by Trevor Wyatt
“Uh…” Adachi said. “Watch.”
Mahesh and Vu held their gaze for a while longer before turning to look back on the screen. The Tyreesian ship had drawn the Seeker so close that there were barely yards between each other’s hulls. Then it began to pull the Seeker in the direction it had come in. They moved for a few minutes, the occupants of the Sonali vessel’s control room watching with rapt attention.
A few minutes later, they exited the field of FTL mines the Tyreesians had laid the moment they came into the system. Once they were outside the influence of the mines, both ships slipped into FTL travel.
The twinkling FTL mines soon vanished one by one until they were no longer around.
Sef let out a huge sigh of relief. He made a series of pops and clicks. After a few seconds, the computer in their EVA kicked in.
“I’m glad they didn’t attack us,” the Sonali sighed heavily.
“That’s what your glad about?” Adachi replied harshly. “We came here because of you and your ship, and because of that a crew of over three hundred people just got taken by the Tyreesians. And you say you’re glad they didn’t attack us?”
Sef was gripped by fear. He glanced at Mahesh, taking a few indiscernible steps towards him. He obviously perceived Mahesh as the leader of the group, and felt that he should be able to protect him from being lynched.
“Answer the damn question blue face,” Adachi yelled.
“That’s enough, Commander,” Mahesh said.
Adachi immediately stood down.
Mahesh then glanced at Vu, who watched all of them with great interest.
“Are we going to have a problem?” Mahesh asked.
“I’m sorry sir,” the science officer said. “I didn’t mean to question your authority.”
“So, are we going to have a problem?” Mahesh asked.
Vu shook his head.
As much as Mahesh didn’t want to be this harsh toward both Vu and Adachi, he knew he had to be strict. He had to make sure everyone knew that while the captain was away, Mahesh was in charge.
“Good,” Mahesh said. He glanced back out the view screen and availed himself to some conjectural thinking.
Where did the Tyreesians take the Seeker to? Where could they have set up shop?
Mahesh had a feeling that wherever they took the ship is the same place where the Sonali vessel was disabled. He knew he could count on the possibility of a Tyreesian base being nearby. Still, even though he suspected that, he still didn’t know what to do. How would they retrieve the Seeker? And how would they do it without causing an intergalactic scene?
“What’s our conclusion about the Sonali ship?” asked Mahesh.
“Well, since there’s no evidence to suggest otherwise, I’d say the vessel was damaged by a weapon the Tyreesians possess. I believe this weapon hasn’t been put to the test on a vessel as large as the Sonali mining vessel before. Heck, I’d wager it has never been used on any vessel aside from Tyreesian vessels before now. That’s my best guess, and I’m betting it’s an accurate one,” Vu replied.
“Okay,” Mahesh said. “Do we need to stay here?”
Silence was the only reply he got, but it was enough for him. They milled around the control room for another minute before they entered the bulkhead again and descended to the lower level. They came to where the panel was and traced their way back to the shuttle bay. The ship was still dead and eerily silent, except for the high pitched clicking of their boots.
Back within the pod, Mahesh run one hand through his hair.
“Computer, what requires more energy, Sonali or Earth atmosphere?”
“Sonali atmosphere,” replied the computer.
“Reconfigure to fill up this place with Earth’s atmosphere with an oxygen-nitrogen base then,” Mahesh said, as Vu, Sef, and Adachi entered the pod. The pod was pressurized as soon as Vu shut the door.
Grabbing one of the breathers from inside one of the storage boxes on the wall, Mahesh handed it to Sef.
“Put it on,” said Mahesh. “The atmosphere is now like the atmosphere on Earth. If you breathe it in, you’ll die of asphyxiation.”
Sef didn’t complain. He merely put the breather on, sat on one of the chairs and waited.
The three officers removed the helmet of their clunky EVA suits and took in a deep breath of the artificial atmosphere. It was cool and fresh, and soon the air was also cleared of every purplish tint.
