by Kord Stone
Justin called out to his other brother, “Okay, Jason, we’re on overwatch. Time is not our friend at the moment.”
A few minutes later Jason called over, “On it now. Jerren is ready to grab the first bomb.”
Justin was astounded at how well Jerren maneuvered in space. He had the first dark matter bomb inside TDS 1 in twenty-five minutes, and Jason stowed it away while Jerren made it to the second dark matter bomb.
Jerren had just begun guiding the second bomb to Jason’s ship when a massive ship cleared the horizon of the planet. “Uh…guys, there’s a—”
Justin saw what was coming and cut in, “We’re on it! Focus on your task and be safe.” He slid his chair to the weapons console and said to Calia, “Put us between them.”
Calia performed an arcing maneuver to position their ship between Jerren, TDS 1 and the advancing ship without getting too close to TDS 1. Knowing they would not back down, Justin targeted the ship and tried to freeze it in time, but nothing happened.
He had no clue why it wouldn’t work and decided to open fire on them. He fired one shot after the other but it had no effect on the ship either. The vessel just seemed to absorb every blast. The ship was massive with a shiny square smashing plate on the bow. Then Justin remembered Jason telling him that the enemy uses suicide ships to bash others.
Justin asked Calia, “Why aren’t we doing any damage?”
Calia tapped on her console a second then let out a groan. “That square plate in the nose of their ship is TDS 2. They appear to have incorporated it into their ship’s design, and every blast we fire at them just gets absorbed. I do not know how we are going to destroy or stop it.”
Justin was getting worried and called out, “How much longer, Jerren?”
Jerren replied, “Not much, I’m about three minutes out.”
Justin closed the communications and looking to Calia he said, “It won’t be fast enough. We need to buy him more time.”
Justin thought about the situation a second then said, “Ram them… Run this ship into them now! Hit them where the two ships are connected. That way we don’t take the brunt of the impact and maybe we can jolt them off course.”
Calia looked at him as if he were crazy. She closed her eyes, apparently trying to come up with a better plan, but a second later she set their ship on a collision course with the massive ship.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The impact was a rough one, and they were thrown from their seats into the consoles. Calia regained control of TDS 3 and was about to make another run on the other ship when a massive energy wave hit them and hurled them deep into space. All of the rules of space travel seemed to fly out the window. The ship would not respond, and it took over a minute to finally come to a stop.
Justin was gasping for breath as he asked, “What…the…hell…was…that?”
“I do not know… Some kind of energy wave hit us. I have set course back to Serqalin. We will be back there in thirty seconds.” She groaned in pain. “How are you doing?”
He grunted, “I’ll survive, you?”
“I will be all right.”
“Did they get Jerren and the bomb?” Justin asked.
“They have not responded to the hail,” she answered in a worried tone.
Calia and Justin made it back and found Jerren floating in space. Calia had trouble targeting Jerren and moved to the science console. A bit confused at the readings she was getting, Calia adjusted her targeting and phase-shifted the ship a moment, then transported Jerren directly into medical and activated it.
Calia saw Justin bolt out of the room. A second later Alise’s frantic voice sounded, “We need help. Jason is badly injured, and he is in stasis… I could not transport Jerren; the blast hit us just as I tried.”
Calia looked at the readings and replied, “We have Jerren and he is alive. Justin is checking on him now and then we will be right over there. Did you get the bomb?”
Justin ran down the corridor into medical and rushed to Jerren’s side. His whole body was glowing like a white-hot ember and Justin reached over to take his pulse. Then he remembered making the promise to Calia. He was about to call out to her when his hand was jerked from his side and flew to Jerren’s wrist. The moment his skin touched Jerren’s, his body felt as if he were on fire. That was immediately followed by the feeling his body wanted to pop. He could hear frantic yelling and knew it was Calia, but he couldn’t do or say anything.
Calia rushed into medical and saw that Justin was about to touch Jerren. She was about to yell a warning when he pulled back. A second later, it looked as if his arm was about to be ripped off his body as it flew to Jerren’s wrist. A moment later he began convulsing and glowing as well. She was on the verge of panicking when a sense of calm came over her. She raised her voice and called out, “Alise, we need you over here immediately.” She could hear Alise was distraught and she yelled, “GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE NOW!” A minute later Alise ran into medical, with tears streaming down her face.
“We need to bring them down. The scans showed Jerren took in an extreme amount of energy. We need to balance it out. Take my hand… When I say now grab Jerren’s hand.” Calia looked at Alise and nodded. “NOW!”
It took a moment for the pressure in his head to subside, then Justin opened his eyes to find the room seemed to be radiating with energy. He looked around and saw Calia holding hands with Alise who was holding Jerren’s hand. Calia and he were completing the circuit with them. He was about to call out to them when Calia and Alise opened their eyes.
They looked back at him and he almost jumped in shock. Both of their eyes were now radiating brightly. It looked as if they had stars in their eye sockets, then he remembered Inola’s appearance.
