The largest city was located just south of the equator, directly in the center of the largest land mass. If the computers were correct, that was where they would find the Queen, hopefully near the surface. For them, it seemed a very big if.
Matt was racked with worry, hoping against hope that the Skawp’s computers told the truth about their history. According to the Skawp’s files their technology had changed little in the last one hundred thousand years. If that was true, there could be thousands of ships moving through the solar system and a great many of them identical to the one they were flying.
Matt hoped this was the case; he worried that their trip through time had somehow affected the entire universe…even the Skawp’s own history. He had nightmares of the enemy ready and waiting, with a strong planetary defense. Who really knew about time? What it was, how it worked?
As they approached the very outskirts of the Skawp system, everyone became resigned to the inevitable. They were going to do their very best to kill the Queen and would most likely die in the attempt, but no one spoke about their chances of success. Their everyday lives went on much as they had for the past three years. There were constant system checks and either Matt or Murphy confirmed their course against the Skawp’s database every hour on the hour. If the ship’s computers were correct they were rapidly approaching the enemy’s home world.
Little Oldalf was a treasure to them all and his constant antics helped to relieve much of the tension that was building as they drew near. Everyone aboard was highly committed and betrayed no doubts until the morning of the 952nd day of their journey.
“Slowing to one-third; entering the Skawp system,” Matt announced over the intercom, jolting Murphy awake. He leaped completely naked from the bed, like it was on fire. He stood, still half-asleep and confused, for a moment in the center of the small room. His body heard the announcement but his brain was far from processing the information. Giffu propped herself up on an elbow and gazed sleepily at her husband.
“Wot?” She asked softly.
“Skawp system confirmed,” Matt’s voice boomed from the speaker on the wall and Murphy scrambled for his pants. He struggled into them, almost falling as Giffu giggled and sat up on the edge of the bed. She was also naked, but no longer bashful about being nude in front of Murphy. He stared at her breasts as he quickly buttoned up his shirt, then reached out and cupped the left one. It was delightfully soft and heavy. She grinned at him.
“No need to get up,” he told her. “I’m just going to run some tests with Matt.”
“Na…I want to see their solar system for myself,” Giffu replied and stood. Murphy froze for a long moment, transfixed. She was exceedingly lovely, even more so when she didn’t have a stitch on. He was a very lucky man and knew it. She turned her back on him, looking for her clothes but he intercepted her search and grabbed her from behind and pressed her body close to his.
“Master Giles!” Giffu snapped, though she was well pleased by his attentions. “Control yorself.”
“Love to,” Murphy replied with a smile, “but you’d best get some clothes on or I’m a lost cause.” He added, but did not release her.
Giffu laughed huskily. “Master Giles,” she repeated in a much softer tone, “ye’ll be needin’ to unhand me.”
“Oh, of course,” he answered and moved reluctantly away, but when she bent to retrieve her pants he smacked her playfully on the bare behind and then scampered out the door before she could retaliate.
By the time they reached the edge of the planetary system they were traveling at one-third the speed of light and still decelerating, which they would do all the way to their objective. They approached at about thirty degrees above the planetary plane, and would not pass by any of the six other planets that circled the enemy’s home star; perhaps they would explore some other time, if all went well.
“Slowing to one-fourth,” Murphy reported as they all sat tensely at their stations. There was now a new and smaller chair installed nearby to hold Oldalf, who sensed something in the air today and was quiet. “Approximate time to the Skawp planet, five hours thirteen minutes. Back home we would be just outside the orbit of Jupiter.”
“Switch to main viewer,” Matt instructed the computer. The Skawp sun was barely distinguishable from this distance, but at this speed it soon grew and became a small red disk. It grew steadily…ominously. They slowed to one-tenth before they came across the first Skawp ship. It was incredibly large and flew within a few thousand miles of their position, which was exceedingly close in vastness of space. They all held their collective breath, waiting to be challenged, but the ship, which was nearly the size of four city blocks quietly sailed past, either unaware or unconcerned by their presence. They’d maneuvered by a half a dozen more ships before the Skawp home world became clear against the starry background. Still just a pinprick in the black velvet sky, the planet was growing steadily larger even though their engines were still slowing the ship at a rapid rate. The confrontation with the enemy was coming much too fast to suit Matt.
