by John Walker
“You’re naivety is ridiculous,” Darm waved his hand. “You think learning of neighbors would settle the disagreement between us?”
“No, but if we start talking about them we might start talking about other things too. You must be weary of the fighting. How long before we simply…run out of people to kill each other? How long before those people realize it might happen and stop? Wouldn’t you rather be the solution to a problem than the constant reason it’s perpetuated?”
“If your so called government would acknowledge our sovereignty, the fighting would end.”
“Why can’t your government partner with us? We did it once but you have to admit, the taxation and demands on our resources became unfair. You didn’t care whether or not we survived, only if you got your cut. That’s why we pushed so hard and that’s why the fighting started. Your greed created this war.”
“Enough!” Darm shook his head. “We are not going to agree here on this topic so we should simply get on with the current dilemma. This new ship.”
Raeka felt his spirit sink for a moment but he nodded. “As you say. Send your scouts to join ours. Can we consider this an official cease fire?”
“Yes, I am transmitting my seal to you as proof. Do the same. I’ll instruct my crews to work with yours. No tricks, Raeka…or this will be the last time we speak in such a civil manner.”
Darm killed the connection and Raeka shook his head. “Transmit our seal,” he ordered. “And let me know when we receive his. Keep in contact with our scouts. I want a report as soon as they are within range to perform a deep scan.”
“Captain,” Tarkin turned in his seat to address him. “Did you mean what you said about the conflict?”
“About negotiating peace?” Raeka asked. “Yes, very much so. We were meant for more than war and battle. All the disciplines which put us in space have been placed on hold, my friend. Exploration, discovery, the sciences…all are directed to weapon’s development and better ways to end our former home world.”
“Does this mean…you’d rather us lose?”
Raeka shook his head. “Of course not. Remember your philosophy. A wise leader considers all obstacles, not only the one directly before him. What created the block in the first place should be one of your primary objectives. Peace is the way to win this forever. Both sides will have to make concessions…but my fear is neither side will be willing.”
“Don’t you feel we’ve given enough to them?”
Raeka smiled. “Tarkin, this is an old debate typically waged between civilians. You and I both have seen enough as military men to know what is truly meant by concession. The one thing both sides must acknowledge is the other’s right to survive. We can build an alliance from that, one which is beneficial to both sides. Now, focus on your station. We can talk more about politics later.”
Providing our guest doesn’t decide to destroy us all when it wakes up.
***
Clea leaned over a computer terminal, reading through diagnostic reports from the various engineers working on restoring the ship. Maury tapped her shoulder. “So, I think someone may have tampered with the jump drive. I’m getting some pretty strange readings that I’ve never seen before.”
“Keep it offline for now,” Clea said. “If something catastrophic happens to it, we’ll be stuck here for a very long time. Even at top speed, it might take years to return to Earth space depending on where we ended up.”
“Our second generator is online. Darnell’s rebooted the computers and we’re limping back toward minimal efficiency. Scanners should be up soon.”
“I’m going to head to the bridge then,” Clea replied. “Let me know if you need anything and I’ll support you from there.”
“Thanks, we’ll keep up the good fight.”
Clea rushed down the hall to the elevator and struck the number for the bridge. Leaning against the wall, she rubbed her head, fighting off the fatigue clinging to every joint and nerve ending. The shot Doctor Brand came up with wouldn’t have worked on her and so the medics worked on a substitute.
She’d been fast asleep when the event happened and when she came to, she was lying on the floor. She’d taken a knock to the head and a bruise formed just above her left eye. Luckily, the throbbing subsided but unfortunately, it gave way to the full body shock everyone else seemed to be suffering through.
So much for getting back to Earth quickly.
The cargo bays were full of Ulem but at least a freighter headed back to Earth with a shipment. Any more delays in getting the Behemoth’s sister ship online would not go over well with the council there. They already complained about how the alliance was treating them. Any more ammunition would simply offer more chances for damaging their relationship.
After all we’ve done for them too…I find it unbelievable that they would continue to think of us as anything other than benevolent.
They’d learn. When they finally engaged in galactic politics and saw the full theater of the war, they’d know why they needed to trust someone. Standing alone would not help anyone, indeed, it would practically be suicide. They could not mass produce ships fast enough to fend off waves of enemy attacks…nor did they have the manpower to lose full crews.
Not that the kielans necessarily could but they’d colonized dozens of worlds. Their numbers were nearly twenty times that of the human populations. They had resources to wage a massive campaign, especially with their other allies all over the galaxy. The enemy itself didn’t seem to have anyone, not even unwilling participants.
Their zeal and hatred overpowered their need for additional people.
The elevator opened and she entered the bridge, taking her seat and tapping into her computer. Gray tapped her arm in way of greeting. She nodded her acknowledgement but didn’t look up. Her focus could not be distracted at the moment, not if she hoped to fight through misery and continue to do her job.
“Clea?” Olly said. “I’ve got the sensors back online and I’m about to turn on the monitors. Can you check my work from there? I don’t want to short anything out if I got something wrong.”
