Call of Courage: 7 Novels of the Galactic Frontier

by C. Gockel

  Upon consideration, Felar decided this development might provide additional opportunity for escape. Surprise is always best when attacking, but chaos is also a useful ally. Deciding she would learn nothing if they stayed in their quarters, Felar decided to venture out. She took Lothis, who was back to normal, and they left for the command deck. The rest of the escort followed closely, maintaining a tight perimeter.

  Everything was operating efficiently on deck when they arrived. The commander issued orders and his under-officers carried them out, bringing the huge Tarton class ship around on a course to follow the Entho craft. Then Lothis began screaming.

  The boy's agonized wails were guttural, sounding strangely deep for someone so small. He fell to the floor and Felar followed him, attempting to comfort while holding him in her arms. In her peripheral vision, Felar could see everyone on the command deck was mesmerized by the child's outburst. The escort guards rushed in, looking concerned, but not knowing what to do. A few seconds later, the comms officer turned to his terminal. He was focused, obviously listening to the communications set he wore. After a moment, his face grew pale.

  “Ascended Talnavis,” he yelled over Lothis' screaming, “Ascended Talnavis, I have a priority communication from Haak-ah-tar.” It took a moment for the commander to notice, his attention enthralled by the screaming child in the middle of his command deck.

  Probably not used to having suffering children this near, Felar thought as she comforted Lothis. He's always had them on the other end of his guns.

  Once Talnavis finally realized his comms officer was yelling, he strode over to the man and bent close to listen. The news blanched his face the same way it had his under-officer. He strode back to his terminal, only now his walk was shaky and tremulous. “Attention all hands,” he broadcast ship wide, voice sounding like it had aged twenty years. “We've just been informed that Haak-ah-tar Primary has gone supernova.” Everyone on the bridge stared at Ascended Talnavis, incredulous. “We must get to the worm area as fast as possible. We have vital cargo that we must safeguard at all costs.” As the commander spoke, the navigation officer frantically made inputs on his terminal. When he concluded, he gave a thumbs-up to Talnavis. The commander, seeing the signal, continued his announcement. “I've been informed by navigation that we will have enough time to get clear of the system before the shock wave catches us. Unfortunately, there will be many lost on Haak-ah-tar itself, as well as ships that are not fast enough to escape.” A look of anger began replacing his pallid shock.

  Talnavis stepped away from his terminal, and Felar saw the calculation and cunning in his old eyes. By this time, Lothis had subsided to soft whimpers that were somehow more awful than the screams.

  “You'll be alright honey. Everything is going to be OK,” Felar said, trying to comfort the boy, but feeling inadequate.

  “I don't know how they did it, but these Enthos ,” Talnavis said the word with as much scorn and malice as humanly possible, “had something to do with this supernova! They caused it. They are using the star to wipe us out! That's what they were doing under Haak-ah-tar.”

  Felar could see the madness returning to the commander's demeanor and it set her even more on edge than Lothis' screams had. He strode back and forth across the deck, gesticulating frantically. “We will hunt down the vile, filthy creatures who did this and convert them back to the polluted atoms they came from.” All those on the deck responded with loud curses directed at the Enthos. The escort guards lost interest in Lothis and joined the mob, their profanity even worse than the Hammer’s crew.

  Felar knew it was ludicrous to believe the Enthos could have caused the supernova. Ashamine scientists had warned the Haak-ah-tar binary stars were bound to do just such a thing at some unknown time. Talnavis had seized upon the situation to justify pursuing his own goals and his troops were just as bloodthirsty as he was. Insanity.

  Lothis started becoming more responsive to Felar's calming attempts, and now the boy's eyes actually saw his surroundings. “I felt it,” she heard Lothis say, but the boy's lips didn't move. “I felt the supernova. It hurt me.” This time she was looking directly at his face when she heard it, and yes, the boy's lips did not move even a fraction of a millimeter. Lothis must have seen the look of frightened amazement on her face because he spoke again, only this time with his voice. “We need to go some place safe. Something bad is about to happen. We have to go some place safe,” the boy repeated.

