by Chris Burton
“That is good news, my Queen. I shall prepare my forces immediately.”
“No…it is not good news. We should never have allowed them to escape in the first place. The blood of a million Kryl is on your hands Safrec. Many others will die now.”
“Regrettable, but this time we will complete the task.”
“They are carrying with them a source of Quescum; which they will obviously intend to use against us as a weapon.”
Safrec was stunned. “Quescum…” He recoiled as he instantly recognized the danger his people in. “How did they come by it? How would they know?”
“You fool. They have obviously determined our weakness. I presume this form of radiation does not affect them in the same way. We are now in grave danger.”
“Then we must prepare. We must finish these humans before Alpha arrives and then move on. This need not be the end.” He suddenly felt weakened and defenseless.
“No Safrec. Our people are already dying in huge numbers. There is no time to find another population to replace the humans. Our species will be gone before we have even located a source. We must take a stand and defeat them before they have a chance to spread the Quescum. We still outnumber them and have the power advantage. You must prepare a fleet to attack Alpha and destroy them before they approach Earth.”
The magnitude of the task before them was becoming clear in Safrec’s mind. How had they come by this? So many species had gone before, without them ever discovering the one true Kryl weakness. The humans had been underestimated yet again.
“How much do they have?”
“Sorgan did battle with them, close to a large source of Quescum, which they were obviously in the process of extracting. He survived as did his crew, because he is Malchian.”
“Why did he not destroy them there and then?”
“He was outnumbered and his ship returns to us in a damaged state. They were attacked by The Halo 7…Jake Carter was aboard.”
It now dawned on Safrec that his position was weakened. Sorgan had the upper hand. The radiation would not affect the Malchian. Why was the human, Jake Carter always involved?
“I will prepare a large fleet immediately, my Queen. We will destroy them before they can attack. I will work with Sorgan and then I will kill Jake Carter personally.”
“Yes, you will work with Sorgan. You need him and his people more than ever. Do not touch Jake Carter. His destiny has already been determined. He must be allowed to join me here on my ship.”
Safrec’s mind was churning over; trying to come to terms with the feeling that the continued existence of his people was in question and what of his own position in all of this. He would work with Sorgan, but when the time was right he would kill him. He needed to work quickly. He needed to decide which of the new Queen caste should he lie with and then influence Trieste to ensure his mistress should become the new Queen, when Trieste gave way to her illness. He could not perceive his own death. The disease would not get him and he would protect himself from the radiation. Now, he just had to sustain the Queen’s life for as long as possible. He would have to mate with her again.
“I will, my Queen…but for now—if I am to leave—you will slowly weaken. I must lie with you again to give you strength and then, you must take a human’s life as relief to sustain you until I return.”
“I told you, Safrec, I would not lie with you again.”
“You can wait for Sorgan if you wish, but my job as Kronan is to sustain your life. I cannot leave you if I know you will weaken in my absence. The only solution is to give you great strength again, before I go. You must lay with me again, my Queen.”
Chapter Fifty–One
Sorgan’s Revenge
The Malchian Battle Cruiser was returned to full strength and in pursuit of an Alpha Battle Cruiser. Sorgan was pleased. His ship was repaired and, critical information had been relayed to the Queen’s ship. He now enacted revenge against The Pantheon, one of the original vessels, he attacked just after they set out to find the Alpha fleet. He would return home triumphant after all and to his Queen.
* * * *
The Pantheon continued her long journey home. Wesley Smith monitored the ships analytics constantly; the ship was intact but only just. At their current velocity, it would take nearly six months to get home, but no one was in any hurry. The objective was simply to get every one of the remaining three-hundred and fifty crew home to their families. Then and only then could he relax. No one knew what awaited them when they reached Earth. It was likely the Kryl were still there and, they could conceivably attack his ship once again, but what choice did he have?
“Commander, we have detected the anomaly again. It’s closer this time. Just one hundred thousand kilometers. It is possible; it could be a scanning mechanism.”
“Okay; thanks, Philip. Given our current status, I think we have to be careful. Raise shields to maximum and take us to condition yellow. I will join you on the bridge shortly.”
Philip Higgins has actually taken to his new role well, over the last month. He is respected and instinctively monitoring the correct schematics. It was good to have someone he could trust again.
* * * *
“What is our velocity?”
“SD 1.6 holding steady.”
“And the anomaly?”
“Still there. Closing to within Eighty-five thousand clicks. We could consider a sweep at this range.”
“Not yet. The data would be unreliable. Let’s hold steady for now. It could be nothing.”
Smith doubted his own words, but there was little point in creating panic—not just yet. He had that awful feeling…that they had been here before.
* * * *
It was too easy. The Malchian cruiser’s new galaxy wide scanning portal could locate high velocity objects, light years away and now with its enhanced capabilities, it could even pinpoint and identify specific craft. The Pantheon had travelled along a natural space corridor spanning just half a light year across. The Malchian cruiser was using the same path and quickly located and identified the Alpha Battle cruiser. Now within fifty thousand kilometers, Sorgan had the option to attack with long range weapon strategies…but he wanted his target to see them.
