by Dan Worth
Ramirez entered and sat at her side.
‘Most of the repair crews are back on board the Brunel now Admiral, we’re just waiting for the heavier equipment to be offloaded, then we can launch.’
There was a message coming through for Chen, it was the Darwin. Spiers’ bearded visage floated before her.
‘Mark Antony, this is the Darwin. We’re monitoring the portal. It seems that the device has re-opened the wormhole at its centre. We’re over the north-pole now and we’re monitoring the situation, the Brahe is over the south. We’re recalling the Planck from its examination of the suns.’
Chen felt a thrill of fear. ‘Darwin, has anything come out of the portal?’
‘No not yet, why?’
‘By advised Darwin, we have information that leads us believe in the possibility of hostile forces attempting to exit the portal.’
‘What is the source of this information? Why weren’t we informed?’
‘The information came from the two archaeologists who were down on the planet for the duration of the battle. We believe that they are credible.’
‘And you decided not to tell us?’
‘Captain Spiers, this information is of the utmost sensitivity. You are informed on a need to know basis.’
‘Hmph, I see.’ Spiers looked deeply uneasy. ‘We will continue to monitor the situation and report any changes. Spiers out.’
Chen turned her comms officer, Ensign Andrews.
‘Ensign, issue a recall to all ships. I am placing all vessels in the system onto a heightened state of alert. Commander, how long till we can launch?’
‘It will take at least forty-five minutes to remove the equipment.’
‘That’s far too long. Get all none-crew members off the ship immediately. Tell them to stow their equipment, we’ll return it later, this has to take precedence. What’s the status of the Leonides?’
‘She is unable to launch, Admiral. Her engines are still in the process of being replaced.’
Chen assessed the assets available to her: The remainder of the group she had commanded during the battle, plus two Marine battle groups centred around the carriers Okinawa and Cannae. She would order them to assemble around the Brunel, ready to move to either the north or south poles at a moment’s notice.
The comm. activated once more, it was Spiers again.
‘Mark Antony this is the Darwin, we’re detecting a vessel emerging from the northern pole of the planet.’
‘Show me.’
Spiers complied and relayed the images from the Darwin’s cameras to Chen. She had trouble finding the ship at first it was so tiny, then she saw it: a silver ovoid that accelerated at breakneck speed toward them. It didn’t look especially threatening, though appearances could be deceiving. Maybe this was just a scout?
The Darwin was picking up a transmission from the ship. It was being broadcast on all frequencies.
Varish powered away from the portal as fast as he was able. He had slipped past the first of the gigantic vessels now queuing on the other side of the portal, corkscrewing around their lumbering hulls and slipping through the wormhole before, hopefully, they realised who or what he was. He had to do something. He had to warn them all of the coming danger.
‘All ship, all ships! My name is Varish of the Bajenteri, the builders of this place. I am a friend of Professor Rekkid Cor of the Arkari, Doctor O’Reilly of the Commonwealth and known to the science vessel Darwin as Quickchild. You must retreat from the system immediately. I urge you to comply with this message. Enemy forces are inbound from the far side of the portal!’
He looked aftwards at the retreating portal, and saw it shimmer. They were coming.
‘Suggestions, people?’ said Chen looking about the bridge.
‘Admiral, it could be a decoy,’ said Ramirez. ‘Designed to make us retreat and prevent us from stopping an incursion.’
‘A distinct possibility, in any case I intend to stall them, whoever they may be.’
‘It claims to be a friend of those archaeologists, and I’d say that was an Esacir craft it’s using,’ said Singh.
‘Duly noted, however we cannot abandon this system. The Darwin is already in position, we should assemble in a standoff position and observe. Advise all ships of the change in plan and also advise them to plot an escape route out of the system to be used as a last resort. We will rendezvous ten AUs above the planet’s north pole in the event of overwhelming hostile force. Send a message to Fleet Command informing them of the situation. Let’s remain calm people. Perhaps we can communicate with this race.’
