BairnGefa- The Akashic Expedition

by Ruairí Cinéad Ducantlin

  Jirxena interceded.

  “Do not trust Xjaal or Ajawlil. They only seek to control.”

  “Noted. Landry, Jirmina, plot a course to a close orbit over Zerain. Put us in a stationary orbit at fifty thousand kilometers, ten digress declination from the location of the Xjaal Administrative Council. I want them to think we do not know their exact location.

  “Also, Landry, get me Admiral Jexond.”

  “There is a flurry of communications to and from the building next to the primary Xjaal manufacturing site.”

  Landry was responding to Lucinda’s planning queries.

  “Thank you, Landry. Confirmed, there are two other, smaller production facilities in operation.”

  “Yes, Lucinda, there are three Xjaal production facilities and two Ajawlil facilities producing viable clones.”

  “The communications traffic, is it about us?”

  “Yes, Ragnar, they are trying to determine our intent. They are confused because our negotiations did not end with an agreement.”

  Looking around the bridge, Corb made his decision.

  “I will return in five minutes. Have the port airlock primed.”

  Without waiting for a response, Corb appeared on the bridge of the battlecruiser Defender of Otoch. Admiral Jexond raised a hand, stopping the approaching guards. Reaching down, he pressed a button before speaking.

  “Adjutant Junda to the bridge.”

  Emerging from an adjacent conference room, the adjutant stepped onto the bridge in under twenty seconds. The admiral issued another command.

  “Security profile one, this is not a drill. Silent running, issue the order to the fleet.”

  The adjutant stepped forward to protest, and the mistake put him in arm’s reach of Corb. Corb halted the adjutant, who realized this was all for him. The adjutant turned to run, but Corb waved his hand, causing the adjutant to collapse. Reaching over the prone adjutant, Corb pulled the tile and handed it to the admiral. Turning back to the adjutant, Corb spoke to the admiral while grabbing the prone spy.

  “Admiral, you are going to need a new assistant.”

  Before he heard a response, Corb teleported himself and the unconscious adjutant to the Jaguar’s port airlock. Stepping out of the airlock and closing the inner door, Corb pressed the keypad sequence to lock the inner door and unlock the outer door.

  “Landry, get Winklilnuts on the line.”

  “Enlightened One, you honor us with your presence. We had not expected you to return. We would have planned a reception.”

  The triangular riser at the center of the Jaguar’s bridge was rotated, placing Corb’s seat front and center. Landry’s avatar was secretly out of camera view. The Plentari were watching the monitors in the galley. The rest of the crew were at their stations on the bridge, everyone avoiding looking at Michelle’s empty chair.

  “Mister WinklilPol, where is the remainder of your council?”

  “Enlightened One, I am the chief administrator. I speak for the Xjaal.”

  “Very well. Lucinda, target the main production facility.”

  WinklilPol’s flinch was so slight Corb almost missed it.

  “Chief Administrator, I left Zerain with an understanding of mutual cooperation. I presume Jerex was displaced. No matter. Your name does not come easy to us. Therefore, I will refer to you as Winky.

  “Winky, I have two questions and only two questions. First, there is something I wish you to see.”

  Corb nodded to Nick, who pressed a few icons. Instantly, all the monitors changed to an exterior image of the Jaguar’s port airlock.

  “Winky, I presume you can see the image of my ship?”

  “Yes, we see it. Enlightened One, this is confusing. We are prepared to negotiate.”

  “Stand by, Winky. Please observe.”

  Without a second consideration, Corb pressed the correct sequence of icons, releasing the airlock’s outer door. The atmosphere gushed into space and pulled adjutant Junda into the vacuum of space and a declining orbit. The external images focused on adjutant Junda, tumbling toward the planet.

  “Back to my questions. If you answer them both, Winky, you may live. If you lie to me or do not provide all the truth, I will destroy the production facility with you in it. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, of course. We live to serve.”

  “The first question has two parts. Where is Admiral Jymind and how do you contact him?”

  Corb pressed the mute icon on his mini-console.

  “Landry, where is the rest of the council?”

  “They have emerged from a tunnel two blocks from the building next to the production facility. They are entering another building.”