“How much do we have before we finish up our battery?” Mahesh asked.
“About three hours or less,” Vu replied without looking away from his tablet.
“Look, we need to figure out how we’re going to get the Seeker back,” Mahesh said. “It doesn’t matter how we do it, but we have to rescue our crew and ship and get the hell out of Tyreesian space. I have a feeling they are being held in a nearby base.”
“We can draw the Tyreesians out again,” Adachi said. “We can sneak onto their ship.”
Mahesh cringed at such suggestion. This is what the recent war had done. Who did Adachi think she was? No One or some other mythical secret agent? Besides, something like that was against everything they stood for as a people and as a consortium of worlds.
But still, Dr. Mahesh knew they had to get their captain and crew back at all cost.
“What if we found a way to send the Terran Armada a message?” Vu suggested.
Mahesh thought about it. If they went ahead and did that, then the Admiralty would have a chance to try and help them. But what if he decided against helping them? What would they do then? After all, Captain Montgomery had acted against the Admiral’s orders. And even if the Admiral was willing to help, there were other problems with that solution.
“No, we can’t do that. The Tyreesians will know where we are. They will send back that ship to exterminate us or to smoke us out into their waiting arms,” Mahesh explained.
“What do you propose then?” Sef asked.
Mahesh shrugged. He looked around the pod. They were severely limited in what they could do with it. They couldn’t even fly to pursue the Seeker. The pod could barely do anything. Moreover, the energy cells in the pod were gradually running out. If they had a shuttle, they could have easily established a slipstream communication with the Terran Union.
If they had a shuttle, they could play hide and seek, broadcasting in one particular position to the Terran Armada and escaping to another area before the Tyreesian ship responded.
But they were stuck with a useless pod that was going to die out soon.
“I’m not sure,” Mahesh replied to Sef’s question, “but we have to do something.”
“Perhaps a search of the ship’s equipment and inventory can help?” Sef asked.
No one objected. They all left the pod one more time to search the ship for anything useful.
Chapter 8
All commanders under Jeryl’s command were assembled in his office. Jeryl sat in a relaxed position behind his desk, while the present officers milled around the small space. The officers who weren’t there were on their way.
Commander Ashley Gavin, Lieutenant Commander Mary Taylor, Lieutenant Pedro Ferriero, and the head of Jeryl’s personal security detail Lieutenant Kaia Maden were all there. They were waiting for the Seeker’s head of security and head of engineering, who received the information a few minutes later than the rest.
All sensitive files onboard the ship had already been dumped; they needed to prevent the Tyreesian from getting their hands on anything that could damage to the Terran Union or the Armada. They had also been broadcasting a distress signal since they were dragged into FTL speed by the Tyreesian vessel. To Lieutenant Taylor’s surprise, the Tyreesians weren’t doing anything to block the signal. It was almost as though they wanted the whole galaxy to know that they had captured the Seeker.
Jeryl already imagined Admiral Gan throwing a fit the moment he saw the distress signal. He’d probably be rooting for Jeryl’s expulsion, while the Admiralty put together a battle
plan to recover the Seeker.
Jeryl heaved in a deep breath and let it go softly. The Union was not going to let this go, neither were the member worlds of the Galactic Council. They were going to fight the Tyreesians for the Seeker. This could lead to the first ever intergalactic war.
Once again, Jeryl’s decisions would lead to death and destruction.
He still had nightmares from the Earth-Sonali war. He still saw the dreadnoughts lancing through space to perpetrate destruction. He still saw the skies filling with darkness as a swarm of orbital bombs dropped. He still remembered battles. He still saw his CNC coming apart as the Seeker was hit by missiles and torpedoes from all angles during an engagement over the Lyra Colony. And, more than all the rest, he still remembered the look in his wife’s eyes, telling him they weren’t going to make it that time. His ship was so battered that they needed a miracle for the next particle beam not to destroy them. How could he ever forget the deep and profound feeling that it was his last minute alive?
