by Rick Bentsen
Chapter 7
2.1.2136
2237
SLS White Knight
The Bridge
K’ALAN Bryce closed his eyes and tried to block out the bustle of activity going on around him. It had been a very long day for the young Duterian
After finally getting through to Elam, he’d held his son and let him cry on his shoulder until he’d fallen asleep like that. He’d carried the boy to his sister’s quarters and tucked him into bed. S’Era hadn’t said anything to him, but the smile on her face at seeing her brother with Elam told him volumes.
There was only one thing left for him to do before he could go find his own bed. He smiled to himself in anticipation of finally getting some sleep. His wife was on the mend and his son had finally accepted him. He knew he would sleep well this evening.
“Captain,” Kath called from the communications station. “Admiral Bonetti is on the line for you.”
“Put him through to my station, Lieutenant Commander,” K’Alan nodded.
The small monitor on his station flickered to life in short order. Admiral Bonetti’s face appeared on the monitor replacing the Star League logo.
“The Creighton has arrived, Captain,” the admiral said. “Permission to disembark.”
“Permission granted, Admiral,” K’Alan smiled at his friend. “Good journey to you, sir.”
“Good hunting to you, Captain Bryce,” the admiral returned the smile.
“Thank you, Admiral. Captain Bryce out.”
K’Alan reached over and flicked a switch, disengaging the monitor. The screen went back to the standard Star League logo. The captain stood and looked out over the bridge. His alpha shift crew was still on duty from earlier. They were the best crew he had, and it was only fitting that they were the ones that were on the bridge when they left Duterian space to head out on their mission.
“Orders, Captain?” Erin called from her station directly across the bridge from him. It felt weird to see someone else at what just yesterday was his station.
“Navigator, set course for the nearest jumpgate to Brentax space,” he ordered. He looked from the navigator to the pilot sitting next to her. “Prepare to engage maximum fusion drive.”
“Aye, Captain,” the navigator, Mara Silvermaine, reported as she made some calculations. “Course plotted and laid in.”
“Ready to engage maximum fusion drive on your mark, Captain,” the pilot, Tyla Barros, added.
“Good. Engage,” K’Alan ordered. He was pleased with how quickly the course had been laid in. His navigator and pilot worked well together. He would remember to keep this team together. “Navigator, ETA to jumpgate?”
“Just over 36 hours, Captain,” Mara said after checking her calulations. “The nearest jumpgate to the Brentax Empire is in the Proxima sector.”
“Understood,” K’Alan nodded. He flicked the shipcall button on his station. “Delta watch to the bridge.” He looked out over the bridge. “Get some rest when Delta watch arrives, people. Mission briefing is at 0900 hours tomorrow morning.”
K’Alan was dreaming. At least he thought he was dreaming. He was floating in a void of blackness. There was a definite feeling of timelessness in the void. He was fascinated by the blackness around him. It felt like it was almost alive.
“Where am I?” he asked, although there was no one there to answer. Or at least no one he could see.
“You are in the midst of the fabric of time, my child,” a soft female voice called from the darkness.
“Who are you?”
“I am one who watches,” the woman’s voice said. She stepped out of the darkness in front of him. K’Alan looked her over, although he could not tell much. She was wearing long grey robes with a hood drawn up over her head. “There are some few of us. We watch, and we wait.”
“I don’t think I understand,” K’Alan frowned.
“No, I should imagine that you do not,” the woman chuckled. She pulled her hood back, revealing shoulder length jet black hair and eyes so dark they were almost black. “My name is Kiara. I have come to warn you.”
“Warn me?” K’Alan’s frown deepened. “I don’t understand. Warn me about what?”
“It is natural that you do not understand. You do not see the flow of time as we do. I have come to warn you not to follow your intended mission. It can only end in bloodshed.”
“I can’t abandon my mission,” he protested. “If I don’t continue the mission, this war will continue.”
“That is true,” Kiara nodded. “And this war cannot continue. I did not mean that you should abandon your mission. I meant that you should not go to Brentax III yourself.”
“Why?”
“I cannot answer that. But heed my warning, child.”
Kiara slowly started to fade back into the darkness of the void. K’Alan was left with more questions than he started with.
2.2.2136
03013
SLS White Knight
K’Alan Bryce’s quarters
K’Alan awoke with a start with Kiara’s words still ringing in his ears. Had he only imagined her? Or had he really somehow transported to that timeless, spaceless void? There was no way of knowing for sure.
He shook his head and flicked the switch for the lights. There was no one in his quarters. He hadn’t expected anyone to be there, though.
“Probably just nerves,” he muttered to himself. “Too much happened today. Probably, it’s nothing to worry about.”
He walked over to his personal bar and made some tea to calm himself. When he finished the tea, he put himself back to bed. He did not go back to the void and slept the rest of the night in a fitful peace.
2.2.2136
0847
SLS White Knight
Main Conference Room
K’Alan sat in the conference room by himself with his eyes closed. He was waiting for his command staff, but he had gotten there early so he could have some time to himself.
