BairnGefa- The Akashic Expedition

by Ruairí Cinéad Ducantlin

  The Jaguar slipped out of the defensive sphere to a position fifty thousand kilometers beyond the mutinous fighters.

  Realizing the Jaguar had dispensed havoc on the Defender of Lak’tsil, the defending fighters flipped over their transponders, gyrated, and launched salvos on the Defender of Lak’tsil.

  The destroyer was still in the fight. Using the ship’s station-keeping thrusters, Jymind ordered a gyroscopic pivot. Port, starboard, belly, and rear laser cannons were successfully targeting the attacking fighters. Pulling off his blindfold, shocked the destroyer was still in the battle, Corb decided to try one more time.

  “Landry, get me a line to Jymind.”

  “Stand by. The line is open, no response from the destroyer.”

  “Admiral Jymind, you cannot prevail. I am willing to promise you safe passage. You will address the tribunal, but you will be alive.”

  No response from the Admiral was not expected. Corb mimed slashing his throat. Landry responded.

  “Comms muted.”

  “Am I seeing this correctly? The destroyer is taking out the fighters? How many fighters remain in the fight?”

  “Corb, there are sixteen fighters remaining. They have upgraded plasma lasers and improved shields. Unless they break off the attack, simulations indicate they will not succeed in destroying the Defender of Lak’tsil.”

  NT interjected, “Landry, they are not going to break off.”

  “Why not, NT?”

  “Because they have no place to go. They have no home and no future. They will die trying to take it out on the admiral.”

  Everyone was mute after NT’s comment until Lucinda chirped, “Well, hell, who are we if we do not go help.”

  Everyone returned to their purpose while the Triad pulled on their blindfolds. Twenty seconds passed before the Jaguar was also firing on the Defender of Lak’tsil.

  “That is one tough SOB.”

  “Yes, NT, look at the damage and she’s still in the fight. Corb, do you think we should try to contact Jymind again? I mean, no one wants to die … what is that?”

  “Nick, he is lighting up his engines.”

  “I see that, Jirmina, thank you. What I mean is why is he lighting up? Landry, how many fighters are still in the fight?

  “Seven.”

  Everyone looked at everyone else, confused, until Lucinda barked, “He’s running!”

  “Running? He must know we outgun him and can outrun him. Why would he run?”

  “Ragnar, he is going to enter the slipstream.”

  Eyebrows shot up, and Lucinda pressed the issue.

  “Bring us around. Target his main engines. Get us around. We need to stop him!”

  NT tried to calm the captain.

  “He can’t enter the slipstream while in the planet’s gravity well. He’ll scatter the ship.”

  “NT, that is a theory because no one has been bold enough to try. Jymind is about to test the theory.”

  Nick reported the news.

  “We can’t make it in time. The power curve he is emitting is growing exponentially. The fighters are backing away.”

  “Son of a bitch,” Lucinda swore before she pulled on her blindfold. Corb and Janish did the same. Twenty seconds later, the Jaguar was two hundred thousand kilometers below the elliptical plane, watching silently as the Defender of Lak’tsil merged into the slipstream and disappeared from the active scans.

  Lucinda spoke softly while she pulled off her blindfold. “Sorry about that. Nick, take us in. Landry, hail the fighters, offer assistance.”

  The silence on the Jaguar’s bridge was deafening. Everyone went about their jobs, waiting for the fighters to respond. When the reasoning for the mutiny came, it was not what the Coterie expected.

  “Captain Raitt, I am Commander Jalind. Admiral Jymind chose twenty of the upgraded fighters to shield the Defender of Lak’tsil. His plan was to flee with the twenty fighters. Those that remained were to delay your pursuit. He ordered a suicide mission to ensure his escape.

  “We heard the Enlightened One’s message for the admiral. We understand from the message the admiral had been supplying us with false information.

  “When the admiral ordered us to stay and fight, we chose another path. We offer our apologies … we were unable to prevent the admiral from fleeing. The admiral is without honor.”

