by Tristan Vick
Captain Blackstar rose from the command chair situated at the center-aft portion of the bridge and raised her fist. This gesture was met with an abrupt silence. When she opened a flat palm, everyone drew up and came to attention. The officers turned one by one to face their empress, and crossed their right fists over their hearts in the Dagon salute.
Jegra returned their salutes and, unexpectedly, the entire bridge crew erupted in a round of cheers and applause.
“All right, all right,” Blackstar said, smiling. “You missed your empress. Noted. Now, get back to work.”
The crew did as they were ordered. Some officers periodically looked over their shoulders a few times just to be sure they weren’t imagining it. The empress really had returned to them.
When she turned back to Danica, the smile on her face quickly faded. Dani’s eyes looked sad, and she was giving Jegra a look she knew all too well. “What it is?”
“I’m afraid I won’t be going with you on this mission. There are things I have to do down on Thessalonica. And, besides, Raphine’s training isn’t complete. Someone has to watch out for her.”
Jegra took Danica by her waist and drew her in. “Then, I’m glad it’s you.” They leaned into one another, kissed, and, unable to fully relinquish hold of the other, stared into each other’s eyes for what seemed like an eternity.
Neither one wanted to say goodbye. After all, they’d only been united less than a few hours ago. So they held their embrace as long as they could.
“I’ll miss you,” Jegra said, offering Danica a smile.
At last, Danica slowly drew back, holding Jegra’s gaze. She shook her bracelet once and brought up the holovid display. Typing in her teleportation codes, she looked up and smiled at her beloved.
As the shaft of light came to fetch her, she smiled, but didn’t reply. Instead, she simply glowed in angelic fashion in the beaming light.
Jegra raised her hand, desperately wanting to touch Dani’s face before she vanished, but she was too slow and, in a flash, Dani was gone.
A stillness replaced Danica’s presence, and Jegra stood for a moment and took a deep breath. She didn’t know why, but it always felt strange seeing a person vanish like that. One moment they’re standing in front of you and the next they’re just gone.
Captain Lianica Blackstar’s eyes met hers and she rose up from her chair and gestured for Jegra to take a seat, offering the command chair to her.
“It’s good to have you back, Your Majesty,” Lianica said, greeting Jegra. She then stood back at attention so Jegra could assume command position. Jegra nodded and slowly sank down into the plush leather seat.
The leather straps of her skirt slid to the side as she lounged back in the chair and crossed her long, bronzed legs. A couple of the pteruges jutted out at an awkward angle and she brushed them down, tucking them in with the others, allowing the top of her thigh to be fully exposed.
Every single muscle sinew in the empress’s body was tighter than the cables of a space elevator. As she bounced her calf up and down on her knee, every ripple and crease in her powerful yet luxuriant legs flexed and twitched with raw energy.
“Let’s drop the cloak. I want to send a message to those destroyers out there that I’m back.”
Lianica waved her hand, signaling for the tactical officer to do as the empress ordered. The ship hummed and the warbling sound of the energy cloak dropping echoed throughout the ship’s corridors and bulkheads. As soon as the cloak had dropped, the Shard’s lighting returned to full brightness.
“The destroyers are changing to an intercept course,” said Brei’Alas. She turned and looked at Jegra anxiously, waiting for further orders.
“Match their speed and course. But maintain our trajectory. Let’s remind these assholes who they’re dealing with here.”
“You heard her excellence. Prepare for ramming speed!”
“Yes, ma’am,” Brei’Alas answered, swiveling in her chair and inputting the coordinates as ordered.
“All firepower to aft plasma cannons,” Lianica added. Jegra shot the captain an inquisitive look. She looked back at the empress and smiled. “There have been a few improvements made since you’ve been gone.”
“I can see that.”
Brei’Alas looked up from her nav-station and looked at the viewscreen and the giant enemy battlecruisers drawing near. “The lead Nephilim ship is hailing us, Captain. Shall I respond?”
“Negative, Lieutenant. Stay the course.”
“Staying the course,” Brei’Alas replied, confirming her orders as a puckish grin formed on her pursed lips.
