Meeting in the Stars (Marston Chronicles Book 3)

by D Patrick Wagner

  Spikes sprang from the caravan’s undercarriages. The ice anchors dug furrows into the ice as the two limousines and the five troop carriers came to rest in the slab of ice deemed to be the front parking area.

  Krag and his people, including Krag’s Elonian vassal, Gopai, waited while the forty military Elonians disembarked and surrounded the royal limo. They waited while the Royal Family exited, formed up and, under escort, began the walk into the Royal Palace. Finally, thirty two Royal Guardsmen allowed the four humans and one Elonian to exit and follow the Royal Procession.

  The solid doors made the double doors on Gregor’s estate resemble the servant’s entrance. Gregor’s entire personal living quarters could fit in the foyer, with room to spare. The ice-covered walls reflecting the golden light of tens of chandeliers created a brightness that made the Humans squint. Even Gopai gawked as the Elonian took in the opulence of the huge, pillared room.

  “Never been here, before, Gopai?”

  “Once. When I was a child, Captain Marston. I forgot how grand our Royal House is.”

  Large tapestries hung from the ten-meter-high walls, depicting various scenes of heroism and gallantry. Pedestals holding intricately carved figures and busts adorned the ice-covered floor. Multiple Elonian servants stood by doors or wandered the room, waiting to be commanded.

  One such servant, in much grander livery, rushed to another set of overly-large double doors and, with great pomp and dignity, pulled them open. Standing back, he performed the Elonian salute, bowed deeply and held the pose until the royal family passed and entered the throne room.

  Cold, cloudy, vaporous breath escaped the four humans as they continued to be encircled by the eight remaining Royal Guardsmen. Krag noticed that Mack kept checking his heating unit insuring it functioned.

  “If it breaks, you’ll know, Mack.”

  “Ya, Cap. Just don’t like all this cold, is all.”

  With the icy floor making their footing slippery and treacherous, Krag, Keiko, Mack and Sue carefully followed King Kaporine and his entourage through the throne room doors, across the massive room, three times as large as the foyer, and to the double thrones centered on a raised dais. As the four Humans traversed the huge, ice-covered floor, they again became mesmerized by the icy magnificence of the Elonian palace.

  The King of all Elonia majestically flowed up the steps and onto his throne. The Queen took her place on her less ornate one. Prince Daruke, as first son, heir to the throne and advisor to the King, stood at his father’s right. Princess Analyn stood next to her mother, a paw on the queen’s shoulder. As always, Sir Mahajani held his position, just behind and to the side of his princess.

  Once his family members settled into their usual places, King Kaporine looked over the new, alien visitors. He noticed the strange, clawless feet.

  “Gopai, our guests appear to be laboring at standing on our icy floor. Get them some chairs so that they may be seated.”

  Gopai looked at Krag. Krag nodded. Gopai bowed, received the King’s acknowledgement and raced off, as ordered.

  “Ah, yes. Your vassal. How is my thrice-removed nephew doing?”

  “Very well, Your Majesty.” Krag answered while also bowing and saluting.

  “What is our young warrior learning?”

  “Three different topics, Your Majesty. First, Human formality and decorum with Ambassador Suzume as his tutor. Second, the human style of grappling and self-defense. Legate Buster and I are his educators for that. And third, he is under the tutelage of Sir Mack and Mrs. Benton to learn the operations and mechanics of Griffin.

  “Quite a schedule.”

  By this time, Gopai had returned and placed four chairs behind his four human teachers.

  “Please be seated.” King Kaporine watched as Gopai assumed his place behind Krag.

  “Has Gopai given you any trouble? Any resistance?” Obviously the King knew about Gopai’s troublesome nature.

  “Not a bit, Your Majesty. Well, maybe a little.” Krag said this with a toothless smile and a lifting of both brows.

  “Really?” The King returned the humorous facial expression with one of his own as he watched Gopai squirm.

  “Sir Mack has complained that Gopai asks too many questions. That he is nosy about everything. Ambassador Suzume has the same issues.”

