Battle for Time

by Gerry A Saunders

  Frank watched the nine honey-cone shaped probes that had just been released from Ronin, as they sped towards the Varon Pathen class destroyers, and noted that they were already coming under heavy and sustained particle beam fire.

  Just then, Frank felt a shift in Ronin’s structure as it transformed into a fully operational warship.

  The Varon destroyer group’s Seer, Tarker, studied the incoming objects and decided they weren’t any threat to his ships.

  Tarker’s ability to see into their future, albeit for about six-ship minutes ahead, had been vital in planning his next move. However, Tarker knew that something had changed over the last few months, and his ability to see into the future had become erratic.

  Tarker scratched his hairless and boyish-looking head as he pushed aside his long red robe that was adorned with various golden shapes, including a large eye, and sat down in the command chair that had been vacated by his flagship’s Captain Tynan, who had moved to the exec’s seat.

  “They will not penetrate our screens, Sire,” Tynan assured the Seer.

  Seer Tarker knew Tynan was right, and he could see that the strange, but formidable-looking vessel that was hindering their attack on what he perceived to be a Time ship, would be a smoldering wreck in four minutes.

  The incoming honey-cone shaped probes simply flared against the Varon ships protective screens.

  “See Sire, all vaporized. No threat to us at all,” Tynan boasted, and a boyish smile crossed the Varon Captain’s face.

  “As predicted,” Seer Tarker agreed. “Commence a full attack now, Captain,” he ordered.

  But even as the Varon destroyer group’s Seer, issued the order to intensify their attack on the large vessel in front of them, Tarker sensed something unforeseen had come into play.

  Frank mentally searched for the Varon’s Seer, who he knew had to be directing the attack. But it was difficult as Ronin kept interrupting his mind as he continually updated Frank with information as if he was a computer.

  Concentrate on protection, Ronin. Let me find the Seer.

  Sorry, Frank, Ronin acknowledged, and pulled out of Frank’s mind.

  Frank’s mental probe finally found its target, the Varon group’s Seer. At the instant of contact, the Varon mind’s activity suddenly quivered, causing the Varon Seer’s body to jerk.

  As he probed the Seer’s mind, Frank realized that this Varon’s mind was very different to the Varon Tamar’s, that he’d mentally probed back in 2330 in that it had a small unidentified area attached to one of the four temporal lobes in its forebrain, so Frank mentally marked the area as a purple section.

  Who or what are you? Came a demanding voice in Frank’s mind.

  Thankful that he could understand the Varon’s language, Frank moved quickly and extracted all he needed from the Varon Seer’s mind in that brief contact. Then he strengthened his mental reply.

  Your worst nightmare, Tarker, Frank replied while trying a secondary probe to determine the function of this unknown purple patch in Tarker’s brain.

  Then Frank realized that Tarker had sensed that he was in contact with a human. A human with a mind equal to his own. But Tarker’s brain went into overdrive, and Frank’s brain vibrated with Tarker’s burst of hatred.

  The human must die at all costs, Tarker mentally thundered.

  “Sire, do we still attack and destroy this ship standing in our way?” Tynan asked, unsure if Tarker’s view of their future had changed. While noting that the appearance of the ship ahead had suddenly altered, with glowing orange blisters now showing around its hull.

  Again, Seer Tarker failed to respond.

  He was too engrossed with the human mind that was invading his mind. And, summoning all his strength, he mentally tried to push the other mind out of his head with a short but ferocious mental stab, in an attempt to destroy the other mind.

  Then, Tarker managed to order his ships, to Fire.

  Frank reeled from both the Seer’s mental assault and Ronin’s reaction to the entire Varon destroyer group’s particle beam onslaught.

  Thankfully, the Seer’s mental attack had been far weaker than Frank had expected from a High brain.

  “The Time ship has moved to the assembly point,” Ronin warned. “Withdraw your contact, Frank.”

  Although Ronin’s voice was welcomed by Frank, in that it brought him back to his physical reality. It also meant that the two Clan ships would follow in about a minute, with Ronin and him scheduled to leave a minute later. Which only just left him enough time to give Seer Tarker a headache.

  So, Frank quickly summoned all his mental strength and sent a ferocious bolt at the Seer’s mind. Causing Seer Tarker’s brain to scream in anguish.

  Then the contact between them abruptly ended.

  “Clan ships have jumped,” Ronin informed as it closed the Dark-matter scoop and released an object which sped on towards the Varon ships.

  The Varon Destroyers bombardment shifted to concentrate on the incoming object, which promptly exploded in a dazzling flash of white light that seemed to hang forever.

  Seer Tarker, already reeling from Frank’s mental attack, froze as a blinding flash of white light flooded through his bridge windows.

  “The fleet’s blind, Sire,” captain Tynan cried out, fearing the worst.

  “It’ll pass,” Tarker tried to reassure him.

  Two minutes passed before the blinding white light slowly faded away, and the Varon destroyer group’s sensors and vision came back on-line.

  Seer Tarker and Captain Tynan studied the tactical displays but couldn’t see any trace of the four human ships.

