As he expected, the captain of the other ship was highly skeptical of the claims De’Elefor Ka was making. He watched the video presentation with some consternation, as the recovered footage was mixed in with video of what A’arcoon looked like currently. There was a moment when De’Elefor Ka muttered a phrase that couldn’t be translated by the computer and the captain’s eyes went wide. After that he became a bit more tractable, and asked to speak to Jason.
“Captain, we need you back here,” Doc’s voice came over the intercom.
“You come up here and trade me seats,” Jason answered back. As soon as Doc came onto the bridge, Jason offered up the pilot’s seat and jogged back to the com room, which was aft of the bridge and along the starboard side.
“My commander wishes to speak with you, Captain,” De’Elefor Ka said as he entered. Lucky was standing unobtrusively in the corner, or at least as unobtrusive as a two-meter tall war machine can manage in a room the size of a closet.
“Hello again, Commander. I’m Captain Jason Burke,” Jason said as he sat in the chair next to the A’arcooni, placing himself in the video feed. The main computer was handling translator duties, so there was an odd disconnect between the movements of the alien’s mouth and the sounds that came out of the speaker.
“I know who you are, Captain,” the commander said expressionlessly. “Deetz had given us detailed information on you, none of which was true, apparently. I am Supreme Commander Ta’Arlek Ka and I am ready to negotiate our surrender.”
“Before we start, is Deetz secured onboard your ship?” Jason asked, needing to get that detail out of the way even as he brought one of the slip-space transceivers online.
“He is. We have put him under armed guard in our detention area,” Ta’Arlek Ka said. “He will not be able to escape even with his considerable strength.”
“Very good,” Jason said as he punched in the com codes that would open a channel to the Diligent. “I’m bringing a third party into this negotiation, Commander Ta’Arlek Ka, someone much more versed in what needs to happen to integrate you into the intergalactic community in this region.” When the Diligent’s com officer came on the screen Jason requested to speak to Crisstof and told her what it was regarding. It didn’t take long for the white-haired being to appear. He looked slightly winded, and Jason figured he’d had to run to get to the com station.
“Hello, Captain. How can I help you?” he asked.
“I’m bringing you into the com channel I have open with Commander Ta’Arlek Ka, the Supreme Commander of the remaining Traveler ship,” Jason explained. “He wished to negotiate his terms of surrender and I figured you’d rather not have me doing that.”
“Ah, yes … that was probably prudent of you,” Crisstof agreed with a slight smile. “Very well, I am ready.”
Jason manipulated the controls and brought the slip-com feed onto the line he had open with the ship right off their bow. Just like three-way calling.
The negotiations lasted the better part of an hour, and Jason was more or less an observer fairly early in the process. Crisstof agreed that some sort of restitution needed to be made by the A’arcooni, but their status as a species on the brink of extinction would likely gain them some favor. Both parties agreed that, if possible, the A’arcooni would eventually be relocated back to their homeworld.
Another issue that had already been suspected was that the health of the ninety-four A’arcooni on the remaining ship wasn’t good. Both the lack of proper maintenance and battle damage had exposed them to hazards that were causing genetic mutations and sickness. Crisstof would arrange to bring a medical ship to the area to begin treatment of the crew as soon as possible, as the Diligent was still busy with the Penance.
“I think that settles the most pressing issues. I thank you for your cooperation and patience, Supreme Commander Ta’Arlek Ka. We will be in touch shortly,” Crisstof was saying. “Captain Burke, I will need to speak to you further.” After dismissing the A’arcooni commander and having Lucky escort De’Elefor Ka out of the com room, Jason and Crisstof were able to talk freely.
“Very well done, Captain! I am quite impressed.”
“You mean you’re impressed I didn’t just hit them with an anti-matter warhead?” Jason smirked. “Don’t give me too much credit. I still needed the location of Deetz. They’re just lucky he was onboard.”
“I don’t think you’re quite the hard case that you’d have me believe, but no matter. A job well done is a job well done. Now, I have some information on the main weapon the Traveler ships employ. I’m sending it as a data file that you can give to Twingo so you’re not mired in the technical details. It will tell him how to adjust your shielding to block it,” Crisstof said. Ignoring the implied insult, Jason didn’t see the point and said as much.
“Why do we care now? The last weapon has been disabled.”
“But we don’t know for sure that these three ships were the only ones left or that the Travelers aren’t out there with a third generation version of that weapon,” Crisstof said. “In my experience, once you’ve encountered something new you almost always see it again.”
“Fine,” Jason agreed, more to end the lecture than anything else. “So how does it work in layman’s terms?”
“It’s a type of synthetic sub-atomic particle that is attracted to active energy sources including something as basic as a chemical electric battery. It’s able to pass through most forms of matter, even reactor casings, and bond to molecules at the point of the reaction to inhibit the release of energy,” Crisstof said. “It’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before. There is a unique dichotomy to these ships. They’re both quite primitive and yet far more advanced than our own technology at the same time.”
“Interesting. If Deetz had been able to get a maser-based version of that working, I doubt our shield technology would be able to stop such a concentrated particle stream,” Jason mused.
