Revenant

by Raymond Bayly

  “Captain if you need to talk about it, I am always here,” Rom said in his best,

  I am a fucking Physiatrist voice.

  Blake just shot him a look.

  “Yeah, yeah, fuck off. I am going to sleep for a bit” Blake said slipping into a jumpsuit Davi had handed him and laying back down on the cot.

  Rom perked up and wrote something on his

  data-pad mumbling to himself,

  apparently, he found a new use for fuck.

  The rest of the day was uneventful with Blake catching up with the crew and finding out more about the Path and the Temple and the part that Xera had played up until the station.

  Blake was impressed with Kree’s neural abilities though his personality had a lot to be desired.

  Xera was pleasant,

  and Blake found he liked her company,

  she had a calming effect on the crew something that had been sorely lacking and she seemed to get along with Davi to the point where he didn’t annoy Blake much at all,

  as his attention was diverted to her.

  A huge plus in his book, all in all,

  everyone seemed to get along, for the most part. There was a moment where Rom tried to kill Kree over a card game that apparently, he cheated at. But when Blake explained that Rom should know better than to play a being with a quantum computer in his brain who could count cards in his sleep, it didn’t entirely appease him, but at least he wasn’t trying to throw Kree out an airlock.

  CHAPTER

  THIRTY-FIVE

  THIRTYFIVE

  Welcome Home

  The Specter slid back into real space a day later as predicted, the crew was in full combat gear despite Xera’s protests that it was not necessary.

  As the team looked out at what was apparently a non-natural creation,

  they stood in awe on the bridge.

  The space was a large circle enough to hold a sizable bright star and a moon like planet orbiting it.

  The planet was green and gold and apparently, according to the sensor readings habitable. The sun looked like any other sun big and bright except it had a pink hue that Sol’s did not.

  But that is where things got interesting,

  for 360 degrees they could see the lights of slip space piercing against the shield of this created reality giving it the effect that the small two planet system was actually traveling.

  It caused a bit of a vertigo effect for everyone. “Captain, this is impossible,

  I mean the power requirements alone much less the technology to maintain a reality within slip space this just can’t be done, yet I am here,”

  Kree said with reverence to the environment.

  Blake could see him shaking his head as his brain tried to wrap around the multitude of calculations required to come up with a sum number for just the power requirements of a place like this.

  “Just can’t be possible”

  he finally whispered to himself but loud enough where everyone heard.

  “Holy Shit” was all Shira could utter,

  and Rom was just staring wide-eyed.

  Blake would think people who saw a massive pink elephant in the middle of Time Square would probably have the same look on their faces, and for some reason that made him smile.

  Everyone stood silently for a moment trying to come to grips with where they were,

  the red space splashed with a multitude of green, blue and white flashes as the energy of slip space caressed the bubble they now found themselves in.

  Blake looked at the sun and knew it wasn’t actually pink but reflecting the red space it was in.

  He also knew that the sun-powered the machine which was located near the base on the small planet.

  Blake could only imagine that information was being fed to him from Morgan.

  Numbers he couldn’t comprehend flashed in his mind as he thought about Kree’s question of the power requirements.

  Blake shook it off, a scientist he was not.

  Then the com console buzzed which caused everyone to jump a little and come back to reality. Blake hit the button

  “This is Specter.” He said, a little too loudly, the damn place was unnerving him, he needed to get a grip, he thought.

  The voice was calm and female “Specter this is base, welcome home,

  we are sending you a flight path and landing coordinates.”

  Blake knew she had called it something else, but the nanites translation seemed to choose its own version of what this was called.

  It was fitting he thought and hit the com

  “Base, this is Specter, proceeding on assigned course ETA Twenty-two hours.”

  Even with a gunships engine crossing a relatively small area of space took a while.

  Blake always marveled at their ability to traverse vast distances in such relatively little time but small distances in a significant amount of time.

  That would take some getting used to.

  As the Specter flew, the crew cleaned and charged weapons, trained and chatted with nervous small talk as the minor planet and large sun grew ever closer until twenty-two hours later, they were coming in for a landing in the main dock on the small moon.

  Blake could see at least 150 ships, each the size of two football fields all lined up along the wall of the massive landing port, shaped like an arrowhead. There looked to be no engines or discernible energy weapons ports on top of the ship,

  he could see kinetic barrels and missile ports and was about to assume no energy weapons when, in his mind, Morgan showed a vision of lasers utilizing the surface of the vessel to fire from anywhere thus not needing turrets.

  They would intersect energy along the hull and fire out where needed,

  it was as if the mental picture had come from his own memory. Seeing the maneuvering jet ports which he knew where for atmospheric flight but no tell-tale large thrust pods at the rear of the ship, again Morgan pushed the term gravity drive engines that create gravity wells to propel the vessel.

  God the power plants on those ships most be enormous he thought.

  Along its surfaces, he counted

  fifty kinetic barrels,

  thirty railgun systems

  and what looked to be defensive mini-guns both above and below plus too many missile ports to count. There were no visible windows or openings except for a launch bay at the front of the craft.

