Hostage of Time (Beacons of Time Book 1)

by E. D. Cask

  Josh and Sergei stood there, staring.

  Master Ku gave a short bow. “I thank you for your hospitality. I am Master Ku of the Lytix.”

  Sergei also gave a nod and said, “I am Sergei… of Ducks and this is Josh, also of Ducks.”

  Ab inclined her head to each of them and gestured them all to be seated. As they sat down, she and her aide sat across from them around a low table. She offered them drinks.

  “Would you like kav or water or some other drink?”

  Josh brightened at the word kav. It had to mean coffee. Or something like it. He hadn’t had coffee in months. Ku and Sergei chose water. In moments, an attendant entered with the drinks and placed them on the table. Josh smiled. It smelled like spiced coffee. Ab served each of them, then she looked deeply into each person’s eyes.

  “I see that you are awed by this ship. It is my home. It is not a warship. We have been living on ships ever since we left Urth, hundreds of years ago. Because of that we endeavor to make them as comfortable as possible.”

  She paused and looked at Master Ku.

  “Master Ku, I sense that you are very new to your position. There is a lot of change in your recent past.”

  Sergei coughed, “Can you read our minds?”

  Ab laughed, “I can’t read thoughts, but I can feel emotions and intentions.”

  Josh nodded, “So that’s why your fighters were able to react before our actions.” He sipped his coffee. It was good, better than he had had in months. He smiled as he sipped it.

  Ab nodded, “Yes, it has helped us in many battles.” She paused and added, “I am glad you like our kav.”

  Josh asked, “How do you make it? You don’t grow beans, do you?”

  “Oh no, we grow the fungus that we dry and powder.”

  Josh almost choked. Fungus?

  Ab smiled, “Most of our food is fungus based. It is the most efficient way to grow anything in space.” She turned to Sergei, “Yes, including the treats here.”

  Sergei looked horrified. He mouthed the word gribok, which Josh assumed meant fungus in Russian.

  Master Ku looked at them, “Have you never had mushrooms?”

  Josh considered. “I guess so.”

  Ab continued, “Mushrooms and other fungi are some of the few things that grow in dark places, away from sunlight.” She paused. “But you aren’t here to talk about mycology.”

  Master Ku responded, “No. What do you wish to discuss?”

  “You reached out to us first.”

  “Why have you returned after so many years and why did you attack us?”

  Ab’s eyes flashed, “We were attacked first by your bots.”

  “They were only there for warning and protection. But then you continued toward the solar system with no communication.”

  Josh added, “And then you responded to our ships with battle intentions. Don’t try to act as if you are the victim here. You entered this system in warrior mode.”

  Ab took a long breath, “We are fleeing another race of warriors. We have been fleeing them for many years. They attacked us in a star system light years away and killed my father and many others. We have been running ever since. No matter how many jumps we take, the Svarmo are able to follow.”

  There was a stunned silence. Then Sergei piped up, “And you brought them directly to us?”

  “My people are tired of running and tired of fighting.”

  Josh shot back, “Then why did you come here with guns blazing?”

  Ab was puzzled, “Guns blazing? Oh, you mean in warrior mode again. We did not wish to appear weak.”

  “So you killed a bunch of us and made us kill a bunch of your people before you were going to ask for help.”

  Ab dropped her eyes.

  Master Ku said, “The logical choice would be to communicate first, not strike first. But I do remember what the former master would have done. He would not have welcomed you, no matter how you came here. I do not agree with your first methods and I did not agree with Du’s reaction, but now we are here and must place the past in the past.”

  Josh was still angry, “That doesn’t change what happened. My friends who were relying on me were killed.”

  Ab sat up, “My people have been hunted and killed for years. We are living in fear. I am sorry I made the choice that I did.”