  “There’s nothing out there except our own ships,” Caparo, the Varon science officer informed him.

  However, when the Varon Seer Tarker, tried to look into their future, he couldn’t see anything tangible. In fact, there was nothing at all.

  Tarker wasn’t sure what he felt, except for a chill that ran down his spine.

  Chapter 15

  The Rendezvous

  Frank suddenly realized that Ronin was going through a wormhole, instead of traveling Uptime.

  “That flash covered our tracks,” Frank said, congratulating the interface sphere, that was the ship’s link to its captain. And the front of the interface sphere morphed to mimic the Human expression of a smile.

  “So, we're not going Uptime to Delta?”

  “No, Frank. Everyone is rendezvousing at the Time shaft’s origin, in eleven minutes fifteen seconds,” Ronin stated. “You will then transfer to the Timeship.”

  Frank wanted the next eleven minutes to be as relaxing as possible for him. So, he went to sit down, and a soft Holo-seat formed for him to relax back onto.

  Thinking about the situation, Frank decided that he understood the reason for their destination. After all, if they all moved Uptime from the shaft’s origin, they were bound to be close enough to enter the existing time shaft, then move Down, to a Time before the date when the time shaft initially collapsed.

  “Ronin, what happens if we accidentally bump into ourselves, back when we were sabotaging the crystal?” Frank asked.

  “Technically, your counterparts and their actions will be in normal time. But, the Time ship and the two Clan ships will be moving Downtime. So, for the sake of this argument, you would never be together in the same time-frame.”

  Frank pondered that, then realizing that Ronin hadn’t included himself as entering the time shaft, he felt sad.

  “And what about you, Ronin?” Frank finally asked.

  “I cannot enter that Time yet, so I must stay here hidden until the Time-shaft is stable, I believe that I will then be returned to 2620,” Ronin answered, and the interface’s face showed Ronin’s sadness.

  “Are you still linked to the Clan ships?”

  “Just a stability link. All others have been severed.”

  “Good,” Frank said, knowing that he could have some privacy now, to try to clear up some nagging doubts that he had about Ronin
.

  Frank remembered that Carn had stated that the diamond-shaped objects that they had detected in Sub-space were linked with the Varon discs they’d been given by Tamar. And, that these ‘Sub-space’ objects had been reprogrammed by Carn’s technicians for 2725…Therefore, the Time ship, the two Clan ships, and Ronin must be interconnected as one block.

  So, has Ronin been deliberately left out from the group’s Uptime journey? Frank asked himself. If so, why? Perhaps Ronin has some info on this?

  “Ronin… You were pulled from 2620. How?”

  “I have no data on the procedure… But, as far as I can ascertain, only the Sub-space Tram was used.”

  “Ah… So, this Sub-space object or Tram as you call it, is capable of moving your mass through time, is that correct?”

  “Yes, but only via the Time-shaft, which was stable then.”

  Frank sighed. He wasn’t sure what was bugging him. But, to him, it was evident that the Tram could, in fact, keep Ronin within the group and enable him to enter the Temporal event.

  Frank sighed again. So, maybe Ronin couldn’t actually move Downtime far enough and would be a hindrance rather than an asset.

  Then there was the question of Delta itself. They were still operating in real-time. Could they possibly take control of Ronin, thus creating a time-variant?

  I could shield myself against them if you stay in command, Frank, and order me to only act on your commands, came Ronin’s mental answer.

  Frank had forgotten that this 27th-century ship could read his mind.

  “Then, that must be what Carn’s technicians are worried about,” Frank verbally replied.

  Frank was beginning to realize that the Varons were even more advanced than he had first thought. And, although it went against the grain, he would follow his instinct and add a safeguard, without broadcasting it to the others.

  Frank took out his Varon disc and studied it for a moment.

  He remembered how Gerry’s order had been given and that it had worked well. Then Frank held the Varon disc up to Ronin’s interface.

  “Can you clone it and enter the disc data into your operational and security net, as you did for Gerry?”

  “Yes. And your instructions will be embedded with the disc data,” Ronin confirmed.

  “You must find my disc’s location in 2725 and come to me immediately, Ronin. Then you need to get me aboard, and only operate under my command,” Frank ordered.

  “What about the Activation code?”

  “You don’t need one. Just make sure your Sub-space Tram follows the Time ship, and that you can find me.”

  “That seems possible. Nevertheless, Delta and the Clan might still be a variable, Frank,” Ronin pointed out. “I need you to give me a special word that I can place in my security net, and which you can put in your mental bolt-hole.

  “Ok, let’s make it, suicidal.”

  Ronin’s fluid interface surface changed to show a smile.

  “A strange word. But it’s done,” Ronin confirmed.

  Frank generated a mental bolt-hole and hid the word in it. Straight away, his special brain cells created a stealth memory membrane to cover it to prevent detection from any mental probing.

  “One last thing, Ronin… When you transported us onto Tamar’s vessel, were we actually on it?”

  “Yes. If both vessels have a compatible dual transmit and assembler unit, then after a scan burst to the recipient, a transfer can be made.”

  “Can I assume, therefore, that’s why this method wasn’t possible with Andromeda and the Time ship?”

