Unexpected Destiny

by Trevor Gregg

“Are there any facilities still intact?” he inquired.

  “Epsilon Compute… system D4513-H1… planet three… still operational,” it stuttered.

  “Can you provide coordinates to D4513-H1?” Benjam asked hopefully.

  The computer listed a set of coordinates, but it cut in and out.

  “Can you repeat?” Kyren asked the computer.

  It recited the coordinates again, still mostly garbled. Kyren thought about it for a moment, then asked “can you display the coordinates on a screen?”

  A holopanel flickered to life above the podium, flickering in and out of existence. Kyren looked intently but could not make out the numbers amid the static.

  “Hold on, let me try something,” Alis said, stepping forward.

  She transformed her wrench into what looked like a data reader, and extended the electrodes. Attaching them to the podium, she began to work at the holopanel hovering above her wrench’s transformed form.

  The display began cycling through a rainbow of colors as she worked, but it still kept flickering. “Damn, let me try again.”

  A few moments later, the display stabilized.

  “Aha, I can see the coordinates!” Benjam exclaimed.

  “Great, we’ve got coordinates to investigate. Now we need to get out of here. Computer, how do we return to the surface?” Kyren spoke.

  A map shimmered into existence before them. A blue line illustrated a path leading to the surface. Kyren committed the map to memory, building the route mentally.

  “Well, we’ve got what we came for, we should get out of here before we encounter another skaljir,” Kyren said.

  Kyren began to follow the route dictated by the computer, winding his way through the corridors. Leading the way, his wrist blades extended, he listened for the telltale growl of the skaljir. A faint huff, and he spun but it was already too late. A huge spike erupted from Benjam’s torso, black blood spraying Kyren and his companions as the scorpion-like tail punched through from behind.

  The skaljir retracted its tail and pounced on Benjam, ripping and tearing the brontian’s flesh. Kyren screamed a battle cry and lunged at the beast. It broke off its attack on Benjam and squared off against him, growling deep in its throat. Then it leapt, crashing into Kyren and sending him tumbling to the ground. The beast’s jaws closed around his forearm as it used the powerful muscles bulging in its neck to attempt to rip his arm off.

  He strained against the beast’s great strength, the servos of his exosuit whining loudly in protest as he fought to keep from being whipped around as the skaljir shook its head. Kyren spotted the tail spike bearing down on his head just in time to block with the wrist blades on his free arm. It retracted in preparation for another strike.

  With a heave, Kyren stood and dislodged his arm from the creatures mouth but tumbled back to the floor. The skaljir did not hesitate and immediately pounced on him.

  “Helmet on,” Kyren managed to say just as a mouthful of fangs descended toward his face. The wickedly sharp teeth snapped harmlessly against the faceplate.

  He coiled his body, planting his feet against the beast’s chest. He kicked with all his might, the suit’s enhanced strength driving the large beast backward into the wall. It returned to its feet just as Kyren regained his. He raised his arms defensively like a boxer and began to circle the skaljir. Its spiked tail wavered above its head, looking for an opportunity to strike.

  The skaljir charged and Kyren circled, keeping his blades at the ready. It darted forward, striking rapidly with its tail, the force of the blows driving Kyren backward as he blocked. The tail drove forward toward his faceplate. Twisting to the side, he brought one of his wrist blades down on the tail, severing the tip, dropping the spike to the floor.

  Blood sprayed the walls as the skaljir whipped its wounded tail back. It growled and hissed at him, dropping low. Pressing his advantage, Kyren bellowed and charged the wounded beast. It whipped its now harmless tail forward in a parody of a strike, spraying Kyren with gobs of blue blood. He bellowed and lunged, pushing his advantage. The beast backed away.

  “Lights on!” Kyren cried and the lights on his shoulders activated, illuminating the creature in a pool of blinding radiance. The skaljir snarled one last time before turning and bolting down the corridor.

  “Benjam!” the Oracle cried, kneeling next to the brontian, a pool of black blood seeping out from his wounds, pooling on the floor.