  Josh looked at her, trying to be angry, but felt instead a strong attraction to her. She was amazing. After months of guys and emotionless Lytix, to see and feel her passion really affected him. His breathing became difficult and as she glanced at him, she blushed. That made him blush as he realized that she knew what he was thinking. Sergei looked from one to the other and snickered.

  Master Ku was oblivious to the emotions running high in the room and said, “I accept your apology, Stargazer Teranovo. What do you wish?”

  Ab dragged her eyes from Josh. “We request sanctuary and help in fighting the enemy. What other defenses do you have?”

  Now Josh dropped his eyes. He wanted to help this woman now, but she thought they were trained warriors.

  Sergei stared at Master Ku, “That might be problem.”

  Ab asked, “Why?”

  Master Ku spoke up, “We are few. Our race is dying.”

  Ab interrupted, “But you have younglings. They are different from you, but they are vigorous and young.”

  Josh jumped in, “It’s a long story. We were abducted from a distant past by Master Ku’s predecessor and made to fight. They punished us when we wouldn’t fight. Okay, I guess it was a short story.”

  Ab’s eyes widened and her face flushed, “We were almost defeated by abducted children? Have you been trained from birth?”

  Sergei smiled, “Oh no. I have been in this time less than a year and Josh a few months.”

  “But how is this possible? We train from birth. We are genetically enhanced for battle. How were you genetically enhanced?” she closed her eyes.

  Josh held up a hand, “Hey, stop scanning me. We were not enhanced. The AI computers helped with targeting and navigation, but the rest was Sergei’s tactics.”

  “And Josh’s leadership.”

  Ab looked from one to the other, “Were you trained as warriors from birth in your time?”

  Sergei laughed, “In a way. We played a lot of video games.”

  Ab considered, “Can we get more of you?”

  Josh’s face hardened, “No, that is unacceptable. It is immoral to steal people away and force them to fight.”

  Ab squinted, “Immoral? Do you mean wrong? Why is it wrong?”

  “It just is. Do you force people to do things against their will? There are certain freedoms that are inherent in humankind and freedom of choice is one of them.”

  Sergei nodded, “Josh is breaking out the philosophy, but it is true. Children don’t have freedom of choice, depending on their parents, but most adults do have some freedom. Again depending on what country they live in. Josh lived in one of the more free countries.”

  Master Ku added, “This was one of my disagreements with my former master. I did not think that stealing children and others was right.”

  Ab was silent for a time. “By necessity, we live with less of this freedom you speak of. There are too many ways that someone can harm everyone else on a ship. The ship’s captain is the law and all of the ship captains make decisions for the good of the people.”

  There was a pause and then Master Ku spoke. “You are welcome to come to Urth. The cataclysm has subsided and there are few humans on the planet. We will supply you in any way that we can.”

  Sergei spoke up, “That is the main advantage; the manufacturing abilities of the Lytix. They can build almost anything.”

  Josh asked, “What do you know about this enemy that has been following you?”

  Ab closed her eyes, “We thank you for your offer of sanctuary. We do not know much about the enemy, only their tactics. We were never able capture one of them. We have only been able to flee for our lives each
time we encounter them.”

  “Do you have any vid of the battles?” Sergei asked.

  Ab smiled sadly, “Hours of battle vid, but that is all.”

  Josh said, “Sergei is a tactical genius. Maybe he can figure something out.”

  Ab pushed a button on her chair and the older man stepped in immediately. “Please show this…man to the holo. He wishes to see battle vid of the Svarmo.” She looked at Josh. “That is what we call them.”

  Sergei followed the man out eagerly. He winked at Josh as he left.

  Ab turned to Master Ku, “Would you like to see our navigation center? Perhaps there are protocols we need as we move closer to Urth. We can begin immediately.” She pressed another button. A woman showed up. She was also bald, Josh noticed. Master Ku bowed and followed her out.

  Josh began to fidget, nervously. It was getting warm in here. He looked down at his coffee and took another sip. Ab looked at him and smiled.