  “Thank you, Commander Jalind. If you will instruct the remaining fighters to form up, we will escort you back to Zerain, the place you call Gowah. If you desire to abandon the fighters, we can accept you on the Jaguar, but you will be confined to the cargo bay.

  “Do you know, Commander Jalind, where Admiral Jymind planned to emerge from the slipstream?”

  “No, Captain Raitt, we do not know the plans of a weasel.”

  Everyone paused, unsure if the translator was correct. In due course, Lucinda continued the dialogue with the rogue commander.

  “Commander Jalind, we will take you home.”

  “Captain Raitt, your offer is generous, but we must decline.”

  “Oh? That is not the response I expected, Commander.”

  “Captain Raitt, we have the decay, and few rotations remain for us. Admiral Jymind promised a cure he could not deliver. We now know the Ajawlil production has resumed. For us, there is no cure. We could slow down the decay, face the tribunal, and live another cycle.

  “No, Captain, we have another plan.”

  Rapt with focus, the crew of the Jaguar waited.

  “We are going to clean up the debris from the battles. We will clear this Degora system of Ajawlil presence. We can do nothing for the planet … hopefully, there are Degoraians elsewhere in the galaxy …

  “When we complete the cleaning process, we will be at the end of our days. We will fly into the sun.”

  “Is there anything we can do for you? Do you wish us to help you with the debris removal, Commander Jalind?”

  “Captain Raitt, I will send you the names of those who fired on the admiral. Turned at the end. Turned too late. Please, return the list to the Ajawlil with a message.”

  “Yes, we will deliver your message.”

  “Tell the Ajawlil that we were fools to follow a false prophet …”

  The communications link died.

  “Landry, are you monitoring the fighters’ communications?”

  “Yes, Lucinda.”

  “What are they saying and what are they doing?”

  “They are singing the equivalent of an ancient folk song. They are also using their plasma cannons to vaporize the debris from the battle. Hold. Yes, one of the seven remaining fighters announced her antimatter supply has reached critical. She is veering off toward the star. She does not have enough fuel to reach the star under power. Stand by.

  “Confirmed. The fighter has enough momentum to reach the event horizon.”

  “Event horizon, Landry?”

  “Jirxena, in this context the event horizon is the maximum distance from the star before the Ajawlil fighter is vaporized.”

  “How long?”

  “Sixteen minutes, Corb.”

  The crew watched the six fighters vaporize space debris until the seventh fighter was thirty seconds from the event horizon. The six fighters stopped their work and gyrated before forming up to observe. Sitting motionless in space, they watched the minute speck disappear against the background of the small brown star.

  The fighters broke formation and returned to clearing space debris. Lucinda watched the screens for a short while before issuing a decision.

  “Nick, let’s go help them.”

  “On it.”

  During the Jaguar’s transition in system to aid the cleanup, another fighter reported critical fuel and broke off for the star. When the failing fighter reached thirty seconds from the event horizon, the Jaguar joined the remaining fighters is solemn observance.

  For five rotations of Degora Three, the fighters and the Jaguar vaporized every speck of debris the sensors could locate. The Jaguar continued to
assist in the cleanup until the last fighter broke away for the star. The Jaguar’s crew watched the last fighter’s speck dissipate against the background of the small brown star.

  Several seconds after the speck outlined against the star dissipated, Janish asked a question. “Landry, the folk song they kept singing, what was it about?”

  “Janish, they appear to have modified an old folk song. They sang a song about dreaming of the redeemer. The original tune and song are what humans would call somber. They flipped it around and made it joyous.”

  “Joyous? How so?” Cass asked.

  “Cass, they changed the lyrics and musical tone to reflect the arrival of the Enlightened One.”

  Time to Entry: 27:22:17.

  Time to Emergence: (12D) 14:11:09.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “The safety of the people shall be the highest law."

  Marcus Tullius Cicero

  “Landry, when we emerge into normal space, I want you to send the message I uploaded to the queue. I want it sent everywhere. Everyone will know what Jymind did. Hopefully, he will not find a safe haven. I want to know his location. Someone somewhere will know where he is hiding. All we have to do is wait.”