  Pressing unmute, Corb continued.

  “Lucinda, destroy target one.”

  “Weapons, you are free to engage.”

  Winky was screaming, but Corb had muted the recalcitrant administrator.

  Ragnar nodded to Nick, who pressed the correct sequence of icons to turn over the Jaguar’s attitude control to the weapons console. Ragnar confirmed the control and pressed the series of icons to engage the firing solution.

  The Jaguar spun ninety degrees to port and angled down eighteen degrees before Ragnar reported status.

  “Weapons ready, confirm fire.”

  Lucinda did not miss a beat.

  “Fire!”

  The Jaguar’s plasma cannon burst forth with a salvo of three two-bolt beams of high-energy death.

  Unaware the production facility was not target one, Winky was screaming and waving his arms at the monitor. The building exploded into a cloud of dust. The gentle breeze blew away the dark cloud, revealing a hole where the building had once stood.

  “Landry, get me Jexond.”

  “Stand by, Captain.”

  “Nice targeting, Captain.”

  “Thank you, Admiral. Step two is about to commence. Before we begin, are there any changes to the plan you recommend?”

  “You are asking if adjutant Junda should have been spared? No, Captain Raitt, a search of adjutant Junda’s quarters has revealed the spy network. Several have already taken the coward’s path. The remaining spies will be delivered.”

  “Thank you, Admiral. We will proceed as planned.”

  When the communications link closed, Lucinda issued the next order.

  “Landry, shut down the power grid everywhere except the building housing the Xjaal Administration. Including the three production facilities.”

  The Jaguar’s monitors flipped to views of the main Xjaal habitation complex. Row after row of lights went dark until a single building remained illuminated in the center of the screens.

  “Captain, we are being hailed.”

  “Janish, of course we are. Let them sit a minute. Corb, this is the last chance to back out.”

  “No, Lucinda, this is the same as the assassins on Kripkeni. If we let up now, smarter, more powerful threats will come for us. Open the comms.”

  “Enlightened One, please return the power. The production facilities will lose days of production if the power is not returned.”

  “What is your name?”

  “I am Jeben.”

  “Do you speak for the Administration? Do you speak for the Xjaal?”

  “I do.”

  “Your Ajawlil spy network is no more. Admiral Jexond’s vow of fealty remains, and I will honor his requests. You know the question I asked WinklilPol?”

  “Yes, we are aware of the question, but we do not possess the information you seek.”

  “Weapons, ready firing solution, target two.”

  “Wait! Admiral Jymind is in the Degora system. WinklilPol held the encryption codes to contact Admiral Jymind. We have no way to connect the admiral.”

  “Jeben, question two. We left Xjaal the ability to rebuild their population. We understood the Xjaal would seek to become a member of the trading community within the galaxy.

  “Instead, you construct an alliance with a renegade. Your goal is to re
gain control of the galaxy. Consider your next words carefully. Why should I permit the Xjaal to continue? You have no harmony in your devious and deceitful ways. Consider carefully before responding.”

  Jeben used the longest of his three fingers to press an icon silencing the communication. In what passed as agitation and animation for an Xjaal clone, he spoke to several people offscreen before pressing the unmute icon.

  “Enlightened One, any answer we provide will be inadequate. Let us negotiate a resolution.”

  Corb raised his hand, and Jeben stopped speaking and grabbed his throat. Janish and Lucinda gazed at each other with raised eyebrows. They both realized Corb had extended his telekinetic ability fifty thousand kilometers. Corb released Jeben and spoke softly.

  “Jeben, the Xjaal fail to understand their new role in the galaxy. I will remind you now.”

  Pressing an icon on his mini-console, a signal to Landry, the Xjaal power grid activated.

  “First, the Xjaal are no longer equals on Zerain. The Ajawlil will govern Zerain under Admiral Jexond. Hopefully, the Xjaal can grow and learn to live in harmony. Until that time, the Xjaal will not be permitted to administer.

  “Second, we will ensure the galaxy is aware of the new planetary government on Zerain. Do you have any questions?”

