The Ocoda Chronicles Book 4 Present Future Past

by Daniel OConnell

  White not trusting Uari replies, asking, “Uari, a few hours ago you helped capture us, why on Earth should I trust you?”

  Uari lowers his head responding, “Commander, I don’t expect you to believe me, but I have no desire to help Noskcaj, I never did. Somehow, Noskcaj gained control of me and all the people here, he somehow influenced our decisions, made us his unwilling puppets. I don’t know how to explain it, but my mind is free now, and I don’t want to be his slave again.”

  Paladin comes over the stations com in the docking bay systems, “Commander White, Noskcaj used the mind shielding devices to allow himself total control over the population on the station. We have since disabled Noskcaj mind control devices. However, in time, he will regain control of these people, if we do not get them away from here.”

  White, still untrusting of Uari, stares intently at Uari. He looks out at the crowds charging the docks, asking, “Where’s Caleb, Paladin?”

  Paladin replies, “Caleb and Michael Rooke are moments away Commander.”

  White sighs and asks, “Rooke too? Are all these people now our friends?

  Paladin answers, “Commander, not all were puppets of Noskcaj. Noskcaj has many extremist followers that didn’t need to be controlled. I have a list of most of these followers. Rooke and Uari are not amongst them.”

  Rooke and Caleb arrive at the docking bay, as hundreds more continue to charge through the entrance to the bay, all desperate to escape.

  Caleb yells to Rooke, “Rooke, go to that ship!” Caleb points to the ship now known as Celesta. Rooke shakes his head, acknowledging his orders, and with the power of X’ena energy coursing through his body, he easily jumps over the crowd, landing onto the upper deck. Once there, he enters the ship, making his way to the bridge.

  Caleb quickly sees White and Uari standing on the gangway at the aft boarding way. He yells over the crowd, “Reggie! Get everyone on board now!”

  Caleb pauses, as he looks out over the freighted masses. Reluctantly, he states, “Reggie, as soon as I touch the ship, Noskcaj will have regained full control of the station.”

  White, aware of what lies outside the station asks, “Cale, just how the hell are we going to get through the nebula?”

  Paladin announces, “Both ships have been updated with all the very latest technology of this era, including the most sophisticated phase shift engines ever designed. We will be able to shift directly from the bay and out into deep space.”

  Uari, hoping to gain Commander Whites trust states, “Commander, I know how to navigate the ships shift drive. I can guide us past the nebula.”

  White, still uncomfortable with Uari sighs, and says, “Get your ass to the helm mister Uari, and plot us a course out of here.”

  Caleb waits at the edge of the ship, trying to allow as many people to board as he can. Paladin telepathically tells Cale, “Cale, we are running out of room on both ships, and you have reached your limit of control. If you don’t release it now you will damage yourself.”

  Caleb is heartbroken, as he looks out over the hundreds still trying to get on board both ships. He grimaces, as he knows he cannot save them all.

  Caleb leaps upward landing on the outer deck of his ship. In that moment, Paladin is instantaneously transferred back into the mighty vessel, as Caleb is restored to his ship. However, a fortunate side effect occurs. Massive amounts of X’ena energy are instantly released back into Skulls systems, so much energy that it causes a backlash overloading most of Skulls primary systems.

  An immense holoimage appears of Noskcaj in the docking bay. It stares ominously down at the crowd. Caleb quickly enters the overcrowded ship, and pushes his way through the corridors to the bridge.

  On the Celesta, Benton see’s the image of Noskcaj, just as Rooke makes his way onto the bridge.

  Benton focused on Noskcaj image turns all the heavy cannons towards that image and begins to power them.

  Celesta alerts Benton, “Gabe, we are only at twenty-eight percent power, and that is only a holoimage. You would not do any damage to him, and besides Sunshine, we’re going to need all our power just to escape.”

  Cooley, having heard the nickname now used twice asks in curious fashion, “Sunshine?”

  Gabe annoyed responds, “Drop it Beauty Queen, I ain’t got the time to explain it.”

  Rooke finally works his way to the helm, saying, “Colonel Benton, our only chance to escape and get passed the nebula is to shift directly out of the docking bay. If you will allow me, I can guide us out of here.”