“So what are your immediate plans?” Crisstof asked.
“We’ll stay here for now and offer aid as needed until your med ship arrives. I’d also like to go over and secure Deetz sooner rather than later,” Jason said after a moment’s thought. “After that I guess we’ll need to rendezvous so I can collect Taryn’s parents and get them back home.”
“Be careful transferring Deetz. I don’t need to tell you how tricky he is.”
“I’m taking no chances,” Jason agreed. “I’ll be sending Lucky in full combat mode.”
“Since you have everything well in hand I suppose I’ll let—”
“Captain! Get up here!” The call over the intercom coincided with a short klaxon burst, warning Jason that the ship had just been placed in full tactical alert. He raced out of the com room and up onto the bridge in time to see an explosion billow out of the port side of the Traveler ship. He could make out little detail visually at their current range, but it looked like something had flown out of the explosion.
“Talk to me!”
“Active sensor sweep shows a small ship flying away from the Traveler ship. Standby for resolution,” Twingo said. Jason already knew what it was before he answered, however. “It’s the same profile as the ship Deetz has been flying; sending the course plot to the nav system.”
Doc practically dove out of the pilot’s seat to make room for Jason. Once he was back in the hot seat, Jason began bringing the drive back online to pursue Deetz.
“Keep giving me active track updates,” he told Twingo. “This may actually work out. I don’t think Crisstof was going to let me just kill him anyway,” he muttered to himself.
“Tracking him moving out of the system, it looks like he’s accelerating to mesh out,” Twingo said from the sensor station. “Shit!”
“What?!”
“He dropped a tachyon bomb right before he jumped,” Twingo said, slamming his hands down on the console. “I don’t have a vector, not that it matters. He’s completely blinded the sensors for a second.” Jason stared out the canopy for a moment,
everyone on the bridge watching him tensely. Resisting the urge to rip the console from the deck and throw it through a bulkhead, he slowly let out his breath and sat back.
“Contact Commander Ta’Arlek Ka and get a sitrep,” he said finally. “Keep the weapons in standby and the shields up, he may be coming back around to attack after he threw sand in our eyes.”
“Commander Ta’Arlek Ka is on the com,” Kage reported.
“Put it on here.”
“Captain Burke, I offer my sincerest apologies, but Deetz has escaped our custody,” Ta’Arlek Ka said, staring down at the deck of his ship as he did.
“I saw. So how did it happen?” Jason asked.
“He had two powerful beings on his ship acting as security. They broke him out of our detention area and he cut his way out from there.”
“Deetz had mercs on board his ship?” Jason looked in confusion at the rest of his crew. He then addressed Ta’Arlek Ka again. “Do you know anything about these mercenaries?”
“Only that he called them Korkarans. I assumed that to be their species.”
“Korkarans?!” Crusher leapt to his feet, suddenly very alert. “You’re sure he said Korkarans?”
“Very certain,” Ta’Arlek Ka answered.
“What does that mean to you?” Jason asked Crusher.
“Korkarans are very dangerous warriors for hire,” he answered. “They’re a subsect of a reptilian-like species. They’re strong, fast, and ruthless.” Jason just stared at his friend for a moment, certain he was holding something back.
“We’ll deal with that later,” he said. “Commander, is your ship stable? The damage looked pretty bad.”
“We’re fine for now, Captain,” Ta’Arlek Ka said. “The hull over the hangar bay wasn’t a structural piece. We will alert you if that changes.”
Once they had disconnected with the commander, Jason turned to his crew and the two non-Omega Force beings on the bridge.
“We’re back to square one,” Jason said with disgust. “Any idea where he’ll run?”
*****
After some back and forth with De’Elefor Ka and Ta’Arlek Ka, they were able to begin piecing together the locations Deetz had been operating out of. One particular planet kept coming up as a supply hub that all three of the A’arcooni ships had visited at least once.
“Breaker’s World, huh?” Twingo grunted. “This will be like old times.”
“Are we even allowed back there?” Doc asked. “That last time—”
“I’m sure that’s all been smoothed over or forgotten,” Jason ran over the top of him as Taryn arched one eyebrow questioningly. “It makes sense in a loopy sort of way. He could come and go as he pleased on that planet and nobody would ask too many questions as long as he paid the right people.”
“I take it this Breaker’s World is less than reputable?” Taryn asked.
“You could say that,” Crusher laughed.
“Isn’t that the first planet besides Earth you went to, Jason?” Taryn asked as she remembered the name from one of his letters.
“Technically, no … I walked around on Mars for a little bit while Deetz was repairing the Phoenix, only she didn’t even have a name back then,” Jason said distractedly, missing her gaping at him. Even while she was in the middle of it, living the adventure, she still had a hard time coming to terms with the direction his life had taken.
“So set course for Breaker’s World?” Kage asked as he lounged in the right seat.
“Screw it. Let’s get flying, we’re accomplishing nothing sitting here,” Jason said after letting out an explosive sigh of disgust. “Contact Ta’Arlek Ka and alert him we’ll be departing before the medical ship gets here. You’d better tell Crisstof too.”
“I’m on it,” Kage said as all four of his hands flew over the control panels.
