Universal Code

by William Songy

  Chapter 30

  Sachi sat in the captain’s seat on the bridge and manned the controls while Honoré and Dag rested. She was thankful that their return trip was uneventful and dull. This in itself was a blessing. Initially, it seemed that they would be unable to return to Capetes or even Econ without being sought for charges associated with the murder of thousands of slaves in the Giobi mine. She recalled the horror of watching as Dag launched the missiles and the domed roof caving in under the massive weight and pressure of the water. Nausea came over her as she envisioned thousands of slaves fighting to survive and ultimately drowning because of what they were responsible for. Sachi repeated to herself over and over again that she was not the one who did it or, even have the opportunity to stop it from occurring. Before anyone had any idea of what he was intending, Dag had reached over and slapped the launch button so quickly that even Honoré was taken by surprise. Surely, she was innocent. But Sachi knew that the odds were that they would go after her as an accessory to the murders. At minimum, she would have to go through a lengthy process to prove her innocence.

  She nearly fell to tears when they received the news about the gas leak. It was sad that thousands had lost their lives and she did not want to take any good from it. Irrespective of that, a tremendous burden was lifted from her knowing that they were not responsible for the deaths of any innocent beings. Destroying the mine had accidentally been a good strategic move for the Alliance. Honoré was relieved, celebratory, and jovial even giving a fist-pump over the news. Their actions would put a heavy strain on the Kasadu’s ability to fuel their military fleets in that region of the galaxy.

  She watched Honoré’s reaction and realized the degree of how much he enjoyed the adventure. This kind of life suited him. It was both a moment of relief and clarity for Sachi. This was not the life for her. She wanted to live and travel in peace and enjoy the individual qualities of each nation. Sachi longed for a peaceful normal life. There was no way to get back all the lonely nights she spent alone wondering if Honoré was ever going to feel for her the way she felt for him. Waiting around seemed fruitless. It was no way to live. She could no longer deny the reality of the situation. It was time to give up and move on. Viennin was visible in the distance and they were less than a day from returning. After they touched down, she would walk away, perhaps relocate to some other coastal town. She hardly expected him to be upset about it, or even notice…he had his true love.

  Alarms went off as the autopilot abruptly began to pull them out of celerity. The transport was slowing down at an unusually fast rate. Cups fell over, paper and writing implements slid across the table and onto the floor. Honoré was sleeping on a bed that was suspended from the wall of the bridge. The forward momentum rolled him over and he landed face first kissing the metal floor. It was not a pleasant way to wake up. He looked around for a moment, not fully awake, trying to understand what was happening.

  Dag ran past the open door and onto the bridge, “What are you doing?”

  “It is the autopilot. I’m not doing anything,” Sachi snapped back in confusion.

  Honoré stumbled over to the dator and typed in a code, the alarms and flashing lights stopped. He read the display, “We are on a collision course with something. Something big! The autopilot is trying to avoid it.”

  The reversing thrusters shut down as the transport stopped. In front of them was the dark vast universe. There was nothing visible and no reason for the dator to take such action. But the display on the dator continued to issue warnings of a possible collision. Inexplicably, a Kasadu armada exited celerity and appeared before them just before they reached the point of impact.

  “Wow, we were on a collision course with that? No wonder the Dago sensor went off. Those are military vessels. Looks like eight or nine carriers that possibly hold five hundred fighters, living quarters and facilities for the pilots on each, fuel supply and munition stations, two transports for non-military officials and several medical transports. That is not your average space tour or traveling party,” Honoré said bewildered by what was before them.

  “Don’t move and maybe they won’t realize that we are here. We are easy targets right now,” Dag noted.

  “Maybe their sensors went off too. They have to know that something is here,” Sachi said glumly.

  “That is a possibility. Did you see any recon spacecraft before they stopped?” asked Honoré.

