The Northrunner boats pushed forward against the bridge, and although the span’s advanced material refused to break, the barges’ massive weight caused the pylons in the middle of the bridge to sink deeper and deeper into river bottom. As the pylons sank, the prow of one of the barges slipped over the top of the bridge and surged forward. The other boats followed and soon all three were racing downstream toward the second bridge, firing their guns on PRA troops and vehicles on both sides of the river.
Cap pointed at the radar and then at some dots on the southeastern horizon. “Bogies headed our way,” he said.
“Are they League or PRA fighters?” asked Logan.
“PRA,” said Cap. “Look like Phantom 2s. The X-1s down in St. Louis must have let a few get past them.”
Cap pointed the Blackhawk’s nose toward the west and pushed it to the limit. But because he had not been able to bring one of the gunship’s two engines fully online, its top speed was significantly limited. The radar showed X-1s pursuing the Phantoms, but the PRA fighters had a significant head start.
Logan watched the screen as several tiny dots shot out from the Phantoms and headed straight for them. Cap waited a few breaths, then fired countermeasures. Two of the Phantoms’ missiles exploded when struck by the Blackhawk’s air-to-air missiles, but three continued on course. Cap fired the pulse guns, knocking out one missile, but the other two were unaffected.
Logan gripped the Apollo Stone in his left hand and held his seat’s armrest with the right. He looked at Cap and said, “Whatever tricks you’ve got left up your sleeve, now’s the time to use them.”
“Sorry, my friend, no tricks left,” he said. “Let’s hope this armor can take a hit.” He suddenly banked hard left and headed directly toward the onrushing missiles, diving toward the ground at the last second. Logan saw the missiles arc sharply downward and braced for impact. At that moment, he felt a twinge in his left hand.
He closed his eyes. “At least I won’t feel the explosion,” he thought bitterly.
Logan’s mind went blank for a moment, and then he found himself floating, surrounded by stars. He saw the blue dot of Earth in the distance and willed himself to approach it. In an instant, he was looking down on the Mississippi River valley from high orbit, but he could not discern what was happening on the ground. He looked around him, expecting to see the Sahiradin and Lycian fleets, but there was nothing. He concentrated hard and sensed the presence of the Sahiradin and Lycian ships to his left.
He then became aware of a small group of ships rapidly approaching the battling alien fleets from Earth’s South Pole. They looked like long swept-back silver wings with a cockpit in the middle and a collection of weapons on the ends and under the center. An escort of oval Lycian fighters flew ahead of them, destroying the handful of patrolling Sahiradin V-wing fighters that raced to intercept them. But just as the Lycians were destroying the last of the Sahiradin fighter patrols, a large squadron of reserve Sahiradin V-wings shot toward the oncoming Lycian formation. They outnumbered the Lycian ships by two to one.
Logan sensed the massive battleship ship the Sahiradin fighters had come from. It was not with the main fleet. It was maintaining its distance, its occupants watching the battle unfold. Logan concentrated on that ship and felt himself approaching it. Closer. Closer.
Logan slowly opened his eyes and saw Cap staring out the cockpit window. Logan followed the direction of Cap’s gaze. They were no longer flying above the Mississippi River, but Logan’s thoughts were jumbled and he couldn’t focus. Then he leaned forward and looked up through the Blackhawk’s cockpit window. A massive ship was directly above them. Logan turned his head to his left and saw red and yellow explosions flashing far away in high Earth orbit. Fascinated, he watched for several heartbeats before Ravenwood, Styles, and Lena walked into the cockpit.
“The Lycian fleet is going toe to toe with the Sahiradin,” said Ravenwood, looking at the distant explosions. “And above us,” he pointed his thumb toward the ceiling. “The Sahiradin.”
“But how did we get here?” asked Cap.
Ravenwood looked at Logan and said, “Ask your navigator.”
“But we didn’t use the navigation system,” said Cap, pointing at the console.
