Imperium: Contact

by Kabbabe, Malek

  “Hold it right there.”

  “What's the matter officers?” Asked Harbid.

  “You're coming with us, now,” the bessra replied gruffly.

  “Why?” Demanded Katie.

  “We've received and official Imperial detention request for two Imperial officers aboard this station and since you're the only two here...”

  “There must be some mistake,” said Harbid, trying to sound angry as opposed to worried.

  “You can sort that out with your superiors, now please follow me.”

  It was phrased as a request, but the four side arms pointed in their direction suggested otherwise.

  Glancing over at Katie, Harbid gave her a quick nod and slowly raised his hands. She followed suit and one of the bessra moved forward to search them. He took out a small scanning tool, which he pointed at both of them in turn. He then removed both their wrist mounted computers and handed them to one of his colleagues. He held up a pair of thin binders.

  “Place your hands behind your backs.”

  Harbid and Katie did as instructed. The bessra placed the thin loops of material over their crossed wrists. Harbid felt the loop tighten, it had enough give not to be uncomfortable, but he knew that if he struggled it would automatically tighten itself to prevent him from removing it.

  Two of the bessra stepped forward and each placed a hand on one of the prisoners' shoulders.

  “Let's go,” said the leader of the group.

  They marched through the crowded station, everywhere they went, humans and bessra alike stopped to stare at the procession.

  “Where are you taking us?” Harbid asked.

  “To a holding area,” said one of the bessra.

  “For how long?” Asked Katie.

  “For as long as it takes someone to come and collect you.”

  “And who's coming to collect us?” She pressed.

  “You'll find out when they get here,” the bessra replied.

  They continued their march for another five minutes in silence. Finally they reached an elevator, in front of which the bessra halted. The leader moved his face in front of an iris scanner next to it. The scanner beeped and the elevator doors opened. Once they were all inside and the doors had closed, the leader of the bessra pressed a button on a control panel and the Elevator started to descend.

  A minute later, the elevator came to a halt and the doors parted. As they stepped out, Harbid could see a narrow hallway lined with small, clear glass cells. The bessra in the lead came to a halt at the third one on the left. He moved his eye in front of another scanner and the door to the cell slip aside. Another bessra pressed a button on his wrist-pad and Harbid could feel his restraints loosen. The bessra removed them and then ushered them into the cell, it was empty except for the two of them. The door slid shut and Harbid could hear the locking mechanism engage. The four bessra turned and marched back to the elevator.

  Once they were gone, Harbid and Katie look at one another.

  “This is bad,” said Harbid, stating the obvious.

  “Yeah,” agreed Katie.

  “You think there's any chance Jones isn't behind this?”

  “Zero,” said Harbid darkly.

  “So what now?”

  Harbid let out a short laugh.

  “We sit here, waiting for one of Jones' people to come and pick us up,” he said bitterly.

  “There's nothing else we can do.”

  “What about Darmst and the others?” Asked Katie.

  “I don't know, hopefully they'll realize something's up and get out of that shuttle before the bessra search it. Although I can't imagine where they'd go without anyone spotting them.”

  Katie sat down on the bench running along the back wall of the cell, Harbid sitting down beside her. Neither of them said anything, they just sat there in silence.

  They had been sitting there for about ten minutes, when a soft note from the elevator doors made both of them look up. The doors parted to reveal a bessra clad in blue and gold robes striding towards them. He wore a large white chain around his neck that emitted a muted glow of white light. His fingers were bedecked with rings made of a similar material, except that these were glowing bright silver. He walked with a confidant, almost regal gait. That, coupled with his attire, left no one in any doubt as to the importance of this individual.

  The bessra came to a halt in front of their cell and pushed a button on the control panel next to it. A mesh of tiny holes appeared in the door, Harbid and Katie both stood up and walked towards it.

  “Greetings,” said the bessra.

  His voice was soft and lyrical, like all bessra, but it also had a deep assured tone that merely reinforced his outward projection of authority.

  “Greetings,” replied Harbid.

  “My name is administrator Suun,” the bessra introduced himself.

  “Lieutenant James Harbid, I presume.”

  “Yes,” said Harbid.

  “And you are Ensign Katie Smith.”

  “What do you want?” Asked Katie.

  “I wish to ask you some questions.”

  “Questions, about what?” Harbid wanted to know.

  “About why two Imperial officers are traveling with a group of shengyet,” replied Suun.

  Katie’s shoulders seemed to slump a little.

  “I take it you searched the shuttle,” said Harbid.

  “Not yet,” replied Suun.

  “I was curious about why two Imperial officers had arrived here in a damaged Imperial shuttle. I was even more curious as to why a detention request had come down from the Imperial high command almost immediately after you arrived. So I decided to have your ship scanned, more thoroughly than it was upon your arrival,” he added.

  “Now imagine my surprise when I found the shuttle to be full of shengyet and two of my security officers. I was happy to see they were merely sedated and not more seriously harmed,” he said with a slight nod.

  “You're welcome,” said Harbid curtly.

  Administrator Suun regarded them with a calculating expression.