  “And you? His physical training?”

  “Gopai absolutely hates to lose. Buster does the actual training, teaching technique and leverage. Then Gopai and I practice what Buster has taught him. In time, Gopai will be a very good wrestler and a good fighter.

  “And he hates to lose?”

  “Very much so. He never quits. I have to order him to stand down.”

  “Ah. Has he ever bared his teeth? Extended claws?”

  “Not at any of us, Your Majesty. There are times his frustration gains control. Then he will stomp around, flexing and growling. It passes. He’s young. He’ll learn. Not an issue.”

  “Would you say he is a good vassal?”

  “Gopai works hard. He studies hard. He is a quick learner and an excellent athlete. I would hire him in a heartbeat as one of my crew.”

  “A glowing recommendation, Captain Marston.”

  “I meant every word, Your Majesty.”

  “Now, I have a problem. My son wishes that I impose the Extreme Circumstances clause to seize your ship, imprison you and wipe Buster. I have resisted. Why shouldn’t I impose the clause?”

  Keiko immediately stood, saluted and bowed. “Your Majesty. We have never shown any tendencies of danger or threats to you or your kingdom. Griffin is a ship of peace.”

  “And Buster? He attacked Gopai.”

  “I must, most respectfully, disagree, Your Majesty. Buster did not attack Gopai. He protected his Captain. Those are two completely different intentions. Buster has never activated his battle algorithms or lifted a weapon against any Elonian.”

  “I’ve seen the recordings. There is merit in your words. Gopai, what say you? Are Humans a threat to Elonia?”

  “Not these four, My King.”

  “How so?”

  “I have been on Griffin for seven days now. They have never shown any resentment or animosity towards me. In fact, they have shown only care and concern. Even when I frustrate them with my questions and failures. Well, sir Mack gets frustrated, testy. He picks on me. And Buster beats me up.”

  King Kaporine saw the humorous ear flicks. He wondered if Gopai, Buster and Mack were becoming friends.

  “You see no danger from these Humans?”

  “Humans are intelligent, enlightened and committed. I have seen nothing which would present them or their ship as a threat.”

  “And Buster?”

  “He drives me crazy. He will work for a sedeca on one move, forcing me to work my muscles and leverage in just the exact manner he wishes. He points out the smallest balance and force errors and will not let me rest until I get it right. He frustrates Bashia’s Light out of me.”

  “Does he harm you?”

  “He never breaks anything, or causes severe injury. But, I end up hurting. Most of the time.” Again, Gopai showed his humor.

  “I could order your release from your servitude.”

  “No! I apologize, My King. I meant that it is not needed.”

  “Well spoken, Gopai. Ambassador Suzume, you, your crewmates and your ship are free for another day.” Again, King Kaporine flicked his ears in humor. “I will hold off judgement for now. Sir Mack.”

  Mack bolted to his feet, slid, grabbed the chair for support and finally succeeded in coming to a slippery attention. He carefully saluted and bowed.

  “Your Highness, um, Majesty.”

  “Sit.”

  He sat.

  “Are you ready for Griffin to be repaired and enhanced with Elonian upgrades?”

  “As I will ever be, Your Majesty. Just name the place and time and I will get my girl there.”

  “Good. I’ll have Master Engineer Varrini contact you with the
details.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty. I am looking forward to it.”

  “And to getting home.”

  “There is that, Your Majesty.”

  “Johi!” King Kaporine bellowed.

  The well-liveried servant dashed from his place at the doors to his King.

  “My King.”

  Give our Human guests a tour of the palace and grounds. Also, have a meal prepared in the small dining room. We shall eat there.”

  “As you wish, My King.”

  “Welcome guests. Do you wish to have quarters in the palace or remain on board Griffin?”

  “If is not offensive to Your Majesty, we wish to remain on Griffin.”

  “No offense taken. I will see you at evening meal, then.”

  Onboard Ravage Maker

  War squatted on the command stool, his four legs magnetically clamped to the deck. After using his tubular, pink tongue to slather the severed arm of a soft skin, he waited for the digestive acids to emulsify the meat. While he waited, he monitored the progress of the Mortek fleets.