Justin was about to mention it when Jerren immediately sat up in the medical bed with his eyes glowing as well and with a reverberating voice he said, “We need to get to Jason now!” Jerren jumped off the bed. “There is no time to waste!” he shouted and ran down the corridor and into the control room.
They were all in shock and Jerren shouted back to them, “She told me what we need to do!” There was no need to explain any further; they all knew who he was referring to, and they followed as he took off for TDS 1.
Once they were all situated around Jason’s body, Justin took in his brother’s condition and cringed. Jason was not breathing and he had no heartbeat. His chest looked caved in with fractured ribs puncturing through his flesh. Jerren had them all take hold of the elbow of the person to their right, and place their free hand on Jason. Once they were all in place, Jerren placed both of his hands on Jason’s chest, completing the circuit.
Justin could feel the waves of energy pulsing around as it poured into Jason. A minute into it, he felt a harmonic quality alter the energy, and it began healing Jason’s wounds. Five minutes later, Jason opened his eyes to the relief of everyone in the room.
Alise activated the medical unit, putting him back under and it took another two minutes before Jason’s body looked normal again. His chest had been caved in and Justin could have sworn that it looked as if his ribs had buckled straight through his back. Over the two minutes, his body seemed to be remolded, and when the medical unit finished, Jason opened his eyes.
Jason grunted apparently in pain and let out a cough and said, “I don’t know what just happened, but I never want to experience it again.” Jason’s gaze fell upon Alise. He got a mournful look and caressed her cheek. “Please don’t cry,” he said.
This only made Alise lose more of her composure.
Jason stood up, looking a bit unsteady on his feet, and pulled her into his arms. “It’s all right.”
Jason looked at the group. “Was it that bad?”
All Justin could do was nod at him.
Jason got a concerned look then asked, “Is the other bomb secured?”
Alise shook her head.
“We have a job to do. I do not want that thing on this ship any longer than necessary,” Jason
snapped.
Their lack of action must have been enough to prod Jason into motion, because he took off down the corridors and they followed him.
Justin was right behind Jason and watched in astonishment as Jason knelt down and picked up the bomb as if it weighed nothing. Then he looked down in apparent shock himself.
Calia sounded as shocked as Justin was when she asked, “How are you able to pick that up?”
Jason shrugged. “I have no idea. I think it may be a mind over matter thing, but just to be sure,” he moved to place the bomb in the saddle of the floor jack and proceeded to secure it with tape. “Just in case, I think it will be best to keep to the plan. We need to talk when I get back.” He reached down, took the jack handle and wheeled it and the bomb down the corridor and made his way to the second level, then carefully he wheeled it into the void storage.
Jason was only gone a second and everyone sighed in relief when he reentered the ship. He looked around and said, “Let’s all have a seat and try to straighten this out.” He took his seat next to Alise and asked, “Justin, what happened on your end? Why did you have to ram them?”
Justin ran his hands through his hair and replied, “The huge ship that was barreling down on us couldn’t be stopped or destroyed. I tried to freeze it and fired our weapons but they were just absorbed… Calia analyzed the ship. It looks as if it was built around TDS 2. Nothing we did affected it at all, and when Jerren said it was going to take another three minutes, I knew he didn’t have that much time so we decided to ram the ship to either stop it or divert it.”
Jason nodded. “I saw the impact. It did jar them a bit, but they were still headed toward us. Jerren thrust the bomb at the porthole and told us to get out of there as soon as it was onboard… All I can say is objects in motion. I remember being thrown back to the wall with the impact of the bomb, and the last thing I saw was a flash coming from where Jerren was.”
Jerren nodded and explained what he had done. “After you said it looked like they rammed the other ship, I increased the jetpack’s speed and thrust the bomb to you… I’m sorry about that by the way. It was the only thing I could think to do at the moment. After I thrust the bomb, I tried to make it to the ship, but another ship appeared and began firing at you. One blast missed and it hit me. That’s the last thing I remember before Inola’s voice told me what we needed to do and for me to wake and rush to your aid.”
Jason looked down at the mess that was his suit then sighed. “Well, at least we’re all in one piece. How bad was I?”
Alise sighed and said, “After the bomb made it onboard, I was about to transport Jerren to the ship and take off. There was an explosive energy wave emanating from him and I was unable to transport. We were hit by it a nanosecond later and thrown into deep space… I called out to you and there was no answer so I ran into the corridor.
“You had been crushed between the weight of the bomb and the wall, and were unresponsive, so I transported you directly to the medical unit. The scan of your body showed that most of your ribs were broken and had punctured your lungs, perforated your aorta and crushed your spinal cord. You were bleeding out and the medical unit could not mend your injuries in time, so it induced a coma and put you into stasis.
“I called over for help, but a few seconds later Calia called over for assistance with Justin and Jerren. I didn’t want to leave your side and I was a bit out of it when she finally got me moving.”
Jason leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, saying, “You did great. So do we know what happened to the other ships?”
Alise said, “I just analyzed the data, and that energy wave crushed the fourth ship, but our two and the massive ship with TDS 2 embedded in it were thrown off into deep space. We lost track of them soon after the blast and I have no idea where they are.”