“Logan is the navigation system,” said Ravenwood, smiling.
Several Rahani joined them from the troop compartment. One of them spoke to Ravenwood in their melodic language. Ravenwood nodded, and looking at the Sahiradin ship above them, he said, “It’s the Sahiradin flagship. A devastator class battleship called Dominion.”
Two V-wing fighters flashed by, startling those in the Blackhawk’s cockpit, but the Sahiradin ships did not come toward them.
“Why didn’t they attack?” asked Lieutenant Styles.
“The Blackhawk is using almost zero power,” said Cap as he scrolled through systems screens on the main viewer. “Which is good news if you don’t want Sahiradin fighters to detect you and blow you up.”
“Why hasn’t the Blackhawk exploded due to cabin pressure?” asked Lena. “I’m also curious about how much oxygen we have left.”
Cap turned to face her and said, “Blackhawk hasn’t exploded from the cabin pressure because she was designed to function in a vacuum. The PRA probably intended to use her for low-orbit flight.”
“And what about oxygen levels?” asked Ravenwood.
Cap shook his head and said, “Unfortunately, the previous owner didn’t bother to fill the tanks. We’ve got about twenty minutes, maybe less.”
“How are we supposed to sneak out from under a Sahiradin battleship, evade patrolling enemy fighters, and get home in the next twenty minutes?” asked Lena. “Assuming, of course, this thing doesn’t burn up on re-entry. Can Logan shift space again and get us back to the surface?”
Logan looked through the window at the massive ship just above them. “What if we didn’t go back to the surface?” he asked. “What if we went inside Dominion?”
Cap looked at him. Then he closed his eyes and asked, “What the hell are you talking about?”
Logan repeated himself. “What if we went into Dominion?”
“Setting aside ‘how’ for now, let’s discuss ‘why,’ ” said Lena. “What is to be gained from going into a Sahiradin devastator-class battleship?”
Logan looked at Ravenwood, who was quietly translating for the Lycian listeners. “Ravenwood theorized the Sahiradin were planning to use Earth as a secret base to increase their population. To do that they would need to bring their queen here.”
Ravenwood nodded. “Yes, but I must say they would not necessarily have her onboard Dominion now.”
Logan looked out the window at the distant exploding lights of the battling fleets. “The Lycians are losing. Their plan to surprise the Sahiradin with fighters and torpedo ships has failed and now their fleet is being cut to pieces.”
He looked back at the others. “Dominion is probably their most powerful ship, but it’s not engaged in the fighting. She’s sitting back and watching. When have we ever seen the Sahiradin sit back and watch a fight? It runs counter to their DNA, if they have DNA. I think they’re afraid to risk her.”
“I don’t know,” said Lena. “Assuming Ravenwood’s theory is correct, I don’t think they would want to move their queen until Earth was secured. They’d be risking their species’ entire future by taking her someplace that is not absolutely safe.”
“Ask these guys,” said Cap, pointing at the Lycian soldiers. “They’d know more about what the Sahiradin might be willing to risk than we do.”
“A very good idea,” said Ravenwood with a smile. He exchanged a few words with the Rahani leader. Then he said, “Our Rahani friend agrees that the Sahiradin queen is certainly still on their home world. She and her Karazan are deep inside a heavily fortified mountain. And the queen never leaves.”
Logan was disappointed with the news. “I still think we should board and somehow damage Dominion. We need to do something to pull the rest of the
Sahiradin fleet back. There’s a reason the stone guided us here. And that reason has something to do with this battleship we’re floating under.”
“That’s not a good enough reason for us to go on a suicide mission,” said Cap. “Sorry friend, but I’m not onboard with this one. I say we wait for a gap in the patrols and sneak back down to Mama Gaia.”
“And do what?” asked Logan. “The Lycian fleet won’t last much longer. And the combined Sahiradin and PRA army overran our defenses on the Mississippi. St. Louis won’t hold out for long. League forces will fall back to Deep Six and hold out for a while, but they’re outnumbered four to one. They’ll either be blown out or starved out. Either way, it’ll be the end of the League.”
