by Joe Crouch
“Let’s head to the shuttle port, don’t stop for anything,” Fez yelled while struggling up the near vertical climb, “Cover our backs, Sean, stay tight and don’t stop running.” Weapons fire blasted craters into the sandbank as they zig-zagged up to its apex, blood stained Fez’s uniform a shade of green as they crested the hill away from the facility.
Running through the tight streets of the city, the disenfranchised residents almost seemed to look on in glee that an outsider had been hurt. Zarid groaned with every step as the life was slowly drained from him. To their surprise, the mob that attacked them didn’t seem to have any inclination to pursue, instead they hung back, allowing the crew their freedom in an odd decision. Sean was sure it would come back and bite them at some point, but for now, they were free.
Rushing towards the gated entrance of the shuttle port, they threw their boarding passes at the gatekeeper and charged past her, heading towards the Ioution shuttle which sat waiting. “Come on, let’s go,” Sean yelled as Fez placed Zarid down into a medical tube that lay along the floor, its lid closed with a satisfying zip. Strapping themselves in, the pilot flicked the engines to active and lifted them away from the port and towards the atmosphere. They breathed a sigh of relief as they arced across the sky, the entire ordeal seemed to be over. For now.
***
Returning to the Mar’Ell, Zarid was rushed to the med bay, his life signs had become so weak that the doctor locked the crew out as he worked, wanting no distractions.
Slumping down into the captain’s chair, Fez took in a long, deep breath as he allowed his body to acclimatise to his position of responsibility. He knew the show must go on, with but a gravely injured crew mate a few decks down, it made every task more laborious than usual. Turning to face his terminal, he leant back, listening as Yumie spoke up.
“We’re refuelled and restocked Captain, we’re ready to make the final slip to Caladrius, what do you say?”
“Do it,” Fez gave a weak smile, excited at what he was about to discover, “Set a course for Caladrius and slip when ready.
“Yes, Captain,” replied the Ioution sat at the helm, “Slip in five, four, three, two, one…” and in a flash of blinding light they disappeared from the Sarimunio system and headed out into the vast, black expanse that is interstellar space…
Chapter 14
“Two… one… Exiting slip space,” came the countdown from an excited Yumie who stared intently at the display beside him. With a blinding, white flash that filled the bridge, the Mar’Ell came to a halt, it sat stationary for a moment while the systems realigned and cooled. The crew waited patiently, their eyes were fixed on their displays, they expected them to populate with a new, wondrous cacophony of alien signature – But there was nothing. Fez activated the outside cameras and looked around the local space but found nothing, not even a star in close proximity.
“Remulus, where is your world? Are you sure we’re in the right place,” Fez questioned, he expected the signals may have been blocked from their sensors, as she had warned, but for their visuals to be blocked also would require vast amounts of energy. Listening to the captain, Remulus brought up a map of the local star charts based on their position and studied them for a moment before speaking up.
“This is the right place, I imagine the local stealth net may have been improved since I left, which may actually be a good sign, it means they’re still here,” she replied, holding back a faint smile at the prospect of seeing her people again. Looking down at the charts once more, she copied them to her handheld terminal and showed them to the captain. “Judging by my quick calculations the star should be… here,” she said, pointing to a place on the chart, “It seems we’ve stopped about twenty hours away from the fields edge at regular speeds, I wouldn’t attempt to slip through as it’ll be disrupted, only our jump drives will pass safely.” Groaning, Fez instructed helm to follow their new course but to keep it steady, they had no idea what they were going to find.
“It’s exciting, isn’t it,” Sean beamed whilst he circled the bridge, unable to keep still for much longer, “An ancient race full of wonders and mystery are just a day away, imagine what we could teach one another.” He had taken a special interest in the Veterum, and especially Remulus, since they had met. In his downtime, he scoured Ioution files to find any mention of the old race but the threads were bare, there were mentions of an unknown race in archaeological digs but not much else was known. It was a sad story, in reality, his race could have been the same as the Veterum, although not on such a grand scale, but one of a race lost and forgotten to time at the destructive hands of the Xuron. Thinking about it soured his mood, he looked over at Remulus and only felt pity. Her mission, one of starting their race anew in a distant galaxy was a failure, he hoped they found her race in the best of conditions and stronger than ever, but if they felt the need to escape an entire galaxy then the situation may be graver than most dared to admit.
“You alright, Sean?” Remulus asked as she strolled up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, “I know it may be a bit overwhelming, especially for a race so new to the galaxy as yours, but don’t fret, we are but one of the many wonders you will experience through your long, prosperous life.” She locked eyes with him and smiled, there was a warmth to her soft features and puffy cheeks.
“Thanks,” he replied, looking away and smiling, “I’m actually pretty excited, there’s just so many things on my mind right now that it’s all a bit difficult to process, ‘ya know?”
“I do,” she nodded, sitting down at a console, “Especially with your Fre friend still in sick bay, have you been to see him since we left Sarimunio?”
