Several of the crowd around the two, as one speaks up. He is a very young man who states, “Master Caleb, I apologize for overhearing your conversation, but I was once stationed as a sensor officer onboard one of the Demon Queen’s ships. There are still remnants of the T-Challa still around. Perhaps not, what you may recall however. They have remained alive by use of their cloning procedures.”
Caleb curious, asks, “So they have cloned another Queen?”
“The young man responds, “No master Caleb their world has been overrun by the Halimag. Their final place of retreat is some base. It used to be some giant ship that crashed, and they converted it into a base. It uses the planet's core to power an impenetrable shield protecting them from the Halimag.
Paladin states, “Cale, I have just accessed Noskcaj latest records on the T-Challa. It appears that the T-Challa attempted to clone a Queen shortly after the original had been killed, approximately three thousand years ago. Carla dispatched thousands of ships to the T-Challa world, destroying almost the entire race, including the new Queen. The T-Challa have never tried to recreate another since.”
Onatof comments, “It would appear that they fear your daughter’s power.”
The young man states, “Well sir, this may sound odd, but the T-Challa if you can still call them that. Well sir, we could have easily destroyed them, the Demon Queen’s fleet had sufficient power to destroy the entire planet. However, the Demon Queen prevented us from doing so. I personally felt it would be merciful to have just finished them, as they have been cloning themselves for thousands of years, the cellular degradation would be so severe that they would hardly be called T-Challa anymore. It is like the Demon Queen enjoys their suffering.”
Onatof confused asks, “What kind of creature would enjoy watching another suffer like that?”
Paladin telepathically says to Caleb, “Cale this seems very much like the way the T-Challa Queen use to act.”
Caleb responds in kind, asking, “Pal, something is very wrong here, I need you to do what you can to look through all the X’ena records. I need you to find out what could have happened to Carla.”
Paladin responds, “I will do what I can Cale. However, even with all my ability to analyze data as rapidly as I can, this will take me several days.”
Back on Celesta, the ship enters geosynchronous orbit around the planet. After lengthy scans, Celesta cautiously descends cloaked, and well within the upper atmosphere, just a mile from a large concentration of water and vegetation.
Onboard, Rooke announces, “Colonel, it would appear Celesta is correct. I’m detecting very little activity in this sector. We should be able to land and send out as many people as we can, to gather up as much as we need.”
Benton takes a deep breath, as he thinks over the situation. He looks over the holomap and asks, “Rooke, let’s say we land on the planet’s surface, what if any type of response could we expect out of Noskcaj, should he attack?”
Rooke reflects for a moment, replying, “Noskcaj has no warships at his disposal except for small shuttlecrafts. Every ship he has ever encountered, he simply tears down and absorbs into his space station Skull. If he were to attack, he would most likely shift in one of his extremist squadrons. They are loyal only to him. However, considering the damage inflicted by Caleb it is highly unlikely that he will be able to support any action like that this soon.”
Benton still curious, asks, “He has how many planets set up like this?”
Rooke responds, “He has hundreds of planets throughout the sector set up just like this world. Their objective is to entice and trap potential slaves for his space station.”
Benton sighs heavily. He looks out at the planet’s surface, saying, “Celesta, give me ship wide com.”
Celesta responds, “Ok Sunshine, com is up.”
Gabriel stands, leaning over the railing in front of his command seat. He looks out over the bridge, and his makeshift staff. He finally speaks, “Attention please! My name is Colonel Gabriel Benton, and I am the leader of this vessel. I know most of you are afraid, or at the least concerned about what is going on, well, I’d love to tell you everything is wonderful, but it ain’t, so let me give everyone the picture. We are obviously overloaded on this ship, we have very little in the ways of supplies, we are also dangerously close to Noskcaj domain, and we could easily risk being caught. Oh, yeah, forgot, we are also unable to make contact with Paladin. Now with all that said, I need everyone on board to make a choice right now.” Benton pauses to catch his breath. “You can stay on this planet, where you will most certainly be caught, and once again be put back into slavery aboard Noskcaj’s creepy station, or you can work together with us, and help us all get out of here.” Benton pauses again, as he lets the first part of his message sink into the survivors.