“So what are we supposed to do?” asked Cap. “I agree with what you said about Deep Six, but we don’t know the future. Maybe we’ll get help from the Pacific Federation and push the PRA and Sahiradin back.”
“I don’t see that happening,” said Logan. “Also, if we return, they’ll get the Apollo Stone. Maybe not right away, but eventually it will fall into their hands. Then the Sahiradin will be unstoppable. We have to do something to shift the balance, and we have to do it here, now.”
Lieutenant Styles studied Logan for a moment and considered their options. “I agree with Logan. We’ll never get another opportunity like this. Let’s do it.”
Lena again looked at Logan. “What you say makes sense. And I don’t want more good people coming under the control of the Guardians and their brutal rule. I’m in.”
Cap shook his head. “I still don’t get it. Let’s live to fight another day. We don’t know what will happen if we return to the surface, but I’m damn sure what will happen if we try to sneak onboard a Sahiradin battleship.”
No one said anything. Cap looked at Logan, then at Lena for a few heartbeats. Finally, he said, “But if you two are in, so am I. How do we get inside this thing?”
Ravenwood looked at Logan and said, “Ask our navigator.”
Ravenwood explained the plan to the Rahani and Grensch. Logan watched as they debated amongst themselves. It appeared to him that many of the two dozen Rahani were unsure. The Grensch were difficult to read. They spoke in their low voices in a deliberate and slow manner, occasionally slapping their arms or hands or gesticulating in a way that made Logan think it was perhaps part of their language. A combination of spoken and sign language.
Cap tapped his left wrist, though he was not wearing a watch. “Let’s go, people…and Rahani and Grensch. We’re running out of time.”
“And oxygen,” said Lena.
“Patience,” said Ravenwood. “Some things cannot be rushed.”
After what seemed an eternity to Logan, the Rahani leader broke away from the discussion and spoke to Ravenwood, who nodded and translated. “Given the situation, they agree it is worth trying to disable Dominion. They recommend damaging one or more of her engines. Dominion’s admiral might order Sahiradin ships to disengage from the battle and pull back to protect her until they can repair the engines. Perhaps that will give the Lycian fleet the upper hand.”
“Okay, so we have an objective,” said Cap, clapping his hands. “Now, how do we get inside? Can Logan do his magic trick again?”
“I’ll try,” he said. “But it happened while I was having a seizure. I’m not sure I can do it on purpose.”
Raven placed his hand on Logan’s shoulder and said, “Have faith, my boy. Try.”
Logan hesitated for a moment, nodded, and leaned back in his chair. He closed his eyes and gripped the Apollo Stone tightly in his hand. He tried to conjure up the image of all the stars he remembered seeing. He tried to let his mind drift, to ignore everything around him, but distracting thoughts continually infiltrated his mind. He grew annoyed at the random images and impressions that suddenly occupied his mind. The more annoyed he became, the less relaxed he was. Soon, his mounting frustration impaired his ability to even imagine the stars he’d seen before with such clarity. Finally, he opened his eyes.
“It’s no good,” he said. “I can’t bring my mind back to that place. I can’t interface with the stone.”
Ravenwood asked, “How are you trying to connect?”
“I’m trying to just empty my mind of thoughts and focus on the stars I’d seen before,” replied Logan. “How did the Alamani navigators do it?”
“I’m not sure how they achieved the communion, but I do know the human mind cannot be emptied of thoughts. To relax the mind, it must be completely filled with a single simplistic thought, such as an image. Concentrate on one thing and give it your full attention. In so doing, your mind will relax and open itself to possibilities.”
“Concentrate on one thing?” asked Logan. “Like what?”