“Not today,” he admitted, “I think I may go down there while there’s a bit of down time and get my mind off things.” With a nod from Remulus, he turned and left the bridge. The ship was alive with activity as crew darted about, preparing the ship for a potential new alien race to come aboard. He knew he may even have to revert to his actual job aboard the cruiser, one of being an ambassador for humanity, he never looked forward to it, his repertoire of language was far from dense enough to even make himself sound intelligent.
With a hiss, the doors to the med bay split in two allowing him access. The clean, clinical smell of the room was always so jarring for him as he left behind the relative dullness of the ship. He noticed Zarid laid in bed fiddling with a tablet, the Fre looked sombre, even without speaking to him, his whole demeanour was off as he lay there with a defeated, exasperated look on his face.
“Hey buddy, how’s it going?” Sean asked, sitting in a small, white cushioned chair beside the bed.
“My recovery’s going well,” Zarid said, forcing a smile, “The doctor expects that I’ll be up and about today but has restricted me from fighting for a few days, so it looks like I won’t be joining you down on Caladrius.”
“Well, we’re still about nineteen hours away yet, so there’s a chance you could come, it wouldn’t feel the same without you there.”
“Ha,” Zarid chortled, “Thanks for coming back for me, Sean,” he said, holding out a hand which Sean took hold of, “I thought that was it for me, it was only when one of Za’Arm’s goons told him that they had killed an Ioution that I lost it and managed to break free and escape.” The Fre lying in front of him had seen a lot, he had admitted to doing some terrible things in his past so to see him choking up about actually facing his own mortality was an eye-opening moment for anyone who assumes they are untouchable on the battlefield. With a pat on his shoulder, Sean leant back in his chair and tried to change the subject.
“So how comes the fancy Ioution tech can’t just zip you back to health,” he asked, looking around at the machines which lined the room.
“The wounds on my face from the torture were fine,” he replied, turning his face side-to-side to show how well they had healed, “But the round that tore a hole through my shoulder had done some more serious damage to my race’s unique physiological makeup that wasn’t
so easily cured with a waft of doc’s magic wand.” Pulling the cover back, he showed Sean the immense scarring across his shoulder from the work the medics had to do, reeling from the pain, he placed the sticky bandage type substance back on and looked at him. “I’d love to come see Caladrius, I’m going to make sure I’m there for it, I’m as excited as everyone else on this crew about it.”
“That’s good to hear,” Sean replied while standing, “I’m going to get a little sleep before we’re there, you should do the same, then meet me on the bridge when I get called, deal?”
“Deal,” Zarid replied, smiling. With this Sean left the Fre to his own devices and headed for his quarters, there wasn’t much he could do in the meantime so a solid sleep would do him well.
***
“Ambassador Sean Maguire, please report to the bridge,” came a voice over the shipwide comms. With a stretch, he pushed himself out from the chair in engineering and waved goodbye to his old friend Farel and made his way to the bridge.
“We’re there?” he asked, stepping over the bulkhead, “That was quicker than I thought.”
“Not yet,” Fez admitted, “But I thought you’d be interested in seeing something strange we’ve detected, here,” he said, waving Sean over to the terminal. “Look at this, what do you see?” With a glance down at the hot, blue screen, three signatures were apparent, with a touch a detailed list of information popped out in a box to its side.
“They’re Kesken,” Sean gasped, “All three of them, derelict Kesken ships, what were they doing out here do you think? Surely they couldn’t have known the location of the Veterum.”
“I doubt it,” Remulus interjected, “More likely they were scouting here after detecting a faint signal leak from our barriers, it happens from time to time, as to why they’re abandoned and degraded in such a way, I’m not sure.” They looked at the signatures, different scenarios bounced around inside their minds but none of them seemed to make sense, there was no obvious weapons damage, the crew seemed to have just up and left. The mystery would need to remain unsolved for now, as within the hour they would be within the Veterum’s stealth curtain.
A few minutes passed, Sean and Taris took up a position at their usual terminal towards the rear of the bridge while the others lounged around, waiting for the moment. “We can’t be far away now,” Sean said, “I bet that…” he was interrupted as a blue wave passed through the ship. Alarms began to screech as in the waves wake terminals overloaded and burst into flames, spewing sparks across the bridge.
“Report!” Fez yelled, typing commands quickly into his console.
“One second, captain, I’m trying to negate its effects before it spreads through our systems,” Yumie shouted, typing furiously at his console. Screens buzzed loudly and the illuminated buttons and boards which adorned nearly every surface flashed rapidly as the devices became scorching hot to the touch.
“Yumie…” Fez scolded.
“One second… there!” the sweating Ioution yelled. Within an instant, the alarms abated and the terminals returned to their normal, non-violent selves. Sean looked around the decimated bridge, noticing only a few terminals remained active, the others suffered differing amounts of damage to either their surfaces or innards.
“What the hell was that?” Sean asked, rubbing away the light dusting of debris that covered his screen, “It was like some EM field we passed through.”
“It seems that way,” Fez admitted, walking around the bridge to inspect the damage, “It only targeted our computers, it left all life alone.”
“Or so we think…” Taris insinuated, staring adjacent officers in the eyes to see if anything about them had changed.
