by Florian Nagy
Chapter 31
The Skyrrnian fleet had been on its way to pick up its delivery when the very people who were supposed to meet them could be heard screaming in agony through space. The Rekkeds had apparently taken another job, and it had run amuck. If this had been any other situation, Khrrn might have been glad that he could have demanded a smaller price, but now it was only a bother. With the time machine, he knew that the money he spent now was all a relative nothingness.
Nevertheless, he needed the cargo ships now so he could set that whole plan in motion. He had already mounted a Kher’Somaaw particle cannon onto his main ship, so he was quite confident. He would go and get his ships and finally be able to do what was needed.
Khrrn was frustrated with the nature of the Rekked: dithering here and there, never dedicated, never bound to word. Such a people, living off avarice in an egocentric life, would never succeed.
“Take us to their system. We have to resolve their dilemma. They will pay for their perfidious ways, however, they will become like the rest, servants of the Skyrrnians. That is why the mighty Skyrrnian people will rule the galaxy in our new age, not the capricious Rekked or the sanctimonious Terrans!”
He had now arrived at QAX-23 and was slightly disgruntled by the presence of the many destroyers. He was not sure of the capability of his weapon and was skeptical whether he could overpower the fleet there. The captives were in their shuttles and were docking with the Imperial vessels. Their ships were completely empty.
Khrrn cursed under his breath. It seemed everyone in the galaxy truly was incompetent. From his place on the bridge the android keenly observed the scene unfolding in front on him. He had learned much of the new galaxy and was amazed by its diversity.
-Skyrrnian fleet, what is your business in this part of space? What are your intentions? Do not interfere with this matter.-
The Imperial ships then scanned the intruders and were amazed. The last of the shuttles had docked, and the ports were firmly sealed. They turned and faced their visitors in battle formation, with weapons charged.
-You are carrying exotic weaponry and unknown technological devices. You must submit your ships to a search. You are carrying contraband denied to Skyrrnian ships and you are suspiciously far from your homeworld.-
Khrrn froze; it was a critical moment in his mission. He had to get past this Imperial guard, and he had the means to do so, but he had to be extremely careful. One wrong move could mean their deaths. He thought of powering up his weapon and trying to defeat the destroyers through combat. This was, however, not possible. He had advanced weaponry but very crude defenses. He might destroy one or two destroyers, but they would surely shoot him down, and the rest of his fleet. His only immediate option was to comply and allow a search of his ship.
-This is commander Khrrn; we are testing new mining tools on different environments. We are now testing their effectiveness on asteroids under the effects of the galactic core. We assumed we would be able to use any of these uninhabited systems near the galactic core to conduct our research. We meant no disturbance, you are welcome onboard to conduct your search.-
-We read signs that suggest weaponry, and the technology is very different from anything that exists. We can’t make out what it is. It will require a thorough examination. Your weapons aren’t active but your engines are, please power down your engines.-
-Complying.-
Quickly, heaps of shuttles launched from all the destroyers and streaked towards the main Skyrrnian ship. The transport shuttles were accompanied by copious amounts of marine shuttles.
Khrrn turned to his only other superpower, the time machine. He consulted the android and confirmed that it would be possible to quickly calculate a voyage that would send the entire fleet back in time. Khrrn consulted with the other officers, and they agreed that they could easily slip from under the Imperium’s grasp by going back in time a few days. He stroked the rough, patchy skin of dull scales by his forehead as he contemplated his options. He had a few minutes to decide before the Imperium’s men would arrive.
He was tired of preparations and decided there was no need to play games any longer. He had adequate weaponry and the time machine. He wouldn’t put his plans on hold to wait for some Rekked fool. He would send the fleet back one thousand years. From there he could easily use the larger Skyrrnian population mass to build the power he needed, without the Imperium’s interference. The Imperium would be a thousand years weaker, and the Skyrrnian people would have more than one planet to work with.
Going further back would only harm him as well, the humans would be weak and in the cradle, but the Skyrrnians would also be a more primitive people after a certain point. They would be few in numbers and confined to their homeworld, and have no knowledge of space travel.
He quickly discussed the details with the android, and the android went to operate the machine. Many parameters had to be set into the machine. The machine would have to send a precise amount of matter into time, and it would also send these ships and men across space, not only time.
Khrrn had run out of time and went to meet the boarding party while the android continued. The android had until now been forced to serve Skyrrnian will simply because of the lack of a better option, and because it gave him the chance to learn about the galaxy and thus to possibly find ways to further his own goals. He now had in his hands limited use of the time machine.
There were two Skyrrnian officers watching him, but they had extremely limited knowledge of the cube. They were the best of the Skyrrnians, but still they were nothing. They understood some characters and some workings of the cube and watched his input carefully. He could easily deceive them, however. They knew nothing of the myriads of advanced settings he had to coordinate. All he had to do was to demonstrate that he was sending the large ships back one thousand years.
His own goal was in sight: he wanted to be with the Kher’Somaaw and to return to his own time. He furtively created a separate launch direction for himself that would send him three hundred million years into the past, to the surface of Acar.
The dock door of the Skyrrnian ship opened and allowed the shuttles to enter. They flew in and landed in the docking bay. The marine shuttles opened and unloaded their guards while the others produced a mix of Imperium officials and experts. Gerald Warren was on the team investigating Khrrn’s ship. He got out with the others and moved to the dock bay entrance of the ship.
With a weak smile on his face, Khrrn was awaiting them. He welcomed them and led them further into his ship. The marines moved carefully and vigilantly, watching the Skyrrnians’ every move.
A team had landed on all of the ships in the small Skyrrnian fleet. Darius watched carefully from aboard the frigate, but some of his officers had been a part of the launch teams. Klaise Xeran and Winter Gussol were with the captain of one of the destroyers and Verne had gone with another team.
The teams were in constant contact with one another as they disembarked onto their dubious vessels. Khrrn was leading Warren to the artificially extended storage compartments of his ship. At the same time, the android was updating him on the progress he was making with the time machine. They kept in contact by means of a small communication device built into the outer portion of the inside of the ear. The android had almost completed his instructions, the fleet was ready. Khrrn was pleased and hastened to conclude his dealings with his visitors.
If the machine didn’t work, he had no other option available to him, and so he would be caught by the inspectors. If the machine did carry out its function, it wouldn’t matter what he would do before the voyage because it would all be erased as soon as the machine’s fail-safe broke, which he very well intended to happen.
His visitors were almost upon the cargo room when they were contacted by Klaise, aboard another ship, “Sir, there are stashes of weapons aboard this ship. They have energy and force-based weaponry and well as many devices we haven’t figured out the uses of yet. It’s clearly an illegal
operation, be careful.”
Warren’s eyes were trained on the Skyrrnian captain. There was no need for words, Khrrn knew what he meant. Warren had caught the mendacious Skyrrnian red handed. The marines grew tense and kept their weapons ready. The Imperium’s men opened the door to the cargo bay, and Khrrn contacted the android, who reported completion.
Those who were watching him approached him defiantly, demanding to know what he was doing. Once again he spoke into a communicator on his neck, “Launch.” The cargo bay doors opened and revealed the dense metallic structure of devices. The visitors were caught in a moment of wonderment before they were suddenly left floating freely in the vacuum of space.