Now that it was over, Justin took in Jerren’s appearance. The EVA suit he was wearing now had a massive section that had been seared off him when the energy blast hit him, but aside from that he looked unscathed. “How did Jerren survive that blast?”
Calia said, “I think I know how.”
Justin turned to her and listened intently.
“When Justin and I made it back, I found Jerren floating in space. I tried to transport him aboard our ship, but I could not target him. I moved to the science console and scanned his location, and that is when I found the reason. There was a TD surrounding his body. He was in a quantum bubble, and time was halted within it. After adjusting my sensors and phase shifting our ship to match his quantum state, I was able to transport him aboard. It appears that is the only reason he survived the freezing vacuum of space.”
Jason drew their attention next. “So what’s with all of your eyes? Why are they glowing like stars?”
Calia chuckled. “It is not just our eyes; yours are doing the same. Do you remember my saying our bodies are capable of retaining energy? Well, it looks as if Jerren’s body absorbed a direct energy blast. When we got him back onboard our ship, he was crackling with energy and glowing brightly. I saw Justin reach out to Jerren, and then snatch his hand back—”
Justin interrupted her. “I promised to tell you before doing anything dangerous and…”
Calia smiled and patted his hand. “I know. It looked as if your arm was jerked over to your brother’s, and once connected you began glowing and convulsing as well. That is when I called for Alise. The reason for the glowing eyes is Jerren must have absorbed a massive amount of energy, because even after we balanced his energy and healed you, we are all still very charged up.” She seemed to ponder something then said, “I have no idea how long the effects will last… Jerren, did Inola say anything else when she spoke to you?”
Jerren shook his head. “Nothing I could make sense of. I know I heard her voice a moment before the energy weapon hit me, then I blacked out, and her instructions for helping Jason were given to me only seconds before I woke up. They were to the point and nothing else…” He paused a moment as if in thought then stood. “I need to check on something in the master control room. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll only be a moment.”
Justin nodded and watched him exit the room, at which point Calia asked, “Any idea what that was about?”
The others shrugged and Justin replied, “I guess we’ll find out when he gets back. Should we head for Abnearu next?”
Alise looked to Jason who nodded and she said, “That sounds good to us.” She closed her eyes a second then opened them. “We have set course. We will approach with caution and once we are in range of our probe we can evaluate the situation in case it is the same as Serqalin.”
Jerren returned a few minutes later.
“What was that about?” Justin asked.
Jerren said, “When I thought over Inola’s instructions, I remembered the last thing she said as I was waking was TDS 5. She didn’t say anything else and I had no clue why she said it. So I went to check on its status…”
“And?” they all asked in unison.
Jerren’s expression cracked into a smile. “Apparently, after the GMP you set off on Serqalin, TDS 5 hightailed it out of the galaxy. They must have used a lot of energy because they’re now moving extremely slowly and they are in phase. It looks like their heading is for a planet called Anukan.”
Calia drew in a breath, got an excited expression and said, “There is only one reason to go to that planet now. They need to recharge.”
Justin vaguely remembered hearing that name and asked, “Why is that planet’s name familiar?”
Calia replied, “I told you about it. It was the one that Atlas’s heir had to abandon. A rogue white dwarf star was heading for their solar system and would have killed everyone if they had stayed. Instead of colliding with their star, the rogue was caught in their sun’s gravitation and formed a type of binary pulsar. Which makes Anukan uninhabitable. These ships can tolerate the conditions and there is a pyramids generator on the surface that is still in working order. It would be my guess that is why they
are headed there so slowly.” She looked to Alise. “The generator is still there, right?”
Alise nodded and said, “It was the last time I was in the area.”
Justin asked Calia, “Are you thinking we should confront him there?”
She nodded and said, “This is only the second time we have known ahead of time where he would be. And the first time we can get a true advantage. We can get there before him and set a trap—”
Jerren looked troubled as he interrupted her. “I thought the weapons on this ship couldn’t be used against him. What would you suggest we do? Every time we have hailed him, our requests go unanswered.”
Alise said, “You were thinking of using the consortium’s tactic and ramming TDS 5 off the pyramids generator beam, correct?”
Calia nodded. “It is the only way I can think of to disable them at least for a few days while we try to figure out a solution.” She stood up and Justin did as well. “We will take our ship there and wait for you to arrive.”
Alise had momentarily closed her eyes then said, “We have changed course for Anukan.”
Justin said to Jerren, “You should probably keep tabs on TDS 5 and update us to any changes.” Justin said to Alise and Jason, “We have to get to our ship, and we will be in touch.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Calia and Justin were still several days away from Anukan when they received a distress call. Justin immediately changed course to render assistance, and after launching a probe he attempted to open communications with his brother. “Jason, are you busy?”He waited a minute, but there was no answer, so Justin called out again, “Jason or Alise, can you hear me?”There was still no answer, and after attempting to call out to Jerren and getting no response from him either, he looked to Calia in puzzlement and asked her, “How long until our probe gets to the location of the distress signal?”