  “Corb, I want to go on record saying I do not support putting a bounty on a fugitive.”

  “Noted, Cass.”

  Eleven days into a long transition to Sol, the crew had debated dozens of ways to locate the renegade Admiral Jymind. Corb settled on a pseudo-bounty. Not a real bounty, as in ten thousand credits for the arrest and capture of Wile E. Coyote, but a bounty steeped in the desire to maintain harmony. A bounty geared toward supporting the Enlightened One’s efforts to return harmony to the galaxy.

  Assembled in the galley, the crew was relaxing, debating, and preparing to get some rest before tomorrow’s emergence into the Sol system and a rendezvous with the Marissa and the Ajawlil.

  “Landry, any luck contacting the Marissa?”

  “No, Lucinda, I suspect they too are in a hyper-tunnel. When we emerge, I will be able to access the message logs at Q’eqchi. Presuming Captain Turner sent a mission profile using the FTL communications link, the logs will have the Marissa’s ETA.”

  “Understood, but if everything were on schedule, the Marissa would have been in system for at least two days, maybe four days.”

  NT sighed and spoke, “Lucinda, stop worrying. Davinder and Josh can handle it. Shuttling the fighter pilots to and from the surface will be the biggest headache. Attaching the support ships to the docking platform is the first step. Rotating crews to and from the docking platform will be interesting.”

  “Why is that, NT?”

  “A millennia’s old problem for any military force. Sequestering the Ajawlil at Q’eqchi will get old quick. The Ajawlil, like military personnel everywhere, will become bored. They will see the cities and countryside and want to go beyond the double fences at Q’eqchi.”

  “That is not correct, NT. The Ajawlil will not require more than they are given.”

  “Why is that, Jirxena? Do you have information about the Ajawlil that may be helpful to the assimilation process?” Cass asked.

  “Cass, NT, the Ajawlil only do one thing. They fight. Pilots, ground crew, support services, fuelers, maintenance personnel, every Ajawlil serves a function to support the fight. They do nothing else and they do not desire more.”

  “Yes, I understand the principle, but how can you be certain? What information do you have that gives you confidence the Ajawlil will not desire more?”

  “Cass, the Xjaal and the Ajawlil are constructs. They are manufactured for a purpose. They are not given, and do not learn, the desire to seek adventure. The Xjaal exist to serve and administer. The Ajawlil exist to fight. The Xjaal pair bond for their duration. A few Ajawlil pair bond, but most do not. They never stop being fighters. They are constructs. Nothing more.”

  “Come on, Jirxena, young men and young women everywhere seek adventure. Drinking, partying, sightseeing, any adventure. Jirxena, you will be surprised. Soldiers everywhere are the same. Boredom will set in and they will get into trouble. Boredom will set in and they will pair bond. I give it thirty days before something happens.”

  “No, Nick, that is not correct.”

  “What part is not correct?”

  “All of it, but mostly the last part.”

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  “Nick, the Ajawlil do not pair bond in your context.”

  “Are you saying they are all celibate?”

  “No, Nick. They do not marry. They do not have sexual relations.”

  “I do not accept what you are saying. Everyone, everywhere, seeks to pair bond, even if they are unable to procreate.”

  “Nick, there is no need to pair bond if you have no genitals.”

  Lucinda snorted Shiner Beer through her nose. NT sat, shaking his head side to side. Ragnar looked at Cass, who weakly grinned and returned to her tile. Janish blushed and looked to Nick. Everyone watched Lucinda wipe beer from her tunic before Corb spoke.

  “Cass?”

  Not surprised at being called out, Cass didn’t even look up from her tile.

  “You people need to read more and stop watching stupid movies. Everything Jirxena said is true, and it is all in the Ajawlil dossier. Before you ask, the Ajawlil choose a gender and they are ninety-eight percent male by choice. The Xjaal production facilities maintain a strict fifty-fifty ratio of male to female.”

  Everyone sat staring at Cass, who refused to look up. After several long moments, she relented.

  “Yes, the Xjaal have genitals. Yes, they copulate. No, they do not reproduce.”