  “Enlightened One, these are harsh conditions. The Xjaal ask for arbitration …”

  Corb’s laughter stopped Jeben cold.

  “Jeben, you aided a renegade who sent assassins to kill me and my crew. Arbitration? You are not permitted to seek arbitration. You are an accomplice in a plot to kill me and my crew. You are an accomplice in a plot to regain the control you agreed to abandon. Jeben, you asked the wrong question.”

  “Enlightened One, what is the correct question?

  “The correct question, Jeben, is moot. Targeting sequence alpha. Lucinda?”

  Corb muted the communication, Lucinda began issuing orders.

  “Weapons confirm targeting solution.”

  “Confirmed, targeting has maintained attitude control. Fire on your order.”

  Lucinda looked around the bridge, receiving nods of affirmation from each of the crew.

  “Fire at will.”

  The Jaguar’s nose rose seven degrees and rotated three degrees starboard. The three-bolt volley destroyed the primary Xjaal clone production facility. Before the laser bolts completed the one-point-one seconds to the surface, the Jaguar had repositioned and released a second volley. Jeben’s image left the monitors.

  “Weapons secure.”

  “Weapons secure, aye.”

  “Navigation put us at three hundred thousand kilometers. Janish, send the FTL broadcast. We want the galaxy to know the Ajawlil are in charge of Zerain.

  “Nick, get me Jexond.”

  “Stand by.”

  “Captain Raitt, remind me to never cross the Jaguar.”

  Rolling her eyes, Lucinda did not appreciate NT’s gallows humor.

  “Admiral, a freighter will arrive in two rotations. We have a proposal for you. A proposal that will benefit the Ajawlil and the humans.”

  “I’m listening.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Coalitions though successful have always found this, that their triumph has been brief.”

  Benjamin Disraeli

  “I will restate the request specifics for the record. The mission will consist of twenty fighters. The mission duration is five hundred and twenty-two rotations, including transit time to and from Zerain. Add forty-one rotations at the Kripkeni maintenance depot for the upgrades. It is almost two cycles in Zerain and less than one cycle in Sol.”

  Admiral Jexond was finalizing the agreement to send Ajawlil fighters to Sol. Sending fighters to protect Earth. The admiral’s senior officers were sitting three on his right, and three on his left. The bold purple and gold tunics were an overwhelming assault on the human eyes.

  “It is twice as long as the normal Ajawlil posting but it is acceptable. We will begin exchanging the fighters after one hundred and twenty rotations. This is something the Ajawlil will support.”

  Lucinda continued, wrapping up the negotiation.

  “During the transit to Sol, the fighters will receive instructions while aboard the Marissa. Doctor Brady has prepared an extensive cultural brief. There is only one habitable planet in the Sol system, Earth. The Ajawlil will be sequestered on the orbital docking platform or on Earth when not on patrol.

  “The fighter wing will be under the command of Colonel Davinder Khatter, Colonel Himari Tanaka, and Lieutenant Colonel Jan Kruger. All are superior officers. Colonel Tanaka has been in deep space and will be a valuable resource for the Ajawlil.

  “While in transit aboard the Marissa, as is normal, the Ajawlil wing will be under Captain Turner’s command. Before we move to Doctor Brady’s review, I have an additional housekeeping detail.

  “Five fighters are a flight. Two flights are a squadron. Two squadrons are a group. For our purposes, anything larger than a group is considered a wing. There are two support vessels accompanying the fighters. We will consider the Ajawlil support for Sol a combat wing. It is agreed, we will begin rotating fighters, through the Kripkeni maintenance yard, after ninety days. Approximately one hundred and twenty rotations.

  “Rotating the fighters will be positive for morale. The problem with frequent rotation is the Marissa is our only freighter capable of transporting the Ajawlil fighter combat wing. We will seek trade agreements to facilitate a consistent transit between Sol and Zerain. Until the transit agreements are confirmed, rotation times will be dependent upon the Marissa’s schedule.

  “The weapons upgrades will be completed when the fighter rotates home. At the beginning of the third combat wing rotation, upgraded fighters will return to Sol. Any questions? None? Okay, Cass?”