After a few minutes Benton continues, “If you want to be part of this crew you’re going to need to act the part, so, I need everyone onboard to gather all the foodstuff they can carry, and load this ship with as much as it will hold. We have fourteen hours before we take off.”
Benton signals Cooley to cut the com. He then turns to Rooke, saying, “Take us down Mister Rooke.”
Celesta descends to the planet’s surface landing just south of a large lake.
Celesta opens all the ship's gangways, as hundreds of people rush off the ship. Most quickly begin to gather as much food stock as they can, while others simply walk around confused.
The greatest commodity in the universe is power. Noskcaj set hundreds of planets as traps to capture and enslave people, the more slaves the more power. These planets are heavily saturated with human nutrients, which are easily detectable by humans. The survivors gather all they can carry as load after load is collected and stuffed into the overcrowded ship.
On the bridge, Benton says to Rachel, “Hey Beauty Queen, if you get one of those psychic feelings don’t keep it to yourself.”
Cooley still annoyed at Benton’s constant nicknames replies in kind, “Don’t worry Sunshine, I do have the sensors to rely on too.” Cooley makes a smirking facial expression as she turns back to the scanners.
Benton annoyed frowns. He replies, “Ok Lieutenant, I’ll lay off the Beauty Queen remarks, you lay off my Sunshine nickname.”
Cooley grins with a devilish smile. She quickly refocuses all her attention back to the scanners
For several hours, the makeshift crew loads Celesta to the brim, with as much food stores as the ship can hold.
Rooke maintains a watchful eye over the crew, as he feels the last of his X’ena energy begin to fade, and he is once again human.
Rooke pauses, as he takes in a deep breath, feeling very empty inside. He shakes off this feeling and focuses his attention back on the survivors. He uses Celesta, to scan every survivor, as Rooke’s goal is to record who he or she is, and to see if any may be a member of Noskcaj extremist.
The Celesta is an exact duplicate of Paladin in virtually every aspect. It is able to maintain a maximum crew of close to two thousand, this, however, is almost doubled.
Celesta has only one major difference. It doesn’t possess the same power core as Paladin. Paladin’s core is unique as it is shared with Caleb’s X’ena half and this bond gives Paladin much more power and speed. Celesta, nevertheless, is still one of the most powerful ships of this era, with hundreds of virtual updates from this future time. Most of which were created by Noskcaj himself. One of great significance is the ships automated systems, as it allows the great vessel to be operated by a single person. The ship also possesses the same and very unique psychic deflector system as Paladin”
Benton walks all around the outside of the ship, as he studies all the unique and new features, as he tries to get familiar with all the major upgrades. He is astonished at what he sees. Celesta continues to guide him all about this new ship, as the two begin to bond. Rooke, noticing Benton looking at one of the ships access ports, says to him, “Colonel, sir that is atmospheric doorway. It creates an instant
airlock to allow for immediate access on or off the ship, it will link up with virtually any style vessel.”
Benton unconcerned looks up at Rooke. He smiles sarcastically, saying, “Ya, I kinda of figured it was something like that.”
Celesta interrupts, saying, “Sunshine, I suggest you start prepping the crew for launch. I’m detecting a distant energy reading, it could be a ship.”
Rooke, hearing Celesta statement adds, “It is doubtful it would be Noskcaj, as Noskcaj possess no ships. It is more likely to be one of the Demon Queen’s ships.”
Benton sighs, figuring their luck as of late, he says “Carla herself more than likely.”
Both men enter the ship, as Celesta sends out an alarm, alerting all to return to the ship at once.
Rooke and Benton make their way to the bridge, as Cooley tries to get more detail on the distant objects. She turns to both, stating, “Whatever this thing is, it’s moving very fast, and it’s heading right where we’re supposed to be.”
