by J. M. Hagan
“Is this for real?” Claudia questioned, feeling her gut tangle as they made it to the lift.
“It must be,” Mark guessed, pressing the switch for the lift, and the doors shut.
They were on Deck-A in a matter of seconds, and found that Cane was already there manning the pilot’s console.
"What's going on?" Mark cried.
"We're being followed," he delivered urgently.
"Followed?"
"A Dok'ra vessel is tracking us.” Dok’ra?! The Overseers! “I believe they are following our emission trail as we travel. Just now, when we dropped out of sub-space after our last jump, I detected them in the distance."
Cane, with a pensive brow, quickly checked the local system on the readout. They stood over his shoulders as he hurried to examine their options. Then he looked up at the ringed brown planet they were currently passing.
“We can take cover in that asteroid belt,” he said.
"Why hide when we can run?" asked Mark, biting his thumb. This is bad. Claudia could feel her spine tingling.
Jack came up the lift next, and they quickly surmised the situation for him. He stood at her side, a worried look on his face.
"They have tracked us all the way from Earth," said Europa, while Cane was busy correlating data at the pilot’s chair. “If we give them a path to follow, they will follow it.”
Claudia gasped, as she figured it out. "Does this mean the future-crew failed their mission?”
“I don’t have enough data to speculate at this time, Claudia,” answered Europa.
“What’s, Cane, doing?” she asked, as he continued to consult his instrumentation.
“He is attempting to make it look as if we are about to make another jump out of this sector. If we activate the TDS at the edge of their sensor range, then take a sharp burst in speed as we cease our jump prep, they may be fooled. It is what is known as a phantom-jump.”
They watched as Cane flew them at speed with the TDS spooling. They could hear the engines rising. Then, just as a bright light appeared ahead of them, Cane cut the TDS, and shifted the stick forward sharply. Europa boosted ahead, and they jolted on their feet.
Then Cane cut off the engines entirely, as they made an approach for the enormous planet ringed with debris.
Reverting to low power.
The lights went out, and all they had was the glow of the consoles, and the light from the distant star that was pouring in through the window.
"It is likely that the Dok’ra will try to predict our course, and arrive at the drop-out point to intercept,” said Europa, as they watched out the window in silence.
The future-crew were supposed to have dealt with the Overseers, and the Dok’ra, once and for all. The fact that this ship was out here searching for them was a tell-tale sign that they hadn’t succeeded.
“The only explanation is that they failed their mission,” Claudia whispered to the others again, and they were both just as worried and shocked as she found herself in these uncertain moments.
“That means Earth isn’t safe,” whispered Mark.
Jack added: “Not by a longshot.”
Storms raged on the planet’s surface below. The cool blue glow of his console lit up his face as Cane bared teeth, navigating the vibrating control sticks.
Claudia worried as huge chunks of swirling and whirling ice came toward them. The hull was far from impenetrable, especially with the shields powered down. Even one of the smaller rocks could cause severe damage to the ship. Sweat gathered on her brow.
Maybe, no matter what we do, we’re doomed to failure, a kick in the teeth from destiny, perhaps? They had sounded so confident, like there was no way they were going to fail. But their luck ran out. That means our luck can run out, too. Claudia strolled back and forth, running a hand up her creased brow. My God. What if I am killed? What if someone comes along, right now, and shoots this window through? I would get sucked out into space! My frozen corpse would just drift for eternity…
“Everyone remain calm,” said Cane, as if her worry had permeated the room.
When they passed through the worst of it, his face relaxed a little. They stopped in an area above a thick gathering of swirling gases on the planet’s surface.
Optimal position reached.
They waited. They watched. For a long while, nothing happened. Then they saw a light in the distance – the burning engines.
The small ship could have been a thousand miles away, for all she knew. But Claudia was clenching her hands at her sides and remaining perfectly still as she watched it, like if she made a movement they would detect her.
Then light enveloped the ship as it engaged its TDS, and it zoomed ahead before vanishing...
Jack let out a breath of relief. “Thank God,” he said, setting hands on the back of his head. “We’re safe…for now.”
“How did they find us?” begged Mark. “Is there a chance that they know where we are headed?”
“It’s anyone’s guess, at the moment,” admitted Cane.
“Cane, what does this mean?” asked Claudia.
“It means we will have to take a much less direct route to Maji-Onda,” he replied, running a hand down his drawn face
“Affirmative,” said Europa. “I will begin plotting a more discreet course. However, our fuel limitations, and our time-scale, will narrow our options considerably.”
They had to make it there within two months, if they were to join the guild, and still keep on time for their goal of reaching Delta-2 when Vorjool was set to arrive.
“I am well aware,” said Cane. “But caution will be our only ally for now. Dok'ra do not sleep."
5
That night, as the others slept, Claudia was restless and wandered to command. She couldn’t stop thinking about the ship that was tracking them, and bit on her nails while looking out the window to space. She half-expected the Dok’ra to reappear at any moment.
The hum of the engines and the gentle bleeps of the tech around her pushed her mind along, as she sailed on a current of thought.