He could not get the memory of the dream of the void out of his head. There was something that kept nagging at him, but he could not figure out what it was that was bothering him.
“Sleep OK, Kal?” Mario asked him as he walked into the conference room. There was something annoying about how cheerful Mario was first thing in the morning.
“No,” the captain said, opening his eyes. “But I will be all right.” He took a sip of the coffee in front of him and forced a smile. “How did you sleep?”
“Like a rock, as usual,” Mario flashed his insufferable grin.
“Don’t make me throw this coffee at you,” K’Alan growled.
Mario laughed as he took his seat at the table. They waited as, one by one, the other members of the command staff slowly began filing into the conference room. Erin Sykes was the last one to arrive, and she sat next to K’Alan as was her right as executive officer.
“Before we begin, I would like to introduce our new executive officer, Commander Erin Sykes,” K’Alan began. He waved his hand at Erin as he introduced her. “I have known Commander Sykes a long time. She is a fine officer and will fit in well with this crew. She will be covering for me quite a bit on the bridge.”
“I’m glad to be a part of Gamma Strike,” Erin said, keeping her remarks as short and sweet as she tended to.
“Now, let’s get right down to the mission at hand,” K’Alan said as he stood and slid a disc into the wall display slot. “I’m not going to lie to you. Our first mission will not be an easy one. We are being sent into Brentax space to retrieve the Supreme Commander of the Brentax Empire, M’Bek Tarmos. For those that are unaware, this man was responsible for the destruction of the Duterian homeworld.”
“This sounds like a suicide mission, Captain,” Sarah Hodge piped in from her end of the table.
“We’re taking a small two man team to infiltrate the Brentax Empire, retrieve the Supreme Commander, and get out,” K’Alan continued as the viewscreen showed the essense of the plan.
“A two man team?” Erin looked hard at K’Alan. “That really is a suicide mission. Which two crazy people are being sent on this suicide mission?”
“We can’t afford to send anyone else. Mario and I will go in by ourselves,” the captain said.
“I have to protest as your executive officer,” Erin glared at him. “Your place is on the bridge.”
“I understand your concern, but this mission has been approved already,” K’Alan fired back. “I’m going. That’s final.”
“What makes you think you two will be successful?” Erin asked. “It’s a huge risk.”
“We did a lot of statistical analysis on the best way to accomplish the mission,” Mario said from his end of the table. “We ran permutation after permutation. By the end of all the simulations, we discovered that having K’Alan and I on this mission increased the chance of this mission being successful by fifty percent.”
“I still think it’s a bad idea,” Erin shrugged, but ended her protests.
“Commander Sykes will retain command of the White Knight while I am off ship,” K’Alan added. “I don’t anticipate any problems, although we all know problems can crop up.”
“Captain, we received the specs you forwarded to engineering on the way you want the shuttle prepared,” Sarah spoke up. “We’ll have to push engineering teams around the clock, but we can definitely have the shuttle ready by the time we reach Brentax space.”
“Good,” K’Alan nodded. “This concludes the mission briefing. Dismissed.”
K’Alan turned to remove the disc from the wall reader while his command staff filed out of the conference room. When he turned back around, only Mario was still there. The morale officer had not gotten up from the table. The normally affable young man looked serious. It struck K’Alan as and odd look for his friend. He could count on one hand the number of times he had seen such a look on Mario’s face. He thought there might be some fingers left over too.
“You know, K’Alan,” Mario began in a somber voice. “She might be right. This could well be a suicide mission.”
“You’re the one that ran the simulations, Mario,” K’Alan shrugged. “You know as well as I do that we are the best people for the job.”
“Just because I ran the numbers doesn’t mean I have to like it any,” Mario shook his head. Then, like someone had flicked a switch, the serious moment was over and the cocky, self-assured grin that K’Alan was used to was back. “By the way, Kal. Nice choice on the exec. She’s a real cutie.”
“I thought you were interested in my sister,” K’Alan glared daggers at his friend.
“Just because I have one target in mind doesn’t mean I can’t look at others!” Mario gasped in protest.
“Only you, Mario,” K’Alan rolled his eyes. “Only you.”
2.2.2136
1124
SLS White Knight
The Medbay
K’Alan Bryce slipped into K’Itea’s isoroom. She was sleeping soundly when he walked in. As it always did, the sight of his wife made his heart beat a little faster in his chest. One more time, the young man wondered how he could have gotten so lucky to land this beautiful woman to be his bondmate.
The customs of the Duterian people were important to them. And, in many ways, the most important was the bonding. It was the way that the Duterian people continued their species. It had come all the way through ancient times. No one fully understood exactly what happened during the bonding, but there was a connection between a bonded pair of Duterians through which they could feel where each other was when they were close. At longer distances, they could at least tell if their bondmate was still alive.
In the higher castes, such as the Karta and Serata castes, bonds were traditionally arranged by the parents. K’Alan and K’Itea’s bonding had been such an arrangement.
He could not imagine having been bonded to a better person.