  Benton untrusting of Rooke replies, “Just know if you cross us again kid, I’ll personally space your punk ass.”

  Paladin, however, has already taken their escape needs into his plans. He sends the coordinates for the Celesta to shift too. Uari also locks in those exact same coordinates into Paladins navigation.

  Rooke sees the coordinates appear on the helm navigation charts and locks them into the helm flight control, and begins to powers up the phase shift drive, as both ships begin to ready their escape.

  Caleb looks out at the masses in despair, as hundreds are denied freedom. The doors seal as both ship’s shields power up surrounding their vessels, as they prepare their escape.

  After the briefest of moments, both ships activate their shift drives, escaping the station in a blinding flash of light.

  Paladin reappears first, some seven hundred and eighty light years away from Skull. However, Paladin and Caleb both notice almost immediately that they are alone.

  Caleb shocked yells, asking, “Paladin, where’s the other ship?”

  Paladin is able to analyze hundreds of terabytes of information in a split second and reports, “Cale, it would appear that the other ship may not have had sufficient power to shift. I am now calculating their possible location.”

  White angered that Cooley is on the other ship says aloud, “Damn it! I knew I should have taken command of that ship.”

  Paladin responds, “Commander White, although the A.I. I installed on the other vessel can work with any Captain, it was designed to interact best with Colonel Benton.”

  Uari looks over the helm and guidance systems, reporting, “We are cloaked, as they will most likely be. Finding them on long-range sensors may take considerable time.”

  White annoyed and angry with himself says, “They know where to meet us, so we’ll wait till they come to us.”

  White asks, “Paladin, how long till they can reach us?”

  Paladin responds, “Commander, the other ship was being charged by Skull. Noskcaj must have restricted the power flow. Normally it takes eight hours to fully charge a shift drive. However, the other ship may take longer.

  Caleb lowers his head and walks away, as Paladin tells Caleb telepathically, “Cale, I was able to gain an incredible amount of data on Noskcaj creation Skull. This superstation is capable of phase shifting virtually anywhere he wants. Even across several galaxies. If he is ever able to detect us, there is no place we could hide.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  LEGACY

  Back on Celesta, on a very crowded Bridge, Rooke completes his scans of the quadrant, reporting to Colonel Benton, he states, “Sir, we are not at the coordinates given to us by Paladin.”

  Benton concerned asks, “Celesta, what gives?”

  Celesta responds, “Sorry Sunshine, but we didn’t have enough power to make the complete shift. We barely have enough power to maintain our cloak and life support, and we currently have less than six percent power in our emergency reserves left. It will take the better part of a day till we reach full power.”

  Cooley begins to activate the communication system when Celesta shuts it down, stating, “Sorry sweetie, but I can’t let you do that. We are dangerously close to Noskcaj sphere of influence and he would most certainly detect any form of long-range communication.”

  Rooke, still possessing the energy of X’ena asks, “Celesta can you somehow use the X’ena energy Caleb bestowed me?”

  Benton surp
rised at Rooke’s revelation about having X’ena energy asks, “What the hell are you talking about, energy?”

  Cooley notices Rooke’s blue glowing eyes suddenly steps back as she once again gets a sensation of Deja’ vu. Her mind is flooded with hundreds, if not thousands of possibilities, all showing Rooke risking his life to save theirs. The effect as usual overwhelms her, and she falls back into her seat.

  Benton noticing Cooley reaction sighs aloud, “Really Beauty Queen, gotta have a vision when I’m in the middle of trying to figure everything out.”

  Rooke races to Cooley side, as he answers Benton’s question, “Colonel, sir, my suit’s power was completely controlled by Noskcaj, and once Caleb took over Skull. Well sir, all power to my suit’s systems and other devices was severed. I lost my super speed and enhanced strength, as well as the ability to phase shift with the suit. Thankfully, Caleb empowered me with his X’ena energy, if he hadn’t I would never have made it to the ship.”

