by Saxon Andrew
He raised his eyes and saw Ka standing beside him, “Can’t sleep?” she asked.
Tal nodded and hugged her as he asked, “Have you seen Jee’s report?” Ka nodded. They were silent for a few moments and Tal turned to her, “How did Jee stop at just the right place to avoid being killed?”
Ka saw Tal was clearly troubled. “You’ve seen the recordings from the Lincoln?” Ka asked. Tal nodded. Ka put her hand on Tal’s arm before saying, “I had an opportunity to talk with Ryshana while she was getting ready for the wedding and I asked her about the time she and Jab were together on the Brotherhood Planet.”
“And?”
“She was open and told me anything I asked about.” Ka paused, before continuing, “I asked if there were any close calls of being discovered.”
Ka paused again, and Tal inquired, “Were there any?”
“Tal, there were many. But it seemed each time something out of the ordinary would take place that saved them. I’ll tell you about them when you’re not so tired.”
Tal turned his chair around and Ka sat down in his lap. Zak’s Jil was in the cradle on the Brazil and the crew were given liberty. Tal and Ka sat together on an empty bridge. Tal held her, and she put her head on his chest and closed her eyes. “Ka?”
Ka kept her head on his chest and said, “Yes, love.”
“What Ryshana did on the Lincoln is…I don’t know…”
“Impossible,” Ka said with her eyes closed.
“Yes. The odds of her accidently finding those two upgrades to our systems is beyond calculation.”
Ka opened her eyes, “It was those upgrades that caused you to order Jee to stop his squadron at the perfect place and time, Tal.” Tal’s eyes closed slightly as he suddenly realized she was right. Ka continued, “And throw in Jab landing his ship in that forest close to likely the only person on the planet that hated the Brotherhood, as she was being attacked by that guard, only makes things more incomprehensible. If I tell you how many times they should have been discovered by the Brotherhood during Jab’s mission, then you’ll have to throw out the computer. The odds of all those things happening naturally are far beyond its ability to compute.”
“What are you saying, Ka?”
Ka sat up in his lap, “Tal, are you religious?” Tal’s head went back slightly. “Are you?!” Ka pressed.
Tal raised a shoulder, “Yeah, I guess so.”
“That’s not an answer, Tal. Are you religious?”
Tal looked away slightly before replying, “I believe that one day you and I will see Sha and Ste again. I don’t believe they are gone but are in a better place. I don’t have any proof, but it feels true. I guess that makes me religious; why are you asking?”
“Then you believe in a Creator?” Ka pressed further.
Tal sighed, “Yes, I guess I do.”
“Tal, do you believe the creator is benevolent, indifferent, or evil?”
“I certainly don’t believe the Creator is evil!” Tal instantly replied. He thought for a moment and then said slowly, “If there is another place where I will see my parents, Sha, and all the others that are gone, then the Creator must be benevolent. What are you trying to get at, Ka?”
“Please bear with me, Tal. Now, I want you to imagine you are the Creator and you are benevolent. How would you view the Brotherhood?”
Tal turned his eyes to Ka, “I think I would be royally pissed off at what they’re doing.” Tal’s expression changed as he saw Ka’s expression, “You cannot be suggesting that…”
Ka interrupted him, “Then you explain it!” Tal was silent, as she began counting off on her fingers, “She was at the forest at the perfect time for Jab to find her. She’s from a primitive culture yet she uncovered two unknown capabilities in our ship’s software that has made our ships far more powerful! Jab fell in love with her and brought her back with him, when he swore to both of us that would never, ever, happen again. You saw his expression, Tal; he meant it! That alone would make this impossible! The thing that caps it is she is the only person on that Brotherhood planet that hates them and here she is with us. If you went searching for someone that hated the Brotherhood, you’d never find them in the billions that live there…but here she is.”
“So, you’re saying that this is destiny operating again?” Tal asked with raised eyebrows shaking his head.