  She sat back in her chair and asked, “Tell me about your life before this.”

  “Uh, I left home and wandered around the St…the country. I wanted to explore and figure things out.”

  She smiled, “Our people are explorers, too. We had great dreams of discovering other planets like Urth and colonizing the universe, but…”

  “You couldn’t find any Earth-like planets?”

  “The holos and vids of Urth perhaps spoiled us for perfection. Over the decades, we have left others behind on planets that required a lot of work and protection, just to survive. The people we left there had become…tired of space and ships and were willing to endure a static, but hard life. It is something that my father would never believe, us being so close to Urth again. Would you like to mate?”

  Josh spilled his coffee, “What?” Fortunately, the coffee had cooled down.

  She smiled, “Your emotions are not easy to ignore. Would you like to mate?”

  Josh blushed again, “Uh, I don’t even know you. It isn’t our custom…Well it isn’t usually our custom…You are a beautiful woman, but…”

  Ab laughed, “I do not wish to impose on your freedom of choice. It is a matter of choice among us, too. Because I am Stargazer, it is difficult to…I must always be aware of my place.” She blushed. “I didn’t understand your customs.”

  Josh coughed and tried to sip his coffee. “Well, usually I like to get to know a person. We go on dates.”

  She tilted her head, “Dates? On a calendar?”

  “Oh, ha. A date is a scheduled time together with someone to get to appreciate them. Sometimes over dinner or even over coffee…,” he looked down and blushed again.

  Ab laughed, “So this is a date?”

  Josh smiled slyly, “Well it wasn’t scheduled as one, but…” he shrugged and changed the subject.

  “Tell me about life on a starship, Ab.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Freedom Fighters

  The next day, the starliner orbited above the moon and Josh, Ab, Sergei and Master Ku shuttled down to the surface. Five others from the Natix—officers of the fleet—went with them. They were met by five Lytix, who bowed and showed them to rooms. Josh and Sergei had never seen these Lytix before. “Who are they?” they asked Master Ku.

  “I have not seen them in many years. They were placed in stasis for wrong thoughts.”

  Josh asked, “Don’t you want to talk to them and welcome them back?”

  Master Ku glanced at him, “Why? Duumai has already informed them of all changes.”

  Josh raised his eyebrow, “Aren’t you glad to see them?”

  Master Ku said, “I am…pleased that they are able to serve again.”

  Sergei slowly shook his head, “I do not understand you, Master Ku.”

  Ku began to repeat what he had said and Sergei laughed and interrupted, “No, I understood your words, I do not understand your lack of emotion.”

  Josh spoke up, “I remember hearing about studies where babies were rarely held and comforted. More of them died than babies that got attention and love. Could that be why there are so few of you?”

  While the Natix were getting settled, Josh and Sergei gathered the teams. Josh spoke slowly, “Good news. The Natix want peace with us. Bad news. They were followed by some nasty aliens who are right behind them.”

  There were groans and cries of frustration. There were still a few who didn’t understand and their friends were slowly explaining to them or tap coded the gist of the message.

  Several stood up and demanded to be returned home.

  Josh held up his hands, asking for quiet. “Duumai, can you tell us your capability for returning some of us home?”

  There are records of the exact time and place of origin for all humans that were brought here. But the return has a nine point six year window of accuracy. Because of that, we cannot target the exact time of departure. To avoid duplication or anomalies, it is required to send them back five years later. That means that they will return anytime from weeks after being missing to ten years in the future. Does this answer your question?

  Josh looked at the group. Disbelief filled the eyes of the guys who understood. In time, after more translation and coding, the rest groaned at the news.

  “Duumai, will it be possible to shrink the window of accuracy with more research?”

  Unknown.

  Josh shrugged, “I am really sorry, men. This isn’t good. Sergei and I have agreed to stay and fight. The Natix are an interesting people.” Sergei winked at him and Josh blushed. “Many of them want to settle back down on Urth. But we need to defend ourselves from the aliens, first.”