Benton, concerned about his presumption asks, “Celesta, how long till we can phase shift to Paladin’s location.”
Celesta responds, “We already have hyperdrive operational. We will have our shift drive at eighty per cent within the hour and will be able to phase shift to them at that time. Unfortunately, we will not be able to shift that distant again for an additional eight hours.”
Rooke studies the approaching energy signature, saying, “There is only one thing I know of that can travel that fast, and that is the Demon Queens ship.”
Cooley worried says aloud, “I hope Paladin has detected it.”
Back on Paladin, White yells out, “Uari! Get me a lock on that ship. Try and get me everything you can on it now!”
Caleb enters the bridge. He looks over the data quickly and lets out a heavy sigh, stating, “Reggie, it’s Carla. We have at least a day till she’s here.”
White concerned at Caleb’s assumption asks, “How can you be so certain?”
Caleb shakes his head, as he looks out at the sensors responding, “I know it’s her, she can sense the void in the psychic plane caused by our shields.”
White annoyed moans, “Great! Any chance we can possibly outrun her?”
Paladin responds, “Possible, yes, but highly unlikely. The ship Benton is currently in command of isn’t fast enough to keep ahead of her.”
White feeling lost asks, “Any ideas Cale?”
Caleb smiles with an ever so slight grin, saying, “When Paladin rebuilt this ship and created its duplicate he installed both ships with every advancement known to this timeline, including a weapon specifically designed and built for one purpose by Noskcaj. He called it a psionic super bomb, and it’s supposed to kill Carla.”
Paladin adds, “The device is extremely dangerous to any within the psychic realm. Should we be lucky enough to trap her in the plane when it is detonated we could possibly kill her. Unfortunately, this is highly unlikely. In order to kill her we would need some way to trap her in the plane. However, the bomb does have a beneficial side effect. It will also make it so Carla will be limited in the use of her powers within this area of space for many months, and it will give us the opportunity we need to escape, and hopefully succeed in finding our way back to our time.”
White trying to understand asks, “Can’t we just blow it now? We could use the side effect and just sneak away?”
Caleb exhales as he replies, “It limits her ability significantly, it doesn’t stop her completely. If we don’t disable her engines she could still find us.”
Uari confused asks, “Caleb, sir, I know that Noskcaj just created this device not long ago. How were you able to learn specifically about it? Especially with so much new technology now part of this ship?”
Caleb smiles replying, “Well, I may not be very good with all the scientific tech stuff that’s on this ship, but when it comes battle tactics, and weapons. Well, let’s just say, I’m very aware and comfortable.”
White looks over the tactical scanners and states, “Cale this ship of hers is so freaking fast. If we stay here, she’ll be in weapons range in under a day. If Paladin’s calculations are correct, Benton should be here in just a few hours. We could try and take off. Try and evade her.”
Paladin reports, “They will have exhausted their shift drive reaching us. It will take them at least eight hours to recharge. Nevertheless, even with that advantage of the shift drive and hyperdrive, Benton's ship is still not as fast as ours.”
White confused asks, “I know you have said this before, but I thought the second ship was an exact duplicate of this ship?”
Paladin responds, “This ship has the bonus of being powered directly by Caleb and myself. This energy cannot be duplicated through any known technology. It can only be duplicated through birth.”
Caleb, who is still staring intently at the approaching ship, finally speaks, “When Gabe arrives we’ll have to discuss our options.” Caleb turns away and moves to the lift, but opts to hover upward to his quarters rather than use the lift.
Uari turns to White and cautiously asks, “Commander, I know it’s not my place to speak, but I have studied every fascist of Caleb and his powers when I was with Noskcaj. However, we never studied the man himself. Does he always keep distant like this?”
White turns to Uari and replies, “Well, Cale has never been much of a social butterfly, but when it comes right down to it there is no one I’d want on my side in a fight more than him. Cale just doesn’t know the meaning of the word failure.”