“Increase velocity to close the gap, establish a link and draw us in.”
They would lock on to the Pantheon and pull her towards them. Then they would destroy her.
The link was established just a few minutes later. Now less than a kilometer apart; it was time to show the Pantheon commander, that the running was over.
“Drop cloaking and bring us around to face them. Let’s look them straight in the eye.”
* * * *
“They have a lock on us, sir. They are pulling us in.”
“Full reverse…get us to a good distance. Go to battle stations. Charge PBA.”
In the end, it was no surprise to Wesley Smith when the Malchian cruiser had shown itself. It was certainly alarming; but there was calm on the ships bridge. They had been here before and now, what choice did they have?
“We have pulled back to one thousand meters. We cannot hold this position for long, sir.”
“Launch all Jump Ships; target the link mechanism between us. Discharge all main weaponry at will. Number One, let me know when the PBA is charged.”
The Pantheon went on the offensive, pummeling the Malchian cruisers shields, but with only partial success. As the Jump Ships launched, they were met with resistance immediately, outnumbered, outgunned and out maneuvered by the Malchian Arrows. The Malchian cruiser was bombarding the Pantheon with a huge swathe of plasma discharge, targeting the stellar drive, main weapons bank and the ships main weakness, the weakened substitute bulkheads. The shields held initially, but the shear power of the larger Kryl cruiser began to tell against the comparatively small and ineffect
ive Pantheon fire power. The shields began to fail.
“What’s the PBA status?”
“Eighty percent, sir. We could fire now, but we are too close. We need to divert more power to get us further away.”
“Do it. Number one, we need our best weapon available to us. How many Teutonic’s do we have left?”
“Engaging reverse thrust now. We cannot get further away! Teutonic’s, er…thirteen left…er only two launch pods left intact. The torpedoes are in the wrong place, we cannot fire from them!”
“Bring the PBA on-line and target the Kryl cruisers main drive. We need that off-line, so at least then we can affect an escape.”
Seconds later the PBA fired. The Pantheon’s main offensive weapon failed to gain sufficient impetus to damage the Malchian cruiser, because it was just too close. The Alpha cruisers shields began to fall in quick succession.”
“Compensate with those shields. Recharge PBA. We are free from their tractor link. Turn about and get some distance between us.”
The destruction of the tractor link mechanism allowed the Pantheon to break free and gave them vital seconds to extend the gap between them and the Malchian cruiser. Wesley Smith took the opportunity to take stock of the situation. Shields were residual only, there were no available Teutonic’s, half the plasma cannons had been blown away, and only a few Rapiers remained. In less than ten minutes, the Pantheon’s resistance had been removed. She was target practice, waiting for the final charge to finish her and her crew off once and for all.
Smith looked around his bridge. At least his command center was still intact and operational. They all did their jobs well, even if the strain was beginning to tell. If he let this continue, they would all be dead within a few minutes more.
He sighed and paused briefly before reaching down to his command station. He opened a comm.link directly, paused again, and then spoke.
“Kryl commander…we wish to discuss terms of surrender. Please respond.”
There was silence on the bridge and the battle rumbled on for few moments before the reply came.
“Pantheon Commander. Stand down your weapons and shields. Prepare to be boarded.”
Smith acknowledged and closed the link. He remained passive and gave his orders quietly and precisely.
“Take the weapons banks offline and recall the Jump Ships. Hold the shields on until the last Jump Ship is back inside.” He opened an in internal ship-wide comm.link before he spoke again.”Gentlemen, Ladies, It has been a pleasure. I don’t know what will happen now for certain, but please prepare to be boarded and accord the Kryl respect.”
He no longer cared whether he was following protocol. He and his crew had suffered enough.
Five minutes later, with the Malchian cruiser now alongside and dwarfing the Battle Cruiser Pantheon, an umbilical connection was made and the two ships joined. A squad of six Malchian guards entered and were escorted to the bridge.
“Commander Smith. Please come with us.”
Wesley Smith shrugged his shoulders.”Of course…Number One, you have the con. Please maintain status. I am sure I will return soon and then presumably we will return to Earth under company of the Malchians. I am sure this is all standard procedure.”
The CO was escorted to the umbilical join and onto the Kryl ship and from there he was taken the short distance to the Malchian commander’s Sanctuary. Sorgan was there to greet him.
“Welcome to my ship Commander Smith. I am Sorgan, the leader of the Queen’s Malchians. I don’t believe we have met before, other than in combat.”
“What will you do with us?”
“A good question, Commander. Let’s just say that I rarely get the opportunity to destroy a ship twice. Usually once is sufficient. Your ship has undergone significant repairs. Where were you heading?”
“Back to Earth. Our repairs were temporary and the ship was weakened. We were ready to take what punishment the Kryl governor would have applied to us.”
“What do you think he should do now? You have attacked us twice now, Commander.”
