by Trevor Gregg
There! That had to be him, she thought anxiously, noting the position on the map. It was quite close to the portal, quite close to the massive destruction the black hole was already unleashing. She could almost make out the tiny dot that was Kyren atop the building.
Alis felt the sticks jerk and the ship shudder as it was decelerated by the massive gravitational force of the black hole. The sky went dark as the portal ate up the light. Buildings were reduced to rubble and then drawn inexorably toward the gaping portal. Alis accelerated the Ashari under full burn, pouring as much power into the engines as the ship could muster.
The Ashari reached the building upon which Kyren had relocated just as it collapsed, turning into a cloud of rubble plummeting to the ground.
“No!” she cried desperately, fearing the worst.
She fought to regain control of the Ashari as the gravitational force through the open portal began to draw them backward.
“Benjam, where’s Kyren?” she hollered, face scrunched in concentration, ears back nearly flat.
“I don’t know, his signal’s disappeared,” Benjam squeaked, pointing at the holoscreen with a tentacle.
Alis increased the throttle, but couldn’t make any headway against the massive gravity coming through the portal.
Then the Gaidan grabbed the Kirugi in a great bear hug and began a dance of death. Suddenly, the bot’s jump jets fired, forcing the Kirugi backward, toward the gaping warp portal and hungry supermassive black hole just beyond.
The Gaidan and the Kirugi, entangled in mortal combat, powered by the bot’s jump jets, passed through the portal and into the waiting maw of the hungry black hole. With a flash, the portal closed behind the bot and the beast.
But the devastation didn’t cease, it only increased. The sudden reversal of gravity caused a blast wave to progress outward from the space where the portal had been mere moments before. A massive wall of kinetic force streamed from the center of the destroyed city. As it expanded, the nearest buildings were reduced to rubble in mere seconds.
“Mom, Kyren, get out of there!” Alis cried, banking the Ashari to Kyren’s last know position.
She had nearly reached it by the time the blast wave hit. Alarms sounded and the viewscreen spun as the Ashari careened out of control, flying through the air on a meteoric trajectory, heading for one of the surrounding districts.
The ship spun and whirled and try as she might, the ship refused to come under control. It slammed into several buildings and tumbled through the air. Suddenly the grav plates gave out and she felt every bit of the g’s. She felt the impact as the ship slammed through a building and crashed to the ground.
Benjam squawked in pain as he was flung across the bridge and into the far wall. Alis would have suffered a similar, likely injurious fate, had she not been already strapped in to her piloting console. As it was, the force of slamming against the restraints knocked the wind of her and left her dazed, leaving her gasping in pain from her previously broken ribs.
“Benjam,” she croaked. “Kyren?”
“I’m afraid he was caught in the blast,” Benjam squeaked, picking himself up of the floor of the bridge, obviously in great pain.
“No, no no no no,” Alis repeated rhythmically, unable to comprehend the situation.
She couldn’t have lost Kyren, and her mom, not at the same time. Alis felt a pain much greater than the bruises from slamming against the harness and her cracked ribs.
“Mom, do you copy? Do you read me?” Alis cried into the comm, desperation setting in.
Only static, she only received static. Suddenly, a voice sounded behind her, weak and croaking. Disconnecting the flight harness, she rolled out of the console and onto the floor, looking in the direction of the entrance to the bridge.
“Ow, that was quite a landing, Alis,” Kyren said while limping into the bridge.
“Kyren!” she cried, staggering to him and taking him in her arms. “But… how?”
He regarded her for a moment, then simply said, “Warp beacon.”
Epilogue
Kyren felt ridiculous. The garb was traditional Earth garb, he was told. He was being honored by the Consortium, but did they have to dress him so ridiculously? The sash and silly hat were bad enough, but the tights and puffy shirt were beyond embarrassing. And to his chagrin, Alis seemed to find it tremendously amusing.
Of course she would, she didn’t have a sash and silly hat, he thought bitterly. She got a fancy Consortium pilot’s uniform. He wasn’t sure he liked the situation any more than he liked the clothes, either. This was some sort of ceremony to honor people. He didn’t really want to be honored. He just wanted to be with Alis, on board the Ashari, far away from Consortium fanfare.
But alas, here he was, here they all were, being recognized for their part in stopping the Kirugi on Earth. He knew it was a big thing they had done but it didn’t feel big. He had simply been trying to save those he loved from a doomed fate, after all.
“Oh dear, I’m so nervous. Do I have to give a speech? Oh dear, don’t make me give a speech,” Benjam quailed in his reedy voice.
“No Benjam, I don’t believe there are any speeches,” Geri informed him quietly, standing next to them in a crisp Consortium uniform.
“I too am decidedly uncomfortable with this. We should be honoring those who gave their lives to save us,” Elarra said with more emotion than Kyren was used to hearing in her voice.
“Yes, my men gave their lives…” Geri began, but was interrupted by Elarra.
“And my raxi, they sacrificed themselves as well,” Elarra continued.
“Yes, they should be honored as well,” Geri added. “Had they not covered our escape, we never would have made it to Isa before the city was obliterated.”
“Mom, I’m so happy you made it, I don’t know what I would do without you,” Alis said quietly.
Geri turned and hugged her daughter tightly. She looked over Alis’ shoulder and winked at Kyren, smiling mischievously at him. As Alis released her mom, she turned to Kyren, reaching out and taking his hand.
“I don’t know what I would do without you, too,” Alis murmured.
Kyren was about to respond, when the lights dimmed over the crowd and a spotlight came on from above, illuminating them in a pool of brilliant white.
“Today we welcome to our allies,” a voice called from beyond the curtain.
Applause and cheering filtered in as a Consortium Marine Colonel marched onto the stage shadowed by several of his men. They were all clad in deep crimson dress uniforms.
Why couldn’t they have given him one of those? They were crisp and impressive.
“Welcome to our civilian allies,” the voice called again.
Alis and Kyren were ushered out to the center of the stage to stand next to the military personnel.
“Geri, Alis, Kyren, Benjam, Elarra, you all endeavored to fight for Earth’s survival, the very human race’s survival. You did so with no backing, nor material support of the Consortium. Yet you were the right people at the right place, at the right time. Without your actions, our galaxy would be infested with the terrible creatures known as Kirugi.”
“You are to be honored,” the announcer continued. “You are each being granted an honorary Consortium commission, complete with a stipend and all the benefits and opportunities granted any Consortium officer.”
An attendant strode forward and pinned a badge on Kyren’s chest, then moved on to the others. Kyren looked at the badge, then at Alis. Their eyes met and he smiled, just as she did.
“What now?” he asked playfully, as music played and the crowd cheered.
“What now, indeed,” Alis said, smiling back just as playfully, her fingers again slipping into his.
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