  As Kyren watched, the great hole in Benjam’s chest began to knit itself back together, the blood oozing out now, no longer flowing freely as it had seconds ago. A short moment later, the hole had closed entirely. Benjam’s eyes opened and he let out a groan.

  “What happened?” he croaked, trying to prop himself up with his tentacles.

  “You were struck by the skaljir’s tail,” Elarra explained. “I’m happy to see your brontian regeneration is going strong.”

  “What happened to the… oh!” Benjam said, interrupting himself when he spotted the severed spike from the skaljir’s tail.

  “C’mon, let’s get out of here before it comes back with friends,” Kyren said.

  52

  New Gun

  Once safely in orbit, Benjam watched as Kyren stowed the exo-suit. It hissed and whirred as the armor peeled back to allow him to exit. It remained standing like a dutiful soldier, waiting for him to return. Benjam could tell Kyren’s confidence had grown tremendously since acquiring the suit, but he still had doubts. He hoped the suit would at least put Kyren on par with Tharox.

  Breaking the silence that had settled over the bridge, Kyren asked, “Do we have a good fix on those coordinates, Benjam?”

  “I’ve run them through the astromech database and the location is near the center of the galaxy. In fact, an ancient star cluster orbiting the supermassive black hole that lies at the center. The space around is densely packed with stars, it will be difficult to get a fix on our target, making warp jumping much more difficult,” Benjam explained.

  “So that route you’ve got highlighted, what is that?” Kyren said to him, pointing to his screen.

  “Yes, I was about to get to that.” He responded immediately. “It seems that the system that hosts the Epsilon Computer is connected by a warp gate. The path you see is a combination of star hopping and warp gates. It should take us to our destination in a matter of hours.”

  “Hours only if we don’t meet resistance. Remember Tharox uses the warp gates. He could just be waiting for us. I mean, his computer tells the future, right? He could know we’re coming,” Alis interjected.

  “Oh dear, let’s be sure to stay away from the warp gates. Let me find another route,” Benjam said while rapidly reconfiguring their route.

  He wanted to avoid conflict for as long as possible, even though he knew it was inevitable. And that terrified him. He had spent his life as a scientist, a quiet introspective existence. All that had changed when these crazies had shown up on his doorstep. And now they were on their way to face off against the hulking cyborg that had nearly killed him, and an army of reapers and dragoons. Oh yeah, and a prescient computer, too. These odds were madness.

  Yet, somehow, the creepy earth-child had solved his greatest problem, the equation he had been working on for decades. She brought the answer right to his doorstep. Mere coincidence was possible, but implausible. He had never shared his research with anyone, and his equation was unique, as far as he could tell.

  What’s more, the solution allowed him to construct the device that would supposedly defeat the bad guy. Too much coincidence altogether, he thought to himself.

  “Okay, so we star-hop our way there, and avoid using the gates. So what if it takes longer. I don’t want us to come out of a warp gate into the middle of a dragoon fleet. Let’s pop in at the edge of the system so we can get a good scan before we approach.” Kyren recommended, interrupting Benjam’s introspection.

  “That will give them time to mount a defense against us if they spot us coming.” Alis replied. �
��Luckily, I may have a way for us to remain invisible, at least at range.”

  “When the garloks inverted the positron coupler, it gave me an idea. If I keep the coupler inverted and reconfigure the plasma induction system, I may be able to cut our engine signature by ninety-five percent. We’ll just be a blur on their sensors, at least at a fair range, I hope. We’ll even have at least half power, if my estimates are spot on,” Alis spoke confidently.

  “Elarra, you’ve been quiet. What do you know? What can your visions tell us?” Kyren asked, turning to face her where she sat at the console.

  “I know nothing more than you, at this point. I know we will succeed, but the how remains unknown,” was her honest reply.

  “Kyren, while Alis works on her plan, will you accompany me to engineering. I have constructed something for you that may even the odds.” Benjam said, squiggling his way out of the bridge and down the hall. Kyren entered engineering behind the brontian and followed him over to a low table. He hefted a large device, handing it over to Kyren.