“You attacked us the first time…I don’t know. I would imagine the ship will be mothballed and we would be demobbed.”
“Without punishment. Your ship is responsible for the deaths of many of my crew. There is no need to wait to see what punishment will be dealt out by the Kronan. We can deal with that here.”
Sorgan turned away and whispered to one of the guards, who left without replying.
“I have ordered the Pantheon set adrift without you, commander. I am taking you as my prize for the Queen. She will be grateful for the opportunity to meet a ranking officer—even if you are a defeated ranking officer.”
Smith was anxious. Why would they set her adrift?
Sorgan smiled. “Your thoughts are very transparent. I am setting her adrift to mete out punishment.”
The Malchian turned away again and spoke to another guard, before returning his gaze to Wesley Smith.
“I think you will soon find out. A large polymer holographic display appeared in front of them. The Pantheon was drifting some distance to port.
Seconds later a huge blast of concentrated plasma weapons were discharged. The unshielded Alpha battle cruiser was defenseless. The plasma burst hit the stricken cruiser amidships, shattering the temporary bulkheads. The Pantheon split into two flaming hulks as a huge explosion engulfed her. Within a few moments it was all over. The Pantheon and its crew were gone.
Wesley Smith stood with his mouth agape. He could not believe what he witnessed. His ship, his crew were gone. He found himself speechless and then, suddenly enraged, he leapt at Sorgan.
Sorgan raised his right arm and forced Smith to the floor, with one swiping lunge against the human’s upper back. His strength was unbelievable. Now everything was hazy. He wanted to get up, but was unable. He passed out briefly. When he was able to open his eyes, Sorgan stood above him.
“Punishment has now been enacted, Commander. Your ship and all your crew are dead and you have survived only because you are my prize. Your ships feeble attempt to challenge me and your own for that matter, have failed. I have my revenge and now we can return to my Queen triumphant, confident and armed with the knowledge that will stop Alpha’s pathetic attempt to defeat us. Take him away and store him. Keep him alive…but barely.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
Extraction Complete
On the other side of the galaxy, Jonathan Hoskins express shuttle just arrived at the Rymanian Abyss and was in the process of completing its post landing procedures in the rear hanger bay of the Halo 7. Hoskins was greeted by the Halo 7’s commanding Officer, Jean-Luc Jacques.
“Hello Jean-Luc. How is my ship? Sorry your ship?”
Commander Jacques laughed. “All the better to have you back aboard Admiral…although it is still my ship, isn’t it?”
The two men completed their greeting with a respective hug and pat on the back.
“Seriously Jean-Luc. You know I am here because we need to use the Halo as the command ship for the radiation attack. Given her speed and capability there was really only one choice. Do you have the fleet operations center set up?”
“Yes. We have converted the rear observation deck, which as you know has three hundred and sixty degree visibility and direct access to the bridge. I have also joined two of the senior officer quarters into one, to form an Admirals state room. I think we make quite a good flag ship.”
“And your crew…how is your new first officer?”
“Commander Huber is learning the ropes, but he is ably assisted as you might expect by Jake Carter, who is now in effect third in command…fourth if you count you.”
Maria Shavenosky, who listened intently as she stood by Hoskins’ side, let out a short whelp when she heard Jake’s name. Embarrassed, she felt compelled to comme
nt.
“Sorry Admiral. I am looking forward to seeing Jake.”
“Try to maintain some professional integrity Lieutenant. Commander, perhaps Maria could arrange the transition to our quarters?”
“Of course, Lieutenant. Good to have you back on board too. The CPO is expecting you.”
Maria took the hint and set off to find the CPO; leaving the two senior officers to their discussions.
“It worries me that she is still into Jake Carter. We need him at his best for this operation—especially if we assume the Queen’s prophecy will come true.”
“That he will meet her again on her ship?”
“Yes…we’ve all learned to not take anything for granted with Jake. We could consider removing him from the frontline; but I guess if it’s going to happen, it will find a way. I still want to keep him close. Whatever part he plays, history shows us, it is likely to be important. I don’t feel that comfortable with Maria being here either. She is an unnecessary distraction.”
“Why don’t you transfer her?”
“I have made a commitment for her to remain as my aide. Besides, she is doing a good job. Without trying to force the issue; let’s just try and keep them apart and in any case, I think Jake only has eyes for Carla Stevenson.”
“Yes, I agree. I presume you still wish Jake to remain ship bound?”
“Yes, I think so. His knowledge of the Kryl and to prevent his wandering off. We need to keep him close by. You have a new CAG don’t you?”
“Yes, Lieutenant Commander Rogers. Well respected and knows the job…but not terribly well liked…we would all much prefer to have Obeya still aboard.”
Commander Jacques knew better than to stir this one up, especially since she had been injured under his command. He knew his friend and colleague well enough to bring the subject up.
“Yes. She is in good hands. By now, her operation should be underway. I obviously wish I was there with her but I can’t be in two places at once.”