  “So if you don't mind my asking, what were the two of you doing with a pack of shengyet in tow?”

  “I mind you asking,” Harbid replied with a glare.

  Katie stepped forward and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

  “Wait a minute James,” she said.

  Turning her attention back to Suun, she asked.

  “How many other people have seen that sensor scan?”

  “No one but me.”

  “And I'm assuming you haven't let anyone board the ship yet either?” She went on.

  Suun inclined his head.

  “You're pretty sharp,” he added.

  “And now you're here, alone, asking us questions about the shengyet,” said Harbid, catching on.

  “Yes,” Suun admitted.

  “Who are these shengyet?”

  “They're a clan from a small base in this system,” said Katie.

  “And how did they come to be in your company?”

  “It's a long story, but they were being held captive aboard our ship and we sprung them. We stole a shuttle and made a break for it.”

  “I take it your escape didn’t go exactly as planned.”

  “You could say that,” said Harbid.

  Administrator Suun regarded them once more with that intent gaze.

  “I believe I can help you,” he said abruptly.

  “Help us, how?” Katie asked.

  “Forget how for a moment,” Harbid interrupted.

  “I want to know why?”

  Suun was silent for a moment, finally he said.

  “It is also a long story, but a member of the local shengyet clan once saved my life and the lives of my family. I owe them a dept, a dept I wish to repay.”

  “One of them saved your life, how?” Harbid asked.

  “That is a discussion for another time,” Suun replied.

  “Whoever is looking for the two of you has undou
btedly been informed by now. We need to get you and those shengyet out of here before they show up, which I imagine will be very soon.”

  “And how exactly do you propose we do that?” Asked Katie.

  Suun moved over to the control panel and placed his face in front of the eye scanner. The device beeped and the cell door slid open. Harbid and Katie stepped through it.

  “Follow me,” he said.

  As they followed him to the elevator, Harbid glanced over at Katie.

  “I don't trust this,” he muttered.

  “Neither do I,” replied Katie.

  “But they had us locked up, so I doubt this is a trap and besides. If he really does want to help us, this could be our best chance of getting out of here.”

  Chapter 35

  Major Clark and the young woman stepped onto the bridge. The bridge crew were already at their stations, with Saskill standing next to Anna and Sergeant Williams standing off in a corner slightly behind them.

  “Where is John?” Asked the young woman, looking around.

  “He's down in the engine room with Chief Nolan,” said Anna.

  “Co-ordinates for the first jump to Sol system set Commander,” reported Aziz.

  “Very good Ensign,” Anna replied.

  She turned to the young woman, who smiled slightly.

  “You merely need to ask the ship,” she said.

  “Right,” said Anna, a little hesitantly.

  “Still not used to that, Ship?”

  A deep note sounded from all around them.

  “Execute jump for set co-ordinates.”

  The Twilight's engines rumbled, as the ship oriented itself and prepared to open a dimension vortex.

  “Commander!” Dolohov called from the sensors station.

  “Dimension vortexes forming, two million kilometers distant.”

  “Show me.”

  The main view screen switched to show swirling vortexes of white light dissolve, as ships poured into the Borealis system. Right in the middle of the fleet sat the gargantuan form of an Imperial Dreadnought.

  “Get us out of here!” Snapped Anna.

  A short, negative sounding note pulsed through the ship.

  “We cannot,” the young woman translated.

  “There are enemy fighters on an intercept course, they will get here before we can open the vortex.”

  “She's right,” said Graham.

  “Enemy fighters closing on us, bearing two hundred seventy by three hundred degrees.”

  “Those shields you mentioned,” said Anna, turning to the young woman.

  “Engaged,” she replied.

  “Ensign?”

  “Navigation controls released back to my station Commander.”

  “Come about Ensign, set course for the nearest planet.”

  Aziz looked up from his console.

  “Commander,” he said, sounding confused.

  “The closest planet is the one that shipyard is orbiting, Jones will surly order the ships guarding it to intercept us.”

  “Do it Ensign.”

  “Yes Commander, setting course.”

  “Main thrusters to full,” Anna ordered.

  “Give me an approach vector for a slingshot orbit around the planet.”

  “Commander,” Lieutenant Graham interjected.

  “At that speed, the g-forces from a slingshot orbit will be too high, the artificial gravity fields won’t be able to compensate.”

  “Just do it.”

  “Aye Commander, course set, main thrusters to full,” reported Aziz.

  Anna flicked on the ship wide comm.

  “All hands, brace for acceleration.”

  Aziz and Dolohov cinched their seat harnesses tighter, everyone else grabbed the nearest hand hold.

  The Twilight reoriented itself and with a deep rumbling, the main thrusters ramped up to maximum. Everyone on the bridge braced themselves against the sudden acceleration. The incoming fighters changed course to follow. The main view screen showed the rest of the fleet repositioning in response to the Twilight's maneuver. The destroyers broke off to give chase. The Carriers and Dreadnought however, angled away from the planet, making for the orbiting shipyard.