The odds were stacked greatly against them, yes, but she wondered why it felt so natural to always first turn to despair. Was it pre-programmed – a natural incentive for her survival instincts to kick in?
It wouldn’t do to wait around moping, worrying. All she could do was what she had been doing, except, perhaps, with more conviction.
Claudia marched to the elevator and dropped down to the deck below. She came out in a jog, and soon she was sprinting.
She slowed her speed to negotiate down the ramps to the deck below, and then she stopped. Dropped forward, falling into a push-up position, and performed ten reps before hurrying on again.
She ran and exercised until she was exhausted. Then went to her room and collapsed into bed.
A dream of home devolved into a nightmare, and she felt like she was choking in the cold expanse of the unending night.
Claudia woke up at 0445, perspiring and sick with unease. She got up sharply and equipped the gun belt she had taken to keeping in her room.
She wanted it to become second nature, wielding a firearm, so she made sure it was the first thing she did when she woke up each morning.
Claudia paced about the room, quick drawing her weapon, time and again, whirling the gun around on her finger, and taking aim.
Then she went out running thirty minutes before the time when Europa delivered her daily prompt for her to get ready.
When 0530 came along, she’d already worked up a sweat, and intercepted Cane in the corridor. She ran alongside him.
“You’ve started early. Glad to see you are so keen,” he commented.
“I’ve gotta keep busy,” she admitted, wearily. “Or else I’ll lose my damn mind.”
She side-glanced at his baggy-eyes. “I can relate to that,” he said.
“Sleep much?”
“Hardly at all,” he admitted, as they turned the corner and saw Jack and Mark stretching outside their rooms;
she was surprised when she saw that Siena was with them. Her silver eyes were gleaming in the light when she looked up, having been adjusting her shoes.
Why is she here?
“I’ve decided to include, Siena, in our training,” he explained, as they approached.
Claudia stopped in front of her, taking a short break to catch her breath. “Good to see you are up and about,” she said, trying to sound friendly. Damn. I forgot, she doesn’t speak English. In rovian, she said: “Good morning, Siena.”
Siena nodded. “Good morning, Claudia.”
“How do you feel?”
“Better than before,” and then she said a few words Claudia hadn’t heard before. Siena noticed her confusion. “I am good.” No need to tone it down that much. I’m not a moron.
Claudia forced a smile and avoided eye contact to stave off the outburst that was on the tip of her tongue.
“Good.” She looked to the others. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Jack took off ahead of them all, starting at an immediate sprint. He had been very quiet lately, even before the Dok’ra had been revealed. As he went, his face was solid with composure, verging on anger. He was gone in a blink.
As they ran at the front, with Siena and Mark a few paces behind them, Claudia asked Cane in English: “Why is she with us?”
Cane side-glanced her way with an awkward frown. “I invited her. She’s been trustworthy lately, and I have no reason to doubt her change in character. She has expressed a desire to help us in our mission.”
“She wants to become a Starman?”
Can we even trust her?
“Yes. Against, Vorjool, we might need all the help we can get. We don’t know anything about him, except that he has the will to try and forge an empire. Warships or not, that takes a certain type of strength few could manage. He is cold, and calculating, and she knows all about men like that. Her father’s demise, and the way he treated her, especially in his final moments, have taught to her an invaluable lesson.”
“Cane, what if this is all a rouse? You are being very trusting here – too trusting – for my liking.”
Claudia tugged on his sleeve and made him stop along with her. They moved aside to let the others run by. As she passed, Siena had a pinched look on her face. She knows I’m talking about her…so what? I have a right to be suspicious.
“Cane, we may have failed yesterday’s assessment, but that wasn’t down to skill. Me and Jack can hold our own in a firefight – Mark may be behind us for now, but in flight, he’s way ahead – and it’s only been a few weeks. Whoever this, Vorjool, guy is, I’m sure he can’t survive a few pulse rounds to the head, or an airstrike, for that matter.”
As Cane digested her objection, she realised that he hadn’t considered the possibility that any of them would question his decision.
“You make a valid point. But – “
“But…we don’t really need another person. Especially not someone who was, just a few weeks ago, mutinying, breaking arms, and sabotaging this ship.”
Cane put hands on his hips and stood tall. “Claudia, please, slow down. I am finding it difficult keeping up.”
Claudia frowned in frustration, then took a breath. She had been blurting everything out. “Sorry. I forgot you’re still learning. Do you understand what paranoia is?”
Cane nodded.
“Good. Well, I need less of it. I’m worrying about everything, all day, all night. I have to be that way. If I wasn’t afraid, I wouldn’t be trying so damn hard. You put her into the mix, and it might throw me off my game…”
Cane was trying his very best to keep up with her. It was stressing him out. “Very well,” he moaned. “Shall I keep, Siena, confined to her room as a prisoner? Is that what you would prefer?”
“Don’t make me out to sound harsh. She was a terrorist.”
“Yes, she was. But that girl almost died, and her father had been indoctrinating her for years. I think…she has paid enough for her crimes already. I believe in second chances.” Cane sighed, looking off. “I think we need her.”
“What? Are you saying you doubt us?”