  “It’s not like the universe isn’t infinite. What are the odds, despite trillions of living beings who travel the universe, that you run into anyone…much less a freaking armada like this? I have never had a Dago sensor go off. All my years out here. Not once,” Dag said as he stared at the Kasadu forces.

  “This looks like a surprise party and we discovered the secret. There is no way they don’t come after us. We can’t just sit here,” Honoré replied with a degree of certainty.

  “Look. They had to exit celerity…they are changing their line,” Sachi said pointing.

  The three looked on as each of the spaceships simultaneously adjusted their direction and made a wide arching turn as they passed them in the distance and slowly turned away. After a few minutes, the reality struck them.

  “They are headed in the same direction we are. Econ is the only planet on this trajectory,” Dag said combing his thick brown hair back with his left hand.

  “Why would they go there with that kind of force unless it was to attack?” Sachi asked.

  “As soon as they are in celerity, we will notify someone. We need an alternate route!” Honoré said. He was sickened by the prospect of the Kasadu forces heading toward their home planet for what appeared to be an imminent attack. Honoré zoomed in with the transport’s cameras. On the side of one of the transports was a red hexagon with a five-fingered skeletonized fist grabbing a double-edged blade and the eye-shaped oval with the deep cutting V in the center, “I see the flag of Kurun and the Tisht’s symbol,” he said.

  “That is also being used as the symbol of the Kasadu?”

  “Makes the Tisht look like the ones in control,” Honoré added.

  “Until such a time as there is no one left to conquer. Then the Kurun will have something to say about that. Ten seconds after there is no one in the Alliance left to kill, they will turn on each other. The Kasadu will cannibalize itself inside of a month and then the end result of all this war and all the death will amount to nothing more than population control. Mark my words,” Dag said hauntingly.

  “Well, I have composed an encrypted message to send as soon as they enter celerity,” Honoré said.

  “They aren’t turning anymore. They aren’t moving anymore. Why are they just sitting there?” Sachi asked as her anxiety continued to expand. She felt helpless and trapped.

  Large metal panels on the sides of the carriers lifted to ninety degrees and remained open. Like swarming bees, thousands of Schwan and Anbar fighters quickly launched in what seemed to be a disorganized sequence. By the hundreds, they fell into formation in front of the armada. Honoré estimated that there were eighteen sections with fifty to a row and each was five rows high. One by one, each section took off in unison and disappeared as they entered celerity.

  “This position is close enough for them to complete their objective without the need for support. If you’re going to attack, better to have your assets out of the hangers and in fight mode. I don’t know if they have any idea what is coming. Econ is right there…not much time to prepare,” Dag said.

  Sachi yelled, “They know that we are here!”

  From around one of the rear medical transports, three Schwan fighters came into view. Each darted out of a tight turn and headed straight for them wasting no time opening fire, despite the distance.

  “So much for waiting,” Honoré said as he slapped the send button on the warning to the people of Econ. He nosed the Stur Craft downward and accelerated the thrust. “These Schwan fighters are about the ugliest things I’ve ever seen. Not the most agile or deadly either
from what I hear. I guess they really don’t have to be with us in this thing…still way too fast for us. We’re certain to become space dust if we don’t get out of here.”

  Dag fired off several three-ton sonic bombs that would perhaps take the Schwan fighters by surprise. Sonic weapons were normally launched from larger spaceships, not from transports the size of a Stur Craft. The bombs went off creating an expanding barrier of deafening and destructive sound waves. Upon their launch, the fighters nosed upward and accelerated, racing out of range of the damaging percussion. This surprised Honoré, however, it bought them enough time to build up some momentum of their own as they moved away from the armada. Unfortunately, the dator would not let them enter celerity citing the same reason they were dumped out of it in the first place, an obstacle was in their line.

  “More of them are coming? Another armada?” Honoré blurted out in frustration. He adjusted one more time and tried again. The three fighters flew in a tight formation downward as if to cut off their attempt at celerity.