“Activate targeting system,” Matt announced calmly though they were still a very long way out. He looked over at his co-pilot. “Just in case this turns into a rush operation,” he explained.
Murphy nodded. “Better arm the nukes then,” he replied.
Murphy was still below with the nukes when the interstellar engines automatically shut down. The Skawp planet now filled nearly the entire front windows and Matt sat frozen, stunned by the majestic view before him. The entire planet was encircled by a host of geocentric rings, but unlike Saturn’s rings, these were entirely manmade…or Skawpmade. The rings circled the planet at many different angles, the scene reminding Matt of an enormous gyroscope. There were hundreds of ships on the move, either orbiting the planet, or traveling to the planet’s moons, or into space beyond.
“Oh my Lord,” Giffu said softly as little Oldalf began to squirm to get out of his chair, wanting free. Ellyn stood and pulled the little man into her arms, shaking with fear.
“Matthew…we need to leave this place now,” she whispered as if the Skawps might hear her voice.
“Na!” Æthelgifu replied, her voice brooking no argument. “We’re here, we must na falter now!”
Matt nodded, but his wife could see panic and fear in his eyes. “Ellyn, take Oldalf upstairs and strap in,” Matt ordered calmly, though he felt anything but calm. “I don’t need any distractions.”
Ellyn stared at her husband for a long pleading moment, but Matt’s expression did not waver. Finally, Oldalf began to fuss loudly, so without another word, Ellyn turned and moved to the stairs. Matt watched her go, wanting to say something, anything to comfort her, but in the end remained silent. When his family was gone, Matt turned back to the scene ahead.
“Ye know where the Queen is?” Giffu asked as Murphy rushed back into the cockpit.
“My God!” He said as he caught sight of the Skawp home world.
“I know,” Matt replied while Murphy bent and gave his wife a long deep kiss. He took a moment to stroke her cheek and then without a word took his seat and quickly fastened his shoulder harness. “Maybe,” Matt added, answering Giffu’s initial question. “According to the Skawp’s computers she should be located in the royal palace. The files state that she never leaves the place. Each successive Queen is born, lives out her life and dies within the palace, only coming to the surface four times a year for seasonal celebrations.”
“And ye know where this palace is?” Giffu asked, growing nervous as the Skawp world grew nearer. It was a feeling the two men were beginning to share. There was a tremendous amount of activity going on in orbit and around the larger moon. Ships were flying every which way with no apparent structure to their flight paths.
Murphy turned back. “It’s in the very center of the largest city on the planet, located approximately two hundred miles from the equator in the southern hemisphere. According to the Skawps, her private rooms are located near the surface, but they d
on’t give an exact location. We just have to hope that they are no deeper than about one hundred and fifty feet from the surface, any farther down and there’s no guarantee that the bunker busters will reach her,” he answered, though even now, some of what he said was lost on the young wife.
“Will they discover us…try to stop us?” Giffu asked but neither man had an answer for her. Luckily they were saved from contemplating such a catastrophe when Oldalf’s loud cries tumbled down the stairs to interrupt them.
“Have we time?” Giffu asked. “I will go to her.”
Matt glanced at their position and then nodded. “Hurry,” he told her. “If we’re discovered I may have to make some rather quick adjustments.”
Giffu quickly removed her harness and bolted toward the stairs.
“I’ll keep the intercom on,” Murphy told her, and she paused, then turned and rushed back to give him a quick kiss.
“I love ye Murphy Giles,” she whispered, her lips brushing his own. Murphy’s heart thumped. It was the first time she’d said those words to him though he’d told her countless times over the last few years.
