiist screamed loudly and shot back. One of the electric beams missed Jal by inches. Caitlin, rolled forwards, took a rapid shot, which hit one of them, who fell to the ground, dead. Then she rolled sideways and fired another shot, killing another one. The only Friiist left standing stopped and raised his hands. Michael, Jal and Caitlin all had their guns trained on him.
“Drop your gun,” Michael ordered, gesturing to him at the same time, so he would understand. The Friiist lowered his gun to waist level and fired a quick shot. Michael fired straight away, finishing him off. But he heard a cry and looked sideways. Caitlin and Jal were both on the floor, Jal holding her first officer in her arms. Michael ran to their side. Caitlin looked at him briefly, then down at her
stomach, where there was a large burn. She shuddered violently for a second and than the life went out of her.
Caitlin was dead.
32
There was no other way now, and James knew this. It was either destroy or be destroyed. When the Henfor ship had exploded, all hope had left him. Their ‘would be’ saviours had been completely disintegrated. The other ship was heading towards them again. James was standing there, his mouth open, staring at the screen, hoping it would show him something else, but it did not change. John was standing again now, and rested a hand and his shoulder.
“We have no choice,” he said softly.
His tears had stopped and he was once again in charge of his emotions, but James couldn’t be.
This was a disaster. They had intended to arrive stealthily into this part of the galaxy, but had been immediately intercepted by not one, but two alien ships. He had told John they weren’t prepared; he had told him it was a dangerous mission, and now he could not see how they were likely to survive.
Even if they did fire a nuclear missile, they were much too close and the blast
would probably nuke them along with the aliens. They were about to die either way, and they all knew it. James looked at John and nodded. The latter pressed the comm.
“Aim for the ship and fire.” There was a dull thud from within the gut of the sleek Earth ship as the missile left its launcher. John, James and Isobel watched its progression on the sensor screen.
For some strange reason, as he watched the missile that would most likely be the cause of his death, he thought of Alice Edwards. He was glad at least that he had not told her about trying to save her husband. After all, if these aliens were to be believed, he was already dead.
The missile made contact with the enemy ship and there was a huge explosion. The sky in front of them lit up with silent beauty. Seconds later, they felt the blast. Their ship shook hard and more panels were ripped from the walls as the hull buckled. James was blasted off his feet and fell hard onto the floor. He wasn’t knocked cold though and got up again, gripping his chair.
After several rocky seconds, things stabilized, and although the emergency lights had come on, and several fires had erupted around the bridge, they seemed to be all right. James grabbed the fire extinguisher again and with some help from John, put out all of the fires. John then pressed the comm button again, but it wasn’t working.
“I want a full report,” he barked at James and Isobel. He glanced a Tim’s lifeless body. “I want to know how may people we’ve lost.”
*
They did a deck by deck survey of all casualties and ships systems. The results were not good.
Nine people were dead, their communications were down, and half of the ships’ systems were gone.
There was a silver lining however: their engines were, by some miracle, still working, but at only ten percent of their capacity. Nevertheless, they decided to continue en route to the coordinates sent to them by the aliens. After making some calculations Isobel estimated that it would take them three days to make the journey.