“We’re getting ready to leave,” Jason said to De’Elefor Ka. “Do you want to transfer to your other ship or stay here?”
“If I could be allowed to stay I would be very grateful, Captain,” the A’arcooni said with another of those subservient bows. “I would see this through to the end.”
“Very well. Strap in,” Jason turned to Twingo. “Is the ship ready?”
“You have no confidence in me, do you?”
“No. And you didn’t answer the question.”
“Drives and tactical systems are at one hundred percent, Captain,” Twingo spat. “I don’t know why I put up with this,” he muttered.
“Oh come on, you love it,” Jason teased as he brought the main drive fully online. Damn, I think I actually got to him with that one.
“Your course is laid in. Engage at will,” Kage reported. “Crisstof and the A’arcooni vessel have been advised that we are departing the area.”
Chapter 15
Sleep was elusive for Jason, and he stared at the ceiling in his quarters trying to will himself to relax enough so he could get some rest. The A’arcooni threat was neutralized, but he wasn’t sure how relieved he was about that. At least that was a known threat; with them out of the picture, Deetz was an unpredictable quantity in the equation and he didn’t like that one bit.
In an effort to occupy his mind, he began to go through all the interactions he’d had with the synth, going all the way back to when he’d first stormed the bridge of the gunship when it had made an emergency landing on Earth. There was little consistency in Deetz’s actions, unless taken in context of the synth only acting in his own self-interest. He had been willing to do anything to anybody to get what he wanted. Not only had he been utterly self-serving, but his actions since attacking Earth showed that he had a wide cruel streak and wouldn’t think twice about using horrific levels of violence just to prove a point.
Jason sat upright in bed with the sudden, sickening realization of what Deetz’s next move would be. He rolled out of his bunk and practically ran out of his quarters. When he ran onto the bridge, dressed in only a t-shirt and pair of basketball shorts, Lucky could only stare at him. The ship was in the middle of “night hours” and the battlesynth was the only one on the bridge standing watch. The canopy was dark, as they were in slip-space and the lights were dimmed. Jason knew he must have looked like a lunatic running onto the bridge half-dressed and wild-eyed.
“I know where Deetz is going,” he said to Lucky as he climbed into the pilot’s seat. “We need to change course.”
“Have you received new intelligence?” Lucky asked as he moved over to see what Jason was doing.
“Call it a hunch,” Jason answered as he began scrolling through saved destinations on his navigation panel..
“A hunch? Is it wise to alter our course based on something so undefined?”
“I guess we’ll find out,” Jason said with a confidence he didn’t fully feel.
“Where do you think he is going?” Lucky was tactfully trying to extract information out of his captain without coming right out and saying he thought the human was insane.
“Earth. He’s going back to Earth and it won’t be to just posture or threaten,” Jason said quietly as he pulled up the navigational data for the Solar System.
“How can you be so sure?”
“We’ve pulled the rug out from under him. He was leading us around and making us dance to his tune, but I don’t think he expected us to be able to take away his A’arcooni fleet the way we did. He’s going for straight, good ‘ol revenge this time,” Jason answered as he slowly increased the slip-drive output to maximum. The ship began to vibrate and groan as she came up to her maximum slip velocity. Jason waited for a moment for what he knew was coming next.
“What the hell is going on up here?!” A disheveled Twingo ran onto the bridge and looked around. “Who commanded a speed increase?”
“I did,” Jason said with his hands up in a placating gesture. “Calm down, we think we know where Deetz is heading and we need to make up some time.”
“We?” Lucky asked.
“You need to at least ask me before y
ou just flip the switch like that,” Twingo grumbled as he hunched over the engineering station and checked his readings. “So where are we going?”
“Back to Earth,” Jason said. “If we can get there just after him, that would be preferable.”
“Fine, let me go grab some chroot and then I’ll be in Engineering making sure we can keep this speed up. No promises on such a long flight though.” Twingo walked off the bridge to get himself cleaned up and awake enough to get to work.
“I guess I’ll do the same,” Jason said to Lucky. “I doubt I’d be able to go back to sleep now anyway.” He walked off the bridge, leaving a bemused battlesynth staring after him.
“It feels like we’re in a hurry,” Crusher said from the galley table where he was reading from a tablet computer.
“What are you doing up?” Jason asked as he moved over to the food processor panel.
“Keeping watch over our guest while Lucky has bridge duty,” the warrior said without looking up. “I don’t think he’s inclined to do anything, but I’d rather not find out the hard way.”
“Too true,” Jason agreed. “That whole group is a big mess of crazy right now. So what are you reading?”
“That data package we pulled off the A’arcooni recording device had a complete collection of their literature and media. Kage ran a few through a translation routine and I’ve been browsing the news reports from when the Travelers first arrived at A’arcoon.”
“Huh,” Jason only grunted. The duality of Crusher still caught him off guard at times. He was also a little embarrassed that as the commander of the unit he hadn’t bothered to do the same thing himself. “Anything interesting?” He knew how stupid the question sounded even as it left his mouth. Crusher just stared at him blankly, but decided to answer anyway.
Omega Force: Savage Homecoming Page 20