  Third Fleet held its place at the forefront, preparing for the charge through, what the Morteks now knew to be, the Cencore gate. Fourth Fleet currently flowed from the Dorogon gate, assuming its position as right claw. After its completion, Fifth Fleet would take up the left claw position.

  Noting the texture of the now-partially dissolved meat, War slurped up a portion and lathered another. While eating, War thought about the upcoming attack, the smashing of the soft skin’s central worlds.

  “Science!”

  “Yes, My Lord.”

  “You have analyzed the beam that the soft skins used to cripple Despoiler of Planets?”

  “Yes, My Lord.”

  “Well?”

  “We understand the beam and are currently developing a countermeasure.”

  “Explain.”

  “The beam is a complex wave and particle beam. With very deep penetration capabilities. Our first thought was to increase our armor plating. However that is not practical.”

  “Why not?” War’s vestigial wings rose threateningly.

  “First, we don’t have enough of the metals required to protect our fleet. And, even if we did, the amount of armor we would need to mount would make our ships unwieldy.”

  “You said that you are working on a countermeasure.”

  “Yes. We have developed a reflective coating which will reflect some of the soft skin’s beams.”

  “How much?”

  “Between thirty and sixty percent. We will not know for sure until one of our ships is actually struck with this beam.”

  “This is the best that your science team can come up with? Thirty to sixty percent?”

  Drooping his wings and head comb, Science responded, “Yes, My Lord.”

  “Not good enough. Get closer to sixty percent than thirty. When will this coating be available?”

  “Since Nest One, what the soft skins call ‘Sasania’, is our most settled colony, that is where we are building our factories. Using the rotation cycle of Nest One, with approximately thirty-rotations needed for delivery and thirty rotations needed for production, we can have enough coating for Third fleet in sixty rotations. Thirty more for the entire fleet, as we will be able to increase our productivity after the first run.”

  “Sixty rotations for Third Fleet. Thirty more for Fourth and Fifth. Ninety rotations. How long is needed to apply the coating?”

  “Another twenty rotations, My Lord.”

  “One hundred and ten rotations. It will have to do. I do not want my fleet flying into an entire system of those soft skin cannons without as much protection as possible.”

  “This is acceptable?”

  “Tolerable. Sixty percent. Nothing less, Science. Notify me if anything or anyone hinders the production.”

  “Yes, My Lord. I will My Lord.”

  Onboard Heimdallr

  Captain Scott sat, strapped into his open command pod, staring at his monitor, as he had done for the previous twenty days. Staring at the blackness of space, sprinkled with the diamonds of stars, he wondered what demonic hell waited for him and Humanity. The three-person scout ship drifted quietly at the edge of the Cencore gate, ready to escape into the Bridgelen asteroid field, if need be. He noted that the alien fleet of two hundred and eighty-five ships, including those three monsters, still halted midway between the Dorogon and Cencore gates, still squatted in the center of the Bridgelen system. Studying more of the scanner screen, he saw more activity at the Dorogon gate.

  “Toast, what do you see?”

  More ships coming through. A lot of them,” Sensor Specialist Torres responded from her own sensor pod.

  “What’s a lot?”

  “Looks like another fleet has arrived. And another is just starting to come through. My guess? Another two hundred and eighty-four ships in another formation. Same distribution as the two fleets already here. Two more super dreadnaughts and at least two hundred and fifty more are coming through. Still coming. Will probably peak out at another two hundred and eighty-four.”

  “Give me a projected break down of the alien armada strength.”

  “Using our tonnage as a reference, including the original fleet, we’re looking at one really big monster, probably the flagship. Seven super dreadnaughts, eighteen cruisers, forty-five destroyers, one hundred, eighty frigates and six hundred patrol ships.

  “Not good. Keep us quiet, Brooksy. I don’t want them to know we’re here.”

  “Sneaking and peeking, Captain,” Chief Pilot Brooks responded while working his board, controlling the small scout ship.