  Celesta reports, “Sunshine, don’t get your undies all tied up in a bunch the energy that Caleb endowed young Michael with is quickly leaving his body. He will be completely human within the hour. Sorry, Michael, I thank you for your offer, but, even if we could somehow transfer your energy, it would not be enough.

  Benton curious, asks, “Don’t we have any of those funky looking shift things onboard?

  Celesta responds, “Yes Sunshine, they are called phase shift cloaks. However, they are limited in range, and they would never be able to reach Paladin.

  Benton sits back in his seat and grumbling. Frustrated about the entire situation, he lets out a heavy sigh, but much to his further dismay Celesta speaks, “Sunshine, don’t slouch in the Captain’s chair, and don’t get me started on your mumbling again.”

  Benton now in complete disbelief asks, “This is just too crazy, how in the world did Paladin get so much information to make you act just like my sister?”

  Celesta replies, “Sunshine, you have over a thousand holorecording saved of me. Some are hours long, and you uploaded thousands more to your personnel files. Paladin was easily able to gather enough data from them to create me, as this vessels A.I. personality.”

  As Celesta and Benton speak, Rooke asks Cooley, “Ma’am, are you ok?”

  Cooley light-headed looks up at Rooke and says, “Sorry luv, just an after effect of traveling through time, I’ll be fine.”

  Benton, too annoyed to deal with Celesta, redirects his attention to the overcrowded bridge, ordering Michael Rooke, “Rooke, get these people off my bridge. Get everyone a detail and start assigning crew’s quarters. Let’s get ourselves organized.”

  Celesta comments, “Gabe, we have over thirty-eight hundred personnel on board. Regrettably, we do not have enough supplies, let alone space to accommodate everyone.”

  Cooley quickly scans the sector, detecting several habitable planets with possible resources. She turns to Benton, saying, “Gabe, I have a few planets we should be able to land on, and stock our ship's stores with.”

  Rooke looks over the scans, stating, “Lieutenant Cooley, I’m afraid these planets are traps set up by Noskcaj. If we attempt to land on any of them, we would most certainly be detected.”

  Celesta reports, “My last scans of Noskcaj were incomplete, however, most of his systems were heavily corrupted by Paladin before we left. From my best calculation, we should be able to reach the nearest planet, and gather enough supplies to fill the ship's stores, long before Noskcaj can detect us.”

  Benton sits in the chair, looking out at the overcrowded bridge. He takes a deep breath, asking, “Celesta, I’m guessing you gain power in the same manner as Paladin?”

  Celesta responds, “Yes Sunshine, the more we move the faster and more power I will gain. Unfortunately, we will not be able to go into hyperspace for some time. Thankfully, we are only a few hours away from the closest planet.”

  Rooke reviews the navigations charts, stating, “Colonel, sir, we can reach that planet in just under two hours.” Rooke indicates the planet he has chosen on the holoscreen.

  Benton looks over to Cooley, asking, “Any of that fortune cookie stuff telling us to stay away Rachel?”

  Cooley annoyed answers, “No Gabe, it doesn’t work like that.”

  Benton stands, saying, “Oh the hell with it! Michael, take us there.”

  Celesta scolds Benton, “Gabriel Calvin Benton, don’t you start cussing on my ship! You’re not that big that I won’t wash your mouth out with soap.”

  Cooley, smiling from ear to ear chuckles, as she sees the frustration on Benton’s face.

  Back on Paladin, Paladin announces, “I have determined the most likely location where the other ship may have exited null space, and I have entered the coordinates into the helm.”

  White sighs, saying aloud, “We will hold position for the next twenty-four hours. If we don’t have contact by then, we will start to search.”

  Caleb looking over the crowded bridge turns to White, saying, “Reggie, we need to get these people off the bridge. See what you and Uari can get organized. May be some of these people can possibly help with ship's systems.”

  White confused at Caleb’s orders asks, “What are you going to do Cale?”

  Caleb responds, “I have to go see the Professor down in engineering. Hopefully, we can figure out how to get out of this mess.”

  White more annoyed, asks, “Cale, do you think we might be able to send any kind of signal to Gabe, which Noskcaj won’t detect?”