  She lifted Lothis in her arms and headed for the hatch exiting the command deck. Thankfully all the escort guards were still caught up in the frenzy of hatred and didn't notice her leave. Felar had to push past several crew members obstructing her way, but they were far too focused on the pursuit to notice.

  “They're opening up a wormhole,” she heard as she exited the deck.

  “Follow them through! If we don't, they’ll get away,” Talnavis ordered. Then the hatch slid shut and the sounds of the command deck cut off.

  “Is there a way to get off the ship?” the boy asked, a look of concern on his small face.

  “Well, if we captured a shuttle—which is doubtful—we wouldn't get far, plus the shock wave would wipe us out anyway. I think we’re stuck on this ship, at least for the time being. I know you don't like these people, and neither do I, but—”

  “You don't understand,” he said. “The Hammer is going to be destroyed. We don't have much time.”

  “I'm almost certain we are going to escape the shock wave, and it's impossible for the Entho ship to take us out.” She was trying to reason with the boy, trying to show him that even though their present company was unpleasant, at least they were safe. That was more than could be said for their time under the surface of Haak-ah-tar. She knew she had to get him out of the Ashamine’s grasp, but now wasn't the right time. “This ship was built using the latest and best Ashamine technology. The Enthos don't even have real weapons.”

  “Don't they?” His voice had gone cold. She'd never heard him speak like that and it chilled her. “If we don't get off this ship, soon, we are going to die.” He said the words with a finality that jolted Felar. She didn't understand how it would happen, but the conviction in Lothis' eyes told her this high tech battleship would shortly be converted into space junk.

  Felar let out several nervous laughs before she could pull herself together. It was unlike her to lose composure so drastically. When Lothis heard her, the cold focus left his eyes. In an instant, he looked like the frightened little boy she’d rescued from the facility. The stony faced avatar of power she’d been looking at moments before was gone.

  Escape pods. That had been one of the plans Felar had considered. If this ship is going to be destroyed, it’s the perfect place to go. She had no idea where the Hammer was heading, but she held hope there would be someone to retrieve them before the pod ran out of atmosphere.

  Continuing to carry Lothis, she hurried towards the nearest pod array. There was one close by because of the command deck, making the trip short. They didn't encounter many crew members, but those they did gave odd looks. Never seen a Founder's Commando running through the corridors carrying a small child? Felar didn't stop or even slow. She knew now there wasn't much time. Every second counts.

  When they reached the pods, they encountered their first real obstacle. A guard was stationed in front of the large security doors leading to the pod chamber. He was a brawny man, tall and fierce. The time for deception and trickery is long past.

  Felar set Lothis down onto his feet and strode directly up to the guard. “How may I hel—” he was saying as she slammed her fist into his solar plexus. He was unprepared for her strike and Felar's shot was devastating. The man crumpled on the floor, a sickly wheeze escaping his lips as he tried to recover the wind she’d knocked out of him.

  “Lothis, get this door open,” she meant to say, but only got as far as the boy's name as she turned from the guard. She saw Lothis was doing just that, diligently working the small terminal next to the door
. After a few moments, the guard began adding moans to his wheezing gasps. In the next instant, the large doors slid open and the boy cried out in triumph.

  “Good job!” she praised as they ran through the doorway. He said nothing, but looked up at her and smiled. She noted he took much joy from her approval. The thought made her glad.

  When they got to the first bank of pods, they stopped. The pod hatch they stood in front of slid up smoothly, and Felar looked inside the craft. The vessel was designed to hold six, so they would have plenty of space, but she disliked the thought of floating in the void, powerless to do anything about their fate. There isn't enough time to devise a better plan.

  Once inside, Felar initiated launch protocols. Normally, all pods were locked down until the commander gave the abandon ship signal, but Lothis quickly bypassed this requirement. The boy's skill with electronics seemed limitless. Felar strapped him into his seat, securing his harness. Then she performed the same for herself.

  Just before she tapped the “Initiate” command on her terminal screen, Lothis shook his small head. “Not yet.” A focused look wrinkled his brow.