  “Torres, send a buoy. Let home know what’s coming.”

  “I’ve been loading the feed as we record, Captain. Ready to Launch.”

  “Launch it. Get us back under some rocks, Brooksy.”

  “One nice, dark rock coming up, Captain.”

  Onboard Thor

  “Captain, Admiral Weiskoff is on the horn.”

  “Two or three?”

  “Two. The Old Man.”

  “Great. I’ll take it in my ready room, Mr. Morgan.”

  “Passing it through, Captain.”

  By the time Captain Russell took his seat at the desk, an older version of Vice-Admiral Theodore Millhouse Weiskoff displayed on his monitor. The Captain knew that he looked at the Second, the Admiral of the entire Federacy Space Fleet.

  “Fleet-Admiral Weiskoff.”

  “Captain Russell.”

  “How may I be of service?”

  “You’ve seen them live. What are we dealing with?”

  “How to describe them.” The Thor Captain Pondered a moment. “A horde, Admiral. Vastly superior numbers. Thicker armor. Heavier weapons. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

  “See any weak points?”

  “Strategy. I’ve been reviewing Odin’s logs of her battles. The aliens seem unimaginative. A brute force mentality. Also, through the Intel we received from Skadi, Odin’s experimental X-cannon apparently works. It’s the only thing that reliably hurt those super dreadnaughts, cruisers or destroyers.”

  “We saw the same Intel. Thank you for fast-forwarding it. We have all of our shipyards re-arming every ship we can with the new weapons.”

  “It may not be enough, Admiral. I have launched a scout ship back through the gate for intelligence gathering. We are due for a report sometime today. And one a day thereafter.”

  “As soon as you receive those reports, forward them immediately to my flagship.”

  “As soon as they arrive, Admiral.”

  “Have you heard anything from Odin?”

  “No, nothing. We scanned the debris fields in Bridgelen and found no indication that Odin had been destroyed. Your son knows what he’s doing, Admiral. I have no doubt that Theodore has found a place to lay-up, hide out. He’ll surface when the time is right.”

  “I pray that you are right, Captain. His wife and children will be relieved to know that Odin hasn’t
gone down.”

  “She hasn’t, Admiral. I’m sure of it. Your boy will keep her safe.”

  “Changing the subject, I’m putting you in charge of the gate defense. As of now, you are fleet commander, answering only to me.”

  This pronouncement took Captain Brewer aback. “Thank you for your confidence, Admiral. Are you sure you want to give me that responsibility? There are many more officers with far more experience.”

  “Not concerning the aliens. And, with Odin’s location unknown, you captain our only remaining dreadnaught. It should be the command ship for the defense fleet. No, you’re the one.”

  “Thank you for the honor, Admiral. I shall endeavor to live up to your expectations.”

  “You better, the Federacy civilization is at stake. Send me that Intel.”

  “Aye, aye, Admiral.”

  Arium Ship Yard

  “Hey, Fergy,” Doctor McCauley shouted across the busy, noisy machine shop.

  Barely hearing his name called, Ian Ferguson looked around, searching for the source. Seeing his boss, with Benton kid, Dean, he rushed over.

  “Ya, Doc. What you need?”

  “How are we with these new X-cannons?”

  “Slow. Sixteen built. Ready to install. Power source is the problem, each one needing its own reactor.”

  “Save six for Odin. No. Nine. Young Weiskoff is going to want them when he gets here.”

  “Will do, Doc.”

  “Platforms?”

  “Much easier. Just big boxes with thrusters, fuel, processor and remote controls. Sixteen in the pipeline. Now, with those nine going to Odin, I’ll only have seven ready to go on the first delivery.”

  “Got enough fuel?”

  “Don’t need much. We’ll tow them to their spots. Use the thrusters for alignment. Keep firing until the right moment. Then explode them. Should make a pretty sight, with the fission reactor going and all those x-rays and emp waves.”

  “Hope they’re more than just fireworks. We need some big time destruction.”

  “You designed them well, Doc. They’ll do the job, alright.”