  The ship was completely black with no shiny surfaces thus making it virtually invisible in the black of space to any light detection cameras or sensors.

  He whistled as he looked them over from the viewport on the Specter.

  Rom shook his head “That’s a hell of a fleet Captain” Rom whispered in reverence.

  “Shit, don’t I know it, those are amazing if we had one of those at the damn station,

  we probably wouldn’t have lost the ship.

  What kind of power do you think she puts out?” Blake asked, sounding more like a kid at space camp than a captain of a vessel.

  Rom just shook his head

  “I would not even begin to guess but judging by all those plasma ports, as well as the missile ports, I would guess a lot. That thing is loaded for war. Captain, what the hell are we getting into?”

  Rom looked at him concerned.

  “Fuck if I know Sparky, but if we don’t like what we see, Elvis will leave the building,”

  Blake said heading over to the main control station. “Shira once we touch down, prep the Specter for immediate liftoff. I want to ensure we have options, in case this goes south.”

  Blake accessed the main computer and set the lockout code, and biometric data meaning only he or Shira could unlock the ship.

  “Until we get a read on this place, no one goes anywhere alone that includes you Xera.

  I know you have this whole spiritual guru running this place but as of right now both you and Kree are crew, and we look out for our own.

  Anyone and I mean anyone sees anything weird, report back immediately.”
>
  Kree walked over and looked up at the swirling red space “You mean weirder than that right Captain?” he said pointing up at space.

  “Yeah Kree weirder than that”

  Blake said shaking his head,

  realizing his statement had been rather ludicrous.

  The Specter touched down, and the main ramp opened, the entire crew suited for battle stood waiting to see what would happen.

  At the bottom of the ramp stood a lone being, though small he seemed to stand tall holding only a staff and wearing nothing but a cloth robe.

  Blake looked at it for a minute realizing it reminded him of a white possum for some reason.

  “Um, we come in peace,” Blake said to the little meter tall creature.

  Kree hovered over in his chair.

  “He is kind short don’t you think” he whispered when Kree got next to Blake,

  who gave him a look like he had just turned purple and started sparkling.

  “Really, you’re like half his size, he is a possum, and you're more like a fat Furby,” he said to Kree.

  Kree huffed at Blake “There is no need to get personal Captain.”

  Blake shook his head

  “Sorry Kree, a bad day that’s all”

  Kree seemed to understand and backed off.

  The small creature stepped forward and smiled,

  a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth showed under his muzzle, but it didn’t seem threatening.

  Hell, it was almost endearing on the creature.

  Blake thought he must have spent a lot of time practicing how to do that.

  “Welcome friends, I am Seafu. I am glad you have made it safely here. We were very worried when we heard about the events at the space station”

  he spoke softly but loud enough for everyone to hear.

  Then Blake saw his eyes and narrowed his gaze. “You’ve been paired,” he said to the small creature accusingly.

  Seafu chuckled

  “Yes Captain, as have you I see. It is quite an experience don’t you agree?”

  Seafu said leaning on his staff. Blake had the sense if he ran down the ramp and attacked that little old man, as Blake now thought of him,

  that mild-mannered aged being would make short work of him and possibly most of the crew.

  Xera bound past him “Master, I am so glad to see you” she breathed as she threw herself into his small arms. Seafu, despite Xera being much bigger than he, caught her in a hug and embraced her tightly. “It is good to see you too my child, I trust your trip wasn’t too exciting,”

  he said with a knowing grin. Out of the corner of his eye, Blake saw Davi tense up when Xera bound past him, his hand going in his jacket.

  Blake stepped over to him and put a hand on his arm when Davi looked, Blake shook his head, and Davi removed his hand from his pistol.

  This didn’t need to devolve into something.

  If they started it, his crew would finish it,

  but if they played nice,

  so would Blake.

  Blake stepped forward and addressed Seafu “Alright, we are here. Do you want to tell us why? I mean I appreciate the whole secret base and army of ships but what’s going on and what exactly is this place?” he said looking at the cavernous bay. “This my dear captain is balance. This is where light battles darkness and good defeats evil.

  This is the nexus of where we begin to take back the universe” Seafu said expanding his arms to encompass the whole bay.

  Shira stepped close to Blake

  “So, this is the guy who writes all those fortune cookies” she said under her breath.

  Blake had to stifle a laugh but leaned over so Rom and Shira could hear him “Keep your eye on Captain Vague here, he seems sincere, but I am of the opinion that we should trust but verify. No one lays down their weapons until I say.” Rom and Shira nodded. “There is no need to whisper, Captain,” Seafu said. “I can hear everything as can you,” he said nodding to Blake,

  “I understand it sounds a little grandiose and well, forgive me but a lifetime in a temple has me speaking in a more prophetic manner than a frank one.” He gestured to the team,

  “Please come in, all will be explained, I promise.”