  “This is a suicide move. They are trying to cut us off, take us out of our line. If we don’t get into celerity in time, we will run into them and all of us will die,” Honoré said as he tapped the thrusters forward in a direction that would take them a few degrees out of their original line, to which the three Schwan fighters immediately adjusted. “Well, what other options do we have?” The Stur Craft lunged forward, then he punched the button for celerity. The three fighters were raining laser fire in the area they would have to pass in order to get in line with Econ.

  Honoré gasped as he noticed the Imil Nomo pass them heading toward the Schwan fighters. He turned and looked at Sachi. Neither had noticed Dag leaving the bridge. The Nomo fired off several rounds that struck one of the Schwan fighters. Immediately a red-orange flash confirmed that the shots hit their mark. The outward momentum of projectiles from the debris caught one of the fighters on the rear thruster as it attempted to get away. The distressed fighter seemed out of control and Dag decided to focus on the remaining threat. The third fighter, which seemed by its maneuvers to be the better pilot, avoided the debris and came screaming toward Dag. The Imil Nomo’s superior speed and firepower were on full display. Dag rolled off the incoming lasers and fired off several tracer rounds that flew in a slight arching pattern that made the Schwan pilot think they would pass harmlessly by and burn off into space. As the rounds approached, they locked onto their target, turned sharply and slammed into the side of the spacecraft dealing a lethal blow.

  “Go! Get out of here. You’re clear!”

  “We are not leaving you! Nose up!” he yelled directing Dag to return the Nomo to the small rear hanger. “Nose up! Get back in!” Honoré persisted.

  “You have to go…right now!” Sachi yelled pointing toward the fleet.

  A combination of twenty Anbar and Schwan fighters were launching and heading in their direction. They had just risked their lives to free Dag and now they were leaving him again.

  “No time for that. I will follow you into celerity. We aren’t that far away. Make it with no problem,” Dag said.

  “Go! The sooner you are gone the sooner I can get out of here! I can outrun them.”

  Honoré thrust forward as the approaching spacecraft fired in their direction. He watched Dag positioning to engage the new threat, despite the odds of success. There was an explosion to their rear just as they slid into celerity. He looked over and Sachi’s face told him everything. Dag had been hit. Enraged, Honoré jumped up, grabbed a chair that was next to him and threw it across the bridge. It slammed into and slightly dented the rear metal wall then fell to the floor. “We have to go back!”

  “He is gone Honoré. I saw it blow up. He was surrounded,” she said through incoming tears, “we have to focus on warning the others of what is coming!”

  After returning from the etutu and giving a descriptive account of her experience and Duncan’s healing of Logan’s arm, Ayla and Dr. Smith were locked into a debate about all they had seen. The two attempted to recall every theory, the spacetime continuum, and the reality of traveling up to three times the speed of light. Dr. Smith and Ayla analyzed everything from along their very different journeys to their current point in time on an alien planet where even dimensional travel was an evolving reality. The technology and overall knowledge of even the greatest minds on Earth had fallen woefully short and as a society, their world still had so far to go. It was more of a meeting of the minds than a simple conversation of science and theorems.

  They cross referenced data with timelines and the fall of the great empires of the world with that of all they were learning about the history of human trafficking across the universe. Would this provide a significant answer to the unexplainable historic losses of both power and population of ancient civilizations? Both were extremely motivated to understand the possibilities. Like kids on the eve of Christmas, the two intently discussed their desire to travel to RA in order to study the lives and habits of the Mayan, Aztec, Inca and Egyptian civilizations a bit closer when or if peace was established once again.