  She waited a full minute, growing increasingly nervous as seconds passed. The guard could be calling reinforcements. Even now they might be tracking Lothis' hashes and disabling them, rendering the pod inoperative.

  “I really think we should—”

  “Wait.” The word was final, and the look of coldness reasserted itself on his face.

  In for a finger, in for the arm, she remembered her mother saying. She had gone this far, why not a little farther? Another full minute crawled by. And then another. And then a fourth. Now Felar began to panic, cool resolve eroded by the acid of uncertainty. Just as she was about to speak again, Lothis said, “Go.” She stabbed her finger down on terminal screen so hard it bent back and jolted with pain. She wondered fleetingly if she had sprained it.

  The pod accelerated, inertial forces shoving them back into their seats. Then they were free of the Hammer, streaming off into the void of space.

  33 - Lothis

  As they drifted, Lothis reflected on the events of the past few days. Since he'd been freed from his prison, he'd discovered many things about the world. One of the most important was that those who control me rely on terminals and the data they provide. Changing them to suit his desires was amazingly easy. Even their “secure” systems are effortless.

  He remembered back to when he’d discovered they were taking Felar from him. At first, he thought she was abandoning him and this made him despondent. Seeking more information, he hashed the terminal in his temporary housing. Gaining access to the high security systems of the Ashamine Forces took a couple minutes, but eventually he was reading orders showing they were sending Felar to track down Entho-la-ah-mines.

  I can't lose her, Lothis thought, manipulating the orders. Immediately, the terminal flashed to encryption. I made it lockdown! Then, Lothis blinked and the display changed. That wasn't quite right though, because the characters stayed the same, but now he could read it. He’d shifted something in his mind—that was all he could determine—but how or why it happened was beyond understanding. He made a few quick edits, assigning Felar to his escort and making sure everything was properly authenticated.

  The ability to read encryption was just one of many things Lothis didn’t understand. His connection to the supernova baffled him. The pain had been intense, far greater than anything he’d imagined possible. Lothis had somehow tapped the energy of the dying star, had allowed it to flow into him. He’d fought against the flood, had tried to escape it, but couldn't. When he’d opened his eyes, Felar had been there, comforting and caring for him. Her tender kindness helped him close the gateway. Without her, I wouldn’t have survived. The energy would have filled me until nothing was left...

  And how did I know they were going to destroy the Founder’s Hammer? When Lothis reached out to the Entho-la-ah-mines and their queen, he could sense their strike preparations. Thankfully, Felar finally listened to my warning.

  Time passed as they continued drifting away from the Hammer, the pod's separation motor having cut out just before exiting the ship. Each passing second found them further and further from their captors.

  “Look at that,” Felar said, voice low in the manner Lothis had learned to mean she was talking to herself. He looked anyway.

  His viewing angle was optimum, Felar having rotated the pod so the large front window faced the Ashamine vessel and its Entho-la-ah-mine counterpart. She had also decreased forward thrust, wanting to get away from the Hammer while still conserving as much fuel as possible.

  Lothis determined Felar's exclamation was due to the large quantity of glowing ions streaking from the Hammer towards the bi-pyramid. He felt momentarily puzzled, then realized what they were. He had seen a diagram for a rail weapon before and this situation fit its use quite well.

  As the slugs approached the huge Entho-la-ah-mine craft, Lothis felt another stirring in his mind. This one was different from the supernova, but akin somehow. It was outside him. And while the feeling wasn't painful, it made him uneasy. The Entho-la-ah-mines are going to strike, but I don't understand how.

  The feeling’s intensity grew as the slugs streaked towards their target. Soon, the stirring grew to a humming vibration, rising towards a crescendo. Lothis knew somehow that if he still had the gateway open when it reached its highest pitch, it would kill him. The signal rose exponentially. Lothis’ eyes widened and he held his breath.

  Felar looked over at him. “What's wrong?”