  “Correct.”

  “So, since the Varons must have a compatible unit to have accepted our transfer. If you placed one of ours on the Time ship, could the Varons use it?” Frank then asked.

  “I see where you’re going with this,” Ronin replied. “Yes. But to prevent this, I can install a small self-contained unit on the Time ship, plus an assembly acceptor that is specifically programmed to solely respond to your DNA.”

  “Excellent. Then try and do that, as surreptitiously as possible, when you transfer me to the Time ship.”

  “It will be done, Frank.”

  “Okay,” Frank replied, then thought for a moment.

  “So, what if I want someone else to be able to use it, to help me in the future, for instance, how would I store their DNA in the buffer?”

  “They would need to stand on the disc and be scanned. Then the Data would be stored in the transmit and receiver unit’s buffers. But you would have to make sure that there weren’t any other receiver assemblers close by.”

  “That makes sense. Thanks, Ronin,” Frank said, then started thinking about other things.

  Frank sat back thinking, then sighed. He had a soft spot for Ronin, even though Ronin knew all about him, bolt holes and all. But still missed Andromeda and their mental togetherness. Maybe we’ll get her back one day, he thought to himself.

  Then Frank realized that he felt different somehow. It was like his enhanced brain cells were working on something else. But he tried to ignore the irritation this was causing him, as his mind started working overtime on a risky scenario involving Tamar. Which, if he was wrong, could backfire and make things more challenging to correct.

  Ronin exited warp at the precise place and time that had been programmed by the Clan’s specialists.

  Frank was surprised, at first, to see Earth floating within the Holo sphere display. Then realized that it was logical for Delta to have started close to the mother planet, Earth.

  “We need to move quickly, Frank,” came Carn’s voice over the ship to ship comms.

  “Ronin.”

  The air crackled close to Frank as the one-and-a-half-meter borderless wormhole established, and part of Ronin’s transfer tube materialized. Frank waited a few seconds until arcs of energy from both the transfer tube and the floor ceased.

  “We’re linked to the Time ship, Frank,” Ronin confirmed.

  “We’ll all miss you, Ronin,” Frank assured him.

  “Me too, Frank, and your ancient customs,” Ronin replied.

  Frank was thankful that even though Ronin’s interface surface morphed into a smile. The ship itself knew how it was supposed to react to Frank’s goodbye.

  “Maybe we’ll still manage to get you through… We might need your firepower to stop the Varon’s progress,” Frank added while feeling that if his plan for Ronin failed, it would still feel like losing a friend.

  “Remember what we agreed,” Frank said, winking at the interface. Then ducked and stepped into the transfer tube.

  Immediately Frank felt disoriented and giddy. Then, for a moment, blackness filled his mind.

  Frank staggered out of the transfer tube straight into Susanna’s arms. And, even though he felt sick for a while, he was glad to be back on the Time ship with Susanna, who hugged and kissed him.

  “Damn transfer tube… How can anybody get used to that,” Frank muttered while smiling at Susanna.

  With that, Ronin’s transfer tube vanished, and Carn’s holographic head reappeared in the open area of the Time ship.

  “An interesting and impressive use of mental power, Frank,” Carn stated.

  This surprised Frank, he wasn’t sure how Carn knew what he’d done to the Varon Seer. Although Frank suspected that Carn still had a link to Ronin.

  “Thankfully, we all retained our powers,” Frank simply replied.

  “Indeed… And, we are still trying to keep Ronin linked to us, but his mass is causing a major problem.”

  “Ronin’s resigned to the fact that he will have to stay here, unseen, until the time shaft’s stable. Then he believes that he will be sent back to 2620,” Frank said, with some misgivings about that possibility.

  “Did you expect Ronin to be able to pass into the Time shaft with us, Frank?” Charlotte queried.

  “Yes, he was already out of his time, so using him would have been a great advantage,” Frank replied.

  “But, holding Carn�
�s two ships and Ronin, together in sync with the Time ship, is impossible,” Gerry confidently stated, knowing the mass that the Time ship would have to try to hold together, as it traveled Uptime to the Temporal event.

  Not quite true, Gerry, Frank thought to himself, as he raised a low-level mental block.

  “We need to move on,” Carn urged. “We’ll be synced and linked together, so we’ll be able to communicate with each other as we travel Uptime,” Carn added.

  “The Matrix is locked to four minutes down, from the Temporal Event,” Anton confirmed. “We’re ready to go.”

  “Excellent,” Carn congratulated.

  “Ronin, my techs are about to sever our last link with you. If you’re still in this period when the timeline settles down, we’ll try to extract you,” Carn advised.

  There was a brief mental acknowledgment from Ronin as the link between him and the Time ship terminated.

  Ronin knew he’d be following Frank’s new orders. But for now, he was totally on his own.

  Chapter 16

  Exposed

  The seventeen hours spent before entering the 2725 Temporal event, proved to be very constructive. And the study of a small, but active Holographic display of the human timeline that had been set up in the recreation room, courtesy of Carn’s Technicians, was invaluable in understanding the mechanics that led to the Varons success.