by Kord Stone
Calia peered down to her console then replied, “This is strange; we seem to have time jumped over the last three hours and I did not notice until just now. We are twenty years back from where we were when we headed for Anukan. But to answer your question, we have five minutes until the probe makes it to the ship.”
Sighing, Justin said, “Inola did change our course the last time. She may have time jumped us this time as well. Jerren did say he was having communications problems before, so I’m going to head over to TDS 1 and tell them we might be a little late depending on what we encounter. I’ll be right back.”
Calia nodded and said, “All right.”
Justin entered the engine room, went to the back wall and called for the archway. He was about to take a step forward, but the archway didn’t appear, and it flustered him a moment. He attempted to call for the archway a few more times, as well as calling out to his brothers, but he had no luck, so he tried to perform a diagnostic on the communications and the archway.
The communications checked out as working properly, but try as he might, the computer could not locate an archway to scan. Flummoxed over his findings he headed back to the control room.
Calia looked at him and asked, “What is wrong?”
Justin explained what just happened, and Calia shook her head, apparently not knowing any more than he did about what was going on. There was a beep from the command console and he took his seat and moved into position. What he found were five ships firing on a much smaller vessel. The weapons were not firing at full power, and Justin had a sinking feeling that this was just like the incident Inola had him intervene in before.
Justin’s anger was mounting, and he asked, “Can you see how far back in time we will have to go to stop this event from beginning?”
Calia began inputting commands, but her hands retracted quickly and she said, “What is going on?” as their ship dropped out of phase.
“What happened? Why are we in regular time?” Justin asked.
“I do not know. I did not do it,” she said as her hands flew back to her console. “Something is not right. I am locked out of the ship’s navigational system. We will be in weapons range in thirty seconds though.”
Justin took in a deep breath and said, “All right, target the nearest vessel, and be ready to open fire.” He then opened the communications. “Attacking vessels, cease firing immediately.”
One of the attackers responded, “This is none of your concern, the consortium is claiming this ship under our interstellar salvage laws.”
Justin was about to tell Calia to open fire on the responding vessel, when she said, “One of their ships has broken off and is headed for us.”
He gave his seat a nudge and after making it to the science console, he glided behind Calia and came to rest on her right at the weapons console. “Target the incoming vessel and disable them.”
As she did, Justin began targeting the other ships. He used the time displacement beam on the largest of the vessels attacking the stranded vessel, then targeted and fired on the weapons of the other three ships.
Once he was satisfied that they were no longer a threat to the other ship, he opened communications and stated, “You are all to vacate the area immediately or I will destroy your ships. This is your final warning!”
Two of the ships must have taken his words to heart, because they took off within seconds. The one Calia had disabled was adrift and still heading for them, and the other ship took off on a collision course with the stranded vessel. Justin targeted that ship, knowing that if he only disabled them, they would still collide with the stranded vessel and more than likely kill everyone aboard as well as themselves. He set his weapon to maximum and fired, reducing the attackers’ ship to particles. He was about to activate a repulse beam on the ship drifting their way but a moment later their ship was buffeted by an explosion and Justin asked, “What was that?”
Calia frowned and replied, “The ship that was drifting toward us exploded.” She looked puzzled by something, then slid her seat over to the science console and a few seconds later she said, “There were only three people on the ship when it set off for us, but there were no life signs on the ship just before the explosion. There was an energy buildup, and it appears they transported off the ship just after you destroyed the suicide ship.”
“Did they transport to the retreating vessels?”
Shaking her head, Calia said, “No, they were out of range, the energy signal shows that they transported to the stranded vessel, but I cannot target any of them over there.”
Upon hearing that Justin stood and said, “I need to get over there,” and he took off for the prep room.
Calia spoke to him in mind. You need to put on your time displacement suit. We cannot phase at the moment, but the suit will still allow minor phasing off the ship’s phase, so it should afford you some stealth. Take the particle weapon listed as ‘A - twenty-one’. It is the most versatile. Then go to decon, and I will transport you over.
Justin had his suit on and was reviewing the features of his sidearm when he entered decon, told her, I am ready, and activated the displacement.
Calia replied, They are killing the people aboard the vessel. Be careful.
In a flash, Justin was standing in a corridor on the other ship, and he saw injured, dying and deceased bodies along the passage. He called out to Calia, Can you transport any of these people to medical and help them?
I will do what I can, but there are already over fifty needing immediate medical attention, and fifteen beyond our help.
Justin took another step and noticed three of the injured people had vanished. See to the most critical first. With his heart racing he headed down the corridor in the direction of all the screaming and crying.
It took a good minute for Justin to make his way through the injured. He made it to the room and saw three large men, one clad head to foot in a shimmering armor, and the two following him wearing armor that covered them only from their neck to hips, making their way through a clutch of people. Reaching in they would grab someone, slash and stab them and then discard them. Justin took cover and fired at the nearest of them, but the beam only managed to get his attention as it hit him. The man just turned on the spot and fired several blasts back in Justin’s general direction.