The crew of the Darwin looked on in awe. A ship of immense size was now slowly emerging from the portal. So massive its sides almost brushed the edges, it gradually emerged into the light. It had the appearance of a gigantic flower, advancing with its stem pointing forwards towards the Darwin. Its exterior seemed to be entirely formed from layers of great shimmering petals that pulsed softly as they sculled the ship through space. Once fully clear of the portal and the planet, it hung above Maranos’s north-pole, dwarfing the tiny human science vessel that now tentatively approached it.
The Mark Antony raced around the planet as the other vessels under Chen’s command converged on its position. As they rose over the pole they caught the first glimpse for themselves of the alien vessel that had emerged from the portal. It was as if a mountain of mother of pearl had been flung into space above Maranos to form a ship of heart stopping beauty and immense power.
The Mark Antony came to a stop a thousand kilometres away from the leviathan, her fleet falling into place around her. Checking the position of the Darwin, Chen noticed that it was barely a hundred kilometres away from the bow of the alien ship. They were trying to talk to it:
‘Unidentified vessel, this is the Commonwealth science vessel Darwin. On behalf of the Human race we send you greetings. We are unarmed and have only peaceful intentions.’
. There was no telling how an alien species might react during first contact. They could be friendly or hostile, or sometimes indifferent regardless of what you said to them. Babbling at them in a language they could not comprehend seemed pointless to Chen.
But something was happening, nonetheless.
Spiers and his crew gazed in wonder as the patterns playing across the surface of the ship that now entirely filled the view from the Darwin’s bridge. Vast shifting energies flowed towards the bow of the ship in waves of coruscating light. The instruments were detecting massive space-time fluctuations around the vessel. Was this how they communicated? Did these aliens speak to one another using the very fabric of reality, some sort of communication hitherto unknown to Commonwealth science?
A ball of luminous energies was building at the tip of the vessel’s prow. It was so beautiful, thought Spiers, so majestic, so…
There was a flash.
Chen witnessed the obliteration of the Darwin and saw her worst fears confirmed. It wasn’t that the vessel exploded, it just simply wasn’t there anymore. It had been entirely removed from the fabric of reality. There was no debris, no shockwave, nothing. This was just the beginning.
The petals of the great bloom began to pulse more violently, powering the ship forwards whilst shedding what looked like tiny specks of silver pollen. The sensors of the Mark Antony focused in for a closer look. It wasn’t pollen; it was a swarm of ships. As they gathered, they swooped about their mothership in huge schools, thousands of craft moving as one shifting mass. There were millions of them.
‘All ships, red alert!’ cried Chen. ‘Get a message to command, we need massive reinforcements as quickly as they can manage. We have to retreat. Set a course for the rendezvous point and engage the jump drives!’
Goldstein did as she was ordered, and the ship did not move. There was a shudder and the ship rocked as if in a heavy swell at sea.
Chen heard Chief Sohal’s voice over the comm. ‘Engineering here. Admiral, we are unable to engage jump engines, that thing’s projecting some sort of
field that’s preventing the warp wave from forming.’
Chen felt her stomach lurch, they were trapped like flies in a web, and the spider was coming for them.
‘Gunnery, I want full power to our weapons. Prepare to fire on any enemy target that comes within range. Commander Singh, I want as much information on our enemy as possible, whatever you can get, and broadcast it directly to Command. Andrews, inform the Brunel of the situation. Advise them to retreat from the system, and tell our forces on the ground to expect immediate enemy contact.’
‘Admiral,’ said Ramirez. ‘We need to fall back. We can’t hope to take on those things. Command is fully engaged fighting the K’Soth in Banu-Baku. We have no reinforcements within immediate striking distance.’
‘What would you have me do? We can’t jump!’
‘If we can determine the extent of the field, maybe we can escape it.’
‘It’s too late.’
The swarm of ships had divided into two, one now headed for the equator of the planet, the city of Marantis and the entrance to the underground complex that controlled the portal. The other headed for the human fleet strung out in front of them.