“I love ye too, Æthelgifu of Winchester,” he replied and they both smiled.
“Hurry,” Matt interrupted, feeling like an intruder.
Giffu smiled angelically at him then leaned over and gave Matt a quick kiss on the cheek. “Calm yorself Matthew Thane…and fly well,” she told him and then was gone, bounding up the stairs two at a time.
Murphy flipped on the intercom. “What a great woman!” He said loudly and Giffu laughed.
Matt nodded. “Worth fighting for?” he asked.
“Yes…worth fighting for.”
They all fell silent, even Oldalf, as they neared the orbit of the largest moon. Hundreds of ships were flying around the satellite, some the size of their own ship, some much, much larger, and thousands of smaller, one or two man…or Skawp vehicles. The ships flew this way and that, but thus far no one tried to contact them. Back on Earth they made up a series of recordings with their best guess at standard Skawp replies but everyone hoped they wouldn’t have to use them. With such space congestion around the planet however, that was looking very unlikely.
As they flew past the moon, they noticed that the surface was entirely artificial; the entire body was a base, completely remade.
“This is not going to be easy,” Murphy commented half-handedly.
Matt shrugged. “So far so good,” he answered as they moved within the orbit of the moon. They were close now and Matt decided his best bet would be to follow the flight path of a ship heading toward the southern poles. After a couple of carefully controlled adjustments with the thrusters they soon found themselves following along behind a large, box like ship.
They trailed it silently around the South Pole until the large ship suddenly began to move away and out into space.
“There’s the city!” Murphy said excitedly and pointed up high near the equator.
“We need to be sure,” Matt replied, but began to move in the direction of what appeared to be an enormous metropolis. They reached the first artificial ring without being accosted, but once they were inside its perimeter several lights began to flash on the communications panel.
Matt’s heart jumped in his chest and he had to consciously control his bladder for several long seconds.
“Shit!” Murphy exclaimed and instinctively leaned away from the lights as if trying to hide.
“Murphy!” Giffu shouted through the intercom.
“Sorry,” Murphy automatically apologized but then turned to Matt, who continued to fly up toward the city.
“Should we answer it?” Murphy asked.
Matt shrugged. “Let’s ignore it for a while, maybe they’ll think out equipments out.”
So they moved closer toward the equator and the large city. The lights continued to blink as they moved within the perimeter of the second ring, but still there was no other sign of any undue attention from the Skawps. But as soon as they entered the atmosphere several small ships launched from the nearest ring and headed quickly in their direction.
“We have company,” Matt reported and adjusted their angle of decent until it was just a bit steeper. The trailing ships followed.
“They’re on to us,” Murphy said. “I think we should try to answer. Robertson and Cummings spent a lot of time on those automated replies; they’d be pissed if we didn’t even bother to use them.”
Matt took a deep breath and while continuing to move toward the city, he flipped a switch and immediately the airwaves were full of buzzing, clicking and snaps. Though they were assured that the noises were part of the Skawp’s language, neither could detect any intelligence whatsoever in the sounds.
“Any idea what their saying?” Matt asked and Murphy just laughed nervously.
So Matt shrugged. “Well…play the first recording before these creeps start firing.”
Murphy took a second to call up the sound file and then took a deep breath and hit play. A whole new set of clicks and snaps filled the air and when it was finished there was nothing but silence.
Matt continued to fly, moving ever lower in the atmosphere and ever closer to the city. The silence continued for several minutes but when they fell below fifty thousand feet the lights on the console began to flash once more.
“Are we close enough to map the city and confirm the location of the palace?”
Murphy checked and then shook his head. “Negative…should we do a fly over?”
Matt was about to answer when they detected a dozen ships flying up fast from the surface.
“Matthew!” Ellyn said, apparently aware of the threat approaching.
“Stay calm Ellyn,” Matt replied sharply over the intercom. “Hang on everyone,” he added and took the ship into a steep dive.