Justin was shocked. Looking down to his weapon he couldn’t find anything wrong with it. After adjusting the dial, he peered out and seeing the partially clad attackers had turned to confront him, he fired again with the same results. He took cover once again and called out to Calia, Is there a way to increase the damage from this weapon? It had no effect on him.
My display shows your weapon is set on maximum; it should kill anyone it hits.
Several more blasts were directed his way, and between volleys he took a quick glance to assess the situation. Two men were stalking in his direction. Where they were not covered in armor, they had what appeared to be a rubberized liner on with slits where the mouth and eyes were. The only parts of their bodies not completely covered were their hands. The man on the right had a sinister-looking dagger, and the man on the left was gripping some sort of gun.
Realizing their armor must have absorbed the blast, he opted for another approach. He took careful aim at the man on the left. The man had just reached down to move a solid metal table out of his way with his free hand, and recalling his knowledge of physics, Justin fired directly at the gun instead of the armor. Unfortunately at that same instant the attacker fired at him as well.
Justin felt as if his whole body was on fire for a second as the energy discharge knocked him to his back. When the weapons discharge ended, Justin noticed he was in phase, and his displacement suit had been seared open from his chest to his abdomen. Taking in a few quick breaths, he got back to his feet and took in the situation. The second man had been crouched beside the one he had fired on. Justin’s tactic had worked. Instead of being absorbed by his armor, the current from the blast coursed from the hand
with the weapon, through his body and out where his hand had been grounded to the table. By the smell, Justin felt sure that man was no longer a threat.
The second attacker on the other hand, was turning to face him, and though he could not see his face behind his covering, Justin could tell he was livid. Justin raised his weapon again and took aim at the dagger he was carrying and fired a few times, hitting the weapon. But without a grounding point, the energy was just absorbed by his suit.
Justin holstered his weapon and decided on a hand-to-hand approach. The second attacker either didn’t have an energy weapon or just preferred the dagger, because that was the only weapon he had at the moment.
The attacker thrust the dagger at Justin. It felt to him as if he knew what the attacker was going to do and he sidestepped and took a firm grip of the man’s wrist as it passed, then plowed his fist into the side of the attacker’s head. The attacker jerked his arm back and Justin lost his grip. The dagger sliced the palm of Justin’s hand as he pulled back.
Shaking his stinging hand, Justin focused on the fight. The attacker laughed and said something Justin couldn’t quite make out, then he slashed, jabbed and punched a few more times. Justin had an idea that almost felt as if it were an old memory resurfacing from the back of his mind, and he decided on using that course of action. The attacker lunged forward with a punch, and Justin caught his fist. With a firm grip, he waited for the other attack.
The attacker didn’t disappoint. He took the opportunity to thrust the dagger in his free hand at Justin, and Justin raised his free hand to catch the man’s other hand. He was off a little bit, and the dagger sliced the skin between his thumb and index finger, but despite the pain, Justin still managed to get a firm grip on the hand wielding the dagger. Hoping he was right, he focused on pushing as much energy from his body as he could, and a second later the attacker crumpled to the floor.
The third attacker had barricaded himself in the corner behind five terrified children. He had just thrown one of the injured behind him, and the wounded child vanished in midair as the attacker was turning to face Justin. He saw the fear in the children’s eyes, and Justin quickly ducked behind a fallen table, drawing his weapon again.
Justin figured that his ship had to be quite crowded at the moment, because the injured and dying from the room had all vanished. He tried to open the communications, but his suit had been destroyed by the weapons fire that hit him, so in mind he called out, Calia, can you transport the five children in the far corner from me out of the room?
I am sorry, but I cannot get a solid lock on them; something is masking their signals.
Justin had a bad feeling about where this was going. The attacker must have figured that he wouldn’t attack and risk the lives of children, and he was right. Justin wouldn’t be able to live with himself knowing he had caused their deaths.
On the ground by Justin’s feet was the dagger the second attacker had lost when he died. Justin got an idea; he looked to his injured hands, but figured it wouldn’t be enough blood to convince, so he picked up the dagger, and with a grimace he drew it across the now exposed skin where his suit had melted away. Putting the dagger back on the ground he stood with his sidearm clutched against his now bleeding stomach, slowly putting his left hand up he said, “Don’t hurt the children. I will not attack you.” He placed his sidearm back into his holster exposing his bleeding wound.
“Let’s work this out. I know you have grievances with us, and I can sympathize with you. Let’s discuss them. Nobody else has to die. What can I do to assure you of that?” Feigning a weakened demeanor, he grimaced with each step he made.
The attacker shouted for him to halt in an odd but recognizable language. Justin did as he was ordered and staggered a little, rolled his eyes back, then fell back to the floor. Justin figured the only way to get the man to leave the protection of the children was to have him believe he had the upper hand. The attacker could be heard chuckling in apparent victory, then one of the children began yelling and screaming at the attacker. There was a sickening sounding slash, then a thud and the child was silenced.