K’Alan felt sorry for his sister, though. The man that their parents had chosen for her had been killed during the war. It was rare that a pair that had had their bonding arranged did not make it to the ceremony. When that happened, the survivor was free to bond with anyone of his or her choosing.
The problem was, there were few eligible Duterians of an appropriate caste for her to bond with. It was why Mario’s interest in S’Era had been so well received by her. There was a chance for happiness.
K’Alan was afraid she was going to get her heart broken by the handsome young human, though.
Smiling to himself, he shook off his musings about his sister, and made his way over to the bed. Leaning over, he barely pressed his lips to her forehead.
“Hey,” she opened her beautiful eyes. “When’d you come in?”
“A few minutes ago,” he admitted with a smile. “I couldn’t help but watch you sleeping. On my way in, Jewel said you can probably leave the medbay today, but that you’d have to take it easy for a few weeks.”
“Have you talked to Elam?” she asked. There was a trace of urgency in her voice.
“Yes, my love,” K’Alan nodded. “We’ve talked. He and I have come to something of an understanding.”
“Good. I hate to think that my son hates his father.”
“He’s still angry, but he’ll be all right,” K’Alan smiled. “We’ll all be all right.”
K’Itea nodded and smiled.
2.2.2136
1202
SLS White Knight
The Gym
Mario had the gym to himself when he stepped out on the mat. He slowly began going through his kata, allowing it to soothe him like it always did. He closed his hazel eyes as he slowly went through the motions, one move flowing into the next. The young colonel’s tall thin frame swept gracefully through the complicated moves that he had practiced so many times before, his long fingers cutting through the air as cleanly as if blades. His short black hair was plastered to his head with a light coating of sweat.
“Nice moves,” a female voice called out to him, almost causing him to miss a step. But only almost, as he had been expecting the visit.
Mario opened his eyes, and, as expected, he saw Erin Sykes standing there.
“Commander,” he nodded.
“Oh, don’t be so formal, Mario. We’re both off duty,” Erin laughed a little laugh. He decided that she looked even better when she was smiling. “Call me Erin.”
“Sure,” Mario grinned. “There something I can help you with, Erin?”
“I just thought we might talk for a little while, Mario.” She looked around for a place to sit, but with the gym set in dojo mode, there were nothing but mats on the floor.
“Sure,” Mario nodded as he picked up a towel and dried his face. “You have something specific on your mind, I would assume.”
“I want you to do me a favor,” she said to him, still trying to figure out where to sit.
“What’s that?”
“Make sure nothing happens to the Captain on this mission.”
“That would be my intention,” Mario wiped his face again. He tossed the towel down on top of his gym bag and sat on the mat. “Why?”
Erin followed his lead and sat down on the mat, crossing her legs under her. “I have no desire to have a command of my own. Least of all at the expense of someone like K’Alan. He’s been a good friend for a few years, and I have the utmost respect for him. But I don’t ever want to replace him.”
“Erin, I can’t promise nothing will happen to him, but I’ll do my best.”
“That’s all I ask.” She looked Mario over. “So, you any good at martial arts?”
2.2.2136
1300
SLS White Knight
The Lounge
Sarah Hodge sat in a corner of the lounge, nursing a root beer. She’d been working on the shuttle modifications that the captain had requested, and her teams had just finished as much work as they could handle for the time being. The work would have to continue after they’d all had a chance to get something in their bellies. She
expected that it would be another very long day of modifications. All she wanted at that point was some rest and relaxation.
“Mind if I join you, Sarah?” Katherine Yeuid asked as she approached the table.
“Am I falling apart?” Sarah smiled at her own weak attempt at humor.
“Cute,” Kath chuckled as she sat down. She motioned for the bartender to bring her a drink. “Real cute.”
“What can I do for you, Kath?”
“I just thought you could use some company,” Kath smiled. “You look like hell.”
“I spent the morning working on the shuttle modifications for the Captain,” Sarah groaned. “I’m exhausted. And we have so much work still to go if the captain’s plan is going to be successful.”
“Do you want me to leave?” the older woman asked.
Sarah looked over at the woman who had so quickly become her friend over the past couple weeks and smiled broadly. “No, you’re right. I could use the company.”
“So, tell me about these modifactions…”
2.2.2136
1344
SLS White Knight
The City
K’Alan walked through the city inside his ship. The sights of the city tormented him. Duterians, some still injured, moved through the city still looking dejected and lost. No one noticed that the ship’s captain was in there walking among them. He walked straight to the temple in the center of what would be forever known on the ship as the Duterian sector.
“I come seeking the blessings of the gods,” K’Alan said, his voice suitably reverent.
“Then come inside,” an acolyte said from the door of the temple.
“Thank you.” K’Alan bowed as he walked inside the temple. He looked, amazed. In a little over one day, they had managed to completely and accurately recreate the temple from the village that he and K’Itea had grown up in.
“We’ve been expecting you, Captain,” a priest said. “You carry a great burden.”
“Yeah, you can say that again,” K’Alan grunted. “It’s been a rough week.”