Everyone watched with bated breath as the enemy destroyer slowed to a stop, giving in to the game of chicken. But the Shard didn’t slow. It just kept barreling towards its target.
At last, the long silver tip of the elongated ship pierced the mammoth destroyer’s hull and explosions lit up all around the impact point as gas hull fragments ignited in a fiery blaze.
None of it, however, slowed down the Shard, which flew into the enemy vessel as smoothly as a hot knife cutting through butter. It was designed, after all, to slice through enemy vessels in this exact fashion.
“Full ahead,” Lianica shouted above the din of the crash.
The Shard’s aft thrusters flared bright blue and propelled the vessel through the enemy ship like a bullet. The Nephilim battleship ripped into two segments, both halves sparking and hissing as they jettisoned gas and incrementally drifted apart from one another.
“Open fire on those other two remaining ships,” Lianica said. Jegra rose to her feet and sidled up next to the captain as they watched the viewscreen.
The aft disruptor cannons of the Shard began spitting hot bolts of plasma at the remaining Nephilim and Nyctan battle cruisers. The ships tried to return shots, but the debris of their own sister ship cut into their line of fire and absorbed most of their defensive volley.
The few disruptor charges that did manage to make it through the debris field merely deflected off the Shard’s sleek, metallic hull and ricocheted off into space. Eventually the plasma would cool then evaporate into a gas which would just disappear into the cold of space.
Captain Lianica Blackstar folded her arms across her chest and cleared her throat. “Let’s introduce them to the drones.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Brei’Alas chirped gleefully.
“Drones?” Jegra asked.
Lianica looked over at her and smiled then turned back toward the screen as if to say, you’ll see.
Jegra’s eyes followed her gaze and she saw two smaller ships, the size of shuttle craft but shaped exactly like the Shard, rise up out of the front bow as if the Shard herself was giving birth to twins.
Both smaller vessels engaged the enemy and opened fire, pelting the Nephilim ships with two added sources of disruptor fire equal to that of their mother ship.
The barrage striking from all sides of the sluggish destroyers did massive damage, and the second enemy ship went up in a series of explosions.
The crew erupted with cheers of victory as the third ship went up mere moments after its compatriot. But Jegra merely sat back down in her chair and crossed her legs again.
“Well done, ladies and gentlemen. But my planet was just wiped off the face of the galactic map by these assholes, so you’ll forgive me if I reserve celebration for another time.”
Lianica raised a hand and the crew simmered down. She turned to Jegra and awaited her orders.
“This is now a rescue mission. I’m issuing a level Black alert. All communication will be severed with all vessels, friendly or otherwise. We will fly cloaked. We will not respond to any other distress signals. Rescuing the Human race from extinction is now our topmost priority.”
“If anyone has a problem with that...” she reached up and, gripping her right fist in her left hand, popped her knuckles threateningly, “keep it to yourself if you don’t want to eat your own teeth.”
Lianica scanned the amused faces of the bri
dge crew then scowled. “Must I repeat her majesty’s orders? Get us to the Sol system. Maximum speed.”
“Aye, aye,” the crew shouted in unison.
The stars in front of the Shard slowly stretched into spaghetti thin strands and the ship launched itself into hyperspace like the crack of a whip.
As the starry expanse washed over the ship, Jegra shifted in her seat, uncrossed her legs, repositioned herself, and then recrossed them again.
She stared at the kaleidoscope of colors outside the window. Faster, she thought. Faster. Then, cutting into her train of thought, the ship’s computer chimed and a soothing voice with a posh, almost transatlantic sounding accent said [*Slipstream drive coming online in thirty seconds. All crew, please prepare for time dilation.*]
As per usual, everyone in the room slowed to an incremental tic. Even Jegra’s own heartbeat sounded like the slow-motion thump of a distant drum.
It reminded her of the noble Native American tribes of the Western frontier and how they played the drums of war in preparation for battle. Right now her own heartbeat was her drum of war and it sounded her coming—the coming of the Imperatrix of the Galaxy.