Uari lowers his head and says, “I am sorry Commander for what transpired when we first met, my thoughts were not my own. I appreciate the opportunity to work with you, and someday earn your trust.”
Reggie grins, saying, “Honor is trait not often found in men, but when it is.” White pauses as he smiles finishing his statement, “Well mister Uari, when it is found, honor can change everything.”
Uari recalling that statement states, “I’ve heard you say that before.”
White smirks, saying, “I live by it Uari.”
Caleb arrives in his ready room. He takes a meditative stance in the center of his room. Floating peacefully, he stares out into the darkness of space. His thoughts turn inward as he focuses once more on past memories. He focuses deeper on his past, as he once again creates the image of his one true love, his wife, his Asawa, Emily. Caleb smiles, as he relives his past memories. These moments are very rare to him, as he rarely has the time to enjoy them. Regrettably, this time too is cut short. Caleb is startled by a very unwelcomed intruder.
The image of Emily is ripped apart, as Caleb is caught off guard. A voice appears from the darkness of his mind, speaking, “So you are the child’s father, interesting that a man such as you creates such tranquil places like this.”
Caleb stands stout, as an image of his daughter materializes out of the darkness and appears before him. He telepathically asks Paladin, “Pal what is this?”
Paladin replies, “Cale, she has somehow manifested a psychic image into your memory recall. Fortunately, it possesses no potential threat to us, or the crew. It appears that she can only communicate through the shield, her psionic powers are unable to do any damage to us.”
Caleb curiously asks, “You speak of Carla in the third person, why?”
The image sneers, as she replies, “Then you have not figured out everything yet.” The image pauses for a moment, smiling. Once again speaking, “I may not be able to pierce your shields as of yet. Nevertheless, I will soon be upon your vessel, I will destroy your shields, and you will feel the onslaught of my power. She pauses, after a moment, and with a chuckle, saying, “Father.”
The image disappears, as Caleb scowls in frustration yelling aloud, “Paladin, tell me what you know about all the events that happened with the battle between my daughter and the T-Challa Queen!”
Paladin reviews the all data, which it has assembled through its contact with Noskcaj historical archives. Paladin states, “Caleb
, there is not much I can tell you that you are not aware of. Carla led just a few ships directly against the T-Challa Queen. She met with very little, to virtually no resistance, when she finally confronted the Queen, she slew her with extreme ease, shortly thereafter your daughter began showing signs of mental instability. She would later on become psychotic, using her power to create an army to serve her. Finally, she used her power to manipulate almost all of humanity to do her bidding, as she became the undisputed leader of the human race.”
Caleb pauses, as he recollects a story about the T-Challa being peaceful creatures before the Queen became violent and ruthless. Curious about the similarities, he asks, “Paladin, the T-Challa were not always ruthless. Something similar happened to them. What could have made that occur? What events if any can you cross reference with X’ena history that could show a similar event?”
Paladin is able to search trillions of data files in mere seconds, and in a moment responds, “Cale, I don’t know how we never came across this before. I have discovered something that would seem to connect the events. The X’ena were working on inter dimensional travel while creating gateways. One unfortunate dimension they discovered possessed a race of extremely powerful psychic creatures. These inter dimensional beings feed off pain and despair. The X’ena, discovering the vile nature of these creatures quickly sealed off the dimension. Cale, it is possible that one of these creatures may have escaped that dimension before the X’ena sealed it off.”
Caleb angered asks, “What was this species called?”
Paladin responds, “They were called the Meli. Caleb they killed hundreds of X’ena before they successfully sealed the dimension. These Meli cannot be killed by any means we know of. If one successfully escaped, it would explain everything, the change in the T-Challa Queen, the deep hatred of the X’ena, and the change in your daughter.”
Caleb grinds his teeth in anger as he feels the frustration of his situation. He says, “This future must never come to pass. Paladin do whatever you have to, but figure us a way back to our time.”
The Ocoda Chronicles Book 4 Present Future Past Page 8