  Caleb smiles, as he begins to squeeze through the crowded bridge, saying, “Reggie, Noskcaj would easily detect any long-range communications from us. You were right with your first decision Reg. Its best we wait here until they show up. Until then, see what you can do with all these people.”

  Caleb leaves the bridge by way of the lift, heading down to engineering.

  White sighs, as he looks over at Uari. Reluctantly, he asks, “Do you know any of these people? Can we trust them?”

  Uari surprised, replies, “Commander, I know some of these people, but I can’t vouch if they are a threat or not. For years, most of us have been under the control of Noskcaj devices. I can only speak for myself and assure you I am not a threat.”

  A young woman hearing the two speak says, “I’m sorry if we are a burden to you, we only wanted to be free. Noskcaj seemed like a way to freedom from the Demon Queen, but he is just as evil as the Demon Queen is. Most of us are just trying to survive.”

  Another man beside her speaks up, “I was trained on gunnery stations sir. I’ll help you as long as you promise not to kill us.”

  White alarmed by what he hears says, “Whoa, no one is getting killed here. Let’s all take a step back and figure out what's going on.”

  Paladin says, “Commander White, Noskcaj used the psionic shielding technology to access their minds much like the way Carla could, these people had no real free will. Fortunately, before we left, Caleb created a power surge, which should have permanently disabled the main control center. The surge also caused a feedback, burning out every individual psionic shield. It should take him a few months to rebuild.”

  White, relaxed a bit asks, “So Noskcaj won’t have a willing crew to help him.”

  Uari lowers his head, stating, “Noskcaj still has many radical followers. He will force all those that don’t follow him to accept the new devices.”

  Paladin responds, “I disabled multiple systems within Skull. Even with all his Noskcaj vaunted intelligence and ability, it will take considerable time to re-establish his control over the remaining humans.”

  White shakes his head, saying, “Ok, let’s start getting everyone a place to be.”

  Down in engineering, Onatof is dealing with a very overcrowded engine room. He yells at the refugees, “Be careful! That is dangerous!”

  Caleb smiles, as he enters, saying, “Don’t worry Doc, Paladin is as good as new. Hell, he is even better than new. He won’t let anyone get hurt.”

  Onatof com
pletely annoyed lectures Caleb, “Cale my son. I’m finally understanding everything with this wonderful gift you gave me, and now I can’t do anything with it. You have stuffed hundreds of people in my way.”

  Caleb unconcerned about Onatof’s rant recalls Noskcaj using the term gift. He lowers his head as he contemplates what he is doing. He reluctantly places his hand on the Professors brow, and once again downloads a short burst of information. Caleb reduced the bursts, so it won’t overwhelm the elderly Professor. He says, “Doc, I downloaded a lot of information about null space, time travel, and gateway technology. I don’t really know exactly how it all works, but I figured you’d understand it better than I can. All I know is that we need to find another T-Challa gateway. Activate it, and repeat what we did to get here, just in reverse, if we succeed doing that. We could go back to our own time. However, if we make a mistake, we could reappear millions of years before we left.”

  Onatof's mind is quickly assimilating the data as Caleb speaks to him, after a few minutes Onatof says, “Paladin can do the calculations far better than I. Nonetheless, there is a very large margin for error Cale. Even with Paladin’s amazing ability to calculate the probabilities the risk is very real we could easily reappear back to the very beginning of time itself.”

  Caleb sighs, saying, “Doc, I have the information on where the last T-Challa gateway is. I just have to figure out how to access its programing and somehow activate it.”

  Onatof overloaded with Caleb’s download realizes something about the T-Challa and asks, “Cale, are there even any T-Challa still alive?”

  Caleb looks out over the crowded engine room and exhales, as he replies, “I don’t know Doc, according to Carla’s symbiot all the T-Challa are dead, and since she killed the Queen it is highly unlikely that any could be alive.” Caleb pauses as he thinks for a moment. He states, “I think we will need to travel to their home world. May be if we’re lucky, we may find the information we need.”

  Onatof alarmed at the thought of going to their old adversary’s home world says aloud, “Cale my son, even if they’re all dead that sounds incredibly dangerous.”