7
Glinting silver against the backdrop of a dusty red planet, the Shard settled into a geosynchronous orbit of Mars. The massive, thirty-deck battlecruiser came up alongside a long and slender Earth ship called Ares III and matched its orbit.
Side by side, the smaller vessel looked like a sleek, silver harpoon against the whale-sized hull of the empress’s gleaming battle cruiser. And, although the alien vessel was an undeniably impressive ship, its streamlined design had a disarming quality that suggested it was a vehicle of peace, not one of military conquest.
“Open all frequencies,” Jegra said, rising to her feet.
Once Brei’Alas gestured with a nod that she was live, Jegra cleared her throat and opened her mouth, but had no words. She took in a deep breath, doing her best to calm her nerves, and pushed down the butterflies fluttering about inside her stomach.
“This is Empress Jegra Alakandra of the Dagon Empire. We monitored the destruction of your planet and received your distress call. If we can be of assistance, please, let us know.”
When there was no reply, Jegra scanned all the puzzled faces of her crew. She understood why they might be hesitant, given the fact that aliens from another world had just destroyed their planet.
At any rate, their skepticism of her peace offering was well deserved, and there was no easy way around that, so she did the only thing she could. She shrugged, and, clearing her throat, tried again.
“I repeat, we are here to lend aid and assistance. We come...” She hesitated then sighed. “In peace.” She almost choked on the words; on Earth the phrase was so cliché, made somehow even more so once she’d heard herself say it aloud. Even so, she realized that, all things considered, it still needed to be said.
A long wait for a response ensued and time seemed to crawl by at an incremental tic. Jegra, full of anxiety, paced the floor. Why was she so nervous? It wasn’t like she had sworn off her own kind. One day, she knew she’d have to deal with humans again, and, whether she liked it or not, today was that day.
Still getting only radio silence, she debated if she should send another signal. Ultimately, she decided against it; she didn’t want to come off as a too pushy. They could, after all, just be convening, trying to figure out their next step and the best way to respond to her messages. For all she knew their coms could be down.
She glanced back over her shoulder at Brei’Alas and was about to ask her to resend the communication, when, to her relief, an incoming message came through.
“I’m receiving video,” Brei’Alas informed her.
She nodded. “Put it on the viewscreen.”
The image of an Earth woman in her early forties appeared on the monitor. She looked weathered and frail, yet, for everything she’d been through, her eyes remained youthful.
“Our planet was destroyed nearly fifteen months ago. I’m afraid you have arrived too late.” The woman’s eyes widened when her gaze settled on Jegra. “Y-you’re human,” she gasped. Then, looking over at the blue, elf-like woman in a white uniform standing next to the Earth woman in battle armor, she added, “You’re not...one of them.”
“Yes, I’m human,” Jegra said, smiling. “And I’m the leader of these people.” She gestured to the crew of Dagons standing around her. They bowed their heads as one in acknowledgement that what Jegra said was true.
“How do I know this isn’t some kind of trick?”
“Why would it be a trick?” Jegra asked. “The only planet of value in this system was Earth. Mars is just a dead hunk of rock; let’s face it, it’s not a sustainable world. Not without some major terraforming. But, if you’re still not convinced, why don’t you join me aboard my ship for dinner. Or, if you prefer, I can come down there and meet with you on your own turf. I leave the choice entirely up to you.”
Lianica leaned close and whispered something into Jegra’s ear which caused the empress to shake her head and, with a wave of her hand, she brushed the secretive comment aside.
“The good captain here,” Jegra shared openly, “doesn’t feel it’s safe for me to go down alone. But since I have nothing to hide, it’s entirely up to you, miss...?”
“The name is Captain Karina Nazimova, Chief Astronaut of the Ares III spacecraft and NASA pilot,” she informed. “I am now interim president of the Human Martian Alliance, here on Mars.”
“How many survivors?” asked Jegra, her voice soft and her gaze demure. She dreaded the answer because any news was guaranteed to be bad news.
Billions of people had screamed out in agony and their voices were abruptly silenced as the planet was annihilated. And for what? So the Gilded Master and his legions could consume its resources and add it to the occupation of the galaxy.