Through Justin’s barely opened eyes, he saw the man approach and stand over him, but he didn’t have the dagger anymore. Justin saw that he was now holding a gun, and he remembered what Jason told them about the attack on him when he closed the ancient Imortum portal on Earth. Hoping it would work for him as well, he quickly reached up and firmly grasped not only the attacker’s free hand, but took ahold of his weapon as well. The attacker appeared shocked a moment, but that was soon extinguished as he fired his weapon at Justin’s chest.
Justin’s body felt as if it were on fire again, but that only lasted a second. Immediately after the weapon’s blast ceased, a surge of power left Justin’s body, and the attacker went flying back and came to rest in the corner by the children. Making his way to his feet, Justin looked over to see one of the five children was bleeding and gasping for breath. Justin shouted in mind, Calia! Can you get a lock on the children yet?
No, whatever is blocking the signal is still doing it.
Justin’s heart was breaking at the sight of the little blue child dying, and he rushed to her side. He dropped to his knees, and a second later the other four children began screaming, hitting, and yelling for him not to hurt her. His heart was fluttering madly as he said in a quavering voice, “CALM DOWN!” and taking in a deep breath, Justin placed his hands on the child. He experienced a strange rush, and a flash of imagery. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he focused on healing the child’s wounds.
He was not sure he could do it. He had healed his brother and Alise, but they were able to use the energy he passed to them. After what he had just done to the last two attackers, he feared that if he pushed too much energy into this child, it would just kill her as it had them.
Closing his eyes, Justin focused on her body, and he was able to feel the energy from the pain receptors around the wounds. His body felt strange as though it were beginning to hum and a familiar peaceful feeling came over him. He recalled the same harmonic peacefulness he had felt when healing Jason, then he focused on making the pain receptors in the child’s body resonate the same. A few seconds later, or it could have been an hour as far as he could tell, he was unable to sense any other injuries, and he opened his eyes to find the four other children staring at him in awe.
“Are you a god?” the little blue boy to his right asked.
Sighing and looking down at the little girl, he found that she had been healed, at least partially, and looking back to the boy he said, “No, little one, I am not a god.”
The boy next to the first boy said, “Only gods can glow and heal people like that. She was dead.”
“Where are you from if you are not a god? Do all of your people’s eyes glow like that?” the first boy asked.
Justin felt for a pulse on the little girl. He wasn’t sure what it should feel like on a child of her species, but at least there were signs of life. Sighing he said, “She was not dead yet, and like I said before, I am not a god.” Then in frustration he added, “I am from a small planet called Earth, and no my eyes are only glowing because I was shocked really badly.”
He was really hoping Calia could get a lock on them soon. He was not entirely sure he had healed the little girl, and with her blue skin he really couldn’t tell how she was doing. In a raspy almost gurgling voice Justin heard, “Why are you crying?”
Justin looked back down to see the girl he had healed had asked that question. Wiping his eyes, he found he was indeed tearing up a bit. “Because I am happy you are all right. I was afraid I couldn’t heal you,” he said with a smile.
He looked at the attacker’s lifeless body lying beside them, and a second later the armor he had been wearing just vanished, and all he was left wearing was a type of rubberized liner that looked like what the other attackers had been wearing under their armor.
He looked over his shoulder to find the other two attackers’ armor was missi
ng as well, and he was about to ask if Calia had removed it when her voice sounded over the ships communications. “I have a lock on you and the children now. Do you want me to transport them over? We are quite crowded at the moment.”
Carefully picking the girl up Justin replied, “Yes, transport us over. I want to perform a medical scan on one of the children, then we can return whoever is feeling well enough. The threat has been neutralized over here,” Justin said out loud so the children would not be scared about the transport.
There was a brilliant flash, and a moment later all six of them were in decon. A few seconds later there was a static zap, and the passage to medical opened to reveal beds lining the walls with the injured either lying and waiting their turn to be healed or recovering from their injuries. One of the children cried out, finding his parents, and ran over to embrace them. The other children must have found someone they knew as well, because they had vanished from his sight also. Calia’s voice could be heard repeatedly instructing the walking wounded where to go to be healed, and Justin passed the line forming to the medical room.
Justin was still concerned because of the damage the little girl had sustained. Her breathing still had a raspy quality to it, and he feared that she might still be in danger. Walking to the closest medical unit, he waited for it to finish with its occupant. Calia had designated that unit for the ambulatory patients and was transporting the critical patients in and out of the other two units. Once the bed was clear, he placed the child on it and activated the unit. It only took thirty seconds. She was put into an induced stasis, and a few seconds later she opened her eyes.
“How are you feeling?” he asked her.
“Much better, thank you for helping us,” the little girl said with a smile. Looking at his stomach she said, “You’re hurt.”
Justin peered down at his wound then over his shoulder and saw there were still people in far worse shape than he was waiting to be healed, so he helped the child to her feet and, holding her hand he said, “I will be all right for now. Let’s see if we can find your parents,” and he led her off in search of Calia.