“Of course.” Clea checked his figures, running them through an analyzer. They came back green. “You’re good, Lieutenant. Go ahead and bring them back online.”
The screens flickered to life and Gray stood, squinting at the displays. Clea noted a massive fleet some distance off with four vessels close by and another three on an approach vector. They didn’t seem to be aggressive, not yet but sensor sweeps would tell one way or another. She assumed Olly was already on it.
Tim showed up and took his post, his fingers flying over the console. Like the others, he didn’t have much to say. Even with the shots, the humans were still not entirely themselves. Hopefully, as they worked their physical ailments would subside. Clea certainly needed time to do some healing.
“I need some sensor time,” Tim said. “Can you spare a couple, Olly?”
“In a second,” Olly replied. “I’m getting a full read out of those ships approaching. Do we have shields yet?”
“Environmental only,” Clea said. “Weapons and defenses are offline until we get at least one more generator back up. Right now, we can’t even launch fighters. The hangar bay door controls were burnt. Technicians are currently replacing the damaged circuitry.”
“So you’re telling me we’re basically defenseless right now,” Gray said. “At least we have armor.”
“These ships have the equivalent of conventional weapons,” Olly said. “These seven could lay into us for a couple hours without causing any real damage.”
“Probably not true of their entire fleet,” Redding added. “Sir, I don’t have engines yet.”
“The engines are almost up,” Clea said. “But I advise patience.”
“Oh?” Gray asked. “Why?”
“Because at the moment, we’re not a threat to these people. To them, we’re a derelict alien vessel drifting through their space. If we suddenly turn on our engines and move,
they may decide they should attack us rather than try any diplomacy. Besides, we are quite a ways from any planet or moon. We’re not drifting into danger.”
“Good point.” Gray nodded. “Olly, do you think they know you scanned them?”
“That depends on how sophisticated their own equipment is. Pre alliance tech on Earth would’ve told us and they seem a little more advanced than we were then.”
“Fair enough. Where’s Agatha?”
“Probably in sick bay,” Tim said. “There was a massive line, sir.”
“Clea, take communications for now.” Gray returned to his seat and got on the intercom. “Commander Everly, please contact the bridge immediately.”
Adam Everly, the ship’s first officer, would’ve normally been the first person to take the bridge under any other emergency. Clea knew the captain must be worried about him, probably wondering if he’d been hurt. Depending on what state people were in during the event, anything from a fall to being hit by falling cargo was possible.
Clea wondered if they lost any crew to the jump disaster. The possibility was certainly there and as she took control of the communication station, she saw dozens of concerned messages dancing across her console. People asking after friends and coworkers, wondering who made it to sick bay and who was still unaccounted for.
We’ll know soon enough but a roll call is not at all a bad idea. She initiated a quick ping to all personnel, asking them to check in with their supervisors. Of those, she asked to give a missing person’s report to her station where she’d tally the results and relate them to the captain. Eventually they needed to sweep the ship and find anyone missing, the injured and sadly, the possibly dead.
“Clea, do you have coms up and running?” Gray asked.
“Aye, sir. The generators have allowed for short wave coms and most minor systems.”
Gray nodded. “Hail those ships. Let’s get to talking.”
“Defenses are online,” Olly announced. “I can raise shields whenever we need to.”
“Good.” Gray turned to Clea. “Let me know what you get on there.”
“Working on it…they may operate on a frequency or technology we do not understand. This may take a moment. I’ll keep you informed.”
The elevator opened and Commander Everly stepped in, using the wall for support. Gray met him half way and shook his hand, expressing his relief to see him. Clea needed to brief them both on what she heard from the engineer but it would have to wait. Talking to the foreign vessels took priority.
“What’s going on?” Adam took his seat next to Gray. “Have you figured anything out?”
“Just that it involved the jump drive. Let’s get Maury on the line and see what he can tell us.”
That’s not going to go over very well, Clea thought. I should’ve told him about the potential tampering right away but it didn’t exactly seem pertinent given what we were going through.
“Maury, it’s Gray. I’m with Adam on the bridge. Do you guys have any idea what happened to the jump module?”
“It’s screwed up big time, sir,” Maury replied. “Someone must’ve tampered with it. I’m still investigating but Clea asked us to keep it offline til we figured it out.”
“Good call.” Clea felt Gray’s eyes on her. “What do you think it’s going to take to repair it?”
“Not entirely sure yet…we have to open it up but right now, we’re still busy trying to get regular systems online. Once we’re back to standard operating health, we can focus on the jump module.”
“Sounds good,” Gray said. “Let us know if you need anything.”
“Alright, thank you, sir.”
Gray turned to Adam. “So there you have it. Tampered. A saboteur. I’d worried about that but had a hard time believing it. Now, it seems we have some evidence.”
Adam agreed. “What’s worse is if we don’t find out who did it, they can just cause more trouble somewhere else on the ship. Maybe next time, they’ll be more successful…if blowing up the ship is their plan. They clearly don’t have any sort of self preservation either. What they did…Christ, it could’ve killed us all.”