“No, I’m not!” Tal’s brows came together. “I’m saying that Ryshana is destiny’s child. She is a tool that is being used to move creation toward what it should be.” Ka could easily see Tal’s doubt and sighed softly, “Tal, I think you almost agree that you and I were destined to be together, right?” Tal nodded. “It’s rare in life that anyone is able to see destiny working and we’ve been blessed to see we were meant to be together. But there are so many events taking place around Ryshana that it must be destiny stepping in; there can’t be any other explanation. If she hadn’t appeared when she did, Jab would probably be dead and Jee and his unit would have also been killed.”
“But Ka, you just can’t believe she’s…I don’t know…holy or something?”
“I didn’t say she was holy! I believe that creation is using her in some manner beyond my understanding.” Ka paused and looked into Tal’s face, “And if that’s true, we’re being used as well.”
Tal shook his head, “Now you’re really reaching, Ka.”
Ka gazed at the front monitor with all the distant stars showing. She spoke softly, “Ryshana had to be prepared for carrying out her destiny. For that to happen, events had to take place to get her ready.”
“Events?” Tal questioned.
“She had to come to really hate the Brotherhood before she would be an effective tool. I wondered why she was beaten so severely if she truly was being used by the Creator. But it was necessary to her hatred of the Brotherhood and prepare her for what was coming. I find it amazing that Jab appeared almost immediately and was able to relieve her pain before she suffered too much.”
“What does that have to do with us, Ka.”
“Tal, what if the aliens hadn’t been scouting Earth?”
“I’m not sure what you mean, Ka?”
“It was that alien scout at Neptune that started Earth building defenses to take them on. And when they invaded the six colonies, there was no massive loss of life. And why did Sha insist on going out to repair that satellite? That had to happen for us to lure the aliens into the Large Magellanic Cloud.” Ka looked at him, “Are you starting to see a pattern, yet?” Tal was staring into her eyes with a confused expression. Ka continued, “It was keeping the alien fleets pinned down in the LMC that allowed the colonies to ship out billions of their populations to new planets in Andromeda to escape the alien invasion. The warship that was destroyed by the Brotherhood warship wouldn’t have been there but for the new colonies in Andromeda.”
“Ka, you’re inferring too much here.”
“Tal, the aliens pushed us to do things that led us into the current situation we find ourselves in and didn’t harm us in the process. Sure, there were some space battles but, overall, we came out better because of it. They did things that prepared us to take on the Brotherhood, just like Ryshana was prepared to hate the Brotherhood.”
Tal pointed at the image of the giant, flashing warship on his console, “And just where does that fit in this story you’ve come up with?” Ka sighed heavily and shook her head. “What?” Tal asked.
Ka looked up, “Tal, did you see the beating Ryshana endured from that guard?”
“Yes.”
“Just because she, or we, are being used, doesn’t mean we won’t endure sorrow or pain. Humanity could possibly be wiped out by what happens…but out of that, the universe might be a better place because of it. Destiny isn’t always a bed of roses, Tal.”
“Ka, I’m having trouble seeing it.”
“Just consider this, Tal. What events had to happen for you stop Jee from being killed?” Tal was silent as he looked into her eyes and Ka waited for an
answer. Ka raised a shoulder, “Let me help you. The aliens had to invade the colonies causing us to install satellites to track them. Sha had to die repairing one of them causing the aliens to believe they were being scouted. The aliens went to the LMC looking for us, giving the colonies time to build colonies in Andromeda. A warship from the new colonies was attacked causing us to be sent here to see what we were up against. This led to you getting an assassin to scout one of their worlds where he encountered a young woman the moment he landed. That woman accidently discovered two huge upgrades that led you to stopping Jee’s squadron from going any further.” Tal stared at her and blinked. Ka nodded, “Remove any one of those events and Jee would be dead along with his squadron.” Ka paused for Tal to catch up and then added, “You should also consider that the war with the first aliens ended as soon as the colonies in Andromeda were settled, which insured we would encounter the Brotherhood. The path we followed to get to this place in time leaves no other options for it to have happened. They are so tightly tied together that it’s like someone, or something, is directing them.”