  “Thank you, Josh, it is good to be home. We’ll be in system tomorrow. I am glad you asked Colonel Jyrode to delay off-loading the Ajawlil fighters until we arrived. How did you know we were on our way?”

  “Lucinda, Landry keeps me updated on your flight plan. When he can, he sends updates. What happened at Degora?”

  “We can discuss it over beers. Right now, I need to keep Corb from choking someone at the TCCC.”

  Captain Turner laughed, waved goodbye, and closed the communications link. Lucinda walked from her small office to the bridge, took her seat on the riser, and stared unblinking at Corb. She waited until he gave in and spoke.

  “What is wrong with those people? Are they too short-sighted to see we are protecting Earth? They want to meet. They want to discuss an appropriate response to the aliens. Response? What the hell are they talking about? I am not doing it. Jymind is out there, planning. Who else is plotting to take advantage of a weak planet? That is part of the problem, the TCCC does not deem Earth weak. The Degoraians were highly advanced compared to Earth and look what happened to them. Who the hell do they think they are? They are a bunch of petty functionaries holding clipboards with no clue what is going on out there.”

  Corb waved his hand toward the sky before sighing deeply. Corb realized Lucinda had let him rant. Jirmina and Jirxena took visual cues from Nick and Ragnar to remain silent. It was Janish that offered the best suggestion to soothe Corb’s TCCC concerns.

  “Corb, let’s talk to Davinder and Michelle.”

  Corb’s eyes lit up with the immediate realization he was overreacting to a string of curt emails from the TCCC.

  “That is a good idea.”

  Spinning the riser, he moved his seat to the front and spun to face the main monitor.

  “Landry, give me a three-way video feed with Davinder and Michelle.”

  “Stand by. Colonel Khatter indicates he needs twenty-five minutes. Michelle will require thirty minutes.”

  “Damn, okay. Thirty minutes.”

  “Corb, when was the last time you showered and shaved?”

  “What, Lucinda? Oh. I dunno, a couple of days.”

  “Corb, the question was rhetorical.”

  “Oh. Sorry. I will be back for the meeting with Davinder and Michelle.”

  Corb stepped out of the bridge to clean up. Luci
nda spun the riser and her chair to the front of the bridge.

  Davinder’s image appeared on the monitor. He and Lucinda had pre-arranged the one-to-one. Lucinda jumped right in.

  “Davinder, we have a few minutes. How pissed is the TCCC?”

  “There are two members of the council openly wondering if the Ajawlil will help the TCCC take the Jaguar from Corb.”

  “Damn.”

  “Yes, it is not good. We have a problem and I do not see a way through it. How is Corb?”

  “I have never seen him this pissed off and agitated. We cut a deal to give Earth some protection and the TCCC does not seem to understand, let alone be grateful.”

  “There is a bright spot. Janice Patterson is the chairperson and she understands the situation. If Corb loses her support, he may never be able to come back to Earth.”

  “HA!”

  Nick blurted what the rest of the crew was thinking.

  Davinder continued on. “I am with you, Nick. They still do not understand Corb’s power, nor do they comprehend his role. Nonetheless, we need a plan.”

  Corb walked onto the bridge and took his seat. Not bothering to rotate the riser, he jumped over Lucinda’s conversation.

  “Davinder, what the hell is wrong with those people?”

  “Corb, why don’t we wait for Michelle? I have been reading the mission summary. Tell me you found Degoraians alive. Somewhere, anywhere?”

  Realizing immediately what Davinder was doing, Corb stopped feeling sorry for himself and being overtly annoyed at the TCCC. He responded softly.

  “No, Davinder, we have not yet received word there are any Degora survivors. They were deliberately isolationist. It is unlikely there are any alive.” Corb paused, looked down, looked up, and resumed. “Thank you, Davinder.”

  Davinder smiled and waited while Michelle’s image appeared in the split screen.

  The crew of the Jaguar started hollering a cacophonous string of hellos and we miss yous. When the din subsided, Michelle spoke from behind a desk in her grandmother’s house.