  Blake began moving down the ramp slowly with Rom, Shira, Kree, and Davi in tow Xera was walking ahead with Seafu as they headed to a pair of entrance doors across the bay.

  Shira and Rom looked nervous, but Blake felt strangely calm, and he didn’t know why. It was like coming home to a safe place, he was sure that feeling was coming from Morgan and being reflected to him.

  Blake would have to be extra careful, it was too easy to mistake those feelings for his own.

  Blake noticed if Seafu had heard any comment about the alertness of the group he did not mention it, nor did he ask for their weapons.

  This calm, home feeling had him on edge, and Blake didn’t like it. “Dammit Morgan, keep your feelings to yourself,” he thought and felt Morgan’s presence “I am sorry, this is my home, so I do feel safe, you should too Blake, no harm will come to you here. You have my word” she assured him.

  Blake chuckled to himself ‘we will see’ he thought. They entered the large double doors at the edge of the bay, as soon as they entered Blake had to admit he was impressed.

  He was expecting some deep, dark dungeon, but it was something straight out of 2001, white walls, everything was bright with a giant running glowing glass screen stretching along one side of the entire wall, a maroon carpet made of some fabric he could not identify contrasted the entirely white hallway.

  Rom leaned over “Holy Shit Captain, this place is amazing, look at the panel’s they are virtual interfaces to the main system”

  he pointed at one, and it seemed to expand from the wall. Kree was practically falling out of his chair trying to get a better look

  “Guys, these are true 3D panels. I mean its clarity is amazing in this light, no special lenses or projectors. How the hell did they do it?” Kree breathed in awe.

  “Alright guys let’s not fanboy out here. Yes, this place is neat but let’s deal with what’s in front of us first” Blake said nodding to the doors at the end of the hall they were heading to. As they got closer to the door, Blake could see it was made of a shiny metal like silver and that the inlay was of two beings one on each door seeming to welcome all who entered with a beckoning gesture.

  Morgan appeared to recognize the beings on the door and the word translated to ‘creator.’ Blake assumed this must be what The Ancients looked like. Tall and thin with large round heads and small bodies, their eyes were a bit large but proportionate and seemed to be solid with no pupils,

  but that just could have been the artist’s rendering.

  They looked similar to the drawings that were popular on earth except for distinct differences in the more oval shape of their head,

  instead of the narrow chin and the more massive chest and arms then what had been drawn on earth. Blake looked at this with interest.

  This must have been some kind of command room or antechamber for the rulers of this base, or commanders depending on how their hierarchy was set up. Morgan seemed to be mum at this conjecture, so he thought she had no real comment. He wondered why actually, since getting here she had done everything to make him feel at home and now, nothing. He searched for her in his head and found that he was alone, this also disturbed him since she had been his companion constantly since waking. This might be something she had to do while entering this area of the base, something in her programming perhaps.

  He would have to talk to Kree later and see if he had any ideas.

  All in all, he was a bit on edge, and it showed.

  His posture was one of rapt attention. Shira, Rom, and Davi who had been silent also had taken a cue from this and remained vigilant.

  They seemed to know now was not the time to chat, which was good they were gelling as a team and his team knew when he was on edge.

  Seafu walked towards the doors, and
as he reached them, they opened. Blake could see two younger beings in robes, they looked almost lizard-like with red fins on their heads and webbed hands that wrapped around the edge of the door and pulled it open for them.

  Blake could see their coal black eyes and knew they had not been paired yet. Also, interesting. He didn’t know how many boxes there were.

  He also didn’t know if there were some criteria for pairing? Who was in charge here?

  All questions he needed answers to.

  Blake entered the chamber which was a circular room with a ceiling that stretched far above him into what appeared to be a black dome with a star pattern on it. He surveyed the ceiling and realized he didn’t recognize the pattern of stars.

  He also noticed the small oval shaped stage in the middle of the room with seven chairs. Six were occupied by what seemed like older beings in robes, and judging by their silver eyes, they were not alone in their heads.

  “Welcome all, please come in,”

  Seafu said stepping up and taking the empty chair. “Captain you will have noticed your machine is not with you, that is because in here we only allow the beings to actually talk and judge without the pairing interfering with their decisions on matters,” Seafu said sweeping his hand over the council. “

  As you can see everyone here has been paired,

  this was the elder council of the Temple of the Path. Now they are the commanders of this base and its mission”

  Seafu laid his hand in his lap and leveled a sympathetic gaze at Blake

  “You seemed troubled young man, what is on your mind?”

  He said, looking a bit like a concerned father for his child.

  Blake stepped forward “Well little guy;

  first, I don’t know you people from shit. Second what the hell is this mission? Third, why is everyone here paired? I mean who decided this, who runs it and what the hell is the criteria?”

  Blake said a real edge to his voice coming through, he never liked authority figures, since his days in parochial school when he would get suspended for smoking in the bathroom and blowing up toilets. He was just getting that inner adolescent ‘fuck you’ vibe, and he was riding it all the way.