  Not fully recovered from the Dalkhu Mursu, Sonia was exhausted and leaned her head back onto the seat. Her lack of energy was also due to the time she had unwillingly invested in worrying about what the future held in store for them. Returning home was shrouded in the unknown. What kind of accusations, questions, and interrogations would they face? What would the authority’s response be to the children and how would the children handle it? It was natural to fear what was incapable of being understood or controlled. It was also highly likely that if known, the kid’s abilities would be exploited. Would they attempt to lock them up in a lab to prod and study them? She knew that they would not respond well to such treatment. They needed to come off as normal children. They had to suppress their abilities. No one could know what they were capable of. They briefly touched on the issue with the kids but decided during the return trip to prepare them to the best of their ability. Any act of aggression or hostility could have disastrous results.

  Logan and Gunner were by the table taking the opportunity to learn as much as possible about the computer, book device given to them by order of the Viennin leadership. Both men knew that once they returned to Earth and gave it to the military or Homeland Security agents, they would never have another opportunity to look at it again. The leaders of Earth were oblivious to what was headed their way. Most elected officials had little on their minds outside of political posturing, corruption, and abusing the system to increase their power and wealth while willfully abusing their authority in preparation for the next rung on the ladder. Career politicians were a disease that had all but rooted out the statesman. Washington DC was replete with the self-indulgent who swam in the cesspool of their own desires. This would certainly be a wakeup call and a test for the quality of leadership of all nations. Could they come together even if not doing so guaranteed the death or imprisonment of every person on the tiny planet?

  A hologram of Earth floated in the air and rotated in real time. Gunner and Logan were teaching Astrid about their home planet while testing the accuracy of the information given by the holographic book. It was early evening in central America as night was slowly working its way westward. The eastern section of North America was illuminated by the covering of artificial lighting.

  “Well, you can certainly see New York and Miami,” Logan replied. Seeing the west coast of Florida made him long for home.

  Astrid reached down to the side of her waist and pulled out an arao. A puzzled look came across her face. She looked down at Gunner, touched him on the shoulder, and left without saying anything.

  Logan was watching a strong line of storms moving east over the northern Gulf Coast and was about to reach the Florida panhandle. Hundreds of tiny bursts of light in the clouds popped and moved across the area of the thunderstorm. “You can even see the lightning. That is almost creepy. I wonder how close this really is to being in real time?” he said. Logan looked up
as Astrid exited the door.

  Gunner was quietly sitting watching her leave, “I guess she will tell me later what that was about,” Gunner noted and returned to the hologram.

  They found the information to be truthful and accurate without any bias for the most part. There was nothing offensive in the modern descriptions of the United States and European nations. They decided that it would be a better use of their time to learn about threats and the unknown rather than wasting time learning what the Viennians knew about Earth.

  Often, they found themselves sidetracked by the mechanical aspects and the technology of how the ‘beok’, as Art called it, worked while trying to absorb as much of the immense amount of information it contained. Being able to see the various galaxies, solar systems and planets in real time was beyond baffling. It was unequivocally by leaps and bounds the coolest thing either had seen in their lives. The degree of detailed information about all the resident nations of each of the life sustaining planets would require a team of the nerdiest of space junkies to sort through.

  A chime by the door sounded off. Logan opened it and found Astrid staring at him. He didn’t know her as well as Gunner, but he could see the concern on her face, “Is something wrong?” he asked.

  She looked past Logan and made eye contact with Gunner, with whom she had spent a lot of time with and was very fond of. She looked back at Logan, “My orders are to return all of you to Earth right away. Please gather all that you need to bring and meet me in the hanger. We will depart as soon as we can get everyone on board. We can discuss any questions you have there. Her eyes went back to Gunner for a second, then she turned and walked away.

  By the time Gunner reached the door, she was moving down the hallway at a brisk pace. Gunner ran out of the apartment and called for her. She stopped and turned to face him. There was no doubt that she was visibly upset. “We just received some intel about an unknown number of Kasadu forces heading this way. While there has been no official declaration of war, we doubt that their intentions are peaceful. We are notifying the leaders of the other nations. The President is about to address the nation. The entire planet will be preparing for war in the coming hours. I don’t think this is where you and your friends will want to be.”