  “I will be brief. Earth is unlike any planet in the Carina section of the galaxy. Carina is the name humans apply to this area of space.

  “Earth’s enforced isolation resulted in a population that often struggles for harmony. When the Enlightened One brought interstellar travel to Sol, Earth formed the Terra Carina Celestial Council, the TCCC. Colonel Khatter reports to the TCCC. A full briefing will be provided. I mention this now to ask your assistance, Admiral Jexond.

  “This will be Earth’s first experience with a large number of non-human sentients. Many on Earth will be hostile toward outsiders. Please choose Ajawlil pilots that will understand the primitive nature of Earth and who will strive, first, to maintain harmony.”

  “Doctor Brady, when the rumors of the mission started, many Ajawlil pilots volunteered.”

  Turning to look at his commanders, Admiral Jexond closed the discussion.

  “For the Ajawlil, there is no higher honor than serving to protect the home of the Enlightened One. There is no higher purpose for the Ajawlil. Being chosen for the first combat wing to protect Sol is the highest tribute. The Ajawlil will not disappoint. Vice Admiral Jexinda will synchronize with Captain Turner.”

  “Thank you, Admiral, we will get to it.”

  Captain Turner stood as he thanked the admiral. Everyone stood in respect, and the Ajawlil senior officers filed out of the Marissa’s conference room. Captain Turner, Cass, NT, and Nick followed. The admiral, Corb, Lucinda, Janish, Jirmina, and Ragnar sat down. Admiral Jexond did not mince words.

  “You are going to hunt Jymind.”

  “Yes, Admiral, we are going to find the renegade. It is our hope to convince him to return to your command. However, he cannot be permitted to raid the quadrant, he cannot send assassins after his perceived enemies, and he cannot wage an unnecessary guerrilla war.”

  The admiral’s translator required two seconds to correctly translate Corb’s statement.

  “Enlightened One, we follow your example.”

  Corb pointed to the monitor displaying a star map he had inaudibly requested from Landry using his nanobots. Ragnar picked up the briefing.

  “The area circled in red is th
e Degora system. It is twenty-two light-years from Zerain but only twelve-point-five light-years from Sol.

  “There are four habitable planets in the Degora system. It appears Jymind chose the Degora system because the indigenous population resides on the third planet and is not capable of interstellar flight.”

  Jexond interrupted Ragnar’s brief. “One moment.”

  Using the longest of his three fingers, he pressed several icons on his tile, and a message appeared on Lucinda’s tile. Opening the message, she routed the image to the monitors. Seeing the image, Corb silently reached out to Landry.

  “Landry, I want to know everything there is to know about that ship. Send the information to Lucinda and Ragnar, no one else.”

  “Confirmed, researching now.”

  The Ajawlil admiral continued.

  “Thank you, Captain Raitt. That is the Defender of Lak’tsil. How Admiral Jymind acquired the battlecruiser we do not know.”

  Ragnar continued. “Admiral, we would refer to your battlecruiser, the Defender of Otoch, as a carrier. A carrier’s primary role is to support the Ajawlil fighters. The Defender of Lak’tsil appears to be a class of ship we would call a destroyer. A destroyer’s primary role is to engage in battle. Are you sure Admiral Jymind is in possession of the Defender of Lak’tsil?”

  “Yes, Lieutenant Commander, Jymind sent me a message bragging about his new toy. Now you understand how Jymind’s fighters have improved weapons and why my fighters need to be upgraded. I suspect Jymind has raided the Degora system, and maybe other systems, to upgrade his fleet.”

  The Coterie sat in stunned quiet until Cass broke the tension.

  “Defender of Lak’tsil translates to Defender of Family.”

  “Yes, Doctor Brady, Admiral Jymind considers himself the savior of the Ajawlil. Enlightened One, Jymind is a dangerous, spoiled child. There is no honor in taking from the weak and defenseless. If Jymind has harmed the Degoraians … he is no longer Ajawlil. Do what you must but tread carefully.”

  “Let me get this straight ... the bad guys now have a destroyer-class ship and fighters capable of interstellar travel with upgraded weapons. The bad guys are so far out no one goes there for vacation.