The Okinawa was the first to fall, another blast from that terrible weapon split the carrier clean in half with a shot, bypassing its shields altogether and simply removing the section of hull it passed through. The two halves hung uselessly in space, until a second shot detonated its reactors. The assault carrier erupted from the inside in a ball of fire.
‘Fall back!’ Chen yelled. ‘Full reverse and evasive manoeuvres! All batteries fire at will!’
‘Admiral!’ It was Singh. ‘Sensors are detecting a second ship now emerging from the southern pole with same configuration as the one in front of us!’
Chen was starting to panic. Everything was going to hell in a matter of minutes. The swarm of alien fighters was about them now; they were mobbing the Cannae as it made a suicidal run against the mothership without her orders. Sweeping aside a cloud of the tiny vessels with its charge it loosed off a blast from its plasma cannon. It barely scratched the surface of its target.
The defence grids of the Commonwealth ships were cutting down hundreds of attackers, but where one fell a thousand more took its place. It was as if they were fighting a swarm of killer bees. One of the alien vessels swooped past the Mark Antony’s bridge. Chen caught a glimpse of the tiny silvered craft. It was composed of various shard-like segments arranged in a streamlined shape with a bow that bore a striking resemblance to a human face, albeit a cruel parody of one. For that brief moment she swore saw a cruel mask of hollow eyes and a mocking leer that terrified her.
An eye searing explosion marked the Cannae’s demise. Now a cluster of fragments, its broken form lay wreathed in a shell of expelled gases. Now the Thermopylae was losing control and venting atmosphere whilst the Stillwell was being literally taken apart by the swarms. The rest of the fleet desperately began to retreat under conventional power in a futile attempt to save themselves.
Chen felt helpless, they were outgunned and outmanoeuvred on every flank and paralysed - they were sitting ducks. The deck plates below her shook as the guns of the Mark Antony fired continuously at a seemingly endless stream of attackers. A storm of laser and particle beams and explosive shells battered at the swarm, but it was a losing battle.
Then it happened. A beam flicked out from the alien mothership towards the aft section of the Mark Antony. The ship rocked violently, and began to roll, her bows rising upwards suddenly, out of control. Immediately a cacophony of sirens filled the bridge. Chen felt the bile rising in her throat in terror.
‘Damage report!’ she cried. There was no reply from Engineering. ‘Damn it someone answer me!’
‘Admiral, we have lost all contact with the aft section of the ship,’ said Ramirez, his voice full of dread.
Chen switched to the ship’s aft cameras. Pointing backwards from the mid section they showed the rear of the destroyer, terribly mauled. The shot had almost entirely cleaved the rear gun decks in two. They hung by a handful of twisted spars. The ship groaned and squealed as if in pain. Then she began to break apart.
‘This is Admiral Chen!’ she cried into the comm. ‘All hands abandon ship!’ With shaking hands she recorded a message and set it to repeat. ‘Mayday, mayday, this is the Commonwealth destroyer Mark Antony. We are going down, requesting immediate assistance. Launching lifeboats,’ she turned to her crew. ‘Everyone get to the lifeboats on the double!’
Ramirez grabbed her by the arm. ‘Admiral, come with me.’
‘I’m staying,’ she said defiantly.
‘No you’re not. You’re coming with me,’ he replied firmly.
‘I said I’m staying!’ she snarled.
‘If you stay, you’ll die. I can’t allow that,’ he grabbed her roughly and kissed her. ‘Now come with me!’
Ramirez dragged her through the corridors already filling with smoke from blown systems. The ship was dying. Chen was proud of her crew, even in this terrible hour. There was no mad panic, everyone was moving quickly but calmly towards the nearest lifeboats. Chen herded her bridge staff into one and followed them inside amid the wail of sirens. There were still four seats free. Ramirez shoved her inside and then grabbed the nearest two crew members and hauled them inside the small craft with him.
There was a scant few seconds for them all to strap themselves in before the lifeboat blasted free of the destroyer. The sudden acceleration pushed like a sudden blow into Chen’s chest. She blacked out for a second then regained consciousness. Just in time for the Mark Antony to explode.