“Ka, that’s how history normally happens.”
“Tal, I want you to find any other events in history that are so tightly linked. Usually, there are several alternative things that could still have allowed an event to take place. Like someone else on the Brotherhood planet that hated the Brotherhood. But there wasn’t anyone else. Give it a shot, Tal. See if you can find anything else so tightly linked where it couldn’t have happened any other possible way.”
Tal stood up and followed Ka off the bridge. He knew the odds of what was happening were impossible, but he just couldn’t bring himself to believe it was part of some giant scheme or plan. He saw that Ka had no doubt about it.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Tal sat at his console two days later and nodded, “I agree that you were lucky, Jee.”
“Tal, if we hadn’t stopped when we did, we would have been wiped out by that giant warship. We didn’t detect it and would have been caught defenseless.”
“At least you found a way to detect them and we can avoid them if nothing else.”
“Thank Lori for that, Tal, she’s an amazing scanning officer. I don’t see anything else we can do but run from them, the fields around their ship are too powerful for any of our weapons to penetrate. I’m still wondering why they’re reluctant to go ahead and remove the Brotherhood.”
“I hope you came out of that contact with an understanding that we have no choice but to start attacking Brotherhood ships now.” Tal replied.
Jee’s looked off to the side for a few moments, “Why is that?”
“That Cyren told you that he would hold off attacking the new colonies while we assisted the other civilizations attacking the Invaders. What’s going to happen if we don’t do it?” Tal asked.
Jee’s eyes closed slightly and then opened, “You’re right.”
“And we have to make sure we don’t defeat them before we come up with a way to handle that giant ship.”
“That isn’t an issue, Tal. We don’t have the forces to defeat the Brotherhood as it is, much less that giant warship. All we can do is remove their ships whenever the opportunity presents itself.”
“We’ll discuss it further when you get back to the Brazil, Jee. I’m thankful it turned out as it did.”
“I am, too, Tal. I’ll see you in two weeks.”
Jee disappeared from his monitor and the image of the giant warship reappeared. Tal sighed as he studied it. “Excuse me, Admiral.” Tal turned to his right and saw Ryshana standing beside his chair. “If you’re busy, I can come back later.”
“No, I have a few minutes. What’s on your mind?”
Ryshana’s smile was huge, “I just wanted to come and thank you and Ka for insisting on the wedding ceremony. It was incredible and it’s the happiest moment of my life. It added so much to being married to Jab!”
Tal smiled, “I’m glad you found joy in it, Ryshana.”
Ryshana’s smile shrunk a little as she continued, “Jab is not at all happy that you forced him to join the military.”
“Ryshana, you and Jab are the only ones I have access to that are experts on the Brotherhood,” Tal responded. “I need you to help me make decisions about them. You and Jab will be assigned to my ship and will be among friends. I think Jab will be OK with it after he calms down.”
Ryshana’s smile was back, “That’s good news, I know I like everyone on this ship.” She glanced at the alien ship on Tal’s monitor, “What is that?”
Tal glanced back at the monster on his console and turned back to Ryshana before replying, “It’s another alien species we’ve encountered, as if the Brotherhood wasn’t enough.”
Ryshana smiled, “It’s really beautiful, Admiral; the way those different colored bands sweep around it are gorgeous.” Tal looked at the ship but couldn’t see anything beautiful in that demon ship. Ryshana squinted at the monitor and Tal increased the size of it. She shook her head slightly, “It reminds me of the way my mother made my dresses.”
Tal’s eyes narrowed, and he looked at Ryshana, “What do you mean?”
“The way those colored bands are sewn together, Admiral.” Tal turned back to the ship and wondered what she was talking about. He zoomed in on the image and stopped it where two of the colored bands came together. Ryshana nodded toward the image, “When my mother was well, her seams were flawless, some of the best in the community, but when she got sick, they weren’t as good. Those seams are like my mother’s seams when she was too ill to do a good job. I’d take the dresses and sew the seams together after she went to bed, so she wouldn’t feel bad when the seams came apart.”