“Exactly.” Gray hummed. “I’ve got the bridge, Adam. I want you to start an investigation. Figure out who did this and get them locked up. We can’t afford another disaster, not when we’ve got so much going on right now.”
“Aye, sir. I’m on it.”
“Keep in touch with me through our private coms. Our traitor might be monitoring public conversations.”
“Okay, I’ll let you know if and when I find anything out.”
Adam left the bridge just as Tim spoke up. “I think I might’ve pinpointed where we’re at. “When I do, I’ll plot a jump course home…for whenever we get the module back up. There are at least two inhabited planets in this system as well…one a little harsher than the other but definitely capable of sustaining life.”
“Must be where our visitors are from.” Gray hummed. “What else do you have, Tim?”
“I don’t know. The fifth planet’s giving me some strange readings…maybe it was subject to some kind of environmentally devastating attack. Some parts are completely uninhabitable but others read exactly the same as the fourth planet. That shows a considerable amount of industrialization.”
“They may have terraformed it,” Olly suggested. “And aren’t done yet.”
“That’s possible too. Still, both of them have a lot of people. Can’t get much more without moving in closer.”
“Interesting,” Gray said. He joined Clea at the com terminal. He lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. “Do you have anything yet?”
“No, sir. I’m broadcasting on all frequencies. We’ll see if that works.”
“You knew about the tampering.”
“Only just. We were a little busy and it didn’t seem pertinent to the situation.” Clea looked up at him. “I am sorry. I would’ve told you when we weren’t moving at full speed.”
Gray nodded. “As far as priority reports go, sabotage should be considered top of the list. Going forward, if you hear evidence of that again, definitely tell me right away, are we clear?”
“Yes, sir. Perfectly.”
Gray patted her shoulder. “Thanks.”
Clea let out a breath as he walked away, kicking herself mentally for not informing him sooner. She felt like a right ass for being quiet but it really didn’t seem as important as getting things online. Then again, a passing comment would’ve sufficed. She shook off the self chastisement and went back to her job.
***
Raeka stared at the screen so intently his eyes burned. The waiting grated on his patience, especially considering the severity of the situation. Part of him felt as if they needed to go weapons hot and challenge the vessel. He already received reports they would not respond to their requests for communication.
Is this a derelict? A dead ship drifting through space? If so, how did it appear out of nowhere? No, some technology is at work here but what? And is it safe for us.
“Sir,” Gahlir broke his concentration, “I’ve received some readings back from the scouts. It’s quite possible that the visitor received some catastrophic damage from their arrival here. However, we have discovered additional power sources on board.”
“So they’re recovering…” Raeka rubbed his chin. “Why wouldn’t they respond to us though?”
“Perhaps their communications are not online as of yet,” Tarkin offered. “If they suffered enough damage to lose propulsion, then subsystem issues would not be unheard of.”
“If they power up and see our scouts,” Milana offered, “then they may not be particularly happy. Without a conversation, these beings may take our approach as hostile.”
Raeka considered the pilot’s thought and hummed. It was possible but surely they wouldn’t think such a thing with the mainstay of the fleet remaining behind. Still, considering the sheer size of the ship and what it represented, perhaps an aggressive approach made more sen
se. He knew his Founder counterpart believed it.
Perhaps they could disable the vessel rather than destroy it. Taking out their engines, which seemed to be situated in the aft, made sense. Then, they’d not have to worry about an attack. Communication would be on their terms and any negotiations from a position of power would come out better.
If we can damage them. The hull already is proving to be of material we’ve never seen. And what of their power sources? If they return to full functionality before we take out their maneuvering capabilities, then there’s a fair chance they’ll wipe us all out.
“Sir, the Founder fleet is moving,” Gahlir said. “They seem to be heading for the alien vessel!”
“Get Darm back on the line,” Raeka barked. “Now!”
Darm’s face appeared a moment later. “What is it?”
“What is it?” Raeka shook his head. “What are you doing?”
“We are approaching the alien vessel,” Darm replied. “Our scouts indicate that it is massing power and we need to be in position if we are going to offer up any sort of meaningful resistance.”
“You realize we have not even spoken to them yet, right? This act of conflict may not even be necessary.”
“Would you rather be in a position to destroy them should the need arise or sitting back here, well away from any sort of action?”
Raeka couldn’t argue with his logic but he still felt they would get into trouble closing in on the ship. He rubbed his eyes, thinking through a variety of scenarios, trying to decide how best to approach the Founder captain. Would he even be willing to listen to reason? Was there a point to pushing? Or should he just go along with the plan and move in with his own ships?
I could push that we remain in reserve…but he won’t go for it, will he? He’ll think we might stab him in the back. The fact he started moving was meant to force my hand. I have few options that don’t involve abandoning the field and in this circumstance, I cannot afford to do so. Command would have a fit.
“Very well,” Raeka said. “We’ll proceed with you and find a firing solution. You take the other side and we should be in a good position to hold our visitors if they decide to become hostile.”