  Kyren strained to hold the heavy device, until Benjam threw a strap over his shoulder and connected it. Resting the weight on the sling, he took a moment to examine the gadget Benjam had just given him. It was composed of a large squat cylinder with a small parabolic dish at the front, several tubes and wires, and a handle jutting out the rear of the device.

  “It’s a portable plasma arc.” Noticing Kyren’s puzzlement, Benjam added, “It’s a big blaster, in case we run into any more reapers. You’ll have an easier time carrying it with that fancy new suit you’ve got.”

  “Great, what else have you got?” Kyren queried inquisitively.

  “I’ve got a few more tricks up my sleeve, don’t worry about it.” He replied confidently. He had constructed several more gadgets he hoped would be useful.

  When all the planning and preparations were complete, they began star hopping, making their way to their final destination. On to the final confrontation, he thought. Benjam was filled with apprehension. Oh hell, he was downright terrified, he admitted to himself.

  “Final jump coming up, going into low power mode now,” Alis gave an update. “We won’t be able to use shields or weapons while we’re running dark, either.”

  “Okay, let’s do it!” Kyren exclaimed, not giving any time for Benjam’s nerve to waver.

  Alis matched the jump vector and engaged the warp drive. The ship appeared at the edge of the system, beyond the outermost seventh planet.

  “Activating sensors,” Benjam said groggily, moments later. His heart began to thunder as he examined the scans.

  “I’m picking up multiple energy signatures, seven in all. They appear to be ringing the third planet in the system. Looks like we’ve got dragoons, although they seem to be in a defensive configuration,” squeaked Benjam in alarm.

  “Maybe they haven’t seen us yet,” Kyren hoped.

  “They have not changed course since our arrival, so I would say your trick is working, Alis,” Benjam confirmed.

  “Well, let’s see how close we can get before you congratulate me,” she replied skeptically as she eased the Ashari’s throttle up.

  53

  Stealth

  For her modification to work, Alis had to keep the engines under the radiation threshold, to prevent the secondary reaction which provided greater thrust but put off quite a signal. That meant restraint. Which was difficult when all she wanted to do was open the ship up and blaze in there as fast as possible. Crawling along like this made her feel like a sitting duck and left her ears twitching in frustration.

  Alis watched the thin brown and green crescent of the arid third planet in the system approaching. To her horror, she saw several triangular shapes silhouetted by the planet’s thin strip of day. The Ashari’s sensors locked on, highlighting the tiny shapes of the enemy craft on the viewscreen.

  “We’ve got dragoons!” Alis yelled out.

  “Oh dear, I think they’ve seen us. Readings indicate they are now in motion, vector inbound,” Benjam squawked, waving his tentacles frantically. “They’ll be on top of us in no time. What are we going to do? There are seven of them!”

  Time for ruses was up. Taking several moments to revert the engine back to its original configuration, Alis then kicked up the thrust to max, the ship surging forward. “Okay, we’ve got incoming, let’s go hot. I’m going to try a short jump around them. Wait. Shit! They’ve cut me off, several are fanning out toward the planet.”

  “Oh dear, we need to retreat!” Benjam cried, and began plotting an escape jump vector.

  “Alis, what is a singularity bomb?” Kyren asked her while panning through the weapons controls.

  “Damn, that just might save us, bring it online, and fast,” Alis instructed, a plan forming in her head.

  “Kyren, we’re in for a fight, I need you to throw everything we’ve got at them. But don’t launch the singularity bomb until I give the order. Okay?” Alis advised. “Benjam, we’re not running. We’ve got to do this. Are you with us?

  “Yes, but how can we prevail against these odds? We’ll be blown to bits. I don’t want to be bits,” he groused.

  “Benjam, remember the design matrix, remember this is destiny. We will succeed,” Elarra said confidently.

  “Benjam, I need you to monitor shields,” Alis said turning around and giving him a direct look. “Also, get me a jump vector into the planet’s atmosphere. Can you do that?”

  “Yes, Captain Alis,” Benjam responded while saluting her with a tentacle.