“I don’t think we’re going to have time to confirm,” Matt said as the trailing ships immediately matched his dive.
The outskirts of the city was only about fifteen miles away and thirty thousand feet below them, but coming up very fast. They plummeted out of the sky and laced through a thin layer of high clouds, as the ships from the surface closed rapidly from the east and south.
Everything was very quiet in the ship, as Matt banked hard to the left just as the first shots blazed past the windows.
“Prepare to fire,” Matt ordered.
“I’m not sure I can hit anything at this speed,” Murphy interjected, “even with nukes.”
“I’ll level off at ten thousand feet and try to give you a smooth platform,” Matt answered and began to swing about wildly as the trailing ships began to fire steadily. Luckily they’d yet to hit anything.
Matt banked and looped the ship violently as the trailing ships drew closer, firing their energy pulse weapons every few seconds. They took their first hit just as Murphy managed to get a reading on the city below them. Ellyn and Giffu screamed from above but the two pilots ignored them.
“City map confirmed!” Murphy suddenly yelled. “Palace seven miles north, northeast!”
Matt swung the ship around to the new heading, flying very, very fast. He dropped from seventeen thousand to ten thousand feet in a matter of seconds, pushing all their stomachs up into their throats, but then he leveled off as promised.
“Prepare to fire!” Matt said loudly as another hit caught them in the aft section, rocking the ship violently. Murphy pressed a button and just like that the nukes were hot and ready to fly from the twin tubes installed on the lower section of the ship.
“Two minutes to target,” Matt announced and swung the ship hard to the right and back again as a Skawp ship flew directly over them. They took another hit on their right forward array and suddenly the intercom was down.
“One minute to target,” Matt said for Murphy’s benefit.
“Acquiring target,” Murphy replied and a set of high-powered invisible lasers lit up the palace as it quickly moved toward them.
“Put them in a good place,”
Matt suggested but his partner did not hear him as he concentrated on the target. He placed one laser dead center and another near what to him appeared to be a set of massive doors along the western wall.
“Thirty seconds.”
“Twenty.”
“Ten.”
“Nukes away!” Murphy yelled and both men felt the ship shudder as the heavy bombs shot from their tubes. Moments later they watched as the weapons rocket engines ignited and they streaked down to their targets.
The view of the palace filled the forward monitor as Murphy struggled to keep the lasers on the target. Matt spun the ship left and then back to the right before pointing the nose straight to the heavens and opening the engines up full.
“Fly straight!” Murphy yelled and Matt gritted his teeth and ignored his every instinct to avoid the shots that were lighting up the sky all around them.
Twenty seconds later the first nuclear bomb struck the palace, a second and a half later the second bomb hit and burrowed deep within the fragile honeycombed structure. Both bombs penetrated far below the surface, much farther than they were designed to go, but the palace of the Skawp Queen was not made of hardened concrete and steel, but of delicate wood and paper, a substance derived from the mouths of her builders. The bombs exploded one right after another, destroying miles of underground caverns and tunnels. As the two human pilots raced away they watched as the palace bulged upward toward the sky and then completely disintegrated, leaving nothing but a blazing, blackened whole in the center of the city.
“Yeeeee haaaaaaa!” Murphy yelled as the ship was once more struck by a high energy weapon and a panel behind them exploded in protest.
“Target destroyed!” Matt reported and opened the engines up full. “Let’s see what this piece of shit can do!”
The Skawp ship was indeed a marvel and they pushed through the outer atmosphere at an alarming pace. The first artificial ring was passed them before they even realized they were closing on it, but the trailing ships were also marvels and after initially falling behind began to close once more.
“Matt!” Murphy yelled as dozens of ships poured from the largest ring and headed directly for them. At this speed and in space, Matt could do little maneuvering. He could make slight course adjustments only. He fired the thrusters until he was sure he would not hit the final two rings and then ignited the interstellar engines.
The Temporal Knights Page 66