Jegra was really beginning to dislike this H’aaztre person. Thing. Alien...entity...whatever he was. Not only had he ripped her newborn from her arms and left her and Danica for dead, now he had destroyed her homeworld. But he’d made one critical error: he’d left her alive.
“Three hundred and seventy-two men, women, and a handful of children are all that’s left of the Human race, I’m afraid.”
“My god,” Jegra gasped. “That’s all?”
“Not entirely. I mean, we also managed to save some livestock, along with a few dozen domesticated animals. We secured the Svalbard Global seed vault before we left the planet, and we have collected all biopository samples from all the leading gene banks, including zoological and agricultural, that we could get our hands on in short notice. So, if anything, we have a large enough DNA sample pool of Earth’s animal and plant life to repopulate another world, should we find one that shares Earth’s unique...” her voice faded out as she fought the emotions which bubbled just under the surface, took a breath to compose herself, and continued, “...the point is, we saved enough of home to rebuild ourselves a new home. Someday.”
After wiping a tear from her cheek with her thumb, Karina leaned back in her chair and looked off to the side at someone off camera. Low voices exchanged whispers and seemed to be deciding what to do now that help had arrived. Karina seemed to agree with what they were saying, as she kept nodding in the affirmative in response.
Leaning back into view, Karina informed the empress of their decision. “Jegra, Your Excellency, the truth is things aren’t going as well as we had hoped down here. Due to the added number of survivors, our rations have depleted faster than we’d have liked, and we are already running low on food, oxygen, and other resources. Our Co2 scrubbers were never designed to filter out this load and are already failing. In effect, we’re stretched as thin as we can get. Our best estimates suggest we’ve got another three or four months left at best. So, I’m going to accept your dinner invite on one condition. You bring everyone down here up to your ship. Then we decide where to go from here.”
“It would be my great
honor to bring you all aboard the Shard,” Jegra said, giving Karina a slight nod. Karina returned the gesture and Jegra smiled warmly.
“How long do you need for your preparations?” asked Captain Blackstar, taking a step forward and turning her golden eyes toward the Earth woman.
Karina seemed notably startled by the fact that the blue-skinned alien spoke to her in perfectly fluent English, but she shook the astonishment from her mind and replied, “Only about three hours.” She checked her wristwatch and then added, “Just in time for supper—Sol time.”
“You have your three hours to make the necessary preparations. Then we shall beam you, your crew, and the rest of your cargo and supplies up to the ship. I’ll have the main cargo hold turned into a stable for the livestock, and once you’re aboard, we’ll assign each of you your own personal quarters which will be yours for the duration of your stay,” Lianica informed.
Karina raised an eyebrow. “Beam us up?” she asked in an incredulous tone. “You mean like on Star Trek?”
“Actually,” Jegra chuckled. “Their teleportation technology is a little more advanced than what you may have seen on Star Trek. I can assure you, there’s absolutely no need to worry. It’s perfectly safe. That is to say, the annihilation theory is bogus; if that’s what you’re worried about. Your data isn’t destroyed and you’re the same you as when you first teleport. Your information merely gets transferred by exploiting quantum entanglement.”
“Intriguing,” Karina said, mulling over what Jegra had said. The best humans had achieved in the 21st century was the nuclear engine aboard the Ares III, the most advanced ship ever built. But even their best technology looked like child’s play next to this alien tech.
Jegra, growing excited about getting the chance to talk with another person—another human person—couldn’t hold back her giddiness and continued to discuss the finer points of Dagon teleportation technology with Karina, even though she’d never asked for it.
“It’s like this. Your particles are entangled with other particles spread evenly throughout the entire universe and these particles, if triggered in just the right way, will fold out of existence—sort of like dominoes toppling over. Each domino is a potential ‘you’ that could exist, but you’re only concerned with the last domino. That’s the potential ‘you’ in a different location. However, due to the uncertainty principle regarding quantum entanglement, most particles can only manifest in one place at any given time. So, how do you get the dominos to topple in your favor? You have to exploit them by triggering a daisy chain of wave function collapses where the first domino sends its information across the assembly of near infinite dominos until you find the precise domino you want to pop into existence.”