“It explains the abandoned Kesken ships,” Remulus said, “But it is odd that they were so far back compared to when we got hit by the wave, it may be possible that power to the field is failing.” Agreeing with the Veterum, Fez circled back to his chair and slumped down, deep in thought. Damage reports began to flood his terminal within moments, with a quick glance at each he determined that damage was minimal and they were fine to continue. Officers on the bridge were cautious every time they moved an inch, the Veterum wielded some of the most advanced technology they had seen thus far, but to rely on an, admittedly advanced, EM field seemed archaic, even to Sean.
The black sky that surrounded the ship was empty, according to their estimations they should have already passed through the stealth field and came into contact with the ancient progenitor race. But there was nothing. If they trusted their own sensors they were in the middle of interstellar space with absolutely nothing to look at. They knew their sensors were being tricked, though, as Remulus was adamant that the planet of birth for her race was in this exact location.
Sean watched the outside viewer on his somewhat malfunctioning terminal, he watched for anything even remotely suspicious, waiting for the exact moment the system came into view – He didn’t have to wait long. The vast void that surrounded them exploded into life in an instant as a star sat millions of miles away from them shone brightly into his viewer.
“Captain…” Sean began.
“Captain! We’re detecting multiple signatures of unknown origin, sensors are still populating and tracking, but they seem to be moving towards us, and they’re moving very quickly,” Yumie declared, watching his sensors.
“Let’s not make any threatening moves…” Fez said, sitting up straight in his chair, “We’re here on a peaceful mission, we do not want any…” as he was finishing the ship was rocked to its core, every officer on the bridge was thrown about in their seats as alarms began to ring out once more. Picking himself up from the floor, Yumie scrambled into his seat.
“Weapons fire, captain, shields are stable but many more of those and we will not be meeting the Veterum,” Yumie barked, frantically trying to find what was shooting at them.
“I think you have already met them,” Remulus sighed, strapping herself into a seat. A second explosion rocked the ship, the detonation produced so much concussive and kinetic force that it pushed the Mar’Ell off her bearing with helm having to compensate.
“Shields to maximum!” Fez ordered, swiping across his screen to display information of their surroundings. The ships they had detected were still too far away for their weapons to impact them as instantly as they had, he knew, there had to be something closer.
“Captain, look at this,” Yumie yelled. Switching to the main display, the entire nose of the bridge flashed to a standby screen. Popping into view was a rectangular tower, two differing sized rings circled its surface as three massive barrels stood proudly at the head of the fortification.
“Defensive turrets?” Fez questioned, looking towards Remulus, “Did you not know about these?”
“I did not,” she admitted, bowing her head in shame, “I was merely an engineer aboard a military vessel in my years, I was not privy to the defences of our system.” Scoffing, Fez watched as a bright green energy built within its core, and within seconds three bolts lanced out one-by-one from its barrels. With a crash, the powerful bolts slammed into the ship’s shields, the blue honeycomb structure of their defences rippled around the outside of the cruiser as it attempted to diffuse the incoming fire.
“Shields are at sixty-one percent, captain, we cannot withstand this barrage for too long, their weapons technology is most impressive,” Yumie declared, sweating profusely from his forehead. Fez fought within himself, he didn’t want to return fire on the emplacements as that would sour relations before they had even begun, but to not return fire would mean the destruction of his ship and the loss of the crew.
“Ideas?” Fez asked around the room to a blanket of blank looks as two more pulses thumped into their shields.
“Give me comms access,” Remulus shouted over the deep, ear-splitting booms coming from the impacts across their port, “I’ll try my best, but I am not promising anything.” With a flick to her terminal, Fez granted the panicked Veterum access to their wide communica
tions suite. The bridge went deathly silent as she pulled on a headset and began to speak.
“Ave, Imperator, morituri te salutant,” she said through gritted teeth, “Ave, Imperator, morituri te salutant… Ave, Imperator, morituri te salutant…,” she continued to repeat over and over. The bombardment continued as their shields struggled against the barrage of fire which was decimating their defences. Remulus didn’t give up, though, and she was soon rewarded as the usual rhythmically-timed blasts from Veterum defences stopped. Silence descended upon the bridge as the crew looked around at each other, the faint beeping coming from Yumie’s monitors echoed throughout.
Slicing through the calm came an obnoxious, loud, high-pitched sound from Fez’s terminal, - Incoming Transmission – read the message which flashed red. With a certain anxiety, the captain accepted the call and within moments a face of a Veterum flashed into view on the main monitor. The man’s skin was a deep, dark red, it contrasted the relative brightness of Remulus’ lighter tone, his thick eyebrows, thin lips and balding head gave the visage of experience.
“Greetings, I am Feghouli…” Fez began before being cut off.
“Remain in position, a Veterum ship will escort you to our world where we will discuss your surrender,” the man spoke in a gruff voice before ending the transmission. Stunned, the crew turned back to their consoles and begun going through the damage that had spread across the ship. The Mar’Ell could withstand a beating, and just did, but shield emitters, as well as capacitors, had overloaded, so engineering crews were dispatched to deal with their replacement.