Someone was still operating the ship’s guns. Though doomed, the Mark Antony was chewing through waves of attackers, but the destroyer’s reactors had finally given in to the inevitable. Repeated attacks upon the stricken ship had breached the containment units about the reactors that powered the warp drive. The unleashed energies ripped through the ship, entirely vaporising her aft section and catapulting the remaining forward section into an incontrollable spin. The shockwave spread, smashing open dozens of vulnerable life boats and battering the one that held Chen and her officers.
Chen began to weep silently. For her crew, for her ship, both of which she had tried so hard to protect. She heard Singh ranting in anger against the swarms of ship that surrounded them, yet who seemed disinterested in the harmless tumbling pod. They still had warships to kill.
‘You fuckers! You fucking bastards!’ he raved at the swarms. ‘We never did anything to you! Why? Why do you want to kill us!?’ he began sobbing. Goldstein cradled his head and tried to calm him.
Andrews was peering through one of the tiny rear-facing windows. She beckoned for Chen for watch. The ship was in its final death throes, the scattered sections now themselves coming apart amid chains of secondary detonations from ruptured energy lines and storage capacitors.
‘She was a good ship Admiral, you did your best.’
‘It wasn’t good enough though was it Ensign? How many of the crew are lost I wonder?’
‘I guess the Chief and his crew down in engineering never stood a chance.’
‘No… no they didn’t. I think Davis stayed aboard too.’
‘That’d be just like him, giving them hell until the end.’ Andrews smiled grimly, and fought to hold back tears of grief.
Chen decided could hardly bear this. She had to get a-hold of herself. Her crew needed her now more than ever. She got out of her seat and made towards the cramped cockpit at the front of the craft. Someone had to land this thing. Ramirez saw what she was doing and followed.
Once at the controls she could assess the situation. The battle was still very much in progress. The Commonwealth ships were being obliterated, though not without a fight. Precious few had been given time to evacuate their crews as the Mark Antony had; they had been lucky. She also noted with satisfaction that the Brunel, far from the battle, had managed to remain untouched so far. With some relief, she saw the massive vessel jump out
of the system back towards Commonwealth space with its precious cargo of ships. She prayed for reinforcements.
They needed to find a landing site, somewhere far away from Marantis where they could set down safely and disappear. The northern temperate zone seemed a good bet. Chen grabbed the controls, steadied the craft, and began to lay in a landing pattern.
Ramirez was studying the craft’s sensors, such as they were. He was analysing the progress of the battle.
‘Looks like they’re trying to establish a beach head in the system. My guess is that they’re trying to secure the portal so that they can bring more ships through. They’ve already seized control of the city of Marantis.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘They’ve landed over a million troops there already, at a guess I’d say our forces there have been neutralised, I can’t raise any of them on the comm. But I picked up signatures of heavy weapons fire before we moved out of range. The curvature of the planet’s between us and the city now, I can’t tell what’s going on.’
‘Shit, who the hell are they?’ said Chen.
‘Who knows? But remember what Cor and O’Reilly said: that the entity inside the portal might have something to do with it?’
‘We can’t possibly fight those things. Jesus, the whole damn Navy couldn’t take one of those ships on. They just tore up our ships like they were made of paper! I just hope Command got our message. They have to know of the danger! If those things break out of this system…’
Varish watched the carnage in horror from a point a million kilometres above the north-pole of Maranos. Why had they ignored him, why wouldn’t they listen to him? He watched the Commonwealth fleet being swept aside in a matter of minutes, saw the swarms of craft descend upon the planet. It seemed hopeless. Soon those things, those perverted shadows of Arkari would move beyond this system and smash the Commonwealth, and the other races too. He had to do something, he had to stop them. He had to seize the portal himself, somehow stop Maran and shut it down for good. The time he had spent trapped on the other side of the portal had given him time to think. He had the makings of plan, and that was a start.