Jeryl shifted on his seat, breathing out the snag of air in his lungs; he didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath. Every time he thought back to the war, he understood why he’d done what he’d done with the Galactic Council.
He understood why he spent three years of his life trying to get nine of the galaxy’s most powerful states to agree to join a Galactic Council. He didn’t want what happened between the Terran Union and the Sonali Combine to ever happen again.
When the Tyreesians threatened the Council, they were left with no options but to destroy a Tyreesian warship in the Omarian star system. The Tyreesians never forgave…and they never forgot. What they wanted was for the galaxy to be in a state of constant tension.
And, more than that, they wanted war.
Jeryl wasn’t keen on dragging the Council into an intergalactic war. He had to beat the Tyreesians at their game. They were three steps ahead from them at the moment—they probably had the trap planned for a long time. But Jeryl intended to level up and go three steps ahead; he issued a couple of orders since they had been pulled into FTL speed.
First, he ordered all non-essential personnel to stay in the rec room, in case there was an opportunity for Jeryl and his security force to fight their way through the Tyreesians boarding party. If not, they were instructed to surrender willfully. He wouldn’t have unnecessary bloodshed among his crew.
The remaining crew were ordered to take up arms, especially those that could be concealed in their bodies and avoid even the most thorough scrutiny. Only the security personnel were allowed to hold rifles, which they would surrender willfully in the case that Jeryl decided the wisest action was to surrender.
Jeryl suspected that the latter was going to be the case. In this eventuality, their hope would lie on the away team. He just hoped that Dr. Mahesh and the others figured out a way to stay alive. He hoped he hadn’t just condemned three fine officers to a terrible death.
A lot of people saw Jeryl as a calm captain in the face of danger, but this wasn’t exactly true. He had to look calm so the people he worked with would be assured that things were still under control. But the truth remained that Jeryl still contended with doubt and fear.
The door into his office slid open and two officers entered.
“Alright, now we’re complete,” Jeryl started, “Let’s get started. In about twenty minutes or so, we’ll be arriving at our destination. The science officer has discovered a Tyreesian base ahead, which we suspect is where we’re going to be held.
“Now, let me categorically state this—I don’t want any martyrs. I don’t want any of you getting any bright ideas. The order now is for you to surrender. Go where you’re sent to. Do what you’re told to do. The Tyreesians may be counting on our stubbornness. Let’s not show them that—at least for now.”
Jeryl paused to see if his officers were following. They were.
“Our first point of call is to study their base,” he continued. “Map it, if you can. Then when you see an opportunity, take it. But be careful. You have to be sure it’s an opportunity and not another Tyreesian scheme.”
Pedro raised a hand. “How do we know it’s not a Tyreesian scheme?”
Jeryl shrugged.
“I don’t know. You’ll just have to depend on logic and your guts. For example, you can ask yourself, ‘Would I leave that gun lying within reach of the prisoner if I were the guards?’ If your answer is ‘no’ then you might not want to reach for the gun that the guard left lying in clear view. It just may be a bomb that’s tamper-proof.”
Pedro nodded. However, Jeryl saw that his answer did nothing to quell the young man’s fears.
Fear could be used in two ways, Jeryl believed: to motivate someone or to cause someone to break and do things that weren’t thought through. He was just hoping his crew would use the former.
“I think that’s pretty much it,” Jeryl said. “Return to your stations and prepare to be boarded.”
They all filed out—all, except Ashley, who stood in the middle of his office.
Jeryl stood up to meet her. He grabbed her by her waist and pulled her into an embrace. She flung her arms around his neck and they kissed.
When they broke for air, Jeryl saw the tears in her eyes. She was on the brink of crying.
“No, please, Ash, don’t,” Jeryl said, his voice beginning to break. “Please be strong for me—for us. Be strong for yourself.”