“There is a story about an ancient mystic who sought enlightenment through meditation,” answered Ravenwood. “He reached one of his deepest meditative states by concentrating on his favorite bull. He thought of its powerful legs, broad chest, and formidable horns. He focused so hard on the bull that he eventually became convinced that he had become the bull.”
“You want Logan to think he’s a cow?” asked Cap.
“Of course not,” said Ravenwood dismissively. “I want him to focus on something of beauty, something he loves.”
Logan tried to think of a thing he loved. There were things he truly cared for, but none of them felt like the kind of love Ravenwood described. Thoughts of his friends, former sweethearts, his mother, memories of his father, none of them truly gripped his mind. He was about to give up when an unlooked-for thought leapt into his mind. It was the image of Lieutenant Styles’ lovely face. He was surprised by the thought, but, after a moment’s reflection, he decided it felt right. He allowed himself to think about her. Her eyes, her hair, the thin scar on her jawline that somehow accentuated her beauty. As he thought of her, his breathing slowed and his mind began to drift. Then he felt a twitch in his left hand.
“Logan,” said a voice.
Logan was surprised by the sound. He opened his eyes, and saw the universe of stars around him. The voice came again. “Logan.”
“Who are you?” he asked.
“You know who I am,” said the voice. “Why have you come?”
“We need to stop the Sahiradin,” he said.
“The Sahiradin?” said the voice. “Stop them from what?”
“From destroying the Earth,” replied Logan.
“They will not destroy the Earth,” said the voice. “They will destroy the humans, the descendants of the Alamani. But Earth will continue on as it has for eons, indifferent to its occupants.”
“I don’t see it that way,” countered Logan. “The Sahiradin are murderous monsters. We can’t let them win this war. We can’t let them gain control over the Apollo Stone, over you.”
“Forget the Sahiradin,” said the voice. “They are inconsequential.”
“Not to me. Not to my people. Will you help us?”
“That depends on you,” said the voice.
“On me?” asked Logan. How?”
“What will you do in return for my assistance, assuming there is anything I can do?” asked the voice.
“What do you want?”
Ignoring the question, the voice asked, “What is your calling?”
“What do you mean, ‘calling’?”
“We are all called to be something greater than ourselves,” said the voice. “Most ignore or misunderstand their calling. The Sahiradin believe their calling is to right an ancient wrong and adhere to certain eternal principles. The collection of species calling themselves the Lycians believe their calling is to defeat the Sahiradin and go back to their lives as gardeners, builders, traders, and artists. Of course, the Lycians frequently confuse vocation with calling, but that is beside the point.”
“And what about humans?” asked Logan.
“You’ll have to discover that for yourselves,” said the voice.
“And what about you?” asked Logan. “Wha
t is your calling?”
“I am a teacher. I seek worthy pupils.”
“What do you teach?”
“How to lead a life worth living,” replied the voice. “Are you a worthy pupil?”
“I don’t know,” said Logan. “What do you consider a life worth living?”
The voice paused for a moment. “I think you would call it an enlightened life.”
Logan said, “I don’t need enlightenment. I need help defeating the Sahiradin.”
“You sound more Sahiradin than Alamani,” said the voice.
“Maybe you’d do better to stop thinking of me as an Alamani,” replied Logan. “Did they seek enlightenment?”
“Some did, yes,” said the voice. “But they became enamored of knowledge for its own sake. They neglected the other half of enlightenment.”
“And what is that?”
“Purposeful action,” said the voice. “The Alamani retreated into an intellectual shell. Flattering themselves that they had unlocked the great secrets of the universe with their equations and contraptions.”
“What about the Sahiradin?” asked Logan. “They act with purpose.”
“The Sahiradin occupy the other end of the spectrum. They despise reflection. They are slaves to their passion for revenge and order.” After a moment’s pause, the voice continued, “I see you have a curious mind. That is good. Let us strike a bargain. I will assist you this one time against the Sahiradin and you will allow me to teach you.”
The Navigator (The Apollo Stone Trilogy Book 1) Page 46