  He didn't answer, couldn't answer. He was using all his mental strength to shut the gateway between himself and the Entho-la-ah-mines. He strained, using everything within him to cut the link. It wouldn't budge and Lothis sensed the pitch was almost at its highest. Must. Push. Harder! he thought, redoubling his efforts. And then it closed, snapping shut with a violence that dazed Lothis. He sat back, feeling exhausted, drained, empty.

  “I-I don't really know,” he stammered, hugging his slender legs to his chest. “Buh-buh-but it's gone now.” Felar stroked his hair, brows furrowed.

  “Maybe we can get you to a doctor and he can figure out what is causing these—” she stopped for a moment, biting her lip. “These episodes. Maybe we can cure them.”

  Lothis looked up at her and smiled, but inwardly her words scared him. What if they take the signals away? The thought terrified him to the core. Yes, the signals frightened him too, but they were so sweet, turning the mundane blandness of the world into something beautiful. No, I will never let the signals go, but I have to learn to control their effects. And perhaps he could fine-tune which signals he tapped in to. Why didn’t I have these experiences while down in my room? he wondered. Did they have me shielded somehow?

  All other thoughts left his mind as Lothis saw the Founder's Hammer torn in two. Felar turned from him, seeing the look of wonder on his face. The Hammer was splitting into several sections, some pieces fragmenting even further.

  “Founder bless them,” Felar said, awe and astonishment in her lovely voice. Lothis didn't comprehend how it happened, but the destruction had to be connected to the signal he'd tuned in to earlier. How did the Entho-la-ah-mines do it? What he saw in the unfolding chaos sent his mind on a different track.

  Pods were ejecting from the human craft, but they were not faring as well as Lothis and Felar. Some were damaged before they even left the Hammer, atmosphere and propellant leaking from compromised hulls. More flew straight into the wreckage of the ship, battered to junk before they could even maneuver. It looked like few, if any, would survive birth into the destruction engulfing the Hammer.

  Lothis’ attention was drawn to the Entho-la-ah-mine ship as it performed evasive maneuvers to escape both the slugs and the oncoming debris. It seemed as if the alien craft was starting to move out of danger, but it maneuvered too slowly. Slugs perforated its hull and the ship shuddered as atmosphere escaped through the rents. Lothis was captivated by the
sight, stunned by the continuing destruction. He saw no escape pods, nor did he see any of the fire or explosions that were engulfing portions of the Hammer. The slugs had done their work and the Entho ship was crippled. Lothis could see that several hull pieces bearing down on the bi-pyramid were going to change that state from disabled to destroyed.

  “We don't need to watch this,” Felar told him, voice quavery.

  Lothis turned away from the destruction and noticed a tear sliding down her cheek. He decided to say nothing, knowing he couldn't console her.

  “We need to find a way to get the bugger out of here. We're running on limited air and fuel.” Somehow he knew what she wasn't saying, “Now that both ships are destroyed, we have no one to rescue us.” The thought scared him, but he had learned how to deal with fear under Haak-ah-tar. Felar was still with him and she would protect him. Of that he had no doubt.

  They began working the terminals next to their seats, scanning the surrounding area for other ships. They found none. They looked for escape pod beacons with the same result. It was not an encouraging picture.

  “In the rush to pursue that Entho vessel, I doubt the Hammer signaled its location back to Ashamine High Command.” Felar paused, biting her lip and grimacing. “When HC doesn't hear anything from the Hammer, they’ll assume the ship was destroyed by the supernova. In other words, no one will come to look for us.”

  Felar sounded bleak, but Lothis was still sure she would find a way to save them. She did it before and will do it again, no matter the odds.

  Once they had done everything possible on the terminals, they turned to look at the battlefield again. It was a desolate sight, huge pieces of both hulls floating amongst smaller debris. It looked like annihilation. It felt like death.

  Lothis continued staring, feeling like he was missing something. Finally, he caught hold of it. There was life out amongst the destruction. The signal was faint, but now he had found it, he knew for sure. It felt familiar, like the signal he’d experienced before the Ashamine ship broke up. Different somehow. Calmer. It was Entho-la-ah-mine. He didn't understand how to do anything with it, so he let go of the signal for the moment.