He started moving the view in closer on the giant and focused on the place where two-colored bands came together. As the view zoomed in, he began to see strands of energy between to two giant colored bands holding them together. As the strands grew in size. he could see there was a gap between the two-colored bands where the strands were joined together. Ryshana watched the image move in and asked, “How large is the space between those threads holding the different colors together?”
Tal smiled, “They’re about two miles wide.” Ryshana’s head went back and her eyes flew open. She looked at Tal and he smiled, “It’s a rather large ship, Ryshana.”
“Indeed, it is, Admiral.” She shook her head slightly and smiled, “Thank you again. I’ll allow you to get back to your work.”
Ryshana walked away and Tal stared at the gap between the energy fields revolving around the Cyren warship. “Computer analyze the hull of the ship on my monitor that is seen through the gaps in the energy fields.”
Tal waited and heard, “It is composed of a strong, light alloy, Admiral.”
“Are you saying it isn’t armored?”
“Yes, Admiral. It is extremely strong but is susceptible to high heat. It is not armored.”
“How much heat would melt it?”
“One of our blasters would penetrate it at one-quarter power, Admiral.”
“Why would they not armor the hull, Computer?”
“The mass of that vessel would be too high if the hull is armored. The thrust needed to move it at high-speed would be next to impossible using the available energy detected.”
Tal sat back in his chair. His eyes were wide, and Ka was watching him from her console. She knew something big had just happened. Tal closed his eyes and lowered his head. He felt something fill him and it was very much like what he felt after the war with the aliens ended. He felt a peace suffuse him and he knew that what just happened would have gone unnoticed but for a woman from a primitive culture seeing her mother’s seams in the image on the monitor. He suddenly realized that if what Ka suggested about the Creator was real, then Ryshana was revealing the creator’s feelings. She loved being around other people and they loved having her around. However, she only had hatred and loathing for the brotherhood. She had to be connected to the Creator in some special way he did
n’t understand but he could see it clearly. He also knew from the feeling that filled him that he was connected in some way as well.
He saw why the Cyrens wouldn’t attack the Brotherhood. If they managed to crash their ships through the gaps between the energy bands, it would cause massive damage to the giant warship’s interior. The Cyrens unwittingly revealed their one weakness by showing off how powerful they were. And it took Ryshana to get him to see it. He suddenly wondered if he had seen it on his own, would she have been standing next to his chair as he studied the warship’s image. Tal smiled, probably not because she wouldn’t have been needed to do it.
He felt a touch on his arm, opened his eyes, and looked up at Ka staring at him with concern on her face. He smiled softly, “You are right. I was too blind to see it.” Ka’s head tilted, as he continued, “Ryshana is Destiny’s Child and she belongs on Zak’s Jil here with us.”
“What happened, Tal.”
Tal nodded toward the monitor, “She showed me how to defeat those ships. We won’t be taking them on soon, Darling. We’ll need to fight the Brotherhood for a time until we’re ready, but at the right time, the Creator will show us.”
Ka’s eyes showed her apprehension, “Are you sure about that?”
“You sound like you’re a doubter, Ka.”
“And you aren’t?” she shot back.
Tal smiled, “Not any more, Ka. If you’ll close your eyes and search your feelings, you’ll see it.” Ka closed her eyes. At first her eyes were tight and then…her eyes relaxed and she smiled. Tal smiled with her; Ka felt the connection. He held her hand as she stood there with a beautiful smile on her face. The future didn’t look so grim anymore and Tal knew his plan to destroy the Brotherhood would have to wait until the right time. He felt the feeling start to fade and knew he’d have doubts about it as time passed. But Ka was right, doubts wouldn’t matter. They were going toward their destiny and nothing would stop them. He and Ka might die…but things would be better because of it…he could live with that.