Ashley pulled away from him and turned her back to him for a while. She wiped her tears away and faced Jeryl again.
“Sorry, sir,” she said. “I—”
“Captain to the CNC,” Mary said through the comms.
“What is it, Mary?” Jeryl asked.
“We have arrived at our destination, sir,” Mary said, “and the Tyreesians have boarded.”
Jeryl and Ashley ran out of the captain’s office. As soon as Jeryl was on the CNC, he looked at the view screen to see a giant self-contained space station shaped like a ring. It had four distinct quadrants that seemed to be independent of each other and joined together by a series of short tube like passageways.
“How did they board?” Jeryl roared as he took his seat.
“Half a dozen of shuttles from the station have docked onto the Seeker, bypassing our security measures. They’ve forced their way in, Sir. We have Tyreesians in the rec room, engineering, and armory.”
Jeryl almost smiled at the ingenuity of the Tyreesians. They took away a potential army sized force in the rec room. Then, for all intents and purposes, they disabled their ability to move. Now, they were securing their weapons.
The door to CNC slid open.
Tyreesian soldiers began to pop up everywhere in the CNC, marching through the doors fast.
“Stand down!” Jeryl yelled. A Tyreesian went straight for him, putting a blade to his neck. The Tyreesians were averagely four feet tall, but what they lacked in height, they more than made up for in muscular strength.
“We are placing you, your crew and your ship under arrest for trespassing in Tyreesian space,” the one holding the blade to his neck sneered.
All around, fifteen Tyreesian soldiers toting long rifle-like laser guns occupied the CNC. Jeryl’s security force had already been disarmed. If he hadn’t ordered his crew to surrender when needed, this would have been a blood bath.
“No, we weren’t!” Jeryl boomed. “We were responding to a distress signal from a Sonali vessel. The Sonali are our allies; we’re honor and duty bound to help them. You have committed an act of war by boarding a Terran Armada ship without invitation. We demand that you cease and desist. We demand that you let us go so as not to incur the wrath of the Armada.”
The bladed man only smiled. “Wrath? We love wrath.”
He looked away and said to his comms, “We have Captain Montgomery in custody.”
He glanced to his soldiers. “Separate all the officers. Then take the remaining down to the rec room. Gather all the leaders and bring them up to the CNC. Go now!”
“What do you want to do with my officers?” Jeryl growled, anger welling up inside him.
“That is not your concern,” the Tyreesian said; after a while, he craned his neck as he listened to his comms.
“Got it,” the Tyreesian said. “Take the lower officers to the shuttle bay one. If they make a fuss, toss them out the airlock. Take the higher officers to the maximum security wing, where we have our cells. And take Captain Montgomery to interrogation. Keep his schtika wife nearby. Confirm.”
“Wait!” screamed Jeryl at the mention of his wife.
He launched for the Tyreesian, who had retreated to the door. Before he could reach him, Jeryl felt a paralyzing electricity grip him. He locked eyes with the Tyreesian, and only then did he see the electric stunner gun he held.
The last thing Jeryl felt was his inert body hitting the cold floor of his office.
Chapter 9
When Jeryl woke up, he felt as if there was a supernova inside his skull.
He collapsed to the ground, his palm sticking to the cold ground. He shut his eyes to weather the storm that surged in his body. His stomach clamored to let loose and his body threatened to explode.
Jeryl held his breath to prevent his nausea from getting the best of him. He held his arms straight up to prevent his body from collapsing to the bare ground. Though his head rolled about him like a merry-go-round, he shut his eyes and tried to focus on one thing: Ashley.
He was immediately besieged with incomprehensible dread. They had Ashley. They knew about his relationship with her, and they were going to use her against him. There were no limits for the Tyreesians.
He could easily leave a couple of officers behind, but Ashley wasn’t just an officer. She was his wife. He’d sworn an oath to her—one that he considered greater than the oath he’d sworn to the Armada.
How could he let the Tyreesians have her?