  The ships were fast approaching, nearly within weapons range. She knew it was a crazy plan. Hell, it felt like her life these days was one crazy plan after another. “We’re gonna have to play dead. I need them to believe they have disabled us, which means we gotta fight to make it convincing.”

  The nearest ship unleashed a barrage of energy blasts, forcing her to take evasive maneuvers. As she rolled and juked the ship, the other dragoons opened fire. By some miracle she was able to dodge their blasts too. But she missed the last dragoon, as it flew in from behind. There was just too much incoming fire. The screens whited out as energy dispersed over the shields.

  “We’ve taken several hits, but shields are still holding, Alis,” Benjam relayed.

  Odd, the shields had dissipated last time they had taken several direct hits. If Benjam were correct, something had changed. She spared a glance at the shield readout, confirming Benjam’s report. Something didn’t add up, but that would have to be for a later time, she thought as she dodged another volley of fire.

  Kyren opened up with the Ashari’s weapons, scoring hits on multiple targets, but the dragoons appeared to suffer no major damage. Alis watched the readout from the corner of her eye as he readied the proton torpedoes. Good, maybe that’ll put a dent in those fuckers, she thought, as she worked to line him up a shot.

  With a deft motion Kyren unleashed multiple weapons simultaneously at the nearest of the ships. The impact of the proton torpedoes filled the viewscreen with white for a few seconds. When it cleared, Kyren cheered. Alis was overjoyed to see the dragoon floating in space in two pieces.

  The viewscreens whited out as energy beams seared into their shields. Alis struggled at the controls, waiting for her opportunity. Her plan was to play dead, not actually be dead, so she poured every last ounce she had into avoiding as much fire as possible. Deciding this was probably her best opportunity, she called out to Benjam. “Drop the shields, now!”

  “What? We’ll be disintegrated!” Benjam squeaked. “I must protest, it is a terrible idea.”

  “Do it NOW!” she yelled.

  As the shields fell, beams of energy lanced into their ship, shaking the hull and blinding the sensors. The blasts dug furrows in the ship’s skin, punching a hole in engine number two. Sparks flew out of an overhead panel, filling the bridge with the smell of ozone. Alis hit full stop, cutting the engine power and hitting the emergency vents, dumping smoke out of panels on the sides of the engines.


  Shit! She hadn’t counted on actually losing an engine. Alis frantically reworked the jump vector to take into account being down an engine.

  “If I’m right, they’ll move in close to attempt to board, now that we are disabled. Kyren, get ready to deploy, set a ten second timer on the bomb.”

  The barrage of fire ceased and the craft began approaching. Before they could reach boarding range, Alis cried, “Now! Deploy the bomb.”

  Kyren hit the launch key. A port opened and a red basketball sized sphere floated free of the ship.

  She hit the controls to fire up the remaining engine, and nothing happened. She tried again to no effect. She could feel the seconds ticking by, inevitable destruction about to be unleashed, the power of a black hole that would devour all in its vicinity. She tried yet again, willing the craft to comply. This time, the Ashari’s lights flickered and dimmed as alarms sounded and warnings flashed.

  “Um, Alis? Shouldn’t we be getting out of here?” Benjam said, voice cracking with fear.

  She growled in frustration and surged at the controls again, and again nothing. The remaining engine suddenly roared to life of its own accord. Wasting not even a millisecond questioning what had happened, she hit the throttle and went full burn. With a mighty effort the ship reached jump velocity just as there was a bright flash behind them. The singularity bomb collapsed inward, drawing the dragoons in. Kyren watched them disappear beyond the black hole’s event horizon, crushed and ripped apart by the tidal forces at the boundary.

  A quick glance at the readout told Alis the warp fuel was nearly exhausted. Hopefully there was just enough left for this final jump. It was a short jump, hopefully it would work. Alis hit the jump engage, and they warped into the planet’s atmosphere before they could be drawn into the miniature black hole. The ship jounced and lurched, its scarred hull glowing a bright red-orange as drag from the atmosphere created tremendous friction.