“Don’t be offended,” he implored her. “I don’t doubt your skills. But when it comes right down to it, Siena, and I, are the only ones who have been through life and death situations. I know she has an even stronger will now than before. I think that makes her someone we can use.”
“That isn’t all that you’re saying, Cane. You don’t think we have the mettle…?”
“What?” Cane asked, looking at the metal walls confused.
“Mettle, spelt different, sounds the same. Means courage, balls.”
Cane shook his head. “I don’t doubt you. All I’m trying to impart is, I know that nothing ever goes to plan, especially in combat. I think we have safety in numbers, though, and I will expand those numbers when given the chance.”
Claudia shook her head and huffed. How can we ever trust someone who used to be a terrorist?
*
They arrived to the briefing room, and it was the first time they had convened like this since their training began. This time Siena was present. Claudia threw her a distrustful glance when she came in and sat at the opposite end of the table from her next to Mark. Jack was by her side, while Cane occupied the head of the table.
“Okay, let’s begin,” he said, standing up. “The Dok’ra are chasing us. It is possible that we will one day face them in combat. Therefore, we ought to familiarise ourselves with their tactics and the different types of soldiers known to be in their army. This information has been taken from Europa’s databanks, and is generally taught in history classes on the subject of the Great War.”
Cane waved his hand over the interface before him and the room darkened. A holographic display lit up dark orange, and they saw a tall, broad-shouldered reptilian creature.
“This is a standard Dok’ra foot soldier,” said Cane, and Claudia read the measurements alongside the 3D picture. It was seven feet tall and all muscle lapping over muscle.
“Looks like a tough son of a bitch,” commented Jack, crossing his arms and sitting back.
“Indeed, they are,” said Cane. “Their skin is like a layer of armour. Even lasers have a tough time penetrating it.”
“Any weak points?” asked Mark.
Cane pointed to the alien’s knees which were protected with armour pads. “Knees and head,” he said. “It would still take a multitude of ammunition to take one down, even if you were engaging the weak points. If you encounter a Dok’ra, you put it down. Use whatever it takes. Do not give up the fight prematurely. As the saying goes – you can never keep a Dok’ra down. They have great night vision, but their eyes are sensitive to light. Flashbangs can offer you the edge over them.”
He waved his hand along the screen and the Dok’ra vanished to be replaced by a little grey alien. Its measurements had it at five foot nothing. “The Greys – small, and physically weak. One shot is usually enough to put them down. However, what they lack in strength they make up for with intelligence, telekinetic and telepathic power. If you see one, kill it immediately. If one of those pests gets into your head, there is no telling the damage that they could inflict, or, through mind-controlled action, have you inflict upon others.”
Cane moved on to the next, what appeared to be a human female with pale, wrinkled skin and a hard grimace. “Simply named Agents – these human-grey hybrids share traits with both species. Although, through some genetic manipulation, they have been granted superior strength. It has been said that Agents can kill using only their minds. Their telepathic abilities are vastly superior to the Greys, and they are free thinkers, unlike the Greys and Dok’ra who are ruled by programing, like bio-robots.”
“How the hell do you program someone’s mind?” asked Jack, his face wrinkled with confusion. He seemed fearful even considering the prospect.
“We will get to that in a moment.”
Cane waved away the picture of the slim, ghoulish Agent.
The image that replaced it was something similar. Yet again, a female. Humanoid, with pale white skin and black eyes like the Dok’ra. Claudia felt unease, staring at the eerie figure. She was six foot tall and slim.
“This is a Witch. The Overseers most feared and rarest warrior. A combination of every species in their employ, Witches are tougher than Dok’ra, more cunning than Agents, and possess unparalleled telekinetic abilities.”
Jack groaned. “She looks like something from a damn monster movie,” he said, and Claudia felt her blood cool as she stared at those hard barren eyes.
“If you encounter a Witch…run.”
An unsettling feeling permeated the room. But Mark, with a deep frown, asked, “Don’t they have any weak points?”
“Not that I know of,” Cane admitted, sullen. “A single Witch has been known to take down armies with their heavy firepower and paranormal abilities. I imagine that the process for creating a Witch is very difficult. Like I said – they are their rarest unit, used for special missions. There have only been a handful of instances wherein a Witch has ever been recorded.”
“Yeah. But they’re fighting against extinction,” Mark pointed out. “My guess is they won’t hold anything back.”
“Precisely,” said Cane. “The only advice I can offer if you are to engage them is to keep your distance and inflict maximum damage as hastily as you can manage.”
He waved the image away. “Now…onto the Overseers themselves.”
As Claudia saw the face of their true enemy for the first time, she felt an air of divinity. The creature was 5”5 and looked to be a more evolved Grey with a smaller cranium. It had long, bulbous fingers and a thin body that was draped in a royal red cloak with gold embroidery.
“We aren’t sure how many there are exactly, but the Overseers were few in number. They are in charge. Their origin, their agenda – to this day – are unknown. All that we know is they have no time for diplomacy, no compassion, and no remorse for their actions. They are cold hearted butchers, responsible for the deaths of countless beings, and they deserve to be exterminated for their crimes.”
“You said they have programed the Greys and Dok’ra?” inquired Jack.