  Anna had expected them to do this. The destroyers were small and fast enough to follow the Twilight through such a close pass around the planet. The Carriers and especially the Dreadnought however, were far too massive to safely make it out of the planet's gravity well at that distance. So they were taking the opposite way round, in a much wider orbit, hoping to cut the Twilight off as she exited from her slingshot maneuver. Fighters raced ahead of them to make sure there would be forces in place to stop their quarry from escaping, should the larger ships not make it to the shipyard in time. A grim smile crossed her lips, a sound tactic Admiral she thought and exactly what I want you to do.

  The fighters that were still chasing them had now come into weapons range.

  “Missiles, incoming!” Graham called from the tactical station.

  “You certain those shields are up?” Anna asked the young woman.

  “Yes.”

  The main view screen split, half of it now showing a front view dominated by the oncoming planet. The other showed a rear view, with the fighters and destroyers giving chase. It also showed tiny dots of light, indicating the drive glows of the missiles streaking towards them. The missiles spiraled and swooped as they approached, making them difficult to target with anti-missile fire. Not that the Twilight had such a system anyway, she relied on her stealth and electronic warfare system to evade such threats. Unfortunately they were useless against Imperial sensors and tracking systems.

  “Missiles closing,” Graham reported.

  “Contact imminent.”

  “All hands, brace for impact,” said Anna.

  Everyone braced as the tiny dots on the view screen resolved themselves into a compliment of missiles, racing towards them. The next second, the missiles struck. Blue white light smeared over the Twilight's hull as the ionized plasma warheads detonated and were dissipated by the shields.

  “Wow,” said Graham, staring at the view screen.

  “I bet those fighter pilots just got a real shock.”

  “Yeah, I'd pay good credits to see the expression on Jones' face right now,” Aziz chimed in.

  “Cut the chatter,” said Anna.

  Slugs from the fighters’ gauss cannons streaked towards the Twilight, creating slight ripples of white light where they impacted the shields. The image of the planet on the front view screen was looming ever larger, it now filled most of the screen.

  “Ensign, adjust our course,” said Anna.

  “I want us to look like we're going into a slingshot, but leave just enough room to break off safely.”

  “Aye Commander.”

  “At the last second, angle the ship so that we fly right past the planet.”

  “Understood Commander.”

  “Leaving that Dreadnought and the Carriers on the other side of the planet,” said Graham.

  “Exactly Lieutenant,” said Anna.

  “And stuck in the planet's gravity well. By the time they make it out of there, we should be long gone.”

  “That still leaves the destroyers and those fighters chasing us,” Clark reminded her.

  “True,” Anna admitted.

  “But hopefully our new shields will be able to handle anything they can throw at us.”

  “You will still have to power down the shields in order to use the dimension drive,” the young woman warned.

  “Yes, but only momentarily and our friends out there don't know that. Hopefully we'll be through the vortex before they know what's happened.”

  At that moment, a flash of blue-white light appeared on the rear view screen. The Twilight's shields shimmered, as they deflected the energy.

  “Lieutenant, report.”

  “Ion projector, Commander,” said Graham.

  “Those destroyers finally got in range of their big guns
.”

  “How are the shields?” Anna Asked.

  “They are fine,” the young woman replied.

  “It would take significantly more energy than that to collapse them.”

  “I think they're getting ready to fire again,” Graham called, looking up from his console.

  “I'm reading multiple energy spikes.”

  “How many?” Anna demanded.

  “All six Destroyers.”

  “Take evasive action, now!” Ordered Anna.

  “Commander,” Aziz protested.

  “We're too close to the planet, I can't maneuver.”

  “What's the matter?” Asked Major Clark.

  “I thought our shields could handle it.”

  Anna was about to respond, when the entire ship bucked beneath them. All six destroyers had fired their ion beam projectors at exactly the same time. Blue-white energy roiled around them, the view screen showed the shields flicker and distort, followed by a brilliant flash of energy. A deep groan reverberated through the ship.

  “The shields are down,” said the young woman as she picked herself off the deck. Graham, Clark and Anna were also slowly getting to their feet, only Andrew and Saskill remained standing.

  “Damage report,” Anna groaned, massaging her side.

  “No damage I can detect,” Graham reported.

  “Shields?”

  The young woman shook her head.

  “The shield emitters themselves were not damaged, however they will take time to recharge.”

  “We don't have time,” said Anna.

  “Dolohov.”

  “Yes Commander.”

  “Scan that planet below us, find me the nearest landing zone. I don't care what it is, so long as we can put the ship down.”

  “Commander what,” Major Clark began.

  “Aziz,” Anna cut her off.

  “The second Dolohov gives you coordinates, plot the fastest landing sequence you can.”

  Aziz looked hesitantly from Major Clark to the Commander.

  “Now!” Anna barked.

  “Aye Commander,” Aziz and Dolohov said in unison.

  “Graham,” Anna went on.

  “What are they doing?”

  “I think they smell blood Commander,” he replied grimly.

  “Those fighters chasing us pulled back to give the destroyers a clean line of fire, but they're moving back into attack position.”