  There was a stunned silence. Some of the group were crying, others stared into the distance. Josh frowned and raised his eyebrows at Sergei who shrugged. They left for the holo room. They both knew that the guys needed time to process this. As they were walking, there came the sound of running feet. When they turned around, their whole clan was behind them.

  Sam shrugged and said, “I like living in the future. It’s pretty cool.”

  Josh clapped him on the back and reminded him, “Don’t forget to talk in Logos, Sam. If you want to stay, you’re going to have to use it all the time.”

  Sam grimaced, “Hey, all of the movies from my childhood showed that the future spoke English.”

  Josh laughed and translated that for the others. When they got to the holo room, the Natix and a few Lytix were there watching holos of the Natix battle with the Svarmo. One of the Lytix stopped Josh at the entrance.

  “I am Wu. Master Ku wishes me to tell you that we have changed the kryzhnuku to only provide help and not pain. Do your team wish to be implanted?”

  Sergei nodded and turned to the others.

  Josh held up his hand, “What about mine?”

  “We already reprogrammed it.”

  Josh sighed. He didn’t like future tech like this in his head, but it was pretty useful. What had been programmed could easily be reprogrammed. He shrugged and looked at the rest. “What do you think?” They all nodded. Wu led them out to the med bay while Josh waited for them, he watched the holos for the first time.

  They were terrifying. The alien ships looked more organic than metallic. They looked like they had been grown from algae or something. But they were fast. Faster than seemed possible. They darted around space from Natix ship to ship, disabling them somehow. The Natix ships were sluggish in comparison. They seemed to be moving in molasses. Josh asked the Natix why their ships were moving so slowly.

  “Because we slowed the holo speed down to be able to watch the Svarmo move. If we played it realtime, we would not see them move. They would only appear from place to place.”

  Josh blanched, “Then how are you able to escape from them at all?”

  Ab answered, “They are only able to store up that speed over time. When they are not in battle mode, they move more slowly than us, but they don’t stop, they never stop.”

  “And you haven’t been able to capture them or sense them or f
ind out anything about them?”

  An older man who seemed to be a lead officer answered, “They emit no transmissions or any kind of communications that we can detect.”

  “No communications? How do you detect them at all?”

  Ab answered, “That is my purpose. I can sense intent and danger. That is the only way. Our fighters cannot sense individual intent, only general danger. The speed negates our future sense. We have found no defense for this.”

  Josh asked, “What about offense? Did you try the EMP on them?”

  The little general got angry at this, “Of course, youngling. We tried everything. Their ships absorbed all beams and the nuclear device had no effect. Do you think we are stupid?”

  Josh held up his hands, “Sorry, man. I am only trying to get more information.”

  The general stood up straight and puffed out his chest. “You challenge me? Do you wish to die, youngling?”

  Josh backed away, “No, what are you talking about? I was apologizing.”

  “You raised your hands to me in challenge to my manhood. I accept your challenge.” The general turned to the Lytix. “Where is your battle arena?”

  The Lytix gazed at him impassively and then turned to Josh. Josh looked at Ab.

  “Why did you challenge him, Josh? Are you so confident of success? Do you wish to take his place?”

  Josh was confused, “No, of course not. My gesture was a placating gesture. We do that to show that we mean only peace. Can you help him understand? I didn’t mean anything and we don’t have time for this.”

  Ab frowned, “You insulted his honor and you are bound to him now. If you don’t accept his challenge, he is dishonored and your life is forfeit. I am sorry that you chose this path.”

  Josh sat down and carefully placed his hands on his knees. “We have different customs here. We can understand each other’s words, but we are not really communicating properly. Is there no apology that will be enough? Haven’t you encountered other cultures that require tact and understanding?”

  Ab widened her eyes, “You wish us to change our culture to accommodate yours? Why? Do you think that our customs